Friday, February 29, 2008

The Other Bat Sidekicks (Part 2 of 2)

Finishing up this two-part series, it's Bat-Mite, Batman and Robin's number one fan from another dimension:


If anyone from DC editorial is reading this, please hire me to write and draw a new Bat-Mite series, co-starring Ace the Bat-Hound. Thank you.

Sincerely,
J.Ho

Post Script: Here is a wallpaper as incentive, conveniently available in both fullscreen and widescreen:

click above for 1280 x 1024 (Fullscreen)

click above for 1920 x 1200 (Widescreen)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Other Bat Sidekicks (Part 1 of 2)

It's Batman's dog, Ace the Bat-Hound:



This was drawn around the same time as the Batwoman and Bat-Girl pieces that I posted two weeks ago. If you haven't guessed which character I'll be posting on Friday, here's a hint: he does wear short-pants sometimes, but he is not Robin. See ya Friday!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Deval Patrick





Deval Patrick, for The Weekly Standard. Got a call to do this job late Thursday afternoon. Worked a bit on it Thursday night, final due on Friday . . . all in all took me about 12 hours to complete. This quick of a turn around pushes me in many areas, definitely a challenge woth the while.

Just wanted to also remind folks out there that my second online course for Schoolism starts April 3. Check out the Schoolism Blog to see students work from this semesters course as well as other Schoolism courses.

Friday, February 22, 2008

'Hawk and Croc

I did get a mohawk this past weekend. I did not get a pet crocodile. Which is fortunate... for my enemies.



I've been lazy/tired/whatevs, so this was a last minute deal. I'm happy with it, which I guess means that I should work under pressure more often.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Online art classes open for registration on Schoolism

Online art classes open for registration on Schoolism:
Character Design by Silver - March 25, 2008
The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler - April 03, 2008
Digital Painting Techniques with Bobby Chiu - March 25, 2008
Coming Soon...
Storyboarding with Kris Pearn
Drawing Fundamentals With Marcelo Vignali

VISIT OUR SCHOOLISM BLOG to see our students work

Here's a little sketch of a pug I did for a Christmas present this year.

Just a reminder for those in the SF area, we'll be at the WONDERCON this weekend. Table AA93-95

Monday, February 18, 2008

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To...

(Posting early, just because.)

I caught the second half of the new Knight Rider last night. It was aight, but it's just not the same without the Cylon-esque HWOOO-HWOOO sound effect and the personality and dry wit of William Daniels as Kitt.

In keeping with the fact that I am an ancient relic, incapable of accepting progress or change, here's a picture of KITT from the original Knighter Rider TV series:

click above for larger view

Vroom!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Life Drawings and Wondercon Feb 22-24!

Hi everyone,

Every week, I've been tagging along with Bobby to his life drawing classes here at Sheridan College, and currently they are focusing on costumes. Here are some from this week that were really fun to draw. Hope you enjoy!

These range from 2 - 10 mins.
18 x 24 in, pastel and conte on manila paper and newsprint








Also an announcement for those in the San Francisco area...
Bobby Chiu, Thierry Lafontaine, Stephen Silver and I will be in San Francisco February 22-24 for the Wondercon. Bobby, Thierry and I will be sitting at tables AA93-95. I'm sharing my table with Bill Presing. Love his work!
Hope to see you there!

Kei

The Original Bat Ladies (Part 2 of 2)

A drawing of the original Bat-Girl (with some minor costume tweaks) to accompany my illustration of Batwoman:
click above for larger view

And a wallpaper--available, for your convenience, in both widescreen and fullscreen proportions. Please enjoy:

click above for 1280 x 1024 (Fullscreen)

click above for 1920 x 1200 (Widescreen)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Subway Sketching and Pen Drawings

Here's a bunch of sketches. The yellow ones are from subway sketching and the rest were done on my recent trip to France. It's subtle but I think my sketches changed a bit during my time there.

Some people ask me why the yellow paper...
No reason. I found a stack of old yellow paper in a drawer and didn't want it to go to waste.




Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Original Bat Ladies (Part 1 of 2)

The original Batwoman, with a few minor costume tweaks:
click above for larger view

This is an older drawing that I colored up. You can probably imagine what's coming next friday when I post the companion to this piece.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

"LIFE" by Silver


I wanted to give a quick update and let you know that the March 25th character design course with schoolism is almost filled, just a few spots left. Also I wanted to let you know that my new book "LIFE" will be shipping at the end of this month, you can preorder it right now through my website. www.silvertoons.com. I have done a limited run so it will only be available through my website and any conventions I will be attending. My first convention of the year will be Wonder Con in San Francisco on Feb 22nd. So be sure to stop by and say hello.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Not to be confused with the non-Chinese one...

(Posted early for maximum holiday appreciation)

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the rat:

click above for larger view

A rough pen sketch, cleaned up and colored in Photoshop (2.5 hours total--pretty quick, for me).

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Sketch for Business Week






This is a quick sketch that I just did for Business week. They wanted something very loose, sketchy, and washy. Very similar to a Billy Joe that I did a while back. They also wanted a darker palette. The sketches below the final sketch were done in prep for the job, trying to come up with a concept or idea for the drawing. They wanted to show that this guy is headed for a tough year. I right away thought of the roadrunner cartoons and thought it would be funny to have him leaping off a cliff . . . turns out they wanted something much more simple and even less detailed, more loose, more sketchy. It's fun every once and a while to do something quick and loose. BTW, the final was done with a BIC ballpoint pen, with a few washes of watercolor . . . drawn in my sketchbook.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Don't Look A (Humanoid Robotic) Gift Horse In The Mouth

Today's post is a long-delayed follow-up to my take on Stridor. It's Night Stalker, now outfitted with the same humanoid transformation that I gave to Stridor. I drew Night Stalker with a slightly heavier build than Stridor, and some different details. He is armed with Asian weaponry as a nod to the fact that he was typically portrayed as the steed of Jitsu, Skeletor's token Asian henchman. The pole-arm is a Pudao also know as a horse-cutter, and the swords are a set of Daisho. And I slapped a bat-cape on him because I have a tough time not giving cool villains bat-capes.
click above for larger view

His title of "Evil Armored Dragoon" owes to the fact that I found a definition that described a Dragoon as "a soldier trained to fight on foot but who transports himself on horseback." This seemed like the perfect description for a transforming horse warrior. Elsewhere, I found that Dragoon or Dragoon Guard referred to heavy cavalry, which was appropriate to the bulkier look that I gave night Stalker.

Last but not least, the nerdy, in-depth bio:

* * *

PROFILE: A brilliant strategic mind and a brutally effective warrior, NIGHT STALKER is every bit the match for his brother Stridor. But where Stridor is gentle and merciful, Night Stalker is brooding and unforgiving. He adheres to a strict code of honor, but nonetheless believes might makes right. This harsh sense of honor has earned him the friendship and trust of the similarly dispositioned Jitsu.

Night Stalker is outfitted with standard Stridor-type weaponry (dual heavy laser cannons, and a rapid-fire hip blaster)--however, he prefers to engage in melee combat with his custom-made horse-cutter or Daisho swords. He commands a regiment of Equestris mercenaries with a few other renegade Stridor units mixed in.

HISTORY: Night Stalker was the first of the mass-produced Stridor units, and was groomed to be the original Stridor's second-in-command. Although their personalities were like night and day, the two considered each other brothers and were a formidable team on the battlefield. In time, Night Stalker was promoted, and became commander of his own unit.

During a heat wave, Night Stalker and his troops were sent to perform crowd control in a town where drought and food shortage were causing riots and looting. They had been dispatched with the idea that their imposing stature would be enough to intimidate the angry mobs into submission--on the contrary, because of their greatly superior size and strength, the troops couldn't act against the relatively weak humans for fear of harming them. Night Stalker had no choice but to withdraw his troops. However, the rioters had become increasingly aggravated, and Night Stalker and his troops found their backs against the city walls. A make-shift bomb was thrown, a nearby wagon transporting fuel was ignited, and the ensuing explosion brought the city walls down on top of the Stridors. All the troops under Night Stalker's command were destroyed, and he himself was damaged almost beyond repair--there were no human casualties.

The incident changed Night Stalker forever. He blamed himself, feeling that had he used force to decisively end the conflict, his troops would still be alive. Why, he asked himself, should the strong suffer at the hands of the weak? Night Stalker became increasingly insubordinate, and finally deserted his post. Stridor tracked Night Stalker down and attempted to talk to his brother. Their conversation became heated, and Night Stalker lashed out; an intense duel ensued, and Night Stalker got the best of Stridor. He restrained himself from making the killing blow, and disappeared into the wildnerness.

Night Stalker became a mercenary, and occasionally a bandit. He eventually crossed paths with Jitsu--though the two were initially contentious, Jitsu saw that they shared a common worldview, and he recruited Night Stalker to Skeletor's cause. Since then, Night Stalker has swayed a few other disillusioned Stridor units to join his forces.

Stridor remains determined to bring his brother back to the fold.


* * *

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

Sunday, February 3, 2008

from France with love.. Angouleme 2008

The Town of Angouleme

Before going to Angouleme, we didn't know too much about this festival except for the fact that it's one of the largest comic book fests in Europe. When we arrived and started to learned more and more about this fascinating town, it started to seem like this place was a dream come true, that we were wisked off into a magical wonderland of a comic book world! Every person in the town not just appreciates art but truly loves it! In every shop, whether it be a clothing store, a bakery or a dental office, they would have their favorite comic book characters decorated all over their place!



In the center of town there is a giant bronze sculpture of their town hero, Hergé, the creator of Tin Tin! That just shows how much this whole town revolves around art and literature.


An amazing site to see.



One of the many adorable shops we saw.



The town is covered with many fun murals..these are just some of them.



A night view of the city hall area (its the big castle on the left.)


One of the alleys in the main resturant district-- The Moroccan resturant we kept coming back to for their couscous!



The Show

The humble population of 50,ooo of Angouleme quickly grew into 250,000 as the festival started, attracting people from all over Europe and North America. It was inasane, you just have to be there to experience it all...






..the people were sooo nice, the food was nothing but the finest, freshest quality, the air was pure, and the art was simply divine. It's one of the best trips we've had, and we can't wait till next year.

If you want to see some videos from the festival here's a link. (Its in French, but you can really get a sense of how the event went.)

And stay tuned for some journal sketches and our adventure in Paris!!

Bisoux!
Kei