BotCon! 08

So along with the sketchbook and prints I'll have on hand for sale, I'll bring some original artwork as well.  Not all of it will be Transformers, or even Hasbro related, but the bulk of it sure will be!

Here's an 11x17" marker and pen sketch of ol' Buckethead.

BotCon! 07

The last of the sketchbook images I'll post, including an example of the quick sketch I'll provide if you choose that sketchbook option.

BotCon is awarding hourly door prizes during the show, and this is one of the items I'm donating, my sketchbook with an Animated Prime sketch on the inside cover.  And then, of course is the first page of the book, Optimus Primal breaking through with some whupass.

First time EVER, for drawing Prime as either of these two versions in the canon.

The other door prize giveaway I'm donating is a print of my Animated Ironhide.  Now you might say, big deal, I can just get one at your table if I don't win - but no, Transfans - I'm just selling the Red version of Ironhide.  The door prize is a special 1/1 print of the Silver Indestructible Animated Ironhide!  I ran a single print, specially for BotCon.

All right, that's enough images shown from the sketchbook, now you gotta come down to Pasadena and get one!  Next week I'll post some other goodies I dug up from the flat files, to have on hand for sale next weekend...

BotCon! 06

More Ninja?  Allow me to put my chocolate in your peanut butter, and feature over a crossover match-up from the sketchbook.  Snake Eyes vs. Ravage.

BotCon! 05

Look out!  Ninja!

Another image from the sketchbook...

Botcon! 04

Another sketchbook image, Movie Sideswipe.  To date, probably my favorite movie character design...

BotCon! 03

This week I'll feature some of the sketches from the sketchbook...starting off with one of the more strange ones.  I'd already done an Arcee, and also a Nightbird, and I wanted at least one more female character to have in the book.  I know there's more out there, but I figured I'd try something a little more conceptual - what if? style.

What if Transformers was a girls line, and Cybertron was like an Amazonian type planet, ala Wonder Woman?  I give you Soundwave and Shockwave - the Wavettes.

BotCon! 02

Prime.  Optimus Prime.

This is the painting I created for the cover of my sketchbook for BotCon - I had posted the sketch for it a couple months ago, one on a pile of many scribbled out when I was kicking around the idea of actually getting a table at the convention.  Like I posted the other day, it's acrylic/airbrush and colored pencils, 12x18 inches.

Of course, this is a work in progress blog, so below are the gory details...

This is a shot of the under drawing, blowing up the original sketch, and getting a paint pass, with black acrylic to deepen the blacks.

I wanted to try something wispy and ethereal  for the background - as always I try to do a little experimentation with every piece.  I got it to a black and white stage I was happy with, and prepped it for color.

I had matted out Prime from the background, and painted both separately, and then when back for a third pass with the shadow colors to help bring the whole thing together.  And then it was on to pencils and paint touch-ups for the final, posted above.

BotCon! 01

Hey TransFans, I'll be appearing at BotCon, in the Artists Alley, June 2 - 5!  Pictured above is a smattering of what I'll be selling at my table; prints, a limited run sketchbook, and original art.

This is the price guide placard I'll have at my table, here are the details:

Sketchbooks - I have a limited run of these, selling for $15, and if you want a quick sketch (I'll post an example in the next week or so) on the inside front cover, that's $25.  It's a color cover, with 20 pages of B/W sketches done over the last few months.  I tried to include a wide range of the last 25+ years of Transformers, hopefully there's something for everybody in there.  I'll be posting some of the images over the next couple of weeks, leading up to the event.

Prints - My takes on the classic G1 versions of Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Jazz, Starscream and his Seekers, and also Animated Ironhide.  They are $20 each, printed on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper, sized at 11x17 inches.  It's the paper I use for my own print portfolio, the print quality is fantastic.

Original Art - I'm bringing all the art I did for the sketchbook to sell, plus various other TF items, pencil work for the Transformers Continuum Cover, some of the drawings for the above prints, plus some other random pieces that have been hidden away in the flat files.  Prices will range from just $25, up to the painting for the sketchbook cover, priced at $600.  That's an Optimus Prime painting, acrylic paint and colored pencils, 12x18 inches, with a glossy varnish, framed in black.

What else?  I'll have some of my portfolios to flip through, including the Transformers : the Game(s) artwork, if you want me to sign the one and only comic I ever did, come up and ask about the making of the first two movie games, or just stop by and say hi - I'll be there!

This is the first time I've had a table at any con, I'm pretty excited, and hope to see you there!!!

Don't forget, there's a Facebook page!  Bad Flip Productions; still building the galleries, but starting with all the Transformers games images first, and most of them are up now!

Bad Flip Productions, now serving you on Facebook!

So now there's a Facebook page.

Bad Flip Productions; still building the galleries, but starting with all the Transformers games images first.

Visit, Like, Propagate.

Thor 2.0 has begun...

...just so you know.

While I continue working on this one, I need to put it aside in the blogosphere....the robots are coming.

THE ROBOTS ARE COMING!!!

We'll talk more next week...

The Mighty Thor! 1.3

This Thor has gone through many iterations, but this is the one I like the best.  It's still a bit of an ongoing story, so I'll save the whole thing for the Thor 2.0 series, where I try to do something more...painterly, with this image.

Here's the first pass, and then a color revision, with some minor tweaks with the hammer, hammer hand, bigger eyes and a more robust cape, made on advice from a valued and experienced friend.

So this whole Thor thing was a sample request from Marvel, whom I'd met with at WonderCon last month.  The meeting went great, the portfolio I showed was mostly made up of the stuff from the last few months, Fantastic Four, Black Manta, etc.  and I was asked to do this Thor the week after.

I then worked with an assistant talent manager (or something), and the whole thing died with him.  First it was rejected for not being colorful enough, and after a rejected color revision pass, I did those tweaks after talking to my friend about what I was doing wrong.  It finally devolved into a it just not being 'painterly.'

I do and I don't know what that means.  I realized that this style is more 'slick' and clean, and is maybe more closer to packaging type art, versus illustrative art, but my portfolio was all the same thing, consistent in style, so why have me do a sample in the first place, when you're going to act surprised by what I turn in?

Like I said, this was not done for the person I met with at the Con, and haven't heard anything from him, during or since this mini-ordeal.  But guess what?  I love to paint, and I think it's a great image, so look for the Thor 2.0 series, The Painted Version, when I hopefully can continue this story with a happy ending.  Marvel has been a tough nut to crack, but it's really one of the last 'dream projects' I have on my artistic bucket list...