Merry Christmas Futurama

My holiday cover for Carol & Johns Comics Christmas party. The Planet Express crew is standing in for the Avengers in this homage to Avengers #67. If  you are in the Cleveland area Saturday December 20th, you should stop by and see this and so so so many other fantastic covers drawn to raise money for the Cleveland Food Bank.

-Tim

Feliz Navidad

2 posts in a week?  Well yes, this is my sketch cover submission for Carol and John's Comics benefit for the Cleveland Food Bank!  A bunch of Artist have come together, done some amazing work and each cover is being auctioned off and the proceeds go to benifit the Cleveland Food Bank and people in need.  This and many like it will be auctioned THIS SATURDAY, DEC 20th and the CnJ Christmas party!!!  So please drop by and give what you can and have some comicy fun for a good cause.

Info for the event here.

Still ain't afraid of no ghosts

Been under radio silence for a while but I thought I would share a little passion project I did.  Lately I've been involved with a great group of people that are interested in helping the community while parading around our nerdy love for all things Ghostbusters, The Northeast Ohio Ghostbusters.  Soon the Non Profit end of the group will be officially up and running so we needed a logo and here it is.

I can't claim total ownership of this lil' fella, my pal Ryan Finley of the Scribble Nerds  started the ball rolling, a concept here and there from the group and I got to tie it all up in a slimy little ball.

Crazy Catwoman

Every year around the holidays, our good buddies at Carol and John's Comics raffle off comic book covers created by local artists to benefit the Cleveland Food Bank.

Last year, I did a cover featuring Batman and Robin attacked by a swarm of Cat Woman's pets. Since that cover was pretty popular at the event (and I love me some kitties) I decided to do a follow up this year:

Acrylic paint with a touch of watercolor and colored pencil!

Pencils:

Last year's cover:

 

Come hang out at the comic shop on December 20th and win my new cover! Or maybe art by another RBMC member or one of our cartoon pals. Details here. See you there!

on a pale horse

Just a little work in progress shot from something i'm making for next week's Genghis Con Cleveland.

Outer Space Cheesecake!

The title pretty much says it all. "Spacey" here is a sticker that I made (sans background) for an upcoming show. I figured i'd throw on a background and show her off here.

-Tim

The creation of Ringworm: The Beckoning......

Howdy.

Rev here...

I've made it my goal to quit complaining about how I'm too busy to post to the blog...and start posting to the blog.
This is something I worked on for the Breakneck Gallery Rock N' Roll Show on Saturday November 8th. I had fun with this one...letting the pen and brush just wander around and play with textures.
I selected the band Ringworm...because...well...I like their music and the other was...I like the name. So I thought I'd post up some of the roughs and the progression of the work, along with the finished results.
Working on this I went into the bands past album covers for inspiration and listened to the music. As in some cases with metal music, the subject matter can be of questionable subject matter. I'm picky about my metal...I look for bands that have an unusual sound... out of the norm. One image in particular I came a cross was of a young woman...long flowing hair sporting horns. I didn't want to repeat the same image and I didn't necessarily want to use the all to familiar demonic symbols usually associated with some covers.
I began thinking of the the term "ringworm" or rather the skin decease. A disease of the flesh...of rot and decay. I also began thinking of what it must have been like many years ago when the world was much younger...and more naive. Superstition...monsters...demons and ghosts invaded the minds of humans to explain many things we see as a mere fact of science now a days.
So...I have this old deer skull that hangs in my garage. Coming from a family of hunters, but not one myself, I got it from one of my relatives. I was in the garage looking for Halloween decorations..and saw it hanging there, forgetting its there most of the time. And that's when the idea kind of took shape...This being the first rough..
As I said...I did want to incorporate the nubile young woman from one of the bands cover...just not in the same manner. And I also wanted to incorporate the worm shape...The name Ringworm taking on more of the name of an ancient  demon god...maybe the birthplace of the name for the disease.....instead of the disease itself.

The rough pencil sketch.

The inking in progress......

At this point I just started having fun going in and playing...adding textures....Paying a lot of attention to the texture of the trees. Allowing the texture lines to add depth, but also help and define shape and form of the tree bark. I paid attention to line direction so that most of the lines moved toward the shape of either the prone figure of the woman or the demon god Ringworm.   

Of extra note are the bell bracelets around each of his wrists. The night I was working on this...I was out back letting our dogs run in the backyard. As I stood on the back steps...the wind was blowing slightly and somewhere out there in the dark I could hear this small bell, like that on a cats collar, or maybe a chime on someones back porch...or maybe...just maybe, the bells placed on the wrists of some ancient demon god, placed there by an ancient race of people as a sign, a warning of the coming of the evil one. Yes...I do let my imagination run wild at times.

              

And this is the end results. Now...you all stay frosty...and listen for the sound of the small bells. You just never know....

Ben Emerges From The Shadows...with stuff.

Boy have I been neglectful.  Not because I wanted to be, but because nothing is finished.  So rather than give off the impression that I'm some lazy lump that rides on the coat tails of his fellow monsters, I thought I would share some Work In Progress stuff.  So let's get up to speed.

Post by Need Your Disease.

First up, I had grand plans for Halloween.  Namely, a quicky animated short to post on the site.  Turns out, animation takes longer than you would think (even limited animation).  So I missed my deadline.  

Luckily, it took the pressure off of me and I can toy with it more.  Even remaster the whole thing in 3D.  Apply your 3D glasses....now.

Next up: My superhero game!  Since I last showed it, I was in the process of revamping my animations and adding art.  Well, I have a couple new things to show you.  First, I was running into a problem where my stopping animations (character resets and cape falls to the side) was playing twice.  It was really bumming me out.  So after some coding wizardry and a healthy dose of luck, that has been corrected.  Now the animation plays beautifully.

Post by Need Your Disease.

The other addition...well, more of a test...is these speed trails I've developed for the game.  I wanted some kind of trails behind him when he flew and threw this together. 

Post by Need Your Disease.

And finally, I'll be on the C2 Podcast talking about my game and using Construct 2 this Friday.  More to come soon.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween all!

A couple more Inktobers from Tim

A couple more inktober entries for your blog viewing pleasure. I'm WAY behind schedule with these (as usual) but it's still fun to try.

Trash Day?

A happy Oscar the Grouch, perhaps too happy. 

The Devil Loves Life Drawing

Sometimes you put something in your sketchbook that sums up your life perfectly.

Your Buddy,

Randy Crider

Erik

Favorite movie monster?  Quite possibly.  Love the Phantom of the Opera in every form.  This, the classic Lon Chaney Phantom.

Taking Aristotle for a walk

Pugsley and his pet octopus Aristotle (Fang if you prefer the animated series).  

Happy inktober!

Furry vest Frankie

I've always been a fan of Frankenstein's monster, every version especially the 70's-tastic, furry vest, monster of Frankenstein from Marvel comics.  He always seemed more of a James Bond badguy henchman than the classic monster. 

Tim: Inktober Day 2

"Lucky" lost her wings in a fight with a rabid caterpillar, lucky for her, she's pretty good under the hood and was able to cobble a set together out of spare parts. 

TIm: Must be October again!

Oh hey look! It's October....and wait there's this thing in October called "Inktober", where everybody tries to draw one ink drawing per day all month long? I totally (unwittingly) tried to do that last year! Well apparently I hate sleep, so despite my better judgment...here we go again!

You can follow me on twitter (@Tim_Switalski) and on Instagram (timswit) , I'll probably post to those sites first...but I'll do my best to post here too. 

Tim: Super #1!

Hey look a giant robot! We're (my rust belt buds and I)  drawing all sorts of robots this week, and here's mine! I grew up in the 1980's watching a ton of cartoons with giant heroic robots...and "Super #1" here is my (very obvious) homage to the best of them!

If you're in the Northeast Ohio area this weekend, you should come to "Ingenuity Fest" and see us (the rust belt again) paint a giant mural with all sorts of robots on it,  including this dude here!

-Tim

The power of Terry compels you

As you've seen on our Facebook page, it's that time of year again.  Ingenuity Fest in Cleveland, Ohio!  We will be doing our 30th and LARGEST mural we've ever attempted and our friends at Voix de Ville will be pitching the biggest little show in town all next weekend!!!  

I'm one of the featured artists for the Voix de Ville tent.  Last year I created their logo as well as giant billboards that go outside the tent.  For this year's festivities I created this little diddy.  

This little character is Terry the Tinkle toad, he shows up occasionally at the performances, stirs up mischief as well as the audience for the next show.  The drawing is all brushed ink and once it was done I paired it with a photo I took of the back of a rusty sign and it seemed to fit.

 SO!  Come on down to the Port of Cleveland next weekend and partake in an amazing event!

Ohio: The Heart Of It All.

The Monsters are cooking up something giant for this years Ingenuity Fest, and it involves Robots.  I've decided to add a bit of local pride into my contribution to our loosely guarded secret project. I couldn't draw a nuclear power plant head without thinking about Perry, Ohio.  With any luck, I'll have stickers of this dude at Ingenuity, and you know he'll make your lunchbox the coolest. 

Just remember. Monsters + Robots + Giant, I KNOW you like those things.

Your Pal, 

Randy Crider 

Engine, Engine No.9

It's not commonly known who invented the caster wheel nor that the inventor was a genius of pure evil, exceptionally inept but still pure evil!  This is his Evil Engine No.9, minion and "guy Friday" to Professor Caster for most of his career.  Not quite adept loathsome or dirty deeds, or turning corners for that matter,  No.9 could port heavy loads, mix drinks and developed a knack for all manner of courtly and Gentlemanly behavior.  

Most of the wonders of this massive machine has been lost to time, only the lowly caster wheel remain to carry the Caster name.

Tim's random stuff

Buried under work again this week, so all I have is some random doodles that I've drawn in the last few weeks:

My new self-portrait...Simpson's style, drawn in Adobe Illustrator.... 

A quick collaboration with my girlfriend Clare, painted in Photoshop...

An unused version of some art for a job, drawn in Illustrator...

...and finally, what I want to be doing right now.

-Tim

Kirby and his Demon...

If there is one artist that influenced not only myself but generations of others...it's Jack Kirby. I feverishly poured through his work on superhero titles for Marvel when I was a kid. But then one day a friend of mine bought a copy of a DC title Jack had created. The Demon fed my already ravenous appetite for action and comics, but also made the tie between comics and monsters...The tale of Merlin, Etrigan and Jason Blood ignited a spark in my brain untouched previously. It was also THE very first comic page I ever did. Copying a page from the first issue as Etrigan dives into the forces of Morgaine le Fey's invading army, helmets armor, shrapnel and weapons flying. The way only Jack could illustrate it. I chose Etrigan for purely that reason...a sticker will be available at Carol and Johns Comic Shop, to not only celebrate Jacks birthday, but also raise funds for the Hero Initative....And Jack....thank you for the spark. Happy Birthday.
REV~

I Believe In Jack Kirby

When John Dudas of Carol And John's Comic Shop asked me to put a sticker together to celebrate the King's birthday, it was a pretty big deal for me. John was the one who pushed Mr. Kirby's work on me years and years ago, and forever changing my underground comics influenced artwork.  More than a decade later I'm constantly looking to Jack for inspiration, and this sticker is a very small thank you for that. Happy Birthday, Sir. 

The stickers will be available at Carol And John's comic shop to support the Kirby4Hero's campaign. 

Hail to the King!

Happy Birthday Mr. Kirby (yes, I know...i'm a day early, August 28th is the King's birthday)! Thanks for sharing your imagination with the world, and inspiring countless others to do the same.

The RBMC made these stickers to commemorate the day, and raise some money for the Hero Initiative (a publicly supported not-for-profit organization dedicated to raise money for comic book creators in dire need), they'll be available at Carol & John's Comics in Cleveland, Ohio.

-Tim

Ben says "Welcome to Apokolips!"

"Had I known one human's death would pained you so, I would have killed more. And kill more I shall. Carry that agony with you to oblivion, Superman."

I really like Darkseid.  As a character, as a design, it just works for me.  Granted, the majority of my experience with him is from Superman: the Animated Series.  So a lot of that appreciation may come from the voice of Michael Ironside.  Either way, I decided to draw him up last Sunday and here he is.

Sketch and inks with Manga Studio.  Colors in Photoshop.

-Ben
www.NeedYourDisease.com
Twitter @NeedYourDisease 

The Darkseid High-Five

If you have such hap hazard eye lasers why would you hold your hand up when you were firing them off?  Cause your Darkseid that's why!  

It's 5:00 somewhere

Part of a poster illustration I've been working on that I thought I would share.  Graphite on vellum.  The final will have vector, traditional drawing all tied together with a little Photoshop, will keep you posted!

Creature Comforts

I was asked to contribute some monsters for the first opening at Gallery Galore tonight. Alongside some color prints (I'll share those next week) they asked me to produce some sketches to sell unframed. Boy oh boy I sure fun with these. It's  been a nice reminder that Im capable of quickly taking sketches to ink and that I enjoy it a whole heck of a lot.  

If you follow me on instagram (@randycrider) you've already seen these, but I wanted to formally share them on the blog.  We're the Rust Belt MONSTER collective after all.  

Your Pal,

Randy Crider

Tim: "Almost got away"

Well, I did it again, I made promises not ignore this ole blog here, and then got stupid busy and did just that. Well I'm still "stupid busy" but here's to trying again! 

Spider Woman!

We've had a busy summer out painting and such, even so, back to our mini challenges!  This time it's Spider Woman.  I decided to take the opportunity to mess around with my ink brush pen again as well as my exercises in limited color but this time I stumbled across a look from one of my favorite things growing up.

They use to sell these small, plastic pencil sharpeners with puffy stickers on the back of them, diecut out so you could stand them up and play with them like action figures.  Action figures you could have, play with on your school desk and when the teacher got mad you could say they were just harmless pencil sharpeners.  They were great, cost like 25 cents in the school office and looked kinda like this.  Always a yellow background and always limited color, but more importantly secret school time toys! 

Ben: A Redesign!

Time for a project update!  I've been really busy lately with a redesign of the game.  After looking at some of the things that I liked and didn't like, I came to the conclusion that it would really benefit from a restart.  What would I do different if I started over?  The characters would be built with Cut-Out/Skeletal animation (mostly), the art would still be retro, but at twice the size, the levels would be built with repeatable tiles, and the controls would be streamlined.

Well, I can show the first couple of changes.

After getting some flack on the internet for the original design basically being Superman, I decided a redesign was in order.  I took a bunch of unflattering reference photos of myself and got as far from the last design as I could (except for the cape).  Another problem with the original design was the short legs.  It looked tolerable standing up, but tipping him on his side while flying was a little ridiculous.  Those tiny legs just didn't hold up. 

With the new design in place, I built the character up in pieces from both the front and side angles (additional angles coming).  Then, I started rigging the bodies with a skeleton so that they could be animated.

Skeletal Animation rigged in Toon Boom Animate Pro

With the rigging in place, I animated a simple "idle" loop and attached a cape animation.  I did the two separate to break up the cycle.

Idle Animation next to Original Design (Left)

Next, I started rebuilding the backgrounds.  I reworked my first "shop" in a more simplified design to keep my file size down.  The new version is bigger and only 12kb.

There is still plenty more to do, but I thought I would show some of the new changes.  You can see much more at my personal blog: www.NeedYourDisease.com

-Ben

Original art and after derezzing in Photoshop