Infinity-Man

He may be Infinite, but his picture is tiny. I wanted to paint character portraits of superheroes in "realistic" acrylic renderings, and I wanted one with a complicated costume with lots of detail. "Infinity-Man" was a Jack Kirby creation, so that takes care of the costume design. This godlike extraterrestrial but humanoid character had an elaborate storyline and background which read like the scriptures of a mythological religion yet to be believed in. He could do practically anything including holding his own in a fight against Superman. Gods and humans die and are re-born, and Infinity-Man himself eventually dies (perhaps) in a titanic superhero battle.

I liked Infinity-Man because of the theology but also because he had golden (or brown) skin and African features. Superhero godlings are predominately white with red or blonde hair so to see one with a non-white ethnicity is a welcome event in comics.

"Infinity-Man" is acrylic on illustration board, 4" x 8", February 1986. I'm trying to do some of these in digital format, so far with unsatisfying results.

Dragon Gallop

Dragons can move quickly while still on the ground. They also need to get up some speed to take off into the air from level ground rather than leaping off a cliff. The type of dragon depicted here is adapted to run swiftly in a kind of gallop before it has enough airspeed under its wings to get airborne. The bigger, heavier dragons need higher ground or psychic powers to take to the skies. 

Galloping dragon is drawn in brush pen with some textures in white ink, 8" x 3", April 28, 2013.

Spring window still life

Here ya go, a spring window and still life thing, real art-like and all, despite being done on the iPad during a few minutes at my friends' house. I love blue glass anyway. The wire at the top is a fairy light wire and some silver ornaments hang from it. Some additional work was done in Photoshop when this was brought into the main computer. I suppose I should have added a lemon or a potato or something still-lifey in there. Some artists spend their whole career doing stuff like this. 

Art Studio and Photoshop, April 27, 2013.

Seven Rings of Raggador

Some of you who are comics fans will remember Doctor Strange, the "Sorcerer Supreme." He is my favorite Marvel character and I have many Doctor Strange comic books in my collection. He is one of the few outright magic user heroes, using his magic powers for good rather than evil. In this colorful sketch I depict Doctor Strange invoking one of his spells, the "Seven Rings of Raggador." I figured that these rings would be in rainbow colors since there are seven of them but I did not put them in rainbow order. My artistic/scientific mistake. It is almost always tacky to put rainbow colors in a picture, anyway. Dr. Strange is borne into space with his big red Cloak of Levitation, with a golden brocade border (GREAT costume and Marvel has tinkered with it far too much over the years) and his yellow leopard spotted spellcasting gloves. Now where is the big budget CGI-packed movie for this Marvel character?

Doctor Strange and the Seven Rings are acrylic on black illustration board, 7" x 10", January 1987. Heavily restored in Photosorcery; the original slide was in bad shape.

Grotesque Bird Helmet

I've always loved helmets. I wanted one badly when I was a kid, but never got one. I should have made one for myself out of papier mache and a balloon, but I never thought of it. Now I have dozens of books and image files of armor and helmets and other fanciful wearable metalwork, and I do pen and ink studies of grotesque and fantastic armor. This head and shoulder piece is based on an engraving of real Renaissance parade armor, which as its title suggests was never meant for warfare, only for display. Though the beak face looks like it has eyes, the actual openings to see through are in the "forehead" of the piece, two rectangular slits. Maybe I'll do the rest of the set sometime, with some equally artistic weaponry and a touch of secret science fiction technology.

Fantastic armor is black ink on sketchbook page, 5" x 3 1/2", April 26, 2013. Colored in Photoshop.

Fiery Hairy Dragon

I guess I've always been doing pictures of dragons, of varying quality. This one combines my love of volcanoes with dragons. Note that the lava flow from the top of the cone in the background becomes the tail of the dragon. Also the dragon is hairy rather than scaly, which my dragon books tell me is acceptable. The dragon hair must be made of something unburnable though, perhaps mineral or glass fibers. 

After receiving comments from four of my faithful readers, I have decided to go with version "D" of my dragon and refinery concept. Most of them liked this one, though there was a vote for "A" as well. "D" seems to fit the idea the best and allow for an interaction between the dragon and the refinery flare. I am very thankful to my artblog friends for being the Art Director. I will now work up a preliminary drawing for the piece.

The Lava Dragon here was originally titled "Call of the Dragon" and is (was?) colored pencil and opaque watercolor on brown paper, 7" x 10", fall 1998. I have no idea where this piece is now, or whether it even exists any more. That's what happened to many of the small originals I sold at conventions.

Little Spring Meadow

Outdoor art on the iPad is back. During my half hour work break I sat on a concrete step and depicted this little patch of meadow in front of an urban cottage, with a big tree trunk at left. The purple flowers are grape hyacinths. The pixel-applicators ("brushes") are great for adding leaf texture. The iPad surface is very reflective so I use the cover of the plastic iPad case as a shade so I can see the screen. While I was drawing, a big fat bumblebee flew by on its way to the flowers. Stereotypical Spring is depictable in authentic Plein Air bright green.

ArtStudio app on iPad, about 25 minutes, April 23, 2013.