Thursday, December 27, 2007

Feeling a Little Punchy

(Posting a smidge early)

Getting back to my self imposed task of changing He-Man and Skeletor variations into new characters, today I bring you Thunder Punch He-Man, now simply (you guessed it), Thunder Punch:

click above for larger view

Thunder Punch is supposed to be an older, grizzled veteran of the battlefield, so hopefully that comes through in my drawing. There's a little bit of action in this one, a bit of a change from my usual static ways. The right leg and foot are awkward, but luckily I had to place some type in there anyways, so I covered that up a little. The colors aren't anything special, and in hindsight, I really meant to make the skin much more tan in contrast to the fair hair. The perspective on the shield is pretty wonky. Overall, this is a piece that I was excited about when it first started coming together, but I'm somewhat disappointed with it as I pick it apart. Oh well... I'm still pretty happy with it as far as the concept goes. Read on!

* * *

PROFILE: Cynical and world weary, THUNDER PUNCH nonetheless possesses a heart of gold, awakened by the moral purity of his new-found allies. His many years of experience have made him hard edged yet pragmatic. He is a natural leader, though a reluctant one--shortly after Flying Fist joined "Team Grayskull," Teela was forced to leave the group, and she named Thunder Punch the leader, much to his chagrin.

His battle harness enhances his strength, speed, and rudimentary psychic abilities. The enhancement allows him to perform maneuvers such as his trademark "Thunder Punch," a devastating attack, enhanced by a burst of chi. His shield further amplifies and refines his psychic power, and recently Thunder Punch has developed a new technique where by concentrating his battle aura upon his shield, he can manifest a psychic power sword.

It is clear that Thunder Punch knew the Sorceress at some point in the past, though the specifics of this have yet to come to light. It has also been hinted at that he was accquainted with Man-At-Arms and King Randor.

HISTORY: With a heavy heart, King Randor was forced to indefinitely suspend the kingdom's search for the missing He-Man. With the Horde threat becoming increasingly aggressive, Randor simply could not spare any resources towards what seemed to be a hopeless effort. Refusing to relent, Teela resigned her position as Captain of the Royal Guard and exiled herself from Eternos, vowing that she would not return unless she had He-Man with her. Cringer, Orko, and Battle-Scar accompanied her as well. With a heavy heart, Man-At-Arms told his daughter Teela that the kingdom would need him in the war against the Horde and he could not accompany her on her quest. However, he urged Teela seek refuge with the Sorceress, and complete her training in the magical arts. As Man-At-Arms watched his daughter and his closest friends ride away, he said to himself, "If anyone can find He-Man, they can."

Teela and her fellowship did take refuge with the Sorceress at Castle Grayskull, and investigated every possible lead over the following months. They found many clues and possibilities, but nothing concrete. In the meantime, the Sorceress continued to guide Teela's education in magic, and Teela's sensitivity to the supernatural developed quickly. A breakthrough came to Teela in the form of a dream-vision, telling her to seek out a warrior; a lost descendant of the legendary King Grayskull, who would aid her in her quest. Teela, Cringer, and Battle-Scar set out to find this lost scion of Grayskull.

What they found however, was a grizzled and bitter man living in isolation in the wilderness, a once idealistic knight errant, turned hardened soldier of fortune, who had ultimately decided to reject the world and its corruption in favor of life as a hermit. He knew he was a descendent of Grayskull--he simply did not care. Unable to break through his jaded shell, Teela's group left the hermit in the wilderness. At the edge of the wilderness, they were ambushed by Force Commander Scorpia, Modulok, and a contingent of Modulok's test-tube engineered warriors and monstrosities. Incapacitated by Scorpia's poisonous stinger, Teela was unconscious and capture was imminent. The hermit, who had shadowed Teela's group to ensure that they left his sanctuary, had a split second to make a decision. Before he realized what he was doing, his legs were carrying him into the fray, and with nothing more than a wooden cudgel, he was able to beat back Modulok's creations long enough for Cringer to carry Teela to safety, and for Battle-Scar to regroup with the hermit. The ensuing battle was brutal, but the hermit and Battle-Scar were able to fight off the Horde attackers. Scorpia's poison, however, was spreading fast through Teela's blood. The hermit squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating upon the astral plane, searching for a response... with a flash of light, Battle-Scar, Teela, Cringer, and their new accquaintance found themselves on the Jaw Bridge of Castle Grayskull--Orko flew to them with haste, and treated Teela with a magical antidote. Standing at the gates was the Sorceress herself, holding a red and silver battle harness, and a matching shield.

The hermit's expression was impassive, though his eyes betrayed mixed emotions, "It's good to see you, Sorceress."

The Sorceress smiled in her usual mysterious manner, holding up the rough implements of war in her elegant hands. "I kept these for you."


* * *

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other "new characters from old variants" posts:

Monday, December 24, 2007

A Winter Morning In Los Angeles

(Posting early)

click above for larger view

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Borders' Marshmallow and Holly, Artist Interview - Character Design Blog and Happy Holidays!!!

Kei’s interview on Character Design Blog!!
Many thanks to Randall Sly for my interview on character design blog! Click on this link to see the interview.

Keeping with the Holiday theme, here are some more awesome photos of the Borders campaign from our friends Shawn Escott, Bill Presing and Ikumi, and Fabian from SF. Thanks so much again for the photos guys!









Many thanks to everyone who's been leaving comments and emailing us with your kindest thoughts about Marshmallow and Holly! We're very glad to hear such great responses.





And for those of you who inquired about Marshmallow and Holly prints, we've just added them onto our store along with several other new prints! View Prints Here


MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
-Kei

Friday, December 21, 2007

A Witch in Sheep's Clothing

An entry for a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forum. The subject is Light Spinner, Shadow Weaver's identity before she betrayed the Rebellion and became the Horde's head magic-user. The thread is here, my post is here. The voting threads are here and here. The final run off vote is here--I ranked third.

click above for larger view

I wasn't too drastic with my design--I basically just combined her cartoon and comic appearances, and tried coloring her so that she wouldn't come out looking completely like Dree Elle.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Dragon Art - Title: "Carrot Run"

Dragons, dragons and more dragons! Here's a piece I did recently. Unfortunately I didn't do it in time for our Dragon Sketches book.

If you'd like to see more dragon illustrations please visit our Dragons section of our portfolio.

Title: CARROT RUN by Bobby Chiu
Software: Photoshop
Description: "Every year, a young member of the Fuz'hy Lindt Tribe who has come of age must prove his worth by donning the blessed regalia of the sacred carrot and leading the Tribe on the Great Hunt. Only the fastest and bravest of warriors will ensure a successful Carrot Run, providing food for the Tribe through the winter."



Here's a fun animated gif I put together to show a bit of work in progress.

Daddy's Little Girl

Josh asked me to draw a three-page story to help promote his comic, Necessary Evil which is published by Desperado. After much procrastination, I pencilled the sucker off of Josh's script (and colored it too). The story gives you a bit of insight into Stacy's background--here's one of my favorite panels:


click above for larger view

The full three pages are available to read for free (that's right, free) on Josh's blog, the Necessary Evil MySpace page, or on Desperado's forum. Check it out at any of those sites, and let me know what you think! (EDIT: also posted on Newsarama and CBR)

The first two issues of Necessary Evil are available in comic book stores now, and Issue #3 should be on the stands in early January. Ask your local comic shop to order Necessary Evil--it's available in Previews. And after you've done that, add Necessary Evil as your friend on MySpace.

Previous Necessary Evil posts:

Friday, December 14, 2007

Neither a teenager, nor a mutant, nor a ninja...

Merely a turtle:


Today's post and the previous one are a bit of simple practice with some new digital painting pointers shown to me by my old crony and guru, Jacob.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Unholy Beast

I visited some friends a few weeks ago...


Their dachshund did not like me.

O_O

Friday, December 7, 2007

Yellow Bellied Villain

When I draw superheroes, I tend to draw them the way they looked 20 years ago because I am, apparently, a fossil. However today, I'm taking a brief moment to step out of my horribly obsolete mindframe, and present to you the classic Green Lantern villain, Sinestro, in his modern uniform (even though you can only see the collar):


click above for larger view

It started out as a quick pen sketch, but it grew on me, so I decided to color it up and post it. I chose to give him his present-day colors because frankly, it never made sense to me that a character who was yellow-themed would have virtually no yellow on his uniform whatsoever. The face is cut off because I wanted to show the duality of a former hero turned villain--the missing half of his face represents Sinestro's sense of morality, forever obfuscated by... OKAY, IT'S ALL A LIE. I drew him too close to the edge of the paper. Listen, if I had realized it was going to turn out halfway decent I would have started on a new sheet of paper. Sometimes these things take you by surprise!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Art Classes at Seneca and Schoolism.com

School information update:

Seneca College Digital Painting classes are open for Registration.
Start Date: February 5, 2008
Location: Seneca (York campus)
(Keele, north of Finch) MAP
Duration: 9 week course.
7-10pm every Tuesday
Cost: $595
Bring a tablet. There will be a few tablets available but not enough for everyone.
Limit to 30 spots. Register HERE

It's bigger and better than the one that I did at Sheridan. Now with the integration of schoolism.com it's the best of both worlds. You'll be able to do the live classes with me and also have access to my online class videos so you can review the classes at home as well. The only thing you won't have is the one on one critique videos on your own work but I'll be answering any questions in the live class.

Please click HERE for testimonials from the classes I did at Sheridan.

Please leave any questions in the comments area.

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Online art classes at Schoolism.com - information update!

Now open for registration:

Character Design by Silver
Instructor: Stephen Silver
Start Date: January 14, 2008
Fees: $998 USD / SelfTaught: $698 USD
Pre-Requisites: None. This course is for any skill level.
Sign up at Schoolism.com

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The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler
Instructor: Jason Seiler
Start Date: January 16, 2008
Fees: $898 USD
Pre-Requisites: None. This course is for any skill level.
Sign up at Schoolism.com

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Digital Painting Techniques with Bobby Chiu
Instructor: Bobby Chiu
Start Date: January 3, 2008
Fees: $798 USD / SelfTaught: $558 USD
Pre-Requisites: None. This course is for any skill level.
Sign up at Schoolism.com

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

Ladies and gentlemen, the Hulk:


He kind of looks more like the the Jolly Green Giant's little pal Sprout than the Incredible Hulk. OH WELL.

I started with a rough sketch in colored pencil, and then laid down the flat colors and main shadows in Prismacolor marker. I picked up the colored pencil again to draw in the lineart and add additional shading. Finally I used a white color pencil for some highlights. The only thing I did in Photoshop was adjust the colors to match the original (it's pretty close) and drop in the type. Overall, I prefer doing my coloring digitally, but it's nice to take a break and get back to my analog roots every now and then.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Previews from the Dragons Book!

Here are some more previews from the "Dragon Sketches Book".

Hope you guys like!

the chase


Ziggy


the night battle


dragons collage


love dragons


shark-mouth dragons!


Blue Tongue Battle


lil dragons!


-Kei