Superhero Sketches

In between projects I like to cook up ideas for original superheroes often with goofy puns names in that classic Silver Age style. Just to give an inkling of my process I thought I'd showcase some of my sketches.

Admiral Atlantis

I never liked the idea of characters like Aquaman and Namor being both King of the Seven Seas and part time surface superheroes, being a ruler is a full time responsibility. Instead our aquatic actioneer is a former Atlantean war hero and master strategist. I wanted something that emulated a old style of naval uniform with some decorative nouveau shapes of underwater animals like the manta chest emblem which is meant to resemble an "A".

Bamboozle!

Billionaire Biff Powell’s parents were tragically murdered by ninjas. Now he has dedicated his life to avenge their deaths by battling the ninja underworld by studying the ancient art of Onomatopoeia; the ability to manifest sound into a physical form. 

"Criminals are a sneaky, silent lot. The sound of an alarm or siren will send them fleeing. I must become something that shatters the silence!" Hours later after surfing the Internet for inspiration, Biff stumbles across the famed "Sneezing Panda" video. "GASP! A simple sound that strikes suddenly! It's Perfect!"

I loved the old Adam West Batman show as a kid and was disappointed to discover that creating sound effects with his fists was not an actual superhero and wanted to create a tongue-in-cheek type of hero that would reconstruct that fun feeling I had with the character when I was young.

Battle Butler

Geoffrey Grieves is a servant themed superhero, one of a long legacy of Battle Butlers. Tall and slim, with heightened reflexes and agility, ninja level stealth and precision. Armed with a serving tray and silverware that act as discus and shirken. Being clean and meticulous has helped to hone his keen observational and detective skills.

Crown Jewel

She's probably the one superhero I've spent the most time trying to visually develop, and yet her eponymous headgear still remains ill defined. 

Film Buff

Golden Guardian of the Silver Screen! Film Buff's powers mostly include deducing the obvious.

Pocket Protector

A pint-sized powerhouse in the vein of tiny titans like The Atom or Ant-Man. He's also a bit of a super nerd as emphasized by his costume designed to resemble a quilted sweater and suspenders. 

The Scarf

For whatever reason, the letter "S" was really popular with pulp heroes of the '30s and '40s. The Shadow, The Spider, The Spirit, The Scarab, The Saint, The Shield, The Spectre and more. To that impressive list I'd like present my own entry; "The Scarf", the Silky Scourge of Crime! Starting out as a Golden Age coat, hat and aviator goggles style of crimefighter-adventerer before moving into the Silver Age with bright tights and an atomic powered utility belt.

Snow Angel

Giant snowflakes for wings. Thats all I've got so far. Did I mention how much I love puns?

LOEB: First Job

For some time now I've wanted to do a series of more anecdotal posts to give my viewers a better sense of who I am. The League's latest topic of "firsts" seems like an ideal opportunity to share two particular --- that are especially relevant to me right now.

First (Real) Job

After my college graduation in 2010, I entered a competition held by a clinic called Sleep Care. They were looking for a pair of black and white single panel cartoons for their website.  I produced some samples and soon received a cash prize and was given the opportunity to create additional illustrations for the company.

It was the best kind of post graduate experience I could have asked for. A regular stream of new projects that give me the chance to use my imagination daily and create an image that can tell a story. It was a great opportunity to learn while I earned. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Other League Firsts!

* Life of Fandom goes back to the sewer to talk Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

* Diary of a Dorkette spills on She-Ra!

* Pop Culture Rewind sets the wayback machine to classic Atari Games!

* Goodwill Geek gabs Garbage Pail Kids!

Summer Studies 2013

A collection of portraits I drew over the past few months while at the church's summer Bible study for students.

Learning Curve

This is an idea I've been kicking around for some years now. After graduating from college it really hit me how different learning in a classroom was from actual experience, and how I would often re-discover things that I had already learned during lectures when I got down to the nitty-gritty business. 

It was also a chance to practice a more simple, graphical style by playing with tools in my new version of Adobe Illustrator.

Red Thread Redemption

This is a logo I designed for a Christian T-Shirt company called "Red Threads". This is something I've been working on since May and it has taken on many different styles of variations and style within that time. The client was looking for something hip, distinct and "comic book-like". That last one had me a little nervous as "comic book style" can mean different things to different people, as comics are just as diverse in their appearances, techniques and styles as any other medium of art. But really, what I was more concerned about was that a detail oriented "comics style" would clash with the needs of a logo, which needs to be simple, identifiable and legible even when shrunken down.

Here are some previous variations just to give you a hint of the process.

Rogers House

I actually started on drawing this house before I started the Eisley House, so I learned a few things in the process. Here, the trees so close to the actual house I had to be careful about applying detail so as not to make it appear that the foliage was swallowing the building itself. I did my best to balance things out my putting the darkest darks in the corners and especially on the far right, while also plotting negative space on the left hand side in the driveway, the bushes on front lawn and the tree by the garage.

If I were to do this again, I'd have done less of this "brush strokes as leaves" approach and maybe go with something more akin to Franklin Booth and render the canopy with of varying degrees of cross hatching. As is, its pretty easy to lose the point were one tree ends and another one begins. That might have also lent a more uniform look to the picture what with the linear nature of the house. Then again, I had originally drawn the grass on the front lawn in a very Booth-ish style which my client didn't seem to care for, so I changed it to the kind of style I did with the Eisley's house.

Eisley House

 I was fortunate to be discovered by two families recently who are selling their houses and wanted a keepsake of their former homes. This is the first, I hope to get the finer details worked out with the client of the second one soon.

Back when I was in high school, I had a little side business of drawing houses in some of the more affluent neighborhoods. My rates were extraordinarily cheap, but looking back, these pictures weren't all that great. I had no sense of economy whatsoever and drew every blade of grass equally.

Here I used a pen that was almost out of ink and ran it very quickly across the lawn to give it a sense of substance but also convey that it was neatly mowed. I had a lot of fun rendering that kooky cloud as well. I original started shooting for a fluffy Franklin Booth cloud but ended up with this hatchy Bernie Wrightson formation that I think works better in this piece, especially with all the line work going on already.