My Work From This Week!

So, I have a couple of pieces I worked on this week. First off, an awesome Death Dealer image from Nat Jones and Richard Bonk - with Flats by Hector Rubilar. This was my first attempt working with someone else's flats, and while I don't think it particularly saved me much time with my final image, I am definitely not opposed to trying it again (in fact I have already grabbed a few flatted images from DevinatArt for me to work with.)

Next up, I inked and coloured a pic of Cyclops from the X-Men, which was pencilled by Komus. It was pointed out to me by Sean Ellery, an artist I respect greatly, that the pencils had a very David Finch feel about them - and I really do not see that as a bad thing.

Anyways, check out this weeks work, and let me know what you think.

Don't forget I also maintain a Facebook page and DevaintArt profile (both of which receive more frequent updates than the once a week I am currently doing on this blog!)

Pencils by Nat Jones, Inks by Richard Bonk, Flats by Hector Rubilar, Colours by Matt James

Pencils by Komus, Inks and Colours by Matt James

Pencils by Komus, Inks by Matt James

Influence Spotlight: Andrew Wildman

This will be a regular feature on my page where I will talk about influences on my techniques and styles. Hopefully I can introduce you to new artists, or give you a different way to look at artists you already know.

Instead of doing an artist who I directly draw influence from, today I am going to talk about one of the artists who got me hooked on comics in the first place - and that would be Andrew Wildman. The very first comics I ever bought where an issue of DC's Unknown Soldier and Marvel's G.I. Joe in the early 1990's - and G.I. Joe became the first series I would "collect" - this was largely because Wildman's art drew me in immediately. 

He may not be everybody's big influence for pencilling technique etc, but he was the first comic artist to grab my attention - of course guys like Jim Lee and Joe Mad are bigger influence on my techniques and styles, but Wildman was my gateway drug, so to speak. Although he is probably better known for his work on Transformers - his G.I. Joe stuff has always been the standout in my eyes.

Check out some of Wildman's art below, and follow some of the links to see more info and galleries by the man himself.

Andrew Wildman Wiki

Andrew Wildman's Blog

Andrew Wildman's Homepage

Blog of the Week: Pencil Ink Comic Book Artist 1950's 1960s 1970s 1980s

Blog of the week is a regular Friday post in which I spotlight a blog or profile I have been reading during the week. These may be professional or amateur artists, but they will always be artists whose work I truly admire.

So today's blog of the week is not an individual artist, but a blog that focuses on vintage cmic cook art - more or less form the 1950's-1990's. I spend hours scanning through this blog (and it's updated multiple times a day - so there is always plenty to check out).

The main reason I love this page so much is because it covers the era of comic books from my childhood (and well before), so a lot of the stuff they post is the stuff I grew up reading, and the stuff that got me into drawing in the first place. You can search the massive number of posts by genre, artist or publisher, but be prepared to waste a lot of time!

This page is definitely worth checking out!

Pencilink

Joe Madureira ! Fansite: Art Advice from Joe Madureira

The first part of the Joe Mad article about Art Advice.

Joe Madureira ! Fansite: Art Advice from Joe Madureira: Today there was a very special post from Joe Madureira on his facebook page for artists. He has received endless questions over the years ab...

Joe Madureira ! Fansite: Art Advice 2.0 from Joe Madureira

This is an awesome article from one of my all time favourite artists (and the subject of my influence spotlight coming up later this week.

Joe Madureira ! Fansite: Art Advice 2.0 from Joe Madureira: Joe Madureira has continued voicing his art advice with details on what gear he uses, his influences, and skills needed for working in the g...

What have I been working on this week??

So each week, I will post a few samples of the stuff I have been working on for you all to see, I will try talk a little about what has been going on with my art and new techniques I am trying etc.

This week I have been working on a couple of requests as well as a inks and colours for a pic of the X-Men's Psylocke by Sandrocosta on DeviantArt

Check them out below and let me know what you think.

Also, don't forget to have a look at my Facebook and DeviantArt profiles for a lot more art.

 Pencils, Inks and Colours by Matt James

 Pencils by Sandrocosta, Inks and Colours by Matt James

Influence Spotlight: Jim Lee

This will be a regular feature on my page where I will talk about influences on my techniques and styles. Hopefully I can introduce you to new artists, or give you a different way to look at artists you already know.

First cab off the rank is going to be Jim Lee. The reason I will go with Jim Lee up first is he is the reason I got interested in, and stayed interested in comic books. I started reading comics around the time Jim was working on the Uncanny X-Men. I eagerly purchased the “new” X-Men when he released it, and have been heavily invested in his work ever since.

My favourite piece of his work to date (as a penciler) is Batman Hush – the artwork in that series was amazing, and was pretty much the first time I really read DC comics.  It is amazing to look back at how much Jim Lee developed as an artist between his early work on the Punisher War Journal through to his more recent stuff. I was not much of a fan of Jim’s work in the Punisher series, but looking back now, I can see where he current style has developed from.

Jim Lee has been criticized in the past for having no real artitst depth to his art, almost saying his work is plastic and generic. I disagree, I do think his style is perfectly suited for the spandex and cape brigade or Marvel and DC comics, but I also don’t have a problem with that. He excels at drawing action and movement, and that is exactly what draw people into most comics, it is also the element of his style that I would dearly love to master.

Anyways, below are some amazing pieces from Jim Lee and also some links to Jim Lee related pages, so you can check out some of his eye candy.

Learn about the man himself here -> Wiki 

Check out some of his amazing art here -> DeviantArt
See a complete database of comics he has been involved in here -> Comics DB

Blog of the Week: Frank Cho Apes and Babes

Blog of the week is a regular Friday post in which I spotlight a blog or profile I have been reading during the week. These may be professional or amateur artists, but they will always be artists whose work I truly admire.

For my first entry, I am going to do Frank Cho’s Apes andBabes. I have to say, I was not particularly familiar with Frank Chos’s work until I stumbled across his blog (I am still trying to get through the 4,000 X-titles marvel released in the 1990’s, so my knowledge of post 2000 comic’s is more than a little fuzzy)

Having said that, I am a huge fan of his style of work. His pencils are beautiful, and his mastery of anatomy is amazing – especially female Anatomy. Do yourself a favour and go check it out, there is some very cool work there, and it will keep you busy for hours! I should warn you though, quite a bit of his work is not safe for work.

Link to Apes and Babes

Link to Frank Cho at Comic Book DB.com (So you can see what comics he has worked in, if you want to see more of his work!)