tatts

I get asked to design a lot of tattoos. I'm always honored someone would want to wear my artwork for the rest of their lives.

Drawing Dinos

This is a possible cover treatment for my How to Draw Comic Dinosaur book. The dinos are pencilled by Brett Booth.

Flash 30

My buddy Brett Booth has a new comic out today, Flash #30. This is a fantastic jumping on point for new readers. This series is a lifelong comic dream fro Brett so I hope he gets to do a nice long run on the book.

Marshmallow Monkeys

This is a girl's bowling team logo I designed. This was a lot of fun, I really liked how it turned out.

Chuck Dixon's 10 Rules for Writing a Comic Book Script

Chuck Dixon's 10 rules for writing a successful Comic Book.

I recently found some old comic book scripts I worked on for Dabel Bros., this list of rules was attached to my first script as advice from an editor to follow.

1. OPEN STRONG.
Get your story off and running.
 
2. ONLY ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE.
Just the talking you need to put the point across.
 
3. AT LEAST THREE PIECES OF ACTION PER STORY.
They can be mixed major or minor action but there has to be something visual and in motion in your story.
 
4. REMEMBER THAT SOMEONE HAS TO DRAW WHAT YOU WRITE.
Take pity on the penciller. Don't make him draw something difficult over and over again.
 
5. FIND SOMETHING TO LIKE ABOUT EACH CHARACTER.
Even Dr. Doom has his good points.
 
6. FIND SOMETHING TO HATE ABOUT EACH CHARACTER.
Even Batman can be aggravating or Robin self-centered.
 
7. AVOID REDUNDANCY, DON'T DESCRIBE WHAT THE READER CAN SEE.
If your character's on a motorcycle crossing a bridge there's no reason to state this in writing.
 
8. EVERY COMIC BOOK IS SOMEONE'S FIRST COMIC BOOK.
Keep your storytelling simple, basic, and easy to follow.
 
9. THE LAST PANEL OF EACH PAGE SHOULD MAKE THE READER TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Something exciting or mysterious in that final panel. "It's YOU!"
 
10. DON'T BE A SMARTA$$.
Folks don't pay good money for you to show off your college degrees. They want a good, fast paced story. Tell that story and get out of the way!
 

Hulk Smash!

The great thing about being an artist is you can make personal and creative presents for your friends and know that it won't be a duplicate gift! Here is a drawing I did for my buddy Stew's Birthday.

Galactus!

I draw something fun for myself for my Birthday every year, it is my present to myself. I've always wanted a picture of Galactus, the Marvel Comics' Planet Eater. This is a sketch Arthur Adams started but did not finish. Finishing it in a style similar to Mr. Adams' was a massive challenge. In the end I'm happy with the figure and the trees at the bottom. The clouds still need work and the way I drew space looks more like how Virgil Finlay would draw space rather than how Arthur does. I still have much to learn!

3D Structural Shapes

Basic structure forms, this video helps you understand the basic 3-D shapes you will be required to draw as an artist.

Robo Bean

This video is the big one. This is where as an artist you move from describing a figure to defining the figure. In the initial describing sections your lines are stating the direction and relationship of the various forms, but you aren't actually drawing the forms. In this video you are shown how to take a description of a relationship (the relationship of the torso and pelvis) and use it to draw an accurate definition of the actual forms. In the gesture you are drawing what the figure "feels" like, its basic rhythm, but the constructive steps are the actual forms. With the gesture you are implying a figure, but with the forms you are making a statement, the figure exists in space in this way.

The Human Bean

Here is a great short video on how to quickly draw the relation of the torso to the pelvis. It involves defining the two form's relationship as the two lobes of a bean.

Gesture Drawing

• Here is a great video on drawing successful gestures. I spend a lot of time training about forms and contours, I don't always emphasize the central action lines of the gesture as much as I should in my lessons. The gesture is the motion of the figure which is the framework for the figure. If you are familiar with my books the gesture step is what I describe as the "Matchstick Man" portion of the drawing. All successful figure drawings retain a sense of motion even when the figure is standing still. It keeps drawings from looking overly stiff.

Gesture Drawing Basics

The first step of drawing a figure is laying out the action of the figure, the central line which runs through the whole figure. It defines the rhythm of the figure in a very short quick sketch.

Quick Figure Front On View

I start most days with a quick anatomy drawing. Sharpie on an 8.5x11 copier paper. I added the briefs to retain my PG rating.

Brett Booth back in a Flash!

http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/01/13/the-flash-gets-new-creative-team-venditti-jansen-and-booth-in-april/

As long as I've known Brett Booth he has dreamed about being the regular artist on Flash. This news made my day! Wait to go Brett this is the fruit of all your hard work and never taking "no" for a final answer but seeing it as only a delay. I could not be happier for you buddy! Brett is going to tear into this book and set a new high standard.

Paolo Rivera studio tour!

This is the final for the Miracleman #9 cover. Lots and lots of fun texturing going on to separate shapes. The gears were done in illustrator, the rest is black sharpie and photoshop layering.

miracleman prelim

Most of my drawings start with a figure sketch. This is for the Miracleman #9 cover. You will see in the final I redrew the right side arm so I could incorporate the hand better into the overall composition.