Queen Anthology

After what felt like an eternity, I finished my M.C. Escher inspired Killer Queen piece “Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle”. And now that Wizard World Philly is in town, I can finally unveil it!

It took me almost 85 hours to finish the linework on this and another 31 hours to finish the final art, but after putting in all that time, I have something intricate and fascinating to show for it. It’s a satisfying feeling and I’m quite happy to be moving on to other things.

The Killer Queen Anthology will be hitting the shelves this August! I’ll post a more specific date as soon as I find out.

Queen Anthology (WIP)

For those of you who haven't already heard, Red Stylo Media (the publisher who brought you the Shakespeare Shaken Anthology) is putting together a new anthology of comic art- This time based on the life and works of the band Queen. It's called Killer Queen and it'll be hitting the shelves in August!

My contribution to the book is a surreal illustration called "Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle". It's based on the song Bicycle Race and draws really heavy inspiration from the vertigo inducing dreamscapes of M.C. Escher. I knew from the start that my concept was complicated and ambitious, but I massively underestimated how difficult it would be to place figures within an environment with such a strict three-point perspective. Making the racers actually look like they belonged in that space (as opposed to floating around it at random) was extremely time consuming.

After about 85 hours of hard work and seemingly infinite perspective tweaks, I finally finished the linework.

I don't usually do this, but since the linework took so long and required so many changes along the way, I thought it deserved it's own progress illustration. Enjoy.

Upcoming Events:
Wizard World Philly will soon be upon us! Even though I'm from South Jersey, I think of Philly as my hometown show, so I try to pull out all the stops. I'll be set up in Artists Alley from June 19th to June 22nd. Come on by and check it out! I'll be unveiling the final art for "Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle" there, so don't miss it! 

Click here for more info on Wizard World Philly

Pet Portrait - Jack

Creating a portrait for this sweet, super photogenic dog was a lot of fun!

I logged in twice as many hours as I'd estimated, but I feel like it really benefited from the extra time.

Chewbacca

Here's the latest Star Wars sketch cover.  Enjoy!

Pet Portraits - Ava & Khloe

Just finished up a new
pet portrait assignment.

Upon seeing it for the first time, the client responded with "Love love love it!!!!" so I'm going to chalk this one up as a victory for team Guzzo.



The same client had also commissioned a portrait of her lovely dog Khloe back in May.

It's always encouraging
to get repeat customers.

 

Lando Calrissian

Here's the next in that series of Star Wars sketch covers I've been working on.

First came Darth Maul, then Princess Leia, and now Lando Calrissian!

I've been away from my studio for far far too long. This year's non-stop convention schedule really took a lot out of me. I'm glad to report that I've recovered from the stress enough to be chipping away at the massive list of commissions that had piled up while I was out of town.


It's been way too long since I turned out any new work and it feels good to see that I haven't totally forgotten how to do it.

Princess Leia

Here's the second of the Star Wars sketch covers I'd mentioned.

There's extra space at the top because the client is planning to get this piece signed by Carrie Fisher at an upcoming convention!















I've been enjoying a fairly peaceful July, but that lull is quickly drawing to a close and I'll be back on the road again by August. Here's the list of upcoming events:

Green = I will have my own table, so (if it's a con) look for me in Artist's Alley.

Orange = I'll be in attendance and might even be selling my work, but I won't have my own table. Look for me at the Stormwatch Comics booth.

Red = I'm attending, but not exhibiting. Chances are I'll be running around on the main floor, pestering publishers and persuading them to peruse my portfolio.

Darth Maul

I've just finished a batch of summertime commissions that I'll be posting here as soon as their respective clients have seen the originals:

Here's the first of two Star Wars sketch covers I worked on this month. I forgot to do my usual scans, so there's no work-in-progress animation for this one.

The reference photo I used was from a statue, since I thought it'd be a little more interesting to show that Darth Maul's tattoos are a full-body affair.

March Update

It's been a while since my last blog post, so let me bring you guys up to speed.

Cover artwork was colored
by Shawn Harbin, not me.

Around Christmas time, I landed a digital coloring job for an indie comic called Roadkill Du Jour. The artist (Shawn Harbin) was a fellow Shakespeare Shaken contributor and when it came time to pick a colorist, he requested me specifically. Both Shawn and the author Kevin LaPorte have been a joy to work with and I consider myself extremely lucky to be a part of the RDJ team.

This has been my first time coloring someone else's artwork with a tablet, so it's definitely been a learning experience. I'm a million times better now than I was when I started, but I'm still averaging 10 hours a page, which is way too slow.

Book #1 is almost ready for print, so we'll be posting up a Kickstarter campaign for that project sometime soon. I'll let you know when that happens.

Anyway, I've taken a short break in between books to catch my breath and work on some portraiture assignments. I'm pleased to report that my drawing muscles haven't atrophied! This portrait was finished in record time! In the past, it's taken me over 20 hours to complete a double portrait- This one took less than 6.

This was created for a friend of the
family who wanted to give to his
grandparents something special
for their 50th wedding anniversary.

The photograph I was given to work with was fifty years old and it definitely showed it's age. It was somewhat grainy and unfocused, which made their facial features a bit hard to make out, but I pulled out the likenesses as best I could and I feel good about the finished product.

(The process animation shown below doesn't have as many steps in it as usual. I forgot to scan this piece until it was already halfway done. My apologies to all you fans of moving pictures.)

Upcoming Events:

Amazicon is coming up soon! It's a pop culture show that'll be taking place in The Clarion Hotel in Essington, PA from April 5 - 7th. There's going to be a Star Wars Cantina party after the show on Saturday, so definitely check your calendars!

The Punk Rock Flea Market is back in town! If you've never been to this event before, I highly recommend checking it out. I'll be setting up my table on Saturday, May 18th in the "Punk Rock Flea Market Dome", which is a fancy way of saying "the old FedEx Warehouse across the street from The Starlight Ballroom". The building is in Philadelphia at 461 N. 9th Street and the event will be open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm. Popular demand has forced them to extend the event into Sunday as well, but I will only there on Saturday (as far as I know).

Shar-Pei Pet Portrait

Current work in progress...

Welcome to AC - Take 2

I came up with this Atlantic City piece back in May, but was never really happy with the results. I decided to go back to the pencils and redo the whole project.

This is what it looked like a few months ago, as compared to how it looks now.

I think it's a rather nice improvement.

I especially enjoy Medusa's new snakes and the paperiness of the zombie girl's skin. The newer version was drawn almost twice as large as the first one, so I was able to get in there and put in the proper amount of detail.

These thumbnails don't really do them justice, so I'd recommend clicking on both pictures to see larger versions of the two images.

Rita Hayworth, pt. 2

Very quickly, here's the finished version of that Rita Hayworth image I'd alluded to earlier. A special thanks to my sister-in-law, Stacia, and my father for being wonderfully cooperative models.

Tom Waits

Mister Scott Derby is an extremely talented artist and all-around awesome guy who I've had the pleasure of knowing for a few years now. He's provided me with really wonderful encouragement and advice on many occasions. He recently helped me through a couple tricky bits of freelance negotiation, so I wanted to create something just for him as a thank you for taking the time to help out of his busy schedule to an emerging professional.

I found out that he really likes the singer Tom Waits, so I set out to create a portrait, based on the reference photo below.

I'd love to give credit to the photographer, but I've no idea who it was.

If anyone does know, please email me: LauraGuzzoArt@Gmail.com

Steve gave me some of his old scratchboard paper the last time I was over at Rough Sketch Studios and I've been looking for a good excuse to use it ever since then. It wasn't until I was about halfway through the Tom Waits project that I realized that celebrity scratchboard portraits are a major staple of most high school art curriculums... If I wasn't careful, this image would come out looking REALLY amateurish and the last thing I wanted was for Scott's art present to look like something I'd pulled out of the back of a closet at the last minute.

The scratchboard version, from start to finish.

The other bit of trouble I ran into is deciding how much of his face to show. I like how it looks when you can't see anything except the tip of his nose, but I wanted to make sure that the viewer would be able to clearly identify the singer, and for that, he'd need a face.

The version Scott'll get in the mail is the one on the lower right (his eyes are hidden, but his mouth is visible), but I haven't yet decided on the version that'll make it into my online portfolio.

Update: Scott totally flipped out when he saw the finished project, so I think I can safely assume that is doesn't look like it came from a highschooler. He says he's going to frame it and hang it up in his bar, which is exactly where this piece belongs. It's so cool when an artist whose work you respect and admire gets excited about your work. That alone is a reminder of why I shouldn't give up and go work at Target.

Rita Hayworth

I'm currently in the middle of a freelance assignment that involves a celebrity likeness, so you know what that means... Lots and lots of floating heads.

Hillary Clinton Addendum

So, I just took a look at the Hillary Clinton book via Amazon and apparently, Bluewater didn't think it was necessary to credit me for my artwork.

Thankfully, my signature is still visible on the front, but there's no mention of me on the inside cover… which means I can't send it in as proof that I'm a published comic book artist when I attend conventions.

Unfortunately, there's not much to be done at this point, since it's already been printed up and I doubt there'll be a second printing. Even so, it's still a jerk move on their part.

Just one more reason that I won't be working with Bluewater again.

The Art of Rough Sketch

I'll soon be posting an extensive blog entry about all the things I've been up to in the last three weeks, but since it's taking an awfully long time to finish, here's a look at my most recent colored pencil piece while you wait!

To give you a little bit of background info, I interned with Rough Sketch Studios back in 2009 and very quickly became fast friends with the guys who run it. Steve Sistilli and Dexter Weeks are two of my closest compadres. Meeting them was one of the best things to ever happen to me. So, of course, I jumped at the chance to contribute to their new anthology book, The Art of Rough Sketch! It should be coming out just in time for Wizard World Philadelphia.

Here's the finished image, along with all the juicy extras you've come to expect.

The image is a reference to Daddy's Little Girl, a fun horror comic that Rough Sketch puts out. Imagine a story set in an alternate version of Atlantic City that is secretly overrun by monsters, starring a Paris-Hiltonesque sort of character, and you'll come close to what Daddy's Little Girl is all about.

A special thanks to my models: Brielle Wilson, Amber Love, and Robert Hoskins!

EXCITING NEWS!

I just finished my first real

freelance illustration job!

Oh sure, I've been commissioned to do portraits and even some t-shirt design work, but I've never worked on a national publication before! I was contacted by Bluewater Productions to do the cover for one of their "Political Power" comic books and I am so psyched about the project!

I'm really pleased with how the piece came out and even more happy about the amount of time it took me to complete it. When I first got the call, I wasn't 100% sure that I'd could to finish it by Monday without pulling an all-nighter, but apparently I was underestimating myself! I slept well each night and still got it scanned in by Sunday afternoon.

I met the man from Bluewater while I was working as a booth babe at Wizard World 2010. We spoke about the possibility that I might illustrate the cover of another book in their Political Power series, but when I didn't hear from him for months I started to lose hope. A few weeks ago, I heard that the comic book we'd discussed would be hitting the shelves soon and I figured I wouldn't be hearing back from him.

Then I get this email, out of the blue, saying that he may have a job for me!

I had already planned out my weekend- Hang out with Tom, paint some eggs, silkscreen some geeky t-shirts to sell at the Collingswood Book Festival, meet up with the gallery owner I met at my last show and talk to him about selling giclée prints. I canceled all of that immediately as soon as I got the details. I locked myself in my studio all weekend long, with St. Thomas of Mitchell keeping me company. I'm extremely excited about the possibility of working more projects like this.

UPCOMING ART SHOWS:

I will be sharing a booth with Stormwatch Comics on October 2nd

from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm as part of the Collingswood Book Festival.

I plan on selling my comic book themed artwork there, so that means Julie Newmar portraits, comic book heroine pin ups, and the Avengers sketch covers with Black Widow as played by Scarlett Johansson. I'm also making some t-shirts just for the occasion. If you're in the area, stop by! It'll be a great time!

Also, the Barrington Harvest Festival is coming up.

I will be there on October 9th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Collingswood and Portraits

I had a fantastic time at Collingswood's Second Saturday event! I sold enough artwork to make it worth packing up the car, made some connections with a local gallery owner, and then danced my butt off with Tom at the end of the night.

At the start of event, we noticed a band (Beyond Therapy) setting up directly across the street from us. At first I was nervous that they were going to be loud and obnoxious and that having them playing so close to my stand would make it impossible to conduct any business, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Some of the people I talked to at Collingswood expressed interest in my portraiture- so in order to clear out the queue, I've finished up the double portrait I'd been working on for Tom's sister and her husband.

Also, I've started painting eggs. For fun and possibly profit. More on this later.

Pet Portrait - Sugar

Just finished my first pet portrait ever and I was extremely pleased to discover that it's not all that different from people portraits. I'm going to try to do a few more self promotional pieces like this one, and then I'll start posting ads around at pet shops to try to drum up some business.

UPCOMING ART SHOWS:

I will be selling work in Collingswood, NJ on September 11th from

6:00 pm to 9:00 pm as part of their Second Saturday activities.

If you're in the area, come out and see what I've got!

Sketch Covers Complete!

I've just completed both covers and I'm extremely pleased with them!

The Scarlett Johansson portrait came out quite nicely. It doesn't look as much like her as I would have liked, but it's very close. I'm thinking about spraying her with some fixative, so the pencil won't smear, but I'm afraid of ruining the whole thing. Everybody cross your fingers!

In spite of all the trouble I had with it early on (i.e. spilling water on the first version and having to draw the web over again) The Widow's Web was a joy to work on. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I've decided to make several versions of these in different colors.

Both of these covers will be available for sale at Stormwatch Comics and eventually on my Etsy store as well.

Stormwatch Comics

(856) 768-8186

449 Route 73 N

West Berlin, NJ 08091