Super Heroes, Part 1

Convention Commission Sketches, Girls

Heroes Convention, Charlotte, NC, June 3-5, 2011. Business was good this year for me where I had a table in the small press area, as compared to last year’s full exhibitor booth. I was nearly busy the whole convention from the start of Friday to the closing on Sunday with commission sketches including some over-night work done in my hotel room. Was it my location, a near beeline right out front of the Men’s rest room? Was it my extremely reasonable rate of $15 per character? Has some one been talking about my great service from last year?

This year’s strategy was to offer a copy of “Unstoppable Tuff-Girl” No.1 for each first commission order. Gotta get the book circulating, you know. Also new for me this year - I came with more than just red and blue color pencils.

Here are ten samples of what I drew, featuring what seems to be the norm, girls. Please forgive the mottled lighting of these photographs with my shadow cast over the art, the flash failing to completely obliterate it:

Black Canary, Bat Girl and Mary Marvel - Could it be that DC Comics’ women are more popular than Marvel’s? I do seem to draw more of them, so it’s a good thing that I’ve memorized a lot of their silver age costumes. Black Canary was in the collector’s theme of Justice League International members; otherwise I would have opted for the 1960’s fishnet stocking costume. Mary Marvel was the very last commission (because I could squeeze it in) that was almost an artist’s choice piece.

Zatana vs. Black Canary, Lois Lane vs. Lana Lang, Mary Jane vs. Gwen Stacy - I don’t discourage multiple character compositions on con. sketches, but they do require a bit more planning with the layout both with figuring out spatial and interpersonal relationships, and of course they require more time to draw. At any rate, as such, I drew a few “versus” comps. “Z v BC,” is this an imaginary story of the battle of the fishnet heroines? “Lois v Lana” I didn’t want actual contact fighting and hair pulling, so I had them fighting over this valuable souvenir. “MJ v GS” was done when this collector saw the previous and wanted this Marvel pairing.

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy - Speaking of “pairing,” this is a popular team up from Batman’s rogues gallery. Any hesitancy of depicting Harley’s in this unlady-like pose on my part quickly gave way because it contrasts Ivy and it’s funny.

Mary Jane Watson - Spider-Man/ Peter Parker’s girl-friend/ wife, being a civilian, doesn’t have a costume, so that means I get to make things up, right? I think that if I compare it to John Romita’s work that I’d find some detail I missed. I personally don’t know where you can obtain them, but publishers like Marvel here print blank covers, expressly for original art to be draw on them. The coating made it tricky not to smudge the inking, and it seemed not to take color pencils too well.

Belle - On occasion I get to access my Disney past with a princess (or Tinker Belle) drawing.

Love Bunny - The prepared collector arrives at comic cons. with reference, as he this one did in this case of an Image character I had never seen previously. I thought she was out of “The Tick.”