An Old Favorite

Sometime in July, I swung through Columbia (Missouri) on the way to Kansas City (Missouri) and sat in on the weekly figure drawing session at M.U. It'd been years since I'd been there, but a favorite plaster cast was still there- a colonial era figure on a charging horse. The model was late so I sketched it where it sat. Chunks are missing from it and it now sports mascara- overall a good look for it really.

Last Con Sketch

Alright, it's the last wise-ass convention sketch from Chicago Wizard-Con a week or so ago.

Happy Birthday, Jack

Okay, I'm a day late- yesterday the 28th was actually Jack Kirby's birthday! I thought I'd include a scan from the Collected Jack Kirby Collector v. 7- an excellent over-sized magazine which publishes hard-to-find copies of Jack Kirby pencils. Above is a rejected cover for Thor #144. The caption argues that the cover was rejected because Vince Colletta was too lazy to ink it! Well, I won't beat up on Vinnie, considering the page rate at the time was probably 15-20 bucks per.
It does make me wonder what the phone call to Jack was like when they decided to dump it- "Yeah, the cover was good, I guess- I was just hoping for something with a little more pizazz- I dunno..."

Almost Extinct

Inspired by the recent Wizardcon Comic Convention I attended last weekend. An amalgam of a type I see less and less of at these things. Guys in their late 50's and 60's, hideously single, hoarders, obsessive-compulsive, bad kidneys. Scrabbling through comic boxes looking for issues of Little Lulu, Warren Publishing titles, maybe some Veronica and Jugghead books, new issues of Catwoman, etc. You get the picture and it's not a pretty one.

Big Wide World

I was at Wizard Con last weekend. I was a little miffed at myself for not sketching more. This one I pulled off on the last day while waiting for the doors to open. This ensemble just about says it all.

Finished T-Shirt Image

The finished image for my boss's boss's t-shirt commission (see preliminary below). Apparently, his brother-in-law is a particularly vicious griller, and he wanted a specially designed t-shirt made up to needle him. I added the words "Pork-Steak Nazi" in front and dropped a gray scale gradient behind the figure.

The T-Shirt Biz

A preliminary drawing for a t-shirt design my boss's boss commissioned from me.

Panic Management!

Drawn after a particularly grueling and baffling day at work (let's face it, it could've been drawn after any day at work). I saw an internet forward years ago that described different management styles. My favorite: Seagull Manager; the manager who swoops in from out of nowhere, craps over everything, and disappears as suddenly as he came. For some reason I laughed pretty hard at that one.

A Good Look, I Think

I looked up from sketching at the kitchen table one night to catch a glimpse of the Bridgestone tire ad which looks like something out that French movie Delicatessen from '91. I then sketched the above.

I'll be heading to Chicago this weekend for the Wizard Comicon (I think it's Wizard who still runs it anyway), where I'll be signing copies of my new book, "A Fine Whine; the drawings of R. Scott Quick". Stop by if you're in town, if not I'll be posting again Sunday night! Excelsior!

Universal Ink

After posting the below (see below) last night, I decided to ink it. Although I was going for the Karloff version, I think I came closer to the Gwynne.

Universal Memory

On a lunch break in July, I was trying to draw the Frankenstein Monster from memory. Like Big Pants (below) this'll be a prime inking exercise in the making.

Return of Big Pants!

If I ever get around to inking it, I'll post that for comparison. Look closely and you can see I drew the complete figure before obfuscating with pants. So there.

Animated Style

I have yet to hear back from Warner Bros. regarding my character designs for the animated Justice League and their subsequent spin-offs. A simple generic rejection letter is all I ask!

Not the Car!

I copied this from a large painting that hangs in the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Il. I'll ink it one day. Everyone gets that it's supposed to be Lincoln, right?

The Dog, Outside

The Dog, partially inked sometime over the 4th of July weekend. She's no doubt busy harassing some innocent creature in the lawn.

Big Pants

The title says it all! You have to admit, it's kind of intriguing no? Who is this girl with the really big pants- where can I find a pair- and why is she being inked by someone who looks like they spent a lot of time on Kevin Nowland's blog?

Sketch Off, of sorts

I flipped open my sketchbook one day to find that my son had been there before me. I decided I'd try to draw my version of what I thought he'd drawn only to find out that I'd grossly mis-interpreted his drawing. Here's someone who's fascinated by zombies, loves the "Blackest Night" series by DC in which old superheroes come back from the dead, upset by his father zombifying one of his drawings.

The Hat

Another one of them nautical hats .... I've really gotta get me one of those. It seems like it would blow off pretty easily on the high seas. I think a brush would've suited my purposes a little better on this one.

More Bridgman

More pen and ink exercises with Bridgman.

A Bridge Too Far

My Sister gave me some Dover editions of Bridgman's Life Drawing sometime in the '70's and I've referred to them ever since. I heard Gil Kane speak at the '94 San Diego Comicon and he mentioned how Frazetta had copied all of Bridman's Life Drawing in one night. Occasionally I get the urge to do the same, then fizzle after 4 or 5 pages. Here I'm more concerned with goofing with my new mix of ink than anything else.
I've always loved Bridgmans drawings. Note the "sack of oatmeal" quality around the rib cage. He was one of the biggest influences on early 20th century illustrators, and it's clear when you look at the dramatic contraposto poses of cartoonists like Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. Heck, even newsters like Jim Lee have put in time sweeping up Bridgmans peanut shells. I have no idea what I meant by that.

Enter Bridgman

More hand studies. The top 2 are refined and lovely and therefore recognized as belonging to my wife, unlike the sausage links posted last night, belonging to me. The bottom 2 on tonight's post are copied from my old dog-eared Dover edition of George Bridgman's Life Drawing.

Handy

I temporarily lost the ability to draw hands and it was frustrating me, so I put in a little study time. Ahh the elusive hand, so useful yet, so hard to draw! These are intimate drawings of "Lefty" from my side-view mirror during a lunch break at work.

Big Barda

Yep, it's Big Barda, one of my favorite Jack Kirby Fourth World characters. It may have something to do with the dark mane and fiery temper. She's not the first animated/comic character I've been attracted to; a short list would include Jane Jetson, Gwen Stacey (-snif-), Wonder Woman (animated version), and - dare I say it- Kim Possible? I'm not proud of myself.

The Dog

Further dalliances with the Hunt 102 pen nib. Normally I would use a brush for this much fur, but the flexible nib allows for a pretty healthy thick to thin application.

Jet-Pack Ape

I don't remember if I posted this before. Back in the late 90's, I was shamelessly wooing an editor from Dark Horse Comics. It had come to my attention that he had created a mag centered around an ape wearing a jet pack. I sent him this in watercolor, acrylic and ink. Looking back on it, I think the jet pack looks pretty spiffy in '30's kinda way. My engineer friend Bruce is going to poop his pants tsk-tsking the aerodynamics of it, but .... it has a fin!

Cat Tails

I sit in my car during lunch. Since I'm trying to make a tank of gas last from paycheck to paycheck (2 weeks), I don't drive anywhere. Luckily my parking spot faces a thick grove of cat tails full of birds and other creatures. I drew them and later inked them.