It's Gallagher!

So, as promised in my last post, I've done another portrait, this time of my pal and yours, John Gallagher:

I used basically the same technique as I did for the portrait of Jamar, but I still think it looks slightly different stylistically. I think the portrait of Jamar is a bit harder edged, maybe with more of a watercolor feel, while this one seems more like gouache to me. Perhaps because it seems a bit softer; I can't quite put my finger on why. Of course, both are "painted" digitally over my pencil sketches. I'd like to someday get back to exploring this sort of work in actual real world paint, but for now, I'm happy to play around on the computer. The next portrait I do will be that much-needed updated self-portrait. I'll keep you posted.

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Speaking of John and Jamar, my fellow trihosts of the Comic Book Diner, I just want to make sure everyone out there is aware that we've been podcasting weekly. We are up to Episode 5, and just recorded the sixth show last night, so if you haven't checked us out yet, you have some catching up to do! Please be sure to check out what we're doing. We're having a great time, and talking a lot about the business side of working in comics. We get a little goofy at times, but we're also trying to be as informative as possible. All in all, it's both educational and entertaining. Or at least it is to us! Please go to www.comicbookdiner.com or you can find us on iTunes here, so please have a listen! The fries are on us!

I'll be back soon with more!

Best,
Rich

It's Jamar!

Or rather, a sketch I did of him.

I rarely draw just for the fun of it these days. I find most of my time is taken with drawing for work, or I wind up spending my work time doing things for my various websites. Yesterday, I was proofing some comic book stuff, in my capacity as editor for John Gallagher's Buzzboy, and I went to the web to check to make sure one of the visuals was correct. When I found what I was looking for, one of the other things that came up in the image search was a picture of me with one of my trihosts from Comic Book Diner, Jamar Nicholas. I liked the angle of the shot (the photo was taken by your friend and mine, Mike Manley, so no surprise that it was well composed), so I decided to do a little sketch of it. I thought it turned out ok, so I took a photo of it with my phone camera, and imported it into Photoshop to clean it up a little (that, by the way, is a little tech tip. If you're on the go with your art, and don't have access to a scanner, but need to upload it somewhere, you can take a picture of it, and clean it up in Photoshop later. I actually do this quite a bit now).

Well, I got kind of carried away, added color, and an hour and a half after I began, I wound up with a completed color sketch. What's funny, is that generally, I do a finished drawing, maybe ink it, and THEN add color digitally. and even then, I use my tablet to color, fairly precisely. This time, I used a mouse, on my dining room table. I don't normally work this way, so this was a little rougher than my usual finished work, but it was also liberating. It kind of felt like working with watercolors, and I think the finished drawing sort of looks like a watercolor piece. Anyway, here's the sketch:



I'm going to attempt to do a few more like this, beginning with a much-needed new self-portrait, and one of Gallagher as well, as I'm thinking we might be able to use them for the podcast website. I'm sure I can do one like this of me, but I have a feeling John will be a challenge. Ironic, since he and I have been friends and colleagues for over eight years, and I sit right next to him at every show I do. We'll see if that translates into an accurate portrait. I'll keep you posted!

I'll be back soon, so stay tuned!

Best,
Rich

Albert Einstein - Finished!

I had almost two hours to kill in a waiting room this morning, so I brought my art supply toolbox and the Einstein piece that I showed in progress last week. It was nice to be able to relax with my artwork for a change, rather than having to do something for someone else on deadline. This was one of those rare occasions when I could just do my thing, with nothing else in mind. I usually pick at my work, and make small adjustments even after it's "finished," and right now I see some things I could have done a bit better. However, in this case, I think I'll let it stand as is.



You might notice the increased details, added contrast for depth, and especially, that I fixed that wandering eye Albert had in my previous version. I don't have the opportunity to do ink washes very often, so this was fun!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Best,
Rich

In Progress: Einstein Portrait

Last November, my wife and I had a little weekend getaway on Shelter Island, which is a small island just north of East Hampton, NY, on Long Island. While there, I began this ink wash piece of Albert Einstein. Ironically, this was created within miles of where Einstein spent a number of summers.

However, that piece of information never crossed my mind until just this moment, as I was trying to think of something interesting to write. On that note, here's the work:



I plan to add quite a bit more contrast and depth to it, and I'm hoping that by posting it, I'll force myself to commit to completing it!

I hope you have a nice weekend!

Best,
Rich

Cars

Well, my work schedule has been non-stop in the past month, and appropriately enough, befitting my pace lately, I've been drawing cars. Fast cars.

A colleague of mine recently hired me to draw a 1969 Chevy Chevelle for him. He had an assignment to do a movie poster, to be featured within an actual movie, and it required a car drawing. Now, my friend is an incredible artist, but really hates drawing cars. Anyone who knows me, knows that not only is drawing cars a specialty of mine, it's also one of the things I love doing. I was thrilled to work on this project, and am very happy with the result:



Immediately following this project, I was hired by Starbridge Media,the company doing NASCAR comic books to draw a short backup story about the inaugural Daytona 500. This was really cool on a few fronts. First, this is the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500, and this comic will be available at the actual race. Second, the race itself was unbelievable, ending with an incredible photo finish! I won't reveal the results here, but it was one of the most exciting finishes in all of NASCAR's history. Third, not only was I able to draw the actual cars involved, but the story also required me to draw the drivers as well, so I got to do something else that is both a passion and a specialty, portrait illustrations. Last, as I was finishing the story it occurred to me that in my fifteen years working in comics, this was the first story I'd actually drawn (from layouts by John Gallagher), rather than inked. So, now that you've read this far, here are some of the images:













There's a pretty good chance that there will be more of these "History of NASCAR" stories, so hopefully, I'll have another opportunity for this type of work soon!

As always, I'll try to post some new art soon! Thanks for reading!

Best,
Rich