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!

Guy and Ice Inks #3

Greetings, all! Many apologies for the delay, the last couple days have been quite busy for me. Searching for better health care policies and quotes is so very exciting, by the way. Presented is the latest inks for Guy and Ice. I've worked a little detail into both the foreground and the all important mid-ground. Hopefully, tonight and tomorrow will be more productive. It's such fun piece that I'd much rather be at the table with this than running errands!

I'll probably be switching back and forth between the main figures and some of the background tech. The tech is somewhat tedious (templates and such), so better broken up to small doses. Welcome on the ink list to Monte (Harley and Ivy). Thanks to David for the kind email exchanges. And most of all, thanks to Drew and Karl for the beautiful work with Cheetah's Revenge. A great kick back to some of the early William Moulton Marston books with a little bit of 'kink'.

Best,
Ray

The Window Is Open!

  Hey All!  Here's my current progress on Cheetah's Revenge---I started this morning finishing up Wonder Woman's hair, and will be working on her figure more today.  I'm posting the full commission image, plus a close up, so you can check out Wonder Woman in more detail.

  More soon!

....Aaaand The Window Is Closed.

  It seems my work threshold this week is around 10pm, 'cause man, I am beat.  I'm almost finished with Wonder Woman's head---Just got some hair to finish, then I'll post again in the morning.
 Thank so much to everyone that stopped by The Window today---We passed 2,000 and then kept going to over 2100---Pretty cool!  Also, big thanks to the folks who left comments on the blog today---Your kind words and interest in The Window are very much appreciated.  You guys rule the internet.
  Have a great night, everyone---See you tomorrow!

Cheetah's Revenge Part 4

  Here's the finished Cheetah figure----Now on to Wonder Woman, who is all tied up and such---After I go eat something....

The Window Is Open---Cheetah's Revenge Part 3

  Good Morning, All!

  Here's where I left off on the Cheetah figure last night.  Man, I got tired about 10pm, and just HAD to go pass out.  I should probably exercise more.  My energy levels are getting seriously pathetic.  Back in the Rucka Wonder Woman days, I used to work 10am to about 3am, seven days a week.  Now I just wanna go to bed at a decent hour.  I guess I've lost my furious comic artist mojo:)  Then again, maybe THAT wasn't really very healthy either....I'm meandering....Any way----More later!

The Window Is Closed

I did manage to get more work done on the Cheetah tonight, but I'm crashing.  I'll scan it first thing tomorrow, though.
Thanks to everyone that stopped by The Window today.  Thanks for the comments and Thanks to Ray Snyder for joining me here!
Have a great evening, and we'll see you tomorrow.

Guy and Ice inks #2

Thanks to Drew for the kind welcome. Here is the first of the inks for David's commission. I've blocked out the extreme foreground, to allow myself free reign over the body of the drawing. I can now work with impunity on the mid and back ground.

I can always go back and adjust the line weight on these elements, it's just smart to ink these first to open the main art area for inking. For anyone who may be interested, I'm using Rotring Rapidiograph pens and a Sharff series 3000 #3 round red sable brush. Dr. Martin's Black Star hicarb is (in my opinion ) the best commercial ink available. Thanks for tuning in for this episode of "As the Window Opens", tune in next time to find out... Who posts next?  Best, Ray.

Cheetah's Revenge Part 2

Hey All! Ray opened The Window this morning! That is SO cool! I'm really excited to have Ray on board and posting his inking progress! Welcome Ray! Hope everyone will enjoy his posts! Here's my progress on the new Wonder Woman bondage commission that I've dubbed, "Cheetah's Revenge". I'm working my way through finalizing the Cheet's upper body, and have spent a lot of time today working out her anatomy. More soon, I hope---I'm still feeling a little funky, so I may not work past when my wife and kiddos get home in favor of an early bed time after the kids go to bed. But right now...Back to work!

GREETINGS TO ALL, AND THE WINDOW IS OPEN!

I'm new to this, so please forgive me of any mistakes. My name is Ray Snyder and I'll be posting the inks of some of Drew's commissions just as Drew posts his progress. I'm very proud to be participating, and thank you to everyone who has commissioned my services. I apologize for the late start, my very sweet (but dangerously evil) three legged kitten decided to play her favorite game - Knock Things Off Shelves - with my computer. Unfortunately, my scanner was directly under the computer, both were utterly destroyed. Now, with safer locations (and new equipment), I am up, running and ready to post.

Here you'll find the blue-line version of Drew's 'Guy and Ice' commission (for David). This is printed on DC board in non-reproduction photo cyan. I will be working both directly over Drew's pencils, and in blue-line depending on the client's wishes. In this case David wanted to retain Drew's original art, while at the same time having a fully finished inked version. I'll be posting again after I knock out the extreme foreground elements to get at the real 'meat' of the piece, Guy and Ice. Thanks to Drew for creating such an interesting and insightful playground in which to play!

The Window Is Open, I Feel Crummy & Cheetah Gets Revenge!

Hi All--- Here's step 1 of a new Wonder Woman Bondage commission. I've been modeling these after classic old school, pulpy bondage situations. I found my idea for the Wonder Woman/ Zatanna commission in Sensation Comics #26 in my copy of Les Daniels' Wonder Woman The Complete History. There's a great golden age Wonder Woman tied to the railroad tracks panel that really caught my eye, so I riffed on it. This piece is a combination of two of my favorite pop culture women---Wonder Woman of course, and Bettie Page. My work is heavily influenced by Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer, and because of that, I discovered and fell in love with Bettie Page at an early age---My other teen-age crush was Linda Carter as Wonder Woman...So really this piece makes perfect sense:) In an effort at a nice homage, I pulled the Wonder Woman pose from a classic Irving Claw photo, and Cheetah's hairbrush wielding spanking was inspired by another photo of Ms Page. I did my best to make it both alluring and epic at the same time. In other news----I'm feeling crummy after spending the last four days looking after my daughter, who had a pretty harsh bit of the flu. I fear I may have picked it up.

I just couldn't get up the gumption to go out to the post office today, so my heartiest apologies to Peter and David for not getting their commissions mailed out. I'll have 'em out tomorrow---Thanks for your patience, guys. Okay---I think that's everything! Hope everyone has had a great Monday, and thanks to everyone who's stopped by today!

PowerThoris Commission Finish

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Here's the finished Powergirl/Dejah Thoris Commission. I had a great time working on this one---I hope the client will enjoy it! Next up is a new Wonder Woman Commission. I'll be starting work on it on Monday---Stay tuned----It's going to be interesting!

PowerThoris Part 6

Hey All---I've begun to add scenery to the PowerThoris Commission. The bottom part is all done, so next, I'll be finishing up the scenery at the top, and then adding the close-up headshot at the top to finish it all up.

PowerThoris Part 5----The Finished Figure

Hey All--- Here's the finished figure for the Powergirl/Dejah Thoris commission. I'm going to finish up this piece with some background work and a close-up head shot. You can see the light sketch lines for this stuff if you go back and look at Part 1. I'll post more progress in another couple of hours. Just for fun, here's an email conversation I had about this commission with a friend/client who shall remain...Nameless:):

.... a Power Girl / Dejah Thoris mash-up that isn’t topless ?? Best, Nameless------ HaHa:) I know, dude---But it just isn't Powergirl without the boob window! I'm definitely with you on the point, but the boob window, Nameless. The boob window. :), Drew Even my wife agrees with me on this, Nameless:) Me, I'm just tryin' to see how many times I can say "Boob window" today:)

The Window Is Open!

Sitting down to work this morning, I found the following comment from my client, Peter from last nights final post---Hope he doesn't mind me calling attention to it. Drew and everybody else: I'm the dude who commissioned this awesomeness, and in case you were wondering, here's the genesis of this little idea: Usually, when I get a commission, I either order up a Power Girl OR a Dejah Thoris. For whatever reason, those two characters just speak to me visually. Anyway, I decided "What the hell - see what happens when you combine the concepts." Drew - it looks spectacular so far. It will have a place of honor in my burgeoning collection! I'm posting it here because it's a look at where the idea for this piece comes from---The seed from which I'm working, if I may be totally pretentious:), and because I wanted to say Thanks to Peter for such a kind comment. It's a great way to start the work day. Cheers, Peter! Getting to work now! Gonna finish up spotting the blacks in PowerThoris' cape, and draw her sword, and the main figure work will be done. I'll post it up soon for everyone to check out.

PowerThoris Part 4---And The Window Is Closed

The nearly finished full figure---Just gotta add the sword and spot some blacks in the cape. Man, this has been a fun one. Who knows, I may even finish this commission up by quitting time tomorrow night:) Lots of hits today----Thanks to everyone who stopped by! Have a great evening, All!

PowerThoris Commission Part 3

Working across the body now, mixing elements of Powergirl's costume in with the jewels and little bits of armor of Dejah Thoris. More soon!

....And I'll Form The Head! PowerThoris Part 2!

Oh my heck, that was a Voltron reference....Sorry everyone. I work alone at home by myself and sometimes I just blurt out weird crap. Anyway! Here's her finished head, up close so you can check out the detail. I'm trying to fuse Powergirl's strong facial features with Dejah Thoris' regal manner and of course, her jewelry. There's this story forming in my head as I'm drawing this...Imagining that Kara Zor-El crashed on Mars instead of Earth, and that John Carter has kind of become obsolete in this version of events...In other words----Step aside Earthman, The Princess of Mars has got things under control:) Man, I am such a geek.

The Window Is Open!

Good Morning, All! I'm sitting down to work on the new Powergirl/Dejah Thoris character mash-up commission. I'll be posting progress in an hour or two, so please keep checking back to see how it's coming along.

PowerThoris Commission part 1...And The Window Is Closed.

Hey All! Here's step one in the new commission in The Window, a character mash-up of Powergirl and John Carter of Mars' Dejah Thoris. I've been looking forward to this one---It's an interesting design challenge, and I'm a fan of both characters. So here's my basic underdrawing with some light design elements penciled in. I'll probably get a little more work done on it tonight, but it's been a long day---The baby woke us up at sunrise this morning, so I may call it a night soon. So with this post, The Window is closed for the night. We had a lot of hits today, so thank you so much to everyone that stopped by! Thank you to Peter, Karl, Ken and I think it was Michael for all of their comments and kind words---I sure appreciate 'em! Shout outs for all!!!!

And a big Thank you to my client, David, who commissioned the Guy and Ice piece. I had a great time working on it, and I really appreciate his business. Stay tuned in the next day or two as Ray Snyder begins to Post here on The Commission Window as he inks David's Guy and Ice piece! I'm excited, as I haven't gotten to work next to Ray in many years, since we were studio mates when I lived in Georgia. It'll be rad to get to see Ray's process and what he's going to do over my pencils. Have a great evening, everybody! See you tomorrow!

Guy Gardner & Ice Commission Finish

Here's the final, finished Guy & Ice commission. I had a lot of fun with it, and hope the client will like it. When considering the idea for this piece, I thought about how Guy and Ice's relationship has always been kind of up and down, especially due to Guy's obnoxious nature. I wanted to go for something romantic given the pose request, and yet play the romance against Guy's nature---So you get Guy's fellow Lanterns looking down on him from space, cheering him on, but you also get Kilowog in the foreground losing a bet to Ch'pp that Guy would screw it up:) Thanks everyone for following my progress on this commission---I hope you've enjoyed seeing it come to life. Next, I'll be working on a character mash-up of Powergirl and Dejah Thoris. I've been considering ideas for this one in my head all day, and am really looking forward to getting to work on it. I'll be posting some of my starting work on that one later this evening, so please stay tuned.

Guy & Ice Part 8, And The Window Is Closed

I'm leaving off this evening about fifteen minutes to done with this piece, but I'm tired. Gonna add just a bit of street scenery in behind Guy and Ice within the holo-viewer area, and then we're all done---I'll get to it tomorrow, and then I'll be on to the next commission on the list---A character mash-up of Powergirl and Dejah Thoris! Should be fun. Thanks to all of you that tuned in today, and special thanks to the couple of folks that left comments. I'm glad my explanation of tangents made sense, and Ken, I'm glad you're enjoying how this commission is coming out---Much appreciated! Have a great evening, everyone---See you tomorrow!

Guy & Ice Part 7

Getting near the end---Just gotta finish Arisia's hand and some remaining background elements. I'm expecting to wrap this up tonight...Whoot! More in a while---I'll be working this evening after dinner and getting the kiddos to bed.

Guy & Ice Part 6

Here's where I'm at on the Guy & Ice piece as I'm heading for a lunch break.

The Window Is Open---Guy & Ice Part 5

Good morning, all! Here's where I left off last night---The final image is starting to take shape, and we're heading toward the finish line! Hope you're enjoying the ride:) More later today!

The Window Is Closed

Whoof. I'm done for the night. Spent the evening doing under drawings for the rest of the Guy and Ice piece. I'd scan it to post, but the lines are too light. I'll post again tomorrow after I've gotten it all a little more defined and the piece actually will start to make sense as a whole image. Thanks for tuning in today everyone. See you tomorrow!

Guy & Ice Part 4

Thought I'd post this before the figures are completely finished...Process note---I made some changes to Ice's upper torso after realizing there was a several line tangent in the area of her collar bone. In working to fix it, it occurred to me that a little tiny bit of her right breast should be visible. The whole thing was kind of a domino effect of line erasures and small adjustments. Also, I was pleased with how the blacks in Guy's outfit make Ice pop nicely against his figure. In other news...Today I finally made my hotel reservations for my appearance at the Amazing Arizona Comic Con. It's January 25th-27th. If you're in Phoenix that weekend, drop by and say hello! More in a while...

The Window Is Open On Sunday!

Hey All---Here's step 3 on the Guy and Ice Commission. I'm working as much as possible around standard Sunday family stuff going on here, so I'll be posting as much as I can when I'm not spending time with my wife and kiddos. Just a quick note---The lines are thick on this scan 'cause I had to amp up the blacks so the scanner would pick up the lighter sketch lines. Stay tuned---More soon!

The Window Opens---Then Closes Again: A Quick Look At What I Got Done Today

A quick snapshot of the main figures in the Guy Gardener & Ice Commission. Anyone out there may be wondering why I went 3/4 over head for the homage to the VJ Day Kiss photograph---It's essential to the story in the commission. I promise it'll all make sense. Thank you to all the folks that stopped by The Window today, Thank you to the folks that left comments, and Thank you to our first two Blog Followers. You guys all rule. Especially the commenters. I really do enjoy it when you guys leave comments. It's nice to know I'm not releasing this stuff out into a vacuum. I'll be working some tomorrow, so I'll be posting again then. Hope you're all enjoying the weekend!

...Aaaand The Window Is Now Closed

Now that the Guy and Ice piece is ready to start drawing, I'm gonna call it a day. Thank you so much to all of you that dropped by today. Thank you to all of my clients on the sketch list, and to the new ones that signed up today. If I have time to work, I'll post tomorrow. In the meantime, everyone have a great weekend! Remember! If you drop by, please add a comment! I've turned off all the irritating filters and you can post easily by posting as "Anonymous". Just sign your name at the end of your post if you want to say who you are. It's easy and fun. Good night, all!

Guy & Ice Commission Part 1

Here's my under-drawing for the Guy Gardner & Ice commission. The client requested them in a re-creation of the famous V-J Day sailor kissing nurse photograph. I've come up with an interesting, character appropriate idea that I hope he'll like. Stay tuned to see where it's going!

Wonder Woman and Zatanna Commission Finish

Hey all! Here is the final finished version of the Wonder Woman & Zatanna commission. Hope you'll enjoy it, and that you've gotten a kick out of seeing it develop. Next up---Green Lantern Guy Gardener and Ice. Stay tuned to The Window to see how it's going to look. Thank you to K.T. for your commission purchase!

Good Morning---The Window Is Open!

Didn't finish the WW/Z piece yesterday---Ended up going to bed early last night. I think I'm still wiped out from the holiday travels. Here's where I left off last night, though---Train tracks, blacks and shadows are getting filled in. Just a few more details and blacks to add in, and all done. More soon!

Wonder Woman/ Zatanna 8

Figure drawing is all done now---Just gotta do Z's trademark fishnets, and add blacks. Then it's on to backgrounds. Might even finish this one up today....

The Window Is Open!

Hey Everyone---I'm back from the holidays and back to work. Hope you've all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. Here's some new work on the Wonder Woman/Zatanna piece---Hope you'll enjoy it! More soon!