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This piece looks great, Eric. The feel of it doesn't look digital at all - a great mix of media.

The colours of this piece really set a beautiful mood as well.

This looks really nice Eric. you always retain that graphic novel quality in your work.

for about 7 years at my work I have had to do almost all of my design by scanning in and finishing in Photoshop. its just not fast enough to paint everything by hand.
i still just dont enjoy my art nearly as much if there is anything digital in it. strange, i know.

Nice, Eric. An interesting way to work, too.

this is really great man. I dig it a lot. The garb is my favorite part

Thanks Brian! I remebered the artist whose work inspired this: Nic Klein. He does painted comics.It was a black and white drawing and I added 1 colour in photoshop and then played with levels.

Thanks Joe! I've actually become pretty bored wit most digital means of art making and rarely use much photoshop except for tweaking.It's funny, I spent maybe an hour drawing this and really only a few minutes turning it purple. If I lost the drawing aspect of my work I'd be really disappointed: it's the whole point of what I do`tell stories through drawing.

Thanks Jennifer!I love posting my experiments here.

Thanks Shane! Did you follow the link to the photos of nomads? Amazing stuff, just unbelievably beautiful clothing and I can't believe they wear it now.

I think the artist who inspired this method was Nic Klein, but I'm not a hundred percent on that:

http://www.nicklein.com/imagepage/imagepage.html

That apparition looks an awful lot like young Rembrandt. Nice experimentation :B

Thanks Ericka!

Very cool! I like this a lot.

Paz

Thanks Paz!

Is it a bristol brush or spongetip? I'm on the lookout for a decent bristol brush.

Don't forget about Sketchcrawl this Saturday!

Hmm...doesn't feel spongey. I'm not sure.

Do I detect some dry brush effects in this one? Cool.

It's a great little tool, Jeanie!

I may have to get one then.

i love brushpens. i have yet to try a refillable one though. Sketches look wonderful, love that quality your getting with those portraits - especially the bottom left.

Thanks Shane!

Very, very nice. I want to write, "Very cool." But I've written that twice already in different comments. But really, all your art work is cool. ;-)

Paz

Thanks Paz!

Oh I like that story a lot. I thought it was called "Allerleirauh"? Is that an older spelling you think? I always kind of wanted a coat like that, just maybe not real fur.

Lol! I think i spelled it wrong...I'll fix it. I'm reading a lot of fairy tales and ghost stories right now which seems very appropriate for a muddy, crow infested spring here.

Nice drawing, and I love that story too! I learned it as "Sapsorrow," and haven't heard the title you use, but it's lyrical and lovely.
Have you ever seen Jim Henson's "The Storyteller" tv series? I think you'd dig it (they had a "Sapsorrow" episode).

Thanks Steve! Sapsorrow sounds more poetic, doesn't it?Love the storyteller series!

that's one of my favorites, too...love the rough look you have given to the drawing, it totally suits the story!

Thanks so much Donna! I really love the earthiness of these stories and i wanted to get some of that across.

It's the first time I know about this story but is sounds very good.Do you know story about a prince that had donkeys ears?!!One servant saw it and was condemned to death as that was a well kept secret.He managed to escape and had to live with the secret.One day he told the secret to an old man as he could not bear it anymore.The old man told him to open a hole in the ground and shout it all inside.He did this.But -well,I do not know the word for it in english!!!!- a plant (=canas) grew in the land and a shepherd took one and made a flute out of it.When he sarted to play it the music was like "the prince has donkeys ears,the prince has donkeys ears"!! I liked this story when I was a child.:)Silly,I know!

Thanks Belinha! I don't know that story. Is it Portuguese? It sounds really cool.

Yes, it was writen in 1942 by José Régio.I think there's more to it than I told you!But I never read it,my mother told it to me.
My favourite story (I think) it's Andersen's about a vain king that was deceived by two smart tailors.The king walked the streets naked! I have it illustrated by portuguese João Caetano, my fav portuguese illustrator.We do not have a lot of illustrators here.For me João is the best.He mixes drawing and painting and collage.I see lots of excellent american or even french illustratores, I mean a lot.:)Anyway I think art has no frontiers and net is helping a lot!

Sounds really cool. I can't find any João Caetano pictures anywhere!

Hi!João has no blog or site.But I uploaded two pages of the book specially for you to see-let's hope I'll do this correctly!
Take a look:
My favourite portuguese illustrator

really nice drawing!

oh wow thats great !!!

i like both, but thats true the second one fit better for a comic book

i like his face very much !!

i nice to be push in another way, han ? ;)

i cant wait the see the others draws of the comic !!!

its gonna be amazing

and BRAVO for your work, i discovered your blog a week ago but i was too shy to put comments (cause i not very good in english to express myself)
feep on the great work

i follow you :)

Comics or not, the guy on the right is much more expressive and 'alive'. I like it. i've been enjoying watching your work process over the last few weeks - it's been interesting and educational. Keep at it!

Thanks so much Marie Eve! Your English is great, I should be shy about my French!

Thanks so much, SJ! That's exactly what my editor said about the designs. I think when I'm worried about doing a good drawing I tighten up too much.

very interesting is good to always keep an open mind in art, and expand one's comfort zones :D

Thanks Scorp!

:) Hooray! i'm so happy that your works are better and better now! your work is so great for illustration, graphic novel and comic, trust me. ;)

Thanks so much Mall! That means a lot, you know how much I love your work.

Man that costume looks fun to draw. The pose on the right looks much more natural, the arch to the back, and the turn of the head work much better than the straight on upright drawing on the left. Also the costume is much cooler- did I mention I like the costume?

Thanks so much Shane! I think it just proves Alex Toth right: attitude is more convincing then anatomy. The costume is part medieval serf, part lab coat and part stolen from Shaun Tan.

These are really nice, I like the one on the right a lot as well. Maybe that 3/4 angle is just more dynamic? He feels more engaging :]

Both are very nice; the one on the right is more you.

hmmm.... I looked and looked and looked, and i hate to say but i like the guy on the left! The guy on the left looks like he has low self esteem... (oh dear...or is that me?)

Thanks Erin!

Thanks Jeff!

Thanks Messy! That's actually the look I'm going for, very worried and no confidence.

I, of course, like both of them. The subtle differences between the two are very cool. I can see the one on the right, say, being used in the comic and the one on the left perhaps for the cover, if it came to that. Both are wonderful. I am, to say the least, unable to choose!

Have the guts. Draw how you want. It is your language and when you draw from the heart it shines through. And have courage as editors may be good, but they are not always right. (sometimes they are though and that makes me really frustrated)

well in that case then the second one is perfect!

It's really OK with me if you prefer the first, lol. My wife does.

I like the extra refinements of the character in your second guy. You've achieved a design an expressiveness that is uniquely you, and I love it!

Thanks so much Angela!

ullo, eric. lovely sketch. that understated mood thing you do so well. summat a little sad and melancholy about this one.

and bin loving your COMIC HEROES. i remember the ECLIPSE reprints and revamps of AIRBOY and SKYWOLF(and the HEAP!)very fondly. still got em, somewhere in the crypt. they did a lot of good/great stuff, i recall. how bout a CAP.QUICK and FLOOZLE?

Thanks Shane! I was traveling on a train alone and had been traveling for about 40 hours so I was feeling a bit melancholic at the time. Also, Upstate New York is extremely atmospheric. You can really understand Washington Irving being inspired to pen the Headless Horseman there.

Is Captain Quick the pirate comic? I've never read it. I think I saw a spread of it in Maurice Horn's Comic Encyclopedia, though. There are so many amazing comics that aren't getting the attention they deserve.

Can you start to see your influence on my work?

Damn, that's a really nice sketch. You've got to participate in Sketchcrawl April 11.

That sketch just helped me solve a problem I was having with one of my own projects. :D

Thanks so much Donal! I'm really delighted to hear that. That happens to me occasionally as well, finding a problem resolved in someone else's work. Sometimes problems I didn't know was there.

how do you get involved in sketchcrawl? I just missed it last year and this year I think I'll be in Toronto during it...

simply and beautiful.
I like these black and white

Thanks so much Kalo!

I like the way you handled bullet-girls hair.

Bullet-Man and Bullet-Girl---two of the funkier characters from that era. Their helmets made them fly through some kind of magnetic force, so basically they were constantly being dragged through the air by their heads! That couldn't have been good.

My other favorite from that era was the human bomb. Everything he touched blew up.

Thanks Jed! The Human Bomb! Weird character, I think DC has the rights to those stories...

Eric, your work is highly inspirational! love it!

Kindly,
ann

Thanks so much Annie!

these are great, the high contrast in the second sketch is really great. It shows a skillful hand. You should do hourman or dr midnite - I love those character designs. In fact, I think I'll sketch them now.

Thanks Shane! Two of my favorite character designs, love Dr. Midnight and Hourman. Really loved Ross' redesign of Dr. Midnight in Kingdom Come too but nothing beats those old 1940's superhero designs.

This one is the best one yet! You're really using shadow effectively here to bring out the depth. My only criticism would be that I'd be more spare with the dots--it looks like he's got freckles, and that's probably unintended. I like the way you've used them in some of the earlier ones, just here and there, not so much a stipple pattern but just "hello, I'm a surface or a plane over here". I think it's a good technique, but if you can be spare and strategic with it, it's going to be more elegant and simple.

I think Eclipse made his costume more Black Hawk-like for the revival in the 80s, as usual, ruining all the fun.

Thanks Jed! I didn't know Eclipse did a Sky Wolf comic!

beautiful illustrations Eric!
and I love your new banner too :)

Thanks so much Giulia! I really appreciate your input, especially when I'm trying new things.

I know I haven't been posting much, but I've been busting my balls on this 13 page wordless comic that has been one of the most difficult things I've ever drawn. It's a superhero comic! Something I've never attempted before. The reason I don't post it page by page is because I keep changing stuff. One more page to go, and then I'll post the whole tomato!

OOps. meabt as a response to the last post!

This one doesn't seem quite as successful as some of the previous ones, but I like your technique in general, those little spots of black that take the place of crosshatching to indicate not so much texture as surface.

I didn't realize Airboy had an ornithopter. I LOVE ornithopters! As impractical as they are elegant, I'd like to see an Airboy-sized one, one day.

Geek alert:

From what I understand Dan Berry went on to do the Flash Gordon newspaper strip after Russ Manning left it. And of course (of course, right? Who doesnt know this?) Biro went on to do Crime Does not Pay.

Thanks Jed!(on the run at the library...)

That would be Dan Barry, right? He was the one on Flash Gordon in the late 50s. I didn't know Russ Manning did Flash. I know him only from Tarzan strips and early Star Wars.

Yeesh, this is getting beyond my expertise,ob, which are very, very limited...

I wasn't aware of this character, but clearly he is awesome. Fabrikoic Micro Iron indeed.

But this drawing is totally weak.

Just kidding! Just kidding! I like it. Once again, I'm digging the high contrast spot blacks. And if you squint his head kind of looks like the top of the capitol building! (But only when you squint)

LOL! Way to make me feel totally crushed for a nanosecond! This is the strangest character I came across, but one of the most charming too. And Jed, I'm dying to see more of your work on your blog (hint, hint)

:)

Thanks Mobu!

beautiful piece, he's a good subject. if you draw him again you should work in those roses.

also, you reminded me of this piece

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/57/163666249_ca76f63934.jpg

I didn't know Fujitani worked for Hillman. That's funny because I assumed you wouldn't know about Fujitani when I gave you that MLJ link, so it's cool you know about him.

I love Fujitani's style back then before his stuff got really straight in the 60s when he was doing stuff like Solar Man of the Atom. It would be interesting to see how he handled a war comic since his MLJ stuff looks so odd and sinister, more Graham Ingels than Joe Kubert.

I wonder what it must've been like for a cartoonist who was half-Japanese during wartime? I don't remember if Fujitani did the same kinds of stereotypical depictions of the Japanese in his WWII era stuff.

Here's his Lambiek listing:

http://lambiek.net/artists/f/fujitani_bob.htm

There's also a nice Flying Dutchman page if you scroll down.

Did you ever get a chance to check out those MLJ links?

I like the image, I like that you're relying less on cross-hatching but it would be nice to see you do some full figures rather than just portraits. A portrait doesn't really do a character like this justice.

Thanks Shane! Love that painting! Is that Pyle or Wyeth?

Thanks Jed! Sorry I haven't gotten back to you about those links! There's a lot of info there and I wanted to take my time on it.
This period in history is so interesting!
Um..You may want to skip this week, it's all portraits!

Nothing against your portraits, just would like to see you stretch a little. You have a kind of formula for faces--so do I, it's a handy thing, especially when cartooning or doing a crowd--but figures are more of a challenge. Also you're doing superheroes. That's all about the costume. Since this whole exercise is to--I assume--work on your chops, I'd like to see you step out of your safe formula.

On a related note: I always liked Ogden Whitney's Sky-man. That might be a good character to try.

Thanks Jed. I really have to disagreement with your assessment of my work. Please keep in mind these are taken from my sketchbook, if you'd like to see my finished work it is available on Amazon or book stores.

You may have misunderstood me. I don't believe your work is formulaic, I just meant that most illustrators and cartoonists do have a kind of style in which they draw faces. I said "formula" but I didn't mean that in a negative way. No more than Maurice Sendak has a formula for drawing faces, or Mike Mignola, or many many others. It's part of your vocabulary as a storyteller.

If you're going to draw a character and you want that character to look the same from page to page, relying strictly on photo reference is probably not the best way to go. You need to use your imagination. Most of us, when doing so, access a kind of vocabulary of symbols that we tend to use when we draw. I have a kind of method that i use to draw noses. You have a method to drawing eyes. Lately I've been doing the dots for eyes thing, and if that's not a symbol I don't know what is.

When cartoonists rely on too much photo reference in their work--and I'm talking cartoonists and not illustrators, people who make comics and picture books principally--it tends to look stiff and I don't think it flows particularly well. It's harder to identify with the characters as cyphers. I think you use a good mix of both reference and symbols.

So in these portraits, all I'm saying s that you're approaching them from a confident place. I think there are artists who specialize in this kind of thing and do it well and with novelty and variety. Renee French is one. But she has her way of drawing eyes, of drawing noses, you can call it a formula or a vocabulary of symbols or whatever you like.

So, as graceless as I may have presented the idea, all I was suggesting was that you try something different in these sketches. But that doesn't mean that they'll be better drawings, or that in doing these portraits you're not doing interesting work. I just thought it would be fun to see you do these characters as full figures, but the way I presented the suggestion was as if there were something lacking in your work, and that was not very helpful.

Please don't worry about it Jed! What I was trying to say is that these are fast sketches done for fun and shouldn't be taken too seriously. I wasn't offended but I wanted to be clear on these sketches.

I understand your point now.

Sweet sketch! I may actually have a couple of Air Fighter Comics in my collection. I was heavy into WW II comics as a youngster...

Thanks Bruce! A lot of my father's brothers fought in World War Two and I grew up with those stories so these characters have a deep resonance with me now.

Yeah, I hear ya. My one grandpa flew in a B-17 and was based in Italy (I actually got a chance to see one of the places that he bombed) and my other grandpa was a model maker for the warplane manufacturers and between the two of them there were/are a ton of great stories. So, I had that same resonance and still do. I always wanted to put those stories into pictures somehow.

Totally sweet !

Thanks Scott!

hehehe, a very "mckeanish" look, indeed, but still one could tell it's yours, wich is actually a great thing.

I honestly think this recent works on your blog are raising your status from brilliant to over the top... amazing in every way i could tell.

Thanks so much Jordi! I can't begin to tell you how much your comment means to me. I always feel so much uncertainty when trying something new.

I like it allot, looks like your artwork 100%!:) One of my teachers said once: being influenced by another artist is good, but copying their style is not good...so no worries ;)

I think all artists feel the uncertainty when trying a new approach, regardless of their experience.

Thanks so much Bojana! Wise words from your teacher.

It´s a strange picture, like Mcean works...beautiful and strange.
I like it!

Thanks Kalo!

very cool, in a McKean style but without losing your personality

Your work is amazing. Borrowing from an admired influence (for practice) is all part of growing ones personal diversity within his own work; all art is an apprenticeship whether practiced consciously or subconsciously. Keep up the wonderful work.

Thanks Luis!

wow! Thanks so much Nathan!

Love it!!

Thanks so much D R!

I agree with these comments - you can see McKean's influence, but it still totally feels like you. Your work has really bumped up a whole *bunch* of notches since your return from NYC. Congrats yet again.

Thanks so much Tara!

"How they're meant"? bah! Herge didn't have a problem. stuart Immonen doesn't have a problem in Moving Pictures. I think the REAL crutch was not finding a way to make them expressive. :D

(I use dot eyes, too)

You're totally right of course! I didn't mean there's anything wrong with dot eyes, in fact I use them in my Harry & Silvio stories.

I really should have specified that I meant I should draw in the way which best expresses what I want.

Loving the sketches, Eric.

I'm glad to see you playing around with your work - brush pens, eyes and all. It's really inspiring to see such a great artist still growing.

Thanks so much Brian!

And if it proves anything it's that artists can still grow even after having kids! Maybe especially after kids!

This is an excellent ideas keep on your tension eric...

i often wonder how we as artists distinguish a characteristic of our drawing between a crutch.

I love the way you draw, and these pages are no exception. Love that porcupine.

Thanks Fia!

Thanks Shane! I know! I go back and forth between being concerned I'm using some stylistic device as a crutch and worrying my style is dissolving. I think the first worry might be worse.

this is a great sketch eric, nice balance of value and line, that little bit of magenta is a nice touch. i understand what you are going through, my daughter was sooo difficult and fussy, i won't give you advice, i always hated when people did that. but i will tell you that you're not alone in going through this and that in the end you'll work it through and when the day gets rough there is always coffee, lots and lots of coffee. creamy and not too sweet, but smokin' hot. and if that doesn't work, ice cream. everything is always better after a bowl of ice cream. :)

Thanks Christine! That really, really makes me feel better.Henry is a really quiet baby but he'll sit up half the night and we don't always know what to do. And yes, coffee is a huge help.

Everyone I know seems to be having a little February of the soul right now. Hang in there. Spring's on the way.

Thanks Tim! I wasn't even thinking of the weather. Weather doesn't usually bother me unless it's been a long winter which it has. Coming back from NY was a bit of weather shock too, it was almost spring-like compared to here where there are still 6 foot snow banks.

I had to even try to give advice to those with kids - as i have yet to even be in a serious relationship - But you two need to be kind to your selves (as we all do) and make you sure you purposefully engage in some sort of de-stressing something or another.

Be it hot baths with epson salts - or just giving each other a good back rub.

People have a bad habit of forgoing their own needs - especially when they have kids, which is laudable, but can have a a slow and steady denigrative effect on the quality of life.

Be good to your selves.
Things will work out.

"These sorrows are as but shadows, They pass and are done."

hate,
not had

...not enough coffee yet....

I like the sketch a lot, the dignity of the lion and pigeon both. =>

I forget how old Henry is, but SteelyKid (six months and a bit) had a lot of trouble sleeping for quite a while too, and so I sympathize. I ban unsolicited advice on my own blog, so will not give it here, but if it helps, she's just recently started sleeping a lot better, so it *can* happen, honest, truly . . .

Thanks Erin! I'm always open to advice! There's been so much stress here lately. I think spring will make things easier.

Thanks Kate! It's great to hear from you. I was hoping to see you in NY.

Very nice sketch! Some day someone will ask you, how did you do it. You'll look back and smile. You'll say, I don't know, you just do what you have to do. Coffee is good, icecream, and my favorite was old fashined bread pudding. I love comfort food. The other thing is, unless you're OCD, don't worry about the house work. Take care of the priorities which is you and the family. My son cried for 9 months when he was Henry's age. That was a trip. You and Julie will amaze yourselves when you look back.

Evidently I can't spell. Sorry about that.

hey eric, one of my favorite feel good books (with a peudo ghost story connection) is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. you should pick it up, it will make you happy. i'm actually illusrating the book right now for my upcoming MFA thesis show and i can't get enough of it. peace.

I've loved all your NYC sketches - and that you are always playing with various styles and variations. You do realize that you are dealing with a significant amounts of things - work deadlines, moving, young baby, bleak winter weather - plus the rest of 'life'. Of course you are going to feel stressed. I concur with those that have mentioned taking good care and being gentle with yourselves. (Try not to let the stress stress you too!) This too shall pass.

Good thoughts in your direction.

Thanks Vickie! I really appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks Matt! I really have to read that book, I've been hearing great things about it for ages.

Thanks so much Tara, and you're right I am losing perspective a bit, there is a lot going on. I think as Spring nears and I get a comfortable work schedule things will improve. And I absolutely let stress stress me out! Terrible habit.

Nice. And hang in there Eric.

You never know about babies. I remember Angelica crying for half the night every night and having to walk her in a sling at 1am so Anna could get an hour of sleep. But she grew out of it after a few months, and things just kept getting better.

Thanks so much Ben1 I really appreciate it. I think it's one of those times that it's just hard to see the light on the other end and I'm feeling a bit worn down, I know the light is there though. I've just got to have a bit of faith.

"I'm pretty unmotivated and stressed about all the work I have to do and Henry's up half the night and Julie and I are getting pretty cranky with each other and we're both really stressed about moving to Toronto."

Substitute "Kaleb" for "Henry", "Zach" for "Julie" and "Halifax" for "Toronto" and you've pretty much got our situation here too. I find that not knowing why the baby does something or other to be the hardest thing. So I try to find some reason (growth spurt, developmental leaps, teething pain) decide on one and then feel better about it. And we're eating lots of Belgian chocolates over here...

Thanks Rachel! I'm glad I'm not alone.

nice Inca god man

Thanks Dustin! Again, more cool stuff I saw in NY, at the museum of Natural History.

Great sketches. I really like the variation you got. Very fun to look at.

ullo, eric. just sneaking a visit over at yer blog, sorry i've not popped by for awhile, bin going madcrazy with deadlines(still am!).
but just wanna say i'm really digging the stuff you're doing with brush pen, carry on with that 'thick and thin'. one morning you'll wake up, sit down, and it'll come out right, and feel right.
it is kinda zen, but i don't believe 'natural' comes easy, it HAS to be found.

right, gotta go, before i'm missed...

Thanks Shane! I'm really enjoying using them, I find the quality is more powerful then pen lines sometimes.

really good Inca. It looks a proper solid weighty statue, in a good way if'n you know what I mean.

Thanks Gary! I was using an usual amount of restraint on that one and i think it gave it a bit more mass.Love the new avatar!

i love it

really cool job ;)

Thanks Sterphane!

LOVE it!!!

amazing, mr miracle is my favorite as well. the quality of the drawing is really beautiful.

Thanks Rawls!

Thanks S.M!

I really think no one did better superheros then Kirby.

That is really beautiful.

Thanks Rachelle!

Hey, Mister Miracle is my favorite Fourth World character too. I recently read all of the Kirby Mister Miracle issues and they were great. I actually started a Mister Miracle blog, but that kind of fell by the wayside:

http://miracletalk.blogspot.com/

I'm closing in on getting all of the Kirby Mister Miracle comics-- great fun! Very nice drawing. Your style on this character is wonderful.

That's so cool Josh! I had no idea you were an MM expert! I'm really glad you like this piece. Love your MM blog, really cool.

Thanks Jeff! Those books always seem fresh to me.

Alas, Mister Miracle (and Big Barda) were recently killed in the "Death of the New Gods" miniseries... but I'm planning to bring them back some way, somehow ;)

I haven't read it but just read the Wikipedia entry and it sounds depressing and convoluted(I doubt if Mr.Starlin is reading my blog..) Why does everyone have such a hard time writing the New Gods?I think everyone probably treats them too seriously. The original stories are really fun, kinda like your stories....

I like this style, particularly the previous one.

You might try eliminating hatching altogether and using heavy blacks and tone for modeling. Just forcing yourself to keep your line in general to a minimum.

Thanks Jed! that's so hard for me, I'm so detail oriented.

My head just exploded. Orchard drawing Barda? Truly awesome. She's a tad timid in her expression, but I love it anyway.

Thanks Bruce! I guess Barda had to relax now and then.

great drawing, your take on these classic kirby characters is awesome. please do mr miracle next, he is easily my favorite

Thanks S.M! I do have a Mister Miracle drawing too but it's nothing special. I'll post it tomorrow to keep the theme going.

Great sketch my friend!!

Thanks Rawls!

your experiments are wonderful Eric! *_*

Thanks Giulia!

Lookin' Goooood!!!
I'll have to check out those brush pens

Thanks Anthony!

lovely little thing you've got here sir!
love Kirby, possible THEE BEST

Thanks Albert! I totally agree with you.

Eric que hermoso trabajo! un saludo grande!

Thanks so much Leonardo! I'm so glad to meet you, your work is gorgeous!

I love that!

Oh yea, Kirby was the man!

Thanks Erin!

Thanks Dustin!

Great picture Mr. Orchard! Keep up the great work!

P.S: The dude almost looks like he's missing an arm.

I said the above comment.

I thought I recognized your "voice" Phillip! Thanks so much.

Oooh I love it when you do superhero stuff. And I totally agree...Fourth World is without a doubt one of the greatest mainstream superhero comic titles ever. It's exploding with so many incredible ideas and visuals, and nothing compares to it's epic scale and characterization. Fourth World is an example of pure artistry...it pushes the bounds of its medium and crackles with so much life and energy. Kirby deserves every word of praise he's received.

I agree on all accounts, Bruce! I can't get over the ideas that are just popping out of this book. You couldn't do a book like this today, it's too strange and takes too many risks. And the art in the first series is breathtaking.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm pretty happy with this sketch.

beautiful piece, Eric. Kirby was incredible and way ahead of his time.

Thanks Brian!

Spot on Eric! t'riffic.

Man, this is a beautiful piece!

Thanks Dribbs!

Thanks Patrick!