MORE EK SUCCESS SKETCHCARDS!

BlOoRp!

EK SUCCESS SKETCHCARDS

Initiated by one of the Art Directors at work, some of the graphic artists are drawing sketchcards and then trading them amongst ourselves.   Here are a few of the ones I did.

It was Twenty Years Ago today...

In the midst of putting together my second art book, for this years upcoming New York Comic Con, I found some old sketches, circa 1990...these won't be in the book, just thought it might be fun to post them for what it's worth.

Behold ... Charles Munro

Last week I came across the shocking and upsetting news that my friend Charles Munro had passed away.  I first met Charles when we worked together at Kleiner't's, in 1999.  He was also a graphic artist,  doing kids clothing like myself.  After he left and worked elsewhere, we saw each other a few times, and then lost contact for a number of years before reconnecting on Facebook, last November.  We spoke on the phone once and then kept up through e-mail. Charles was getting involved in electronic keyboard music, creating really cool, atmospheric pieces on his computer.  In his last e-mail to me, on July 9th, he mentioned how he was entering an online music contest. 

That was also his last post on his Facebook page.  Not hearing from him for a bit, I went over to his page to discover the terrible news that he had passed away in his sleep and that a wake had been held for him on July 12th. I was numb and saddened.  Charles was a sweet guy, a talented artist and an emerging electronic musician.  

Charles used to have a saying at work -  ' Behold'...it didn't really mean anything...or did it?  It was just a cool emphatic message...sort of an Asgardian, mythical word.  One day, while our boss was out sick, I pencilled a quick nonsense comic based around the word.  In memory of Charles, today I sat down and inked it.   R.I.P. Charles.

Charles' music can be found at:

Charles Munro Music

I Float, Therefore I Am.

Looking through some old files, I found these two guys, and a few more, in semi-completed form. I colored them and added the backgrounds, using some drawings I had done for Hot Wheels.

And another monster sketchpage...

A Monster Sketchpage

This page dates back a year or so..there's a date of 4-20-08 in the bottom left, but I think that was just for the red pencil demon dude in the middle of the page (later inked)...the rest of the blue pencil drawings are more recent.

Sharks and Dinos

Some recent designs for Target boys swimwear.

Merry Bloody Christmas!

Maybe this should have waited 'til the appropriate time to post, but what the hell..came across it while looking for some cupcake illos in an old folder from my days at Saramax. This was done sometime in 2008 (even though it's got a 2009 date on it).  I was really just doing regular cute gingerbread girls, but felt like tweaking it a bit.

Keeping Busy

Hey folks - I know it's been some time since I've updated  the blog. I hope to get back into the swing of things and keep it a bit more current. Not too much this time, just a couple of recent sketches done inside the Mosnters sketchbook.

I've been doing a lot of drawing lately at a job out in Clifton, New Jersey, doing pencil sketches of icons that will eventually be turned into dimensional stickers. I was never told not to, and I never signed anything, but I'm going to refrain from posting those sketches for the time being. I've done everything from cowboy stuff, to motorcycles, baby themes and camping.  If all goes according to plan, there should be around 120 different 'sku's (sheets of icon stickers), with each sku containing anywhere from 8-12 icons, so it's a lot of drawings. It's been a lot of fun and I've been putting pencil to paper seven hours a day, so I think it's helping my drawing skills, at least for realistic stuff. Hopefully not too far down the line, I'll post some of it.  At the moment someone else is doing the vector art from my sketches, but I'll also be doing some of the vectors myself.

In other news, I'll be returning to the convention circuit (lol), as I'll have a table with my buddy Dan 'The Caricature King' Springer  at the New York Comic Con in October. I'll have copies of my last sketchbook, some posters, maybe t-shirts and some new art. Hope to see you there!

Comics For Cures Sketchcards

Here are a few sketchcards I did this month for Blueline Pro's Comics For Cures cancer research exhibition and auction. The art from the auction will go up on Ebay the week of May 17th, and culminate with an exhibition of the original art from the auction to be held at Comics 2 Games, 8470 US 42 Florence, Kentucky on May 22nd.

All proceeds from the sale of the cards will go to the American Cancer Society.

ELEMENTS!

Presented here are a bunch of the element drawings that make up some of the prints I've done over the years...I just selected a random bunch of illustrations, along with swatches of a few prints....This page contains art done for both boys and girls prints...I've got so many of these individual element type drawings I could put together another twenty of these pages and not run out of art to use.

More Monsters Sketchbook sketches...and more

Some of the recent drawings I've done inside my Mosnters sketchbook, along with a few other sketches from recent days. The ape in the Mets hat (that was Rob's request...to draw a monster in a Mets cap) at the top is saying 'The Mets are my favorite team to eat!'. Baron Karza, from The Micronauts, for James, is under the Stormtrooper for John.

Monsters Sketchbook Now Available!

I've still got copies of my sketchbook for sale, so get 'em before they're all gone!! The sketchbooks are $20 each, postage paid, and come with an original inked sketch on the inside front cover; the sketches are the size of a sketchcard. Plus, as an added bonus (whoo-hoo!) I'll include three free postcards with each order. The postcards are of Darth Vader, Robot ND-23 and Surfer Shark, all images previously posted on this blog. The sketchbook itself contains 32 pages and measures 8.5"x 5.5". I can draw a random monster for you or you can ask for a special request. E-mail me at jleiter1@verizon.net for ordering info. Here are a few examples of the sort of sketches you can expect.

New York Comic Book Marketplace-2-27-10

I'm exhausted, and it was a long day, but a fun one at the NYCBM. It's been many years since I've done any comic conventions, only tagging along as support for my old friend Mitch Waxman, back in the early 90's when we worked on Plasma Baby. This time, I was promoting myself, so there was a bit of anxiety going into the show. After a sleepless night, and days of preparing, and stressing, the show came and went. Unfortunately, there wasn't the greatest turnout, with the weather a factor, and the general lack of advertisement for the show itself. I was a bit disapointed that my book didn't sell better...well, aside from the three or four copies some friends graciously purchased from me, only one person I didn't know picked one up. Still, I did get some people flipping through it, and my book of originals and prints, and a decent number picked up my business card, which I put together last night, after my postcards didn't arrive due to the storm.

I did have someone buy a print of my Darth Vader piece from last Summer and he also asked about buying two pieces of original Vader art I had. I wasn't sure what to price them at, so decided to hold onto them..in hindsight, maybe I shoulda sold 'em. Later in the day, a woman came by and asked for a Batman head sketch in her sketchbook. I also did a sketchcard of Batman for my friend Bill's son, Will, as well as a drawing of a ragman?? cartoonish monster character Will described to me. During the show, I also inked some sketchcards and did a Marvel sketch cover for my buddy Brad of Ghost Rider. Two of the other pics here, the guy who looks like he's playing an imaginary guitar, and the Acroyearish dude, were pencilled back in 2007, but only inked this past week, and at the show ('The Plucker').

My co-horts at the show, Dan Springer, did a few live caricatures, a drawing of a cupid for our friend Louis' daughter, Mason, and sold a few giclee prints. Carlos Vega, with his humourous 'Become A Zombie!' sign, did pretty well, pretty much booked the whole day, drawing people as zombies. They'd come up to the table, he'd get a rough sketch of their likeness, then they leave, and while gone, he'd 'zombiefy' them, rotting their flesh, exposing their brains and generally making them look pretty putrid.

It was rewarding day, all in all, and we hope to do it again sometime soon.

Lastly, in this, likely my wordiest post to date, I'll have some info soon on how you can order a copy of my 'Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Monsters' sketchbook.

Sketchcards for the NYCBM

Here are some sketchcards I worked up over the last couple of days for sale at the New York Comic Book Marketplace - tomorrow! (Feb. 27th, 2010!) Today I'll be working on doing sketches on the inside front cover of copies of my sketchbook. The weather is definitely not helping out, but hopefully all will go smoothly tomorrow - the show is still scheduled to go on!

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MONSTERS - THE SKETCHBOOK!

I've finally gotten around to putting together a sketchbook of my monster drawings. I'll have a special edition of the book, limited to 23 signed and sketched-in copies (+ 7 Artist's Proofs) with me at next Saturday's (Feb 27th) "New York Comic Book Marketplace" at the Penn Plaza Pavillion in NYC. I'll be at a couple of tables with my buddies Dan Springer, Carlos Vega and Derek Santiago. We'll be sketching, chatting with whomever happens to stop by and we'll also have prints and sketchbooks for sale, so, come on down and say hello!

night

Robots!

Robots on boxes! From 2008.

Sketchbook movies

I've been having fun playing around with Imovie and making little videos. Here's a couple I put together of my sketchbooks, set to music, that I've put up on YouTube. Some of the drawings have been on this blog, but many of them haven't.


You can find the first two here. Make sure to watch them on YouTube, where you get the full wide-screen picture.

White Queen

It's been some time since I've posted anything that took into account the word 'music' on this blog, considering the word is under the title. Here's a video I put together in Imovie, using a recording I did in 2003 of the Queen song 'White Queen.' Written by guitartist Brian May, it's off their 1974 album Queen II. I've always felt the imagery of the album cover (the classic four heads pose made famous by the Bohemian Rhapsody video, which you can see here:

Queen II

and inside gatefold sleeve, shown here:

Queen II gatefold pic

as well as the song titles and lyrics, evoked a mythological and fantasy world. Brian May himself had a sort of wispy Pre-Raphaeliteness to him, as did the band, with their long hair and early Zandra Rhoades, flowing stage costumes.

The song 'White Queen,' in particular, has a Baroque, Medieval feel to it, with it's classical chord progressions and structure. The recording featured here is from 2003 and was made on my Roland KR-375 digital piano. I decided to use some classic Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau images as the visuals to go along with it. Included are artists such as Alphonse Mucha, J.W. Waterhouse, Gustav Klimt, Maxfield Parrish, Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and others.

Over the years I've done a bunch of drawings of Queen and Freddie Mercury. The painting/drawing above (it's in oils and pen and ink) was done for Peter Pop, now the VP of Creative Services at Vanguard Graphic Staffing, but at that time, one of the placement guys in the jobs office at S.V.A. He was hoisting an art show at a local bar and the theme was rock musicians, so he asked some of the students that used the placement office to participate. The pen and ink (rapidograph) drawing of Brian May, above that, is from the late 80's.

Kooky Mini-Comics #4

This one was a couple of months in the making. Most of it was done a few weeks back, but I had trouble finishing the last few panels. I did multiple versions of the last three panels, as well as a few versions of the last panel on the third tier. Here's the final inks, along with the first version of the pencils.

Girl Sketches

Blue Girl