This Blog is over...

The Bad Flip Blog has run its course.  It was a lot of fun, and it pushed me to really work hard to get better as an artist.   But now, the majority of final images have been collected into a new website, and with that new website comes a new blog.  The comments section will be closed on this post after two weeks, all other posts are now closed for comments.

I'll continue to post new artwork and updates through the new website/blog, and also on the Facebook page as well.

Won't you join me?

Website/Blog
Facebook Page

Thanks,

K/C

Stan Lee's Comikaze this weekend!

Come see me this weekend at Comikaze!

November 1-3, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, I'll be in the Artists Alley, at table AA1234, listed under Bad Flip Productions.

With me, I'll have: Prints, Sketchbooks, Original Art, and I will also be doing some commissions each day.

-KC

Transformers Prime : Cover Run

Transformers Prime : Beast Hunters #8

Well, that's it for me, the run is over.  I talked to Mike Johnson a bit about what he thought should be on the cover, and I pretty much drew what he envisioned.

Of course, I wanted to hear from my editor, Carlos Guzman, so I did what Mike suggested, and few more thumbnails just to have some options if they wanted to market it a different way.  I talked it over with Carlos at SDCC, and I knew he was looking for a big impact cover, with multiple characters - he signed off on the original concept from Mike, so I got to drawing.

Here's that first set of thumbnail sketches:

And when Carlos signed off on the concept, on to the layout image, just about exactly Mike suggested in the first place:

I was asked to make sure Arcee's gun was not pointed at the viewer - I think that may have been the only comment back from Hasbro during the whole run.

That got approved, and so on to the final pencils/inks to get ready for color:

And then the final image:

Zartan

Transformers Prime : Beast Hunters #7

I slightly altered the preview art - the cone of the Nemesis is supposed to go over the logo.

Anyways, I had finally met Mairghread Scott at BotCon, and we talked a little about what was coming up in the last two issues, and discussed cover ideas.  She fed me some info, and I scribbled out a rough thumbnail while she was standing there.  A little bit later Carlos stopped by to say hi, and I showed in the little sketch, and gave me the green light to go ahead.  Mairghread had to clear the reveal with the show runners, and I was moving forward.

Unfortunately, that little sketch was on commission scrap paper, that got thrown out when I got home.

Anyways, after I got settled back into the office, I went ahead and did the layout sketch, to make sure it was still what we all wanted:

That got the go ahead, and I took it to inks:

And then to final:

This might be my favorite of the run, I really like the mood; the ominous discovery of an Aubotbot discovering Megatron's ship, back on Cybertron.

Sharkticon Week! Day 5 - Carcharias Prime!

Sharkticon Week! Day 4 - Makotron!

Sharkticon Week! Day 3 - Thresher Byte!

Sharkticon Week! Day 2 - Tiger Shock!

Because...you know...it's like 'Tiger Shark.'

Charticon 2013!

Charticon is this weekend!  I'll be there Friday through Sunday.  There's a meet and greet patio party Friday night, and I'll be on the con floor the whole weekend, but I'll step away, for just a bit on Saturday afternoon, to join the IDW artists panel.

As usual, I'll have prints, sketchbooks, originals, and will be available for commissions during the show.  Here's a more comprehensive overview of what I'll have with me:

Convention Stuff

Also, I'll be participating in the Charticon Charity Auction, supporting A Child's Place.  I'm donating a Transformers Prime : Beast Hunters #1 sketch cover:

Also, I saw there's a couple of Rage of the Dinobots series in the auction, winners are welcome to stop by and get them signed as well.  I'm hoping it's a massively successful event!

Hope to see you there!



Oh, and one more thing.  Charticon, NC + Discovery Shark Week = Sharkticon Week, on the Bad Flip Blog.  Every week day I'll post a sketch of a shark themed bot...you know, for fun.

We start with Hammer Strike.

SDCC 2013 Aftermath

My space in the Artists Alley!

I had a great time, but it was a totally different experience working the show, rather than bumming around and checking stuff out in between meals and meet-ups with buddies and work friends.  I did manage to get a few hours over the course of the show to hang out and shop a bit, but up until Sunday morning, I had commissions to do.  Here's a few from the show, when I remembered to take a picture before handing it over...

I just started this drawing during preview night, and it was received so well, that someone else requested the same version of Galactus, but eating a sandwich.  For Reals.

A Fat Stormtrooper.  Enough said.

Unit-E Acroyear - this one was out of the blue, I never thought I'd ever draw this guy again, a really fun surprise request.

There were a number of others, but I just didn't think to take a picture of all of them.

Thanks again to the organizers, Sam for giving me a table, Claudine for helping out so much getting set up, and Allen for all the tips!

And thanks to everyone who came by, and a special shout out, to what I will name you as the 'Goofball Four' - you know who you are - thanks for making it such a fun show!

SDCC!!!!

It is time.  Artist Alley, San Diego Comic Con, find me at BB-03.  I will be so happy to see you.  Wow, not a lot of time to get ready, lots of traveling lately, including a convention.  So I might as well link you to the last post of stuff I'll have on for sale, from just a couple of weeks ago:

Convention Stuff

So, it'll be pretty much the same stuff.

But.

I did put together an all new sketchbook, filled with a lot of the art I've posted on the Blog the last couple of years.  Paint tests, studies, etc., from Beast, to Predator, to my own creations, like good ol' Monsterface from just a few posts ago.

This one is 20 Pages, and in full color.

See ya there!

*If you want to have do a commission for you, please bring some reference; I'm traveling light to this one, I'll only have the G1 book with me.

Transformers Prime : Beast Hunters #6

Dinobots!  Look out!

So Carlos dropped me a quick email, and asked, "how about the OTHER Dinobots jumping down at the viewer," so I whipped up these thumbnail ideas:

I think I pushed for #2, just because there was a twist on the angle, and I wanted it to be something different than TFP #1, just minus Grimlock.  Each one of those guys has stuff built up on their backs, so it's tough on the technical side to do a group shot, and not cover up important features on the 'bot behind in succession.  But I think all three could have come out pretty well - the third option in hindsight reminds me of the Giant Sized X-Men cover a little bit.

On to the layout based on the chosen thumbnail, to really figure out the composition, and both get it approved for final, and set up the final artwork:

The final inks - other than cleanup, the big boys stayed pretty much the same, but I tweaked Swoop around a lot, just tiny adjustments here and there with scale and location.

So that's #6, out in October from IDW.  And as always, everything is for sale on the Facebook Page, or email me directly, this one is just now available in time to go down to Comic Con, priced at $400.

Monsterface!

Another 'portrait' piece.  I barely ever get to do monsters or fantasy stuff, and I wanted to do something in the spare time.  I had a sketch that was just sitting around, so I decided to paint it up, and try to use colors a little outside my comfort zone.

Monsterface.

Cat Lady

Just doing some quick paints to add to a new full color sketchbook, and taking the chance to practice portrait skills.

BotCon 2013 - San Diego!

BotCon 2013 is this week!!!  And I'll be there in the Artist Alley, with all the usual goodies for sale, including a new batch of prints!

Brawn! DEVASTATOR! Cliffjumper! TFA Bumblebee and Rainbow Dash!

(Great Team-Up, or Greatest Team-Up?)

To go along with the old batch of prints, and more!  11"x17" full color glossy, for $20 each.  Also, I'll have a very limited amount of images postcard size; 4"x6" full color glossy, $5 each, or 5 for $20.

I have 3 volumes of Sketchbooks, and Volume III is new to BotCon:  Color Covers, B&W interiors, 20 pgs. $15 each.

Also, I'll be taking commissions at the con, starting at $75 for a grayscale single character bust+ - anything more, we'll talk about it at the con - here's an example:

There will be TONS of original art available as well, maybe you'll find the image you want, already drawn!  Feel free to browse the original art gallery on the Facebook page - most, if not all, is going to be at the table for sale, including art for the Transformers Prime comic series from IDW.  (I may even have a couple pieces from the upcoming Covenant of Primus...)

If you have comics you want signed, just stop by, and I'll scrawl out a K/C for you, no problem.

See you there!

Transformers Prime : Beast Hunters #5

Hold yer Energon, Grimmy!

The idea pitched by Carlos this time was to have Grimlock holding back a flood of Energon, bursting from it's underground river run.  Above is the thumbnail that won.

I had trouble finding the right...everything...on this one, I had it pictured finished in my head, but really had to turn to the computer to tweak nearly everything in the layout stage.

This is the original layout, that just didn't seem to capture the energy of the thumbnail, but rather than redraw it, I chopped it up in photoshop, and re-sized and rearranged everything, to both submit the layout for approval, and prepare for the next step, the line art.

With a better sense of proportions, and went ahead and took it to final line art, still tweaking as I went along, notably the hand position.

And that's #5!  This piece is available now, for $400 - contact ken@badflip.com, or find it, along with a ton of more original art and prints, in the Facebook galleries, on the Bad Flip Productions page.

The Search for Solo

One more Star Wars.

When I was up in the Northwest for the Emerald City and Portland Conventions, I went to the Star Wars store, in Aberdeen WA - my birthtown.  Of course there would be a store devoted to the Saga.  Any how, I scored an old mini-rig in great condition, one of my all time favorite toys from childhood, called the INT-4.  It stuck in my craw that I might want to do a redesign to just update it a little, so let's call it an INT-5.

I finally got around to it, and why not, throw some character studies in there too, just for fun.  There's still not enough Chewbacca in the world...

Star Wars Fighter Pods, Wave 4 pt. 2

More Episode II characters.  To go with the canceled 3d re-release.  Anyways...

Captain Typho - only completists would even care about this character.

Jango Fett - with more blaster action, and no bathrobe!

Ki-Adi Mundi - I'm glad they tweaked the befuddlement post I gave him, and raised his hand up into a force push pose.

Plo Kloon - telling everyone in the arena to just chill out.

Mace Mutherf'in Windu - about to cut off some heads.

This is something a little different, more than just sketches for the Hailfire Droid.  Eric asked me to do tighter-than-usual turnaround views for this vehicle, as it was going to be larger, with more defined details.  I've still yet to see this in action, I hope the kids think it's fun to play with!

OK, that's it for Wave 4.  Your guess is as good as mine for when the next batch comes out!

Star Wars Fighter Pods, Wave 4 pt. 1

These have been out for months, apparently, but all I've ever seen are the blind packs.  Anyways, here's Ep. II Anakin - at the time we were trying to figure out if we wanted to double fist the sabers, or have a force push action.  Well, now I know how it turned out, two lightsabers it is!

A Geonesian Warrior - Looks like they dropped the wings, and gave him a more detailed spear.

Boba Fett's dad.  Wearing a Snuggie.  But two-fisting blasters to back up his couture choices.

Kit Fisto - one of the coolest looking Jedis in the Arena Battle.  Then he went out like a punk in the next movie.

Master Obi Wan Kenobi - originally drawn in an action pose, but it looks like the hand got tweaked to give him a force push in the final product.

R5-D4 - Finally, an OT character!  We made an attempt to tweak him a little to make it a little different than the R2's already out, but I think it was better to reel it back and give him a regular stance for the final product.


OK, later this week, more character sketch designs, and some control drawings for the Hailfire Droid.