25th Post!

The Stereotypical Freaks...

This is what I spent a lot of 2011 and 2012 working on. The Stereotypical Freaks is a 140 page graphic novel written by Howard Shapiro and drawn by me, with lettering by Ed Brisson.

It will be available Nov. 14th at amazon.com and other book shops/comic shops.

It's a story about 4 high school students that form a band to take part in their school's Battle of the Bands. The story actually goes beyond that as one of the characters gets some news that changes everyone's lives. (I really enjoyed reading the story as I worked on it...so if nothing else, pick it up because it's a great read.)

Here's the cover image (with and without logo. Drawn and colored by me.)

The following are a few examples of pages from the book.

So there's a peek at the story and art (and lettering!) for the book.

You can pre-order it on Amazon.com right now.

(Oh, and if you do pre-order it you'll get a limited edition poster and bookmark...so if you do pre-order, send an email to: hockeyplayer4life@gmail.com  and let them know you pre-ordered and they'll get you taken care of :))

Hope you enjoy the book when it comes out...it's the largest comics related project I've worked on to date and it was a ton of fun.

24th Post!

So what's with the cowgirl I've been drawing lately?

I've drawn her a few times over the years, and always wanted to do more with her (she's fun to draw!). A few older images are on my Deviant Art page.
Early Drawing
Slightly more 'realistic' version

Lately I've been working on the 3rd issue of my Brandi Bare comic, but I've gotten sidetracked with another story I've wanted to do with this cowgirl.

It's all still in the early stages of development but I thought it would be fun to post progress images as it comes together.

Now, I had to draw the back of her costume for once, right? ;)

 And this is one of the supporting characters. Because I needed a reason to draw more geisha girls :)

All the images I've drawn for the cowgirl have been digitally colored so far. I wanted to try my hand at a watercolor version of her.

This was a photo because my scanner can't handle those shades of pink and purple that I love, as it tends to wash out those bright colors.

hope you enjoy the peek into my process.

-Joe

23rd Post!

Cowgirl time!

I've always liked drawing cowgirls...loved cowboy movies as a kid. I watched any and all John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies I could find on tv, but once I saw The Wild Bunch when I was a little older, that solidified Westerns as my favorite genre for years. So whenever I get a chance (or think to) draw a cowgirl, I like to have fun with it.

Here's a few images for a little project I'm hoping to keep running with. (fingers crossed knowing my attention span).

 and a close up just for fun.

 In the next sketch I decided to give her a real horse, just because it's been ages since I've drawn one and could use the practice :)

 I may not stick with these colors for the horse...we'll see how it goes.

Just thought I'd post a few in the hopes that it'll keep me motivated to keep going with this and develop it further.

anyway, hope you like what you see :)

(and these were drawn then scanned and then digitally colored in Photoshop)

22nd Post!

Cover for Zenescope's 'Irresistible #2'. This is their exclusive Baltimore Comic Con cover. So if you're at the show, pick it up! :)

And here's the process for those interested...

First up (as always) are the thumbnails (drawn in photoshop). The general idea of the cover was two cheerleaders looking seductively at you (the viewer).

Then I did a cleaned up sketch (still using only Photoshop).

Next up are the pencils (blue, red and purple col-erase).

(I was asked to change the brunette's hand position before I got to the pencil stage...that's why I do the cleaned up digital sketch. It's always easier to make changes there as opposed to erasing the pencils and redrawing.)

It was here that I also decided to change the logos to just 'Z' and 'U' instead of Zen U...(for Zenescope University of course!). After looking thru tons of cheerleader uniforms for reference (life is rough ;)) it seemed the simpler the logo the better.

Then I started the colors in photoshop, and here's a few in progress shots...

It was here that I figured I should change the colors of the uniforms to red instead of green. The red will pop the girls out a bit more...warm colors (like the red) move forward, cold colors (the green) recede. Even though I still like the girls in the green personally ;)