Phoenix Rising *NSFW*

At last year's Chicago Wizard World, I had the pleasure of meeting a fan of mine who had already collected a large number of my sketch covers and was very excited about the idea of commissioning a custom piece from me! He requested a nude rendition of Jean Grey from the Xmen, in all her wild glory as the Phoenix. I've been dying to draw this character, so I jumped at the chance!

I'm so very pleased with the finished product on this one. More often than not, when I'm working on a new illustration, it's a struggle. Unforeseen problems come up and you've got to improvise, maybe the materials don't behave the way you expect them to or a layout that looked okay in the early stages just isn't going to work in the final... So when a piece like this one comes along, where everything just falls into place effortlessly, it's such a joy. I'm especially proud of the reflected light underneath her breasts.

This was my first time experimenting with watercolor pencils and it was definitely a success. I look forward to incorporating them into future works.

I put some clothes on her after it was all finished so that I can sell prints to a wider audience when I'm on the road. Even the PG-13 version looks great.
I am SO happy with how this turned out.

Digital Coloring Exercise

Today in the studio, I spent some time brushing up on my digital coloring skills.

Although I use Photoshop religiously, I almost never paint with it.
In fact, the last time I colored anything 100% digitally was 2010.

So, to break my digital dry spell, I found an inked image from a comic book (the cover of Uncanny X-Men #514 by Terry Dodson) and spent an afternoon filling in the color via Photoshop. It took me three hours, which is not half bad when I consider how long it's been since the last time I saw a swatch palette. I definitely want to make that go faster though and I'm certain that a few more exercises like this one will help me get back into the swing of things.

Jubilee - Pt. 2

The Jubilee commission I've
been working on is finished!

I'm happy to report that the unusual lighting situation, which had the potential to turn into a real headache, was actually kind of fun to work with!

The customer who commissioned it loves it, which is always especially satisfying.

Tom has suggested I make a whole series of these images, all showing the ladies of X-men with neon signs of their names, and I must admit the idea does have a certain appeal to it! Once I finish up with Project G.G., I ought to have enough time to work on those. Hopefully they'll be finished in time for next year's convention season.

GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST!

Shakespeare Shaken books are now on sale!

You can purchase them from me directly if

you're local (in which case I'll happily sign

it for you) or click here to order them online.

This isn't a thin comic book, either. There's over 200 PAGES of Shakespearey goodness beneath that cover!

Jubilee - Pt. 1

Here's a peek at what I've been working on today.


The JUBILEE sign is going to be glowing neon when I'm done and it should do some fun things with the lighting...

Either that or the unusual light source is going to be a giant pain in my butt. I won't really know which one it is until I start attacking it tomorrow.

Post Show Recap: Wizard World Philly

I have my post show recap for X-Con ready to go, but I'm still waiting on some photographs 

before I can publish it... So, while we're waiting for that- Here's what happened in Philly!

I had less than a week after X-Con (just enough time to complete that Luna commission and catch a nasty head cold) to get my stuff together for Wizard World. It was the first time I've ever had an Artist's Alley table all to myself and it ended up being the most financially successful con I've ever attended!

I had a great spot in Artist's Alley, right across from Red Stylo Media and down the aisle from my friends Ken Haeser (of Living Corpse fame) and Mike Capprotti (cover artist extraordinaire).

Rough Sketch Studios was there in force as well, with Steve, Brielle, and Andy all taking up residence just one aisle away.




Directly across from my table was a talented young artist I've never seen before. Her name is Sasha Yosselani and her work is incredible. Take a moment to check out her website, you'll be glad you did.

I also had the pleasure of running into Alex Saviuk!
I'd been looking forward to showing him my work ever since meeting him in Chicago, but I wasn't expecting to see him in Philly! He did me the honor of looking through my portfolio and was a joy to chat with. I'm looking forward to the next time we cross paths.

I was assisted by my own personal booth babe, Thomas Mitchell. He spent the weekend dressed as Doctor Strange and was, dare I say it, the belle of the ball. If Tom hadn't taken time off from work to help me run the booth, there's no way I would've made it through the weekend. He is the best show partner anyone could ask for, and I suspect he likes to rave about my artwork even more than I do.

Having Tom nearby to take care of customers also freed me up to work on more show sketches than I would've otherwise been able to do. Almost a third of my income from Wizard World this year came from show sketches. I've never done so many at a single event... They haven't gotten easier or quicker, but they have gotten a little bit better.

<-- The first was Black Widow for a
customer who liked Marvel redheads.

The guy who gave
me a tiny zebra print
sketch book in Chicago
made an appearance!
His name is Chris
apparently and he was the recipient of this
(somewhat mannish)
Wonder Woman.

                                                                                                                                                                             Emma Frost as The White Queen of The Hellfire Club, complete with condescending bitch face.

This Octopus Mermaid is my personal favorite from the show! I LOVE how she turned out! I'm planning on coloring her sometime in the future. It's fortuitous that this sketch turned out so awesome, since the customer is planning on getting this tattooed on his body!

And last, but not least, is this drawing of Wonder Woman having a tea party with X-23.
I get the feeling it's some kind of inside joke between the customer and a friend, but she was absolutely delighted when she saw the finished piece and announced that I'd "made at least two people very happy"

Those four days sapped a LOT of energy out of me... I definitely learned how exhausting it is to work a convention when you're sick. I returned home on Monday with a bone-deep weariness that I have yet to fully recover from and had to keep on truckin' since the RAW cosplay fashion show was only a few days away... I'll blog about that eventually when they post the photos/video.

Now, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to go collapse in a corner for a few days.

Daily Special #7 - Emma Frost

Guess who was the #1 seller for Dynamic Forces yesterday?

Guess who sold out and still was the #1 seller?!

My Emma Frost covers made their way onto the Dynamic Forces front page yesterday and sold out completely before I had a chance to take a look. They also posted about it in the news section, if you're into that sort of thing.

This definitely won't be the last time I draw Emma, but before I can revisit the White Queen, I have a few other projects that need addressing: Some private commissions, a pin-up for Rough Sketch Studio's upcoming title "Daddy's Little Girl", and a Hellblazer inspired piece that is underway right now. I'll be posting some images of THAT later on this week.

I'm trying to get it done before the Baltimore Comic Con this weekend, since I'll be showing my portfolio to representatives from a ton of different publishing houses. I'm cutting it a bit close to the deadline, but as long as I don't run into any problems, I should still be able to finish it in time for the big show.

Wish me luck!

Emma Frost - Pt. 2

Here she is- Older, but lovelier for it.

I also straightened her hair a bit, because I noticed that all of my reference of Emma was pin-straight and yet, I'd been drawing her with full-bodied waviness for some reason.

Emma Frost

I've been working on an Emma Frost pinup for my next set of DF sketch covers. The image I came up with is laid out nicely, ascetically pleasing, and completely wrong.

The character of Emma Frost is a self-serving, cold-hearted bitch, but the girl I've drawn here is too young and soft looking. She's pretty enough to be Emma, but she's too generic and bland for my taste.

My initial attempts to fix the problem went a bit too far in the other direction and made her look more like a witch with a headache than a telepath with sex appeal, but on the third try...

Here's our Emma: a little older, a little more angular

...I ended up with that comes much closer to capturing the spirit of the character than before. I'm still not entirely satisfied with her, but she's getting there little by little. Once I iron out the last of the kinks, I'll post an another update.

Kitty Pryde - Revised

I've been tweaking the Kitty Pryde image a bit today.

Hopefully making it better, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that.

That mask of hers is creepy and weird, so I'm leaving it out.

Note from Laura 02/25/11 - UGH. A bunch of people have pointed out that the blue tiles make it look like she's rising out of a pool, rather than a wall.

Also, my resident X-men X-pert (Tom) has explained to me how Kitty looks when she's moving through matter and I'm way off.

I'm not at all satisfied with this image.

I'm putting it aside for now.

Kitty Pryde

Here's what I've been up to today:

First Blue Willow Egg

I just finished a new painted egg and I'm really pleased with how it came out!

This one is obviously quite different from the mythical creature designs I was doing before, it's based on the Blue Willow china plates. It was a special request and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees it!

I've also been working on a set of sketch covers for Dynamic Forces. Some of them will be handed over to Brian and some will be put up for sale at Stormwatch Comics. Take a look:

I should be receiving a bunch of X-Men blanks by the end of the week, so expect some lovely lady mutants in the next batch of comic pin-ups.

Cease & Desist #2:

And in other news, the BBC has found my Doctor Who shirts and has frowned upon them. They will be unavailable for purchase through my Etsy store until this mess is sorted out.