Yet Another Avenger!?!

"Let's get the flak outta here!"  Called out Iron Man, as he led the still surviving A-10's through a barrage of fire and shrapnel...

Here's just the pencils...

Another Avenger? Now with COLOR!

A quick color comp to have with me to help with the eventual painting...

Another Avenger?

Yeah, I know I mentioned Cap yesterday, but I'm also thinking about Iron Man and ol' Mean Green here...

Thor 2.2

...and here's the final painting!  I think I like this one better than the digital one - I know I had more fun making it on the drafting table, rather than behind a computer.  There are still some things that I achieve digitally that I can't yet duplicate with paint, but I'm getting closer, a lot more than when I re-started painting, 18 months ago.

Here's a detail shot of the mighty Thor.  I put a swirl emanating from the Hammer with the gesso prep, to give the power focus from Mjolnir, spreading across the rest of the page.

All right, time to put this one away.  Got a lot of stuff coming up, but I may try to squeeze in the rest of the Avengers, got a hankerin' to do Cap knocking out a bunch of Ratzis, in anticipation of the movie...

Thor 2.1

Remember this?  Thor 2.0 has begun...

Well, after BotCon and all the sketchbook sketches (there are still some available!) , I'm back to a bit of painting - trying to recreate my Thor digital illustration in the real world.  With real paint, on real paper.

And so there it is, the pencil drawing with a paint layer, time to break out the pencils and finish it up...

Sketchbooks for Sale!

Leftover Sketchbooks from BotCon 2011 are now available to order!  Here are the details:

$15 for just a sketchbook, $25 for a sketchbook with a quick sketch on the inside cover (examples below).

$5 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for the United States.
$12 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for Canada and Mexico.
$14 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for International Locations.

Email me at ken@badflip.com, with 'Sketchbook Order' in the Subject Line, let me know what you want, and I'll create an invoice for you with payment options.

Here's an example of some quick sketches I did at the Con:

Basically a head sketch, and I try to work in some character silhouette iconography as well.  You  can ask for anything* published (it's not ALL G1!), these are just a few pre-sketches I had left over - I did a little bit of everything over the BotCon Weekend,  TF:Prime Starscream, Animated Bumblebee, G1 Ravage...just let me know!

Remember that I'm working on projects full time, and I'm handling all this myself; the plan is to take orders during the week, then create invoices, do the sketches, and fill paid orders on the weekends, and ship out on Mondays.  I will get them out as fast as possible!  THANK YOU!!!


*Please don't request sketches or recreations related to anything shown or discussed on the toy and IP panels at BotCon, or even a sketch of Prima, even though he's been published.  That stuff is still on the Down Low, and it will get me into Big Fat Trouble with my friends at Hasbro - just existing, (old and new) published characters.

I reserve the right to refuse a request, due to trademark infringements and my non-disclosure agreements, but I will absolutely offer an alternative.  Example: I can't take requests like a 'Ravage in the Transformers : Prime/Universe Style' - I work with Hasbro on IP development from time to time, I don't want to be held accountable for an idea that someone has, that has the potential to show up later in media or products, whether or not I had anything to do with it.  My alternative offer would be that I'd do a Movie Ravage in the G1 cartoon style, or something like that.  Thanks for understanding...

BotCon! Recap!

What a great time!  Here's me and my fat face at my table - I had so many awesome visitors come by the table, thank you so much to everyone who stopped by!  Three days of good times, Friday afternoon for the hardcore BotCon'er's, capped off by a great dinner with some pals from Hasbro.  Saturday was a looong day, but had a great finish at the Hall of Fame Event, of which I was lucky enough to be invited to contribute to the Erector reel, providing the 'Movie' version artwork.  Congrats goes to Waspinator!  We got treated to about 15 minutes of the Dark of the Moon footage - the rumble of the theater alone is worth the ticket price on this one.  I can't spoil anything, but there is a shot in the film, that I have been waiting a long time to see - Fanboy Minutia, true, but it's done very well.  One other great thing - MULTIPLE standing ovations for Peter "Optimus Prime" Cullen during the event.  And finally Sunday was another great day for meeting folks stopping by, and the Hasbro IP panel, where they revealed some of my artwork that's been kept under wraps for quite awhile; some of the 13 Primes, and additional character concepts, thanks to Aaron and Rik for the shout-outs!

I also want to give a big thank you to my wife Keri, who helped me out and held down the fort while I was out playing around, and bringing me food (and even to Marcelo, who had a table next to me, who was without a helper on Sunday) and chatting with people who stopped by while I got lost in the zone of doing sketches - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  I could not have done it without you!

This was a gift from a BIG Sunstreaker fan, who goes by 'Brain23', (on deviant art) a very kind Japanese woman who stopped by my table many times, and kept throwing money at me, and at the end of the con, she gave me this, a Starscream fan - how cool is that!?!  It will find a place of honor in my studio.

Here's a pile of some of the awesome swag I got from the con, of course the comic, (which, like a dumbass, forgot to ask Marcelo Matere to sign, but he did sign his sketchbook for me!) and we traded some prints, I got his two impeccably awesome TFA prints, some of my favorite Hall of Fame giveaways, the Matrix Prime Kre-O giveaway, and some stuff I bought, a Nightbird, Spike & Sparkplug, and blue Rumble figure items, along with the fan from Brain23.

I had a great time, and would love to do it again, thanks again to everyone who stopped by!

There ARE leftover sketchbooks, I'll be posting worldwide order details in a few days, if you were unable to go to the con and wanted one, stay tuned...

BotCon, is ON! UPDATED!

All right, I'm packing up my last bit of stuff, and heading down the road to Pasadena!

Including this gem, my first published Transformers effort, from 1985, or '86, Autobot Frys.  I was 11.  Enjoy the riveting adventure...

Hope to see some of you in Pasadena!!!

Update - I'm at table 87, right on the other of the Optimus Prime movie truck!

BotCon! 10

It's getting close, going to be at BotCon tomorrow!!!  Here's a couple pieces of artwork I'll have for sale with me for the event - not Transformers, but Hasbro related...

GI Joe's Scarlett cleaning some smudge out of her crossbow, and...

Mr. Fussy Pants himself, Cobra Commander!

Both are 11x14", Marker, Pen, and colored Pencils.

BotCon! 09

Another sketch I'll have on hand for sale - Wheeljack! 

11x14", Markers and pencils.  And I'll tell you, this might be the one that gets me into trouble with myself...I'm pretty sure he's going to start off the next round of my G1 inspired renders to go along with the prints I'm selling this year.  Wow that's going to be a lot of work!  But I really like this design and pose, and I think it deserves to go to the next level.