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

This weeks pieces.

This week, I coloured an awesome Terry Dodson Young X-Men cover (inked by Jorge Copo), and I threw some inks down on an image of the Master Chief from Halo, penciled by Jeremy Dale. I will have colours coming for the Master Chief image really soon, and if you want to have a go at colouring it - I have a hi res version available at my DeviantArt page, I love to see what people can do with my inks.

The Young X-Men cover featuring Mirage and Magma gave me a chance to play with a few effects (especially on Magma) and just have a bit of fun.

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

Pencils by Jeremy Dale, Inks by Matt James

Pencils by Terry Dodson, Inks by Jorge Copo and Colours by Matt James

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

Colouring

I have been working on my skills as a colorist for a while now - it was not something I really picked up in my studies, but more something I started doing self taught after I had finished my studies. Obviously learning color theory at uni helped with the process, but for the most part, I am self taught with my techniques.

My preferred coloring method is photoshop. Mainly because it is forgiving with mistakes - making it easy to go back and clean up after the fact, and it allows me to do some pretty cool special effects. Below, I have two examples of recent work I have done using photoshop that i do not believe I could have achieved with more traditional methods.

The first is Wolverine and the Hulk, the reflection of the hulk and the line drops form Wolverine's drool would have been very difficult, if not impossible to achieve without photoshop (or similar). The other is the Avengers, wight e glows for Thor's lightning and Iron Man's energy glows.

As always I can contacted by my Facebook or DeviantArt pages, and I am available for commissions and requests!

Pencils by David Finch, Inks by jorgecopo, Colours by Matt James

Wolervine and the Hulk are trademarks of Marvel Comics.

Pencils by sjsegovia, Inks by JK5 , Colours by Matt James

The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are all trademarks of Marvel Comics.