Announcement!

  Hi All---

  Just wanted to post a heads up----I haven't been posting commission work for a bit because I've begun taking on freelance assignments again.
  This means I'll have less time to devote to commission work.  I'll still be posting work on commissions that are on the current list as I am able to work on them, so stay tuned.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at graphitemonkey@yahoo.com.
  My next commission will be Olivia's Scarlett and Snake Eyes.  I hope to start work on it next week.
  In the meantime---Thanks as always for your support and for stopping by The Window.  I hope you're all doing great, and I'll see you back here soon.

Lara Croft/Hawkgirl Commission Finished

Hey All---

Here are the final pencils for the Lara Croft/Hawkgirl commission.  Hope you'll all enjoy it!

Lara Croft & Hawkgirl Part 6

  Hey All---

  Hope you're having a nice weekend.  I've been away for a couple of days watching my daughter while her daycare was on holiday.  I got a little done on thursday evening, and last night was a birthday party for my friend and studiomate, Chris Moreno.  I took the evening off to trek down to the Bigfoot Lodge and wish him a very happy birthday.
  I did get a good bit of work done today, though, so here's my current progress on the Lara Croft/Hawkgirl commission.  I hope you'll enjoy it.  I'm trying to get some more done this evening, but I may retire for the evening soon.

Lara Croft/ Hawkgirl Part 5

  Here's where I'm at as of 11pm----I think I'm gonna call it a night.  Lara Croft's all done and the mummy hand is drawn in.  I'll start and hopefully finish Hawkgirl tomorrow.

  Heading out---Have a great night everyone.

Lara Croft/ Hawkgirl Part 4

  Nearing completion on the Lara Croft figure.  If anyone is wondering, I've been referencing the promo images of the new Lara Croft model, Alison Carrol (May have spelled that wrong) in a more recent Tomb Raider outfit than the old sleeveless shirt, shorts and sunglasses version.  I'm not going for Carrol's likeness or anything, just kind of following that same direction.  I'm having a lot more fun drawing her here than when I drew her in Tomb Raider: Journeys. 

  I'll be coming back to the studio to work more tonight, so I'll be posting more progress this evening.

Lara Croft/ Hawkgirl Commission part 3

  Hi All---

  Here's new work on the Lara Croft figure---Getting closer to finishing her up.  More soon!

Lara Croft and Hawkgirl part 2

  Hey All---

  Here's a quick look at current progress on the Lara Croft figure.  Sloppy photography by my iphone.  Probably won't post again tonight---It's my and my wife's seventh wedding anniversary, so I'll be taking off in about an hour and won't be back to work 'til tomorrow.

  See ya then!

Wonder Woman and Hippolyta Final

Greetings, all. Presented for you approval is the final inks for Wonder Woman and Hippolyta. This was a very entertaining piece to work with, Drew provided a drawing containing many textures and levels. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I could work on art like this every day of my life and be happy. On with the show...

And now off to begin Monty's 'Gentleman Prefer Crazies' piece. If you love Harley, check out Rich's link on Bleeding Cool for 'Dance Like Nobody's Cosplaying'. Too cute for words!

Best,
Ray

Lara Croft & Hawkgirl Commission Part 1

Hey All---

Blogging from Garage Art Studios today---Started work last night on the new commission.  Tomb Raider's Lara Croft and The Silver Age Hawkgirl.  This is a really fun piece.  I'll be combining the adventurous aspects of both characters as they explore a lost temple and are about to be set upon by mummies.
This shot from my iphone cam shows you the really early stage in the commission's development.  I'm still roughing through the Croft figure, and there are still a couple of spots where I'm still working out some issues. 
 Last night, my studiomate, Chris Moreno pointed out that my Hawkgirl figure is a little stiff here---He sat down and sketched out an alternate idea that really makes the piece work nicely, so I'm going with it.  Hats off to Mr Moreno for his awesomeness.  In fact, I'm gonna post his sketch here, to show what Chris showed me. 

Hope you're all doing great, and that you'll enjoy this stuff.

Shin Commission Finish

  Here's the final pencils for the Warrior Elf Shin commission.  I've been working in a new studio lately,  Garage Art Studios (www.garageartstudios.net), and have had my nose firmly affixed to the grindstone, keeping later hours than I have in a while.  Seems the results involve faster work on my commissions...So that's cool:)  I forgot to photograph my progress on this one today, though, so I do apologize for the lack of process views .  I'm starting work on my next commission tonight, and will make an effort to be more efficient in my documentation. 
  I had a lot of fun on this one---It was a nice time-out from super heroes.  I hope the client and all of you will enjoy it!
  On to Lara Croft and The Silver Age Hawkgirl next!

  Hope you're all doing great!

Shin Commission Part 1

  Hey All---

  Here's first work on the new commission, an original character of the client's called Shin, an elf warrior.  This is a photo off the iphone, so it's not a great scan, but it'll give you an idea of where this piece is at.  I'm drawing this one on comic board from DC Digital, so that's why there's a gutter in the middle of the paper.  It's good paper---I enjoyed working on it when I was drawing Masters of The Universe #8.  It's smooth board and it takes the pencil well.
  More soon!

Huntress & Black Canary Commission Final

  Hi All---

  Here are the finished pencils for the Huntress/Black Canary Commission.  I hope my client will enjoy it, and that you'll all get a kick out of it as well.  I love these characters and had a blast working on them.  Next up will be an original fantasy genre character called Shin.  I started work on the figure roughs last night, and am still working through them.  I'll be posting some progress on this piece later  today.
  Hope everyone is doing great, and that you're all enjoying what Ray and I have been posting here.  Please don't forget you can post comments on the blog at any time.  Just hit comment, write your thoughts and where it asks what id you want to post under, just hit anonymous, and you should be good to go.  Please feel free to sign your comments, so we know who to thank, or who to mutter under our breaths about:)

  More soon!

Wonder Woman and Hippolyta IV

Greetings, all! Presented you'll find the next installment of WW and Hippolyta. I've finished the basics of the piece and will move on to fills and background. It's still a very fun piece to work with, although the texture linework will be quite the bitch to work (many apologies to the more sensitive members). I'll post again before the drybrush. On with the show...

Please, anyone, more like this. This piece is the epitome of classic WW art and simplicity. I will do this all day long!

Best, 

Ray

Huntress & Black Canary Part 6

Hey All---

Here's a nicer scan of my works so far on the Huntress/Black Canary commission.  We're getting close to done on this one---Just some light background work and it's all set.  I'll post more when I've wrapped it up this afternoon after my trip to the dentist.

Huntress & Black Canary Part 5

  Here's some more work on the Black Canary Figure----Gonna break for dinner and will post more in a bit.  Again---It's an iphone pic.

Huntress & Black Canary Part 4

  Hi All---

  Here's some new work on the Huntress/Black Canary commission---Pardon the funky scan---I'm working out the house today, and this is shot off my Iphone and punched up a bit on my laptop.  But basically, you can see what's going on.

  Should have more to post tonight!

Wonder Woman and Hippolyta III

Greetings, all! Here you'll find the backfills on the Wonder Woman figure and a little more work on Hippolyta. I've almost finished the linework for the background, preparing it for masking and dry brush. This is a really entertaining piece to work with, being very statuesque it feels like a propaganda piece for Themiscyra. Or maybe it's just me. On with the show...

Best, Ray

Wonder Woman and Hippolyta II

Greetings, all! Presented for your approval is my first inking attempts at Wonder Woman and Hippolyta, just the linework of Wonder Woman without the backfill. I've made a few changes to the pencils before beginning (with Drew's permission, of course) that stood out on first blush. On with the show...

After the backfill I'll post a close up to better show the progress, as well as Drew's draftsmanship.
Best,
 Ray

Wonder Woman and Hippolyta

Greetings, all! Thanks to Drew for his kind words, Cheetah's Revenge was a wonderful piece of artwork to ink. I think that the same can be said of this next piece, which I'll call Wonder Woman and Hippolyta (for now). I'm sure someone will come up with a much more clever title, but until then we'll use my lazy version. On with the show...

This piece was competed before the start of this Blog for K.T. and I received the original in the same package as 'Cheetah's Revenge'. Although we all missed seeing Drew's step by step, I thought I might as well include this in my postings. I hope you'll enjoy. Drew's been a bit busy and I'll bother him again later about getting M.B.'s 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' commission to me, so I'll be starting that soon.

 Best,
Ray

Commission Window Update!

  Hi All---

  Hope you're doing great.  I've been away for a bit, and thought I might post a quick update of what I'm up to.  I got back from Emerald City Con on Monday evening after a really long day of sitting in airports and eventual plane rides.  Since I've been back, I've been working on the new project that I've been writing, and looking after my daughter who's home sick with a bout of nasty stomach flu.  I'll be back to my commission work in the next day or two.  Thanks for being patient with me.
  I'd also like to throw out a big compliment to Ray Snyder for his beautiful work on the Cheetah's Revenge commission.  His inks add so much to my pencils on this piece, and bring such depth, texture and atmosphere to it that they create a truly collaborative effort on this commission.  Seriously, this piece is so much more with Ray's contribution to it.  It's why I love working with Ray so much.  Bravo, Ray. 
 

Cheetah's Revenge Final and Aquaman

Greetings, my friends, I woke up early and finished up two commissions today. The first being the Cheetah's Revenge piece with Drew for Karl, the second being an unresolved commission for a friend of mine. We'll explore the art as follows.

Seeing the reduction of the art, I've made a decision. I'll go back and make adjustments to the star field. I do not like the way the moonglow works against the background. I tried to make the star field work towards the X in the lower shadow pattern, but it's not happening for me (now that I see it reduced).

Anyway, here's a close up post of the figures. For those who are interested, I used the usual masking technique (as I posted earlier) and a Cirrus #110 round Kolinsky Sable Winsor & Newton 0 brush to finish this off. A very useful brush, without being very expensive.

As an aside, I'll add this Aquaman piece that I've finished for a friend. A commission that had been promised for many years, but only finished when he decided to ask me to complete it for him.

Craig Hamilton's pencils and my inks. Very nice work, in my opinion. I hope you enjoy.


Best,
Ray

Cheetah's Revenge Inks Part 3 ~ Plus

Presented is the update for Cheetah's Revenge, or as Drew likes 'Epic Spank'. Almost finished with the main figures, and I can start working background. I've made a few changes with the lasso and such, no disrespect to Drew. I am always my own worse critic, so Drew knows that (out of respect) I treat him likewise. He'll give me hell, as well, so don't feel bad for him!

I'll probably be adding some more weight lines to this and finishing up in the next day or two. My father had some health scares lately, heart problems and such. So, many apologies for the delays, I'm the go to guy since my siblings have children and 9 to 5 type jobs. My father is doing well and back at home now, so I don't have any worries. I'll be back at the desk soon enough to continue the commissions but family always comes first!

Best,
Ray

Huntress & Black Canary Part 3

  Hey All---

  Here's part three on the Huntress & Black Canary piece.  Please forgive the over saturation on the Huntress figure here---I upped the blacks on the scanner to be able to show my early progress on the Black Canary figure, and wanted to give you guys a little more of a clear picture of the full commission.  At this point, all you really can't see is the shadow of the approaching villains.

  This does it for work for me tonight---I'm packing for Seattle, and getting out of here in the morning.  I'll be back to work here on Tuesday.  I hope you'll have a great weekend, and I hope if you're in Seattle, you'll drop by table P-23 at the Emerald City Comic Con, and say hello.
  Thanks for all your views and comments---I'll see you back here soon.

Huntress & Black Canary Part 2

  Hi All---

  Just about ready to head up to Seattle, so I'm taking some time to work on Huntress & Black Canary.  Here, the Huntress figure is all finished, and the car she's crouching on is taking shape.  My scanner didn't pick up the background perspective lines, so it looks like she's riding a floating car---Just imagine she's in an alley for a little bit longer:)

  Back to work---Hope you'll all dig how this one's coming along.  More as soon as I can.

Sorry I've Been Away....

  Hey All---

  Sorry I've been away from The Window for a bit.  I had a pretty important job opportunity come up, and had to go chase it.  I'm also getting ready to leave for Seattle on Thursday for the Emerald City Comic Con, and am developing a new comic project that I'm writing and drawing.  Just a lot on my plate right now.  Please bear with me while I work my way though this stuff.  I'll be back to work here at The Window just as soon as I can.
  Thanks for all the views lately, and thanks for your kind wishes while I was getting over that rotten respiratory infection.
  If you're going to be at ECCC, please drop by and say hi!  I can't wait to get back to the North West.

  Also, if you're going to be at ECCC, be sure and pick up their wonderful MONSTERS & DAMES art book.  I'm extremely proud to have a page in it this year.  I'll include it here for you guys to check out, but definitely buy the book, too.  It's proceeds go to a wonderful charity, and it's just a really cool book to own as well.  This piece was done by me and my Aerodynamic Studio mates Ray Snyder, who inked it, and Lizzy John, who colored it.  Hope you'll enjoy it.

The Window Is Open For A Moment---Huntress & Black Canary Part 1

  Good Evening All---
  It was a day of Things That Needed Doing Away From The Desk.  I got a late start to the sitting down at the desk, and have ended up staying up late working on this piece.

  I screwed up---I guess my mind was elsewhere, and I forgot to scan the initial under drawing to show you all the start of the commission---So my apologies.  At this point, I've sketched in almost all of Huntress, and started final illustration of the figure.  The bummer of my scanner is that I can't get a readable scan of a finished drawing and still get a readable scan of lighter drawings--So you can't really tell what scene the commission is showing.  Bear with me---It'll become clearer.
  In the meantime, I hope what little can be seen here makes even the smallest bit of sense....
  Ok---Off to sleep.  More tomorrow.
  Sleep well, everyone.

Harley & Ivy Commission---Final

  Hi All---

  Here's the final pencils for the Harley and Ivy commission.  Thanks to Monte for the commission---I hope he'll enjoy it.  Thanks also to all of you who tuned it to  watch me at work on it, and thanks to all of you who commented on it.  I always really enjoy the discussion of each piece I'm working on.
  Also, Ray will be inking this commission---I can't wait to see how it's going to come out.  Oh--and a goofy side note---I tried a new signature on this one.  I've never settled on a signature, and have a habit of changing it up as the mood strikes me.  I'll be interested to see how long this one lasts...
  Next, I'll be working on Jason's Pre-New 52 Huntress and Black Canary commission.  I've got a fun idea for it already, and will be getting to work on it in just a few minutes.
  Stay tuned to see how it develops---Thanks!

Harley & Ivy Part 9---Near The End

  Hey All---
  Here's current progress on the Harley & Ivy piece.  The figures are done, and I'm filling in the scenery.  I've just got a bit left to do on the floor and ceiling of the cell, and we're outta here.

  The stunning conclusion...Soon.

The Window Is Open---Harley & Ivy Part 8

  Hey All---

  Here's current progress on the Harley & Ivy piece.  Finishing up the figure work now.  Ended up having a bit of a set back this morning when I realized Harley's back leg is black, and was going to eclipse the lettering that passes in front of it.  So I went back and erased all the black lettering and re-did it as  all white, so that leg makes the lettering pop now.  A nice result via a total screw-up.  Also, this is a lo-res scan, so please pardon how rough it looks, especially when it comes to the lettering.
  Hoping to finish this one up today.  More soon.
 

Cheetah's Revenge Inks, Part 2.

More IRS problems, small (tiny, actually) convention tomorrow, so very little progress. I've found that preparations for the smallest convention is not very different from others, without the packing and airfare. I will be seeing old friends, so it's worth the trouble. Meeting with comic book fans is always a reason to get out and socialize, very nice people as a lot. On to the show...

Not quite finished with Cheetah, but well enough to move along, knocking out the foreground first is always the smart choice. On to WonderWoman, I can't help but think that things will go very badly for Cheetah once she breaks loose. And she will break loose, she's WW after all. I backfilled with a .25, and .50 Rotring rapidograph pen, the spaces not being large enough to warrant breaking out a brush. A little time consuming, but presice. More to come.

Best,
Ray

The Window Is Open...For A Moment---Harley & Ivy Part 7

  Hey All---
  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Haven't had much time to work today, but I got a little done while my daughter was napping.
  I've added the lettering here---I'm glad Ray's inking this piece, because he'll clean up the rough spots in my lettering.  Also, my scanner didn't pick the lettering up very well, so please forgive its rough appearance.  It looks nicer on my paper right now.
  Also, you may notice I changed Ivy's open cleavage area.  I was looking at my progress on this piece as I was finishing up last night, and realized that her right breast looked smaller than her left.  Mostly due to the way the leaves and hair were laying across it, but also because I really blew the perspective of the rounding leaves across the front of her chest.  The right breast covering goes deep into the center of her chest, when it should in fact only cover the front of her chest, which rounds away with her breast from mid-chest.  Have I said "breast" enough?  Anyway, I made the change, and I think it looks better now, and more correctly drawn.

  Off to dinner with the family---If I have time to work tonight, I'll post more later.

Harley & Ivy Part 6---And The Window Is Closed

    Hey All---
   About to call it a night, but before I do, here's progress on the Harley Figure.

   I'll probably be working tomorrow evening, so I'll post more progress then.  Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Harley & Ivy Part 5

  Hey All---
  Here's more work on the Poison Ivy figure---The leaves have been time consuming, but I really like how they're coming out.
  Her outfit is one piece, if anyone is wondering.  The leaves from the upper part of the body suit reach organically down toward her ab muscles where I imagine the material would go a softer, sheerer green around her mid-section.  I like the idea that the stems of the leaves are wrapping around her arms and body, still living and under her control.
  I'm going to move over to Harley now and finish her torso and arm up.  I think I'm going to go ahead and do the poster lettering across their legs after that so I'll be able to finish their leg details through the lettering instead of  trying to erase over their legs to do the lettering.  It's probably six of one, half dozen of the other, though...

  I'll post progress on Harley in a little while before I finish up for the evening.

Harley & Ivy Part 4

  Hi all---

  Here's a quick update on where I'm at on the Harley and Ivy commission.  Unfortunately, my scanner isn't picking up the lighter sketch lines, so it you can't see the planning lines.  There are actually a lot of details lightly sketched in.  I'll have more to post in a few hours.

Harley & Ivy Part 3--Heads!

  Just a quick update on the Harley and Ivy piece--I'm still working rather slowly, but am feeling better day by day.  Monte's requested my take on the movie poster for the classic film, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, using the wonderful Harley & Ivy.   I thought that might be necessary info to following my progress on this piece.  In fact, I'll include it with this update so we're all on the same page, so to speak.
  So this is Harley and Ivy's heads and upper sections.  I'm trying to infuse each of them with a sense of motion that each character would naturally have---Swirling hair and leaves for Ivy, and Harley's bouncy, jingly headpiece.

  I'm having a lot of fun with this one---I'll post more soon as I can.

The Window is Open. Ink progress for Cheetah's Revenge

Unavoidable delays have obviously slowed the process somewhat, and for that I apologize. Drew's still a tad bit ill, but feeling better. I've had to spend some quality time with my taxes, the IRS is not as nice as you kind folks so I thought better of ignoring them. Anyway, on to the show...

Cheetah's almost blocked in with some of the fine detail work. With the tight interplay of line work I'm using a .13 Rotring rapidograph pen, then backfilling the areas. This technique allows the intersection points to remain sharp. With such things I find that starting this way, albeit slower, works better for me in the long run. I dislike using whiteout and the cleanup and sharpening of lines ends up taking just as much time. Back to work!

Best,
Ray

Harley & Ivy Commission Part 2

  Hi all---
  Here's some head details from the Harley and Ivy commission.  I'm hoping to have more work to show later today, but I'm, unbelievably, sick again.  The doctor says it's happening to a lot of people right now.  Frankly, it's pissing me off, and it's messing up my work days.  Anyway, I'm trying to keep working through the cough and the drugs, and will try to have more work to post tonight.

   I'm running late on answering emails at my yahoo address since I've been ill, so if you've emailed me and I haven't hit you back yet, I'll get to it real soon.  Thanks for your patience, everyone.

Harley & Ivy Commission Part One---The Window Is Open

  Hey All---I'm finally back in action---It's been a long last few weeks---My apologies for my absences.  Here's the opening move on Monte's Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy commission.  
  More coming soon!  Thanks for tuning in!

Pencils and Inks---Part Two

  Here's Ray's inks over the Ms Marvel piece.  I really feel like his lines add some great energy to the figure.  We'll try to post some more pieces like this as Ray inks 'em up.  If anyone happens to have any questions about either of our processes on this one, feel free to ask 'em in the comments section, and we'll get right back to you.

Pencils and Inks---Part One

  Hey all---
  My kids are home from daycare for a holiday, so I won't be getting to work until this evening, after my wife gets home from work.  Since I'm not generating new content at the moment, and the baby's down for a nap for a couple of minutes,  I thought it might be interesting to post a cool new piece that Ray just sent to me.  I drew a pinup shot of Ms Marvel in her classic outfit a while ago, and emailed Ray the pencils.  He recently printed it out and inked it on blueline.  So that you can check out the final results, I'm posting the pencils here, and will post the inks in the next post.  I hope you'll enjoy 'em.
  Ray has also just received three of KT's Wonder Woman commissions that I've penciled and is starting work on those as well.  I believe he'll begin posting progress on those here soon, so please stay tuned.
  So here's my original drawing:

 

The Window Is Closed

  Still feeling sick, and can't shake the cough.  Gonna hit the hay early tonight and try for a fresh start tomorrow.  Will definitely have work going on Harley & Ivy tomorrow, but tonight, sleep.
  Hope everyone is doing well and staying well.
  See ya tomorrow.

Epic Spank---The Final Word. Oh, and The Window Is Open.

  Hey All---Getting ready to mail KT's commissions to Ray for inking, I had a couple of minor mistakes that I needed to take care of---Well, there was only one fix that was immediately necessary, and I did that, but I ended up getting itchy about a couple of other things, so this is the final result...I'm sending it out.  There will be no more noodling.  I think it's a lot better---Really more the piece that I wanted from the beginning.
  This now being off my plate, I'm gonna go mail some things out.  When I get back, I'll be starting work on the long-awaited Harley & Ivy commission for Monte.
  Hope you guys dig this new version of the Cheetah's Revenge commission.  With the new lightningy background, it feels a little more powerful in it's scope, so now I'm calling it Epic Spank.  So there you go.

  More soon!

The Window is Open. Guy and Ice is Finished!

Hello All,
Little Quinn is still under the weather, but in good spirits. Hopefully Drew will be back at the board tomorrow. At least I've been able to get some time in and finish up the inks for Guy and Ice. I've cleaned up some line-weight issues and superfluous blue line. I've added the star field back in place, which always makes any hologram look fancier.

David was curious as to how the whole 'black with stars' thing actually gets accomplished, so maybe a few others might like this explained as well. After the line work of the piece is completed (not so important with printed blue-line, but very important with work over graphite because the graphite can be lifted from the page), I adhere a sheet of low-tack Frisket film to the page. Frisket is a clear vinyl masking/stenciling tool used primarily in air-brush work. With an x-acto knife I remove the areas that I'll be working with, leaving the remainder of the page protected. With a toothbrush (try finding a plain, flat toothbrush anymore - it's impossible) I apply the 'cosmic cloud' effect by lightly dipping the brush into some Titanium White acrylic paint and scrubbing the brush (quickly) across the tip of my thumb. This randomly spatters fine white dots across the star field. Then with a size 0 sable barrel brush, I spot in larger stars. It's a really effective way to quickly bring a bit of realistic sky into a background.

Thanks for tuning in, we'll try to quickly get on to the next piece on the list (Monte's Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, I believe). I'm awaiting shipment from Drew of KT's three WonderWoman commissions to ink over the pencils, so stay tuned for that. I don't think anyone will complain about seeing those again!

Best,
Ray

The Window is Open! Illness continues...

Hello All,
Drew seems to be better, but the little guy, Quinn, is still under the weather. It's humorous to hear a grown man brought down by a tiny baby. I'm sure all of those with children will empathize with him. We've completed our work on the Injustice #5 cover, and with Drew away (he'll try to get back to the list tomorrow) and my distractions completed, we'll be getting back to work on your commissions.

Here is the 'completed' inks on the Guy and Ice commission. I'll be moving on to my favorite part of such things, the clean up, addition of the star field, and adding our signature to the piece.

On to the 'finishes' on this piece, good wishes for little Quinn, and good night to you all. The Window is Closed. I'll update tomorrow with the final work. Thank you all for your interest and participation.

Still Sick! This Stinks!

  Hi all.  My baby son is still sick, and so am I.  This stuff is lousy, and I'd advise you all to refuse to get it.  Normally, I'd just work though being sick, but my son is 6 months old, and really ill, so he's requiring a lot of attention.  I'm hoping we'll kick this in the next couple of days, and I'll get back to drawing, and he can get back to doing fun baby things.  Thanks for your kind words and patience.  Hope you're all doing and staying well!

Out Sick!

  Hi All---Sorry for my absence!  After my return from Arizona,  our six month old baby boy came down with a nasty virus.  I've been home tending to him all week, and babies demand quite a bit of continuous attention, so I've been away from the desk and the computer.  Now he seems to be doing better, but I've caught it, and am working to get over it.  I'll probably be away from the window for another couple of days, but hope to be back in full work mode again by monday.  Thanks for your patience while I sweat this thing out.
  Have a great weekend everyone!

Schedule Update!

Hi All!
I've wrapped up work drawing the cover for DC Digital's INJUSTICE #5, and am running around like crazy getting ready to leave for the Amazing Arizona Comic Con in the morning.
I'll be back to work on Monday, and will be starting work on Monte's Harly Quinn & Poison Ivy commission.  Ray is currently chained to his desk inking my INJUSTICE cover, and then I believe he'll be back to work finishing David's Guy and Ice commission.
If you're in the Phoenix, Arizona area, please drop by the con and say hello!
I'll be back here again on Monday afternoon.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Guy and Ice #4 - The Window is Open... and then Closed

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all, and Inauguration Day as well! (For all those in the States.) I've actually gotten some work done today, the weekend was full of family obligations. Anyway, here is the continuance of the inks on the Guy and Ice commission for David. I've had some progress on the main figures, as well as the background tech. Typically, I prefer to knock out all encapsulating lines before filling the interior line-work on a given element, but the two figures are so very entwined that it's a serious back and forth. 'The Beast with two backs' is not applicable in this case, but the intermingling of the two characters reminds me much of this quote.

I'll quickly (hopefully) be on to finishing all the tech and clean-up on this piece. I always enjoy that moment when the line-work is done and I can get an overview. It's at this stage that I'll add the star field   into the extreme background and adjust any line weight that I'm unhappy with. I'll be inking Drew's DC cover work this week, and then on to K.T.'s three commissions over Drew's original pencils. Thank you for all your interest and kind comments. Good night!

Best,
Ray

Cheetah's Revenge Commission Finish

Good evening, All!
Here's the finished work on the Cheetah's Revenge commission!  This piece will be off to Ray for inking, and I can't wait to see how it will come out.  Thank you to Karl for the commission, and for his longtime patronage of my and Ray's work!  I hope he'll enjoy it!

For me, it's back to work on that cover for DC Comics, and after that, I'll be starting work on Monte's pre-new 52 style Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy commission.  It's going to be a lot of fun to work on, and I hope you'll all stay tuned to see how it develops.  Also, if you happen to be anywhere near Phoenix, Arizona, I'll be appearing at The Amazing Arizona Comic Con next weekend.  Come on by and say Hello!
Thanks to everyone who's dropped by The Window this weekend!  If you have any friends interested in checking out the artistic process behind commissioned illustrations, please send them our way!
...And for tonight, The Window is closed.
Have a great night!

It's Saturday, And The Window Is Open

  Good Morning!
  I started my morning warming up by working on the Cheetah's Revenge commission a bit more.  I've finished up Wonder Woman's legs here, and some of her boots.  It's probably too light to see clearly, but I've done some more work on the rope, and a little more on the backgrounds as well.

  Today, I'm starting work on a new cover for DC Comics---I may take a break  later and do a bit more work on the Cheetah's Revenge piece, and will post the progress, so stay tuned!

Cheetah's Revenge Part 6---And The WIndow Is Closed.

  Good evening!
  Here's my final post for the day---I've finished most of the figure work on Wonder Woman---I'll just need to get her legs done, and she'll be all set.

  I don't know if I'll have much time to work on this piece over the weekend---I've picked up a job doing a cover for DC Comics that I'll be working on all weekend, and probably into Monday, as I may take several breaks to spend time with my wife and kids:)  If I can take a little bit of time over the weekend to make some more progress on Cheetah's Revenge, I'll jump onto the computer and post it.
  In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great weekend, and a happy MLK Day on Monday.  Thanks to everyone that dropped by The Window today---We had another big number of hits today, which is really cool!
  Thanks to Ray for his inking update on the Guy & Ice piece!  Also, thanks for the great comments!
  See ya soon!