Next Week's Subject: Mermaids

The first art post of 2012 will be 'Mermaids' (instead of an end of the world theme...we've got all year to work up to that :)).

Thanks to everyone who checked out the blog in 2011! Hope you'll enjoy what we have to offer in 2012 :)

Happy New Year by Gene Gonzales

Art © 2011 Gene Gonzales

I would have liked to have spent more time on this idea but I am under the deadline gun this week. I love the old Saturday Evening Post New Year Baby covers. This is my spin on those covers with my own New Year Baby!

Copic markers and ink on 11" x 14" Strathmore Drawing paper.

Happy New Year's by Joe Pekar

Be careful not to drink too much on New Year's Eve...

Hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year! :)

Copic Markers 9"x12"

Next Week's Subject: Happy New Year's

Gene and I thought a Happy New Year's theme would be a good choice for the last theme of the year. Feel free to start dropping suggestions for the new year also. Hope everyone has a good time around the holidays!

Josie and the Pussycats by Joe Pekar

and here's mine...minus the pussycats :).

9"x12" Copic Markers

Josie and the Pussycats by Gene Gonzales

Josie & the Pussycats © Archie Comics

Here is my take on the coolest girl band in Riverdale. This piece was based on a rough sketch I did a while back and always wanted to finish. Below is how I see it in color as a band flyer.

Ink on 11" x 17" Bristol Board

Next Week's Subject: Josie and the Pussycats

Gene and I decided on Josie and the Pussycats for next week's subject. Originally suggested by Gene's wife a few weeks ago, it's one I've personally wanted to do for a while now. See you all on Wednesday.

Holiday Theme by Gene Gonzales

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

"I had a little trouble gift wrapping your presents." 

Ink & acrylic on 11" x 17" Arches watercolor board

Holiday Theme by Joe Pekar

Here's my take on this week's theme. Bad girls celebrate the holidays too, don't they? :)

9"x12" Copic Markers

Next Week's Subject: Holiday Theme

Gene and I decided last week that we wanted to do a 'Holiday' theme before the holidays got here :). So next week we'll be back to the regularly scheduled suggestions. We've also decided to be PC (well, Gene's a Mac, but don't hold that against him) and just call it a 'holiday' theme instead of being too specific and alienating anyone ;). so whatever you celebrate just be here next week to see some scantily clad holiday girls.

Military Girl by Gene Gonzales

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

I'm a day late, but not a dollar short due to my deadlines. But here is my take on the military girl theme. I went all modern warfare with this since Joe nailed the sexy military girl pin-up. :)

Ink and Copic Marker on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board

Military Girl by Joe Pekar

Here's my piece for the week. I chose to go with an Army Ranger pinup. She may have forgotten a thing or two, but she's willing and able at least :)

(This was a direct result from playing too much Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 lately. I always like drawing guns but so rarely get the opportunity.)

9"x12" Copic Markers

Next Week's Subject: Military Girls

This week's theme will be Military Girls. and was my suggestion :). thanks to Gene for going along with it! As he knows all too well, I play a lot of military first person shooter games (Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare). I've wanted to try this theme since we first started the blog, but we always had too many other suggestions. So...and just in time for the holidays...girls with guns! :)

and don't forget you can still suggest anything you want for future themes!

-Joe

Black Canary by Gene Gonzales

Black Canary © DC Comics

Black Canary has always been one of my favorite characters. I first came to notice her in the Green Arrow back ups in Action Comics. This might sound strange but it's the only way to say it, Dinah and Ollie were the first comic characters that I was sure had sex off panel. They were passionate, they loved, they fought, and seemed to live and breathe. Around the same time I found back issues of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. My friend had a couple of issues but he also had this black and white paperback book that reprinted some stories. In one of the stories, we learn that Superman made a motorcycle for Black Canary. It was just a throwaway line between GL & GA to identify Black Canary's stolen motorcycle. But it stuck with me. I always liked the idea that Superman took time out to make a special motorcycle for his fellow Justice Leaguer. Was it a birthday present? A Christmas present? A welcome to Earth-1 gift? Who knows? It was just pretty cool.

My inspiration for this piece was to mix Dinah proudly standing by her new motorcycle and approach it in a style inspired by Alex Toth's great Black Canary art from a back up story in Adventure Comics, done in that same time period.

Ink on 11" x 17" Bristol Board. 

Black Canary by Joe Pekar

This week's theme was DC's Black Canary. A character I've always liked, but never liked that little half jacket she used to wear, so that's why I left it out :). anyway, hope you enjoy.

9"x12" Copic Marker

Next Week's Subject: Black Canary

Gene and I decided to go with Black Canary for next week's theme. So stay tuned. :)
hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, and are making the most of the long weekend.

60's X-Men (Iceman) by Gene Gonzales

Iceman © Marvel Entertainment

Iceman is my submission to this weeks 1960s X-Men. I hope everyone in the US has a Happy Thanksgiving, and the rest of the world, a Happy Thursday. :)

Acrylic on 11" x 17" Arches Watercolor Board.

60's X-men (Marvel Girl) by Joe Pekar

here's Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) from the 60's. she's aged remarkably well over the years. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

9"x12" Copic markers (with watercolor background) on Bristol paper

Next Week's Subject: 60's X-men

Thanks to a suggestion by Lan (60's era Marvel), we have next week's theme. Gene and I decided to narrow the focus down a bit to the X-Men related characters. See you all on Wednesday!

Scooby Doo by Gene Gonzales

Ta-Da! My take on Velma of the Scooby Doo gang for this weeks theme. 

Mixed media on Canson Paper.

Scooby Doo by Joe Pekar

here's Daphne (and Scooby) for this week's theme.

watercolor 9"x12"

Next Week's Subject: Scooby Doo!

This week's suggestion was from Bill Frey who suggested Saturday morning cartoons. Gene and I agreed on Scooby Doo (I'll be doing Daphne and Gene said he'd take Velma..like a double date, just don't tell our wives :)).

(in another post Lan suggested Venture Bros. but seeing as neither Gene nor I are familiar with the characters at all, we didn't think we'd do them justice. sorry Lan! )

Thanksgiving by Gene Gonzales

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

Somehow Joe managed to represent the Native American side and I didn't. :) Here is my Puritan take on Thanksgiving.

Mixed media on 11" x 17" Canson Paper.

Thanksgiving by Joe Pekar

This is what first popped into my head when thinking about Thanksgiving...is that wrong? :)

9"x12" watercolor

Next Week's Subject: Thanksgiving!

Thanks to a post by everyone's favorite Comix Book Gurl :) we have our next theme. Gene and I had settled on something different, but we both agreed this would be a really fun idea. See you all on Wednesday!

Tigra by Gene Gonzales

Tigra © Marvel Entertainment

It's been a while since I have done a Canson Cutie, (no one asks for them anymore, "snif") so I thought I would do one for Tigra.

Mixed media on 11" x 17" Canson Mi-Teintes paper.

Tigra by Joe Pekar

This week's subject was Tigra. So here she is.

9"x12" watercolor

Next Week's Subject: meow! it's Tigra

Based on some of the comments this week it was decided it was going to be a redhead....but who? :)
After making a list Gene and I decided on Marvel's Tigra. She's sort of a redhead...a little more orange maybe...and a lot more hair, but she still counts right? ;). anyway, there you have it!

Gotham City Sirens by Gene Gonzales

Gotham City Sirens © DC Comics

Here is my inked submission for this weeks theme.

Ink on 11" x 14" Strathmore Drawing Paper.

Gotham City Sirens Joe Pekar

This was my favorite theme so far and couldn't actually decide on what I wanted to do. So I did two. :). Catwoman was a piece that I've had a photo reference for sitting on my computer for a while now that I decided was finally appropriate to use. The Harley and Ivy was just because I can't avoid painting red heads :). Hope you guys like 'em.

and don't forget it's not too late to suggest something for next week's theme.

Joe

Next Week's Subject: Gotham City Sirens

and no, that doesn't mean we'll be drawing police cars. :). In honor of the release of Batman: Arkham City (which I have yet to play, but looks fantastic!), the theme will be the beautiful ladies of Gotham. Sound good?

Sword and Sorcery by Gene Gonzales

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

Here is my sketchy marker and pencil piece for this weeks theme. You can make up your own story to this scene. :)

Pencil and Copic Marker on 11" x 14" Strathmore Drawing Paper.

Swords and Sorcery by Joe Pekar

This week's theme was Swords and Sorcery....which as you can see I've drawn neither :). But hopefully she fits the bill.
Watercolor 9"x12"

Next Week's Subject: Sword & Sorcery

So now that Enchantress is finished, next week's art theme will be 'Sword and Sorcery' suggested by Tom Fleming. (In case you didn't check the sidebar to see the upcoming schedule...because, frankly, I keep forgetting it's there :))

Don't forget you can always let us know what to consider for upcoming themes or characters. Just by posting in these threads (or anywhere...as long as we find it). For example 'Batman: Arkham City' is coming out shortly (xbox/ps3)...so if a Batman theme were suggested I wouldn't argue with that. Just saying... ;)

The Enchantress by Gene Gonzales

The Enchantress © Marvel Comics

I'm only familiar with The Enchantress through the commissions I have done in the past. I do like the design of the outfit a lot though. I opted for a "action" shot for her this time around.

Watercolor & acrylic on 11" x 17" Arches Cold Press Watercolor Board.

The Enchantress by Joe Pekar

This week's character/theme was Marvel's Enchantress (from Thor). I've always liked the design and colors for her.
watercolor on 9"x12" watercolor paper

Next Week's Subject - The Enchantress!

Joe and I agreed that the Enchantress (the Marvel version) will be next weeks subject.

Also I have added a list on the right column titled "Future Posts". This will let you know what is coming up in the weeks ahead. Keep watching that column because it will be updated each Friday.

Gene

Bride of Frankie by Joe Pekar

For the Universal Monsters theme I decided to go with a slightly sexed up version of the Bride of Frankenstein. Like Gene I almost went with the Mummy (a girl version of course) and would probably still like to do that one day.

watercolor on 9"x12" watercolor paper.

Frankenstein's Monster by Gene Gonzales

My choice for our first theme of Universal's Monsters is the big guy himself, Frankenstein's Monster. It was a tough choice though. Almost went with The Mummy. Though I did this piece in black and white, I originally was going to add color. The pencils were done to establish the values and then I would block in color with my airbrush, and detail it with paint and color pencils. This is the way I worked years ago and have wanted to do it again. Except one problem, no air brush compressor or co2 tank. Neither of which I have since moving to Florida. Oops. Still, something to be said for stark black/white and gray.

This is done in pencil, white color pencil and white acrylic paint on 11" x 14" Gray Canson Mi-Teintes board.

New Art Blog Announcement

The tag line and title says it all. Joe and I will tackle the same subject once a week. Not a contest, not a dream, not an imaginary tale, this is real.

A subject or theme will be established and we will post the artwork every Wednesday. Every Friday a new subject will be announced. We will be taking suggestions in the comments section for each week. All the art created will be original done in traditional mediums and will most likely be offered for sale or auctioned.

We thought this would be fun for everyone to toss out ideas and see what we produce. And it gives us a chance to try new things and possibly branch out of our normal styles from time to time.

Our first post will be this coming Wednesday, October 5th.

The theme: Universal Monsters (suggested by Royce).

 I hope you will join us for the fun.

Gene