Tales From the Artside

2012-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

I have been very hard at work over the last few months illustrating The Red Ten, a superhero murder mystery in ten parts. Our first issue was very well received and received many of good reviews from the comics market. here is the trailer for the first issue.

There have been many things going on but issue to is done and will be released in February here is the WORLD PREMIER trailer for the The Red Ten #2, Enjoy! be sure to have your local comic shop order your copies today.....

NEW York Comicon Debut Of The Red Ten #1

2011-10-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

After some serious down to the minute deadline crunching, The Red Ten #1 of 10 is finally done and will be debuting at the New York Comicon at the Jacob Javitts center in NEw York City. I'll be there Saturday to sign copies do some sketch covers and talk comics with the fans. Come and check me out or order from the Comixtribe. Hope to see you there.

THE RED TEN STORMS NEW YORK CITY COMICON!!!!!!!!!!

Cesar Feliciano

UPDATE 6/23/2011

2011-06-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Been up to a lot over the past few months and have not been able to update this blog. Sorry. I have many different things going on right now for instance i recently finished doing storyboards for BIG FISH GAMES, here's a sample:

Another of the projects that I am doing is:

This is a project that i am doing with Tyler James Vogel of www.comixtribe.com/.
This is going to be an EPIC 10 Issue story dealing with all sorts of interesting character material. Think of Agatha Christie's, And Then There Was One blended with The Justice League of America.
Here's some art from the series:

I am also doing some inking for Jay Fife's "Mary Monster" as well as a super secret collaboration delaing with the early history of Bosotn. Stay tuned for details on that project.

Well that it for now. I'll try not to be a stranger and update more frequently.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the above drawings (they are available for only $25.00 shipping included) or wish you own original please feel free to send me a message at: cheelee65@gmail.com

Update too long in coming. 6/23/2011

2011-06-23T09:13:00.001-07:00

SPECIAL COMMISSION ANOUNCEMENT

2010-10-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

With the Holidays coming up and gift ideas and the economy being what they are, I have decided to do commissions for 50% off my normal rates. This would include single images and group shots.

Prices are as follows:

11x17 Bristol Board inked Single image; was $100.00 now $50.00

11x17 Bristol Board inked group shot $125.00 now $60.00

Pencil portraits was $75.00 now $35.00

Caricatures was $35.00 now $17.50

This is your opportunity to own original artwork done to your specifications. All the above prices include shipping to anywhere in the Continental United States

THE DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 10, 2010 so don't delay

Please send all your request via my e-mail address, cheelee65@gmail.com

Ripperman Finished (at least my part is)

2010-10-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

I've posted some of the images from the graphic novel completely nked and coloered. This should be a good seller, i hope and will be available through Arcana early next year. I'll let you all know when it does and ask you all to pick up a copy.

2010-07-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is a commission I did for the Landmark Foundation. They are raising money to help keep the Thomaston Opera House going. I am honored to have a small part in this worthy endeavor.

Comiconn 2010

2010-05-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at Comiconn 2010 in New Haven, CT this past May 15. There were many people there and a good time was had by all. IT was a great show with many talented artist and fun events for the whole family. There was an awesome costume contest with Wonderwoman, Boba Fett, Sue Storm, Supergirl and DarthVader being the main headliners for this event. I got an opportunity to catch up with old friends like Tommy Chu, Jack Purcell, and meet new one's such as Jaamal Igle, Tyler James and Adam Wallenta. The highlight for me was meeting Frank McLaughlin. I spoke to him about how much I admired his art and skill as I was growing up and really appreciated his talent as an inspiration to me.

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I also sold some art, Full Moon Crazes were selling like hot cakes and did some con sketches for gracious customers. I also did some free sketches for kids twelve and under. Those went really well. My favorite sketch for the kids was a Green Lantern/Freddie Krueger. I sold some Sonia Sotomayor Bio Comics and had an overall great time. Next year there is another one planned and it is going to be bigger and better. Thanks to all who attended and made it a great show.

James Kaine Magic

2010-03-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

The image shown is for a commission I promised for a friend of mine in return for his services for a get together I had in my home. He is a close up magician and is really quite good. It took a while to get this done but here it is for you review.

Green Lantern -v- Sinestro. Nuff Said

2010-03-04T14:30:00.001-08:00

The Above image will be available for purchase at the Northeast Comicon in Boston this March 7th, .

Come by and take a look. It is done on Strathmore 500 semi-smooth finish with archival ink pens and Pelican super black. there are also other offerings available. So come check me out and we'll talk and I'll also be doing convention sketches and taking commission request. Thanks for supporting the Northeast Comicon. Later y'all.

2010-02-24T20:48:00.001-08:00

Last night I finished chapter 2 of the Ripperman graphic novel. I'll post a couple of pages on this post. I really like the feel of this character and the concept of an avenging angel type that he represents. I feel that I am doing some of my best work with this project and am being inked by the Jovial Jeff Austin who is really giving my pencils a really nice texture and life. I am hoping that this project does very well not only for myself and Jeff's sake but also for the sake of Joe Martino who created the character and wrote the story. It is being published by Arcana comics and has a really beautiful cover by Mario Gully. Look for it this summer.

Bluewater Comics Female Forces: Sonia Sotomayor

2010-02-13T21:07:00.001-08:00

Coming on back after some Dark Days

2010-02-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I posted anything on the blog and I have had quite a few things happen since then. On December 20, 2009, my daughter Alana lost her went to be with the Lord. She was just 2 1/2/ years old. Both me and my wife are deeply saddened by this and yet we know that she is in a better place. We are both of the mind that we will continue to fight on as she did and try to bless other people as much as she did. We loved Alana with all og our hearts. We will miss her dearly

Commission Piece of Melanie Thawne

2009-11-06T15:48:00.000-08:00

I did this commission for a collector out of NY. He asked me to do this character I had never drawn before. He was very pleased with the outcome as was I. Hope you enjoy.

Cesar-

RIPPERMAN GRAPHIC NOVEL

2009-10-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have been contacted by Joe Martino creator of Ripperman to do some pencils for the upcoming Ripperman Graphic novel. Joe is one of the nicest guys in the comic biz and he ha some really cool characters in his creative stable. I am looking forward to working on this project for him and will be teaming up with Jeff Austin as he will handle the inking embellishments for the book. Should look great once he's done with my pencils. Here is a quick pencil study I did of the Ripperman character.

DEAD POOL COMMISSION

2009-10-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

I did this commission recently for a huge Dead Pool Fan. It was really the first time I ever drew this character and I am very pleased with the result.

Genesis of Man

2009-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

And God created Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life.

This the second drawing in the creation of mankind series. This particular drawing is in the pencil stage. I wanted to leave it like this so that you can get an idea of what a drawing looks like before it is inked. This is the finished product.

The Creation of Mankind

2009-08-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

And God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and from his side created Eve to be a helpmeet unto him.

A friend of Mine who has a ministry having to do with pottery and a Christian message asked if I could help him with a couple of drawing showing the hands of God as he created Man and Woman. I told him that I would do these for him and this is the first of the two that I have completed for him.

In wanting to show the creation of Eve I went through a few different layout ideas and pulled elements for each of my layouts in order to bring this together.

I think the result tells the story fairly well and in an interesting fashion.

A Couple of Commission pieces

2009-08-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

These were commissioned from me by an avid collector that I work with. He was looking for a specific pose of the Punisher and Superman but in his black outfit from "The Return of Superman."

I just finished these up a few minutes ago. I was thinking about maybe inking them but decided against it. If he wants me to ink them I will go ahead and do it then. I did a couple of different things with these two and hope he is happy with the outcome.

2009-08-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at what some amazing artist are putting out these days, Jim Lee, Travis Charest, Leinil Yu and am amazed at the level of excellence in their work. I am striving to get better and see no reason why i can't. lately i have had some setbacks and have not had the time to devote myself full throttle. As i look at the very near future my time will surely become more open to applying myself 100% and getting to the point that I need to get to. I'll keep you all posted, later.

2009-07-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

One of the projects that I have done some work on over the last few months was a 5 page promo for a Silverline submission.
The creator of the project was David Allred an awesome and cool guy. He was very genuine and really excited about this project. When he spoke to me about it after seeing some of my post on Millarworld Forums he asked if I would be interested. I told him that I would be and he sent me the script for the first five pages. The following are the pages as seen at different stages.

First the character sheets:

The sequential layouts are where the story gets told. This is the stage where it is at its most pure and rough form before it takes on the polish of the finished pencils.

The next step is to go to the finished pencils. These are done on 11x17 sheets of Bristol paper, I used Strathmore 400 Vellum finish for these but i have since switched to the Strathmore 500 Series smooth or plate as its referred to. For the sake of space I will also show the pencils with the inks side by side to save on space on this blog:

Finally these are the pages colored by Larry Molinar who I think did a great job and really made these pages sing. The lettering was done by Jaymes Reed who I think did a stellar job of Caption and balloon palcement.

Well I hope you all enjoy looking at these pages as much as I had fun in making them. David is looking to have the project go into full swing come this September so keep your fingers crossed and until next time be better than you think you can be ;-)

2009-07-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow what am I doing here again. I tried this blog thing back a few years ago and just could not keep up with it. Hopefully this time I won't neglect it like I did before. I have been up to alot of things over the last couple of years and have made some strides in my quest to reach the BIG 2. I have managed to do a graphic novel as well as produce some covers for Masterpiece comics.

This is the cover to the Graphic Novel:

It was a great learning experience for me and one that I know will help me along as move forward in my artistic progress.

I also have been to a a few Comicons. The Baltimore Comicon in 2007 with Masterpiece Comics;

Baltimore Comic-Con 2007

Well The 2007 Baltimore Comic-Con was bigger this year but with more no-shows.

It was still a good show and the promoter does a nice job with a very efficient staff.

Cesar, Ace, Rusty and I set up on Friday and Met a lot of the Inkwell Crew.

Al Feldstein was there from Montana. Al was a brush man back in the MAD days and was one of the Editors of Mad that put it on the map. He was a very nice guy and a hot ticket.

Don "the Duckman" Rosa was hawking his wares as well. I love his Duck work. He is all tech pen and does a super job with his stories. He was busy from start to finish.

Mark McKenna had his "Banana Tail" set up and his Comics Buyers Guide Cover with Billy Tucci was really a hit with the people I talked to. Mark is one great guy.

Jim Califiore was there with his art and doing sketches. Jim is good with pencil or quill.

Cesar was busy for the two days with sketches and I inked a couple of them for people that stopped by.

Serigio was swamped with people. Who doesn't love "Groo" or the Mad Marginals.

Another inkweller, Cully Hamer was there as well. Nice art huh! Cully does great work.

Jim Starlin was there signing and he liked our book as well. Jim is a great Guy and I can't wait to see his new DC stuff. He will be finishing up his "Kid Cosmos" as well.

Mark Sparacio was there with his incredible art. Here he is holding a peice that Billy Tucci posed for. Mark also finished the cover to issue #1 of the upcoming "Sgt." Rock series along with Billy Tucci. Here are some of the Inkwell members, (L to R) Cesar Feliciano, Bill Meiggs(rear), Norman Lee, Neil Volkes, and Me. These are a great bunch of guys and Bill is a great inker. Norman is not only a great inker but one heck of an artist. Neil is "Da Bomb".

Another Inkweller and one third of the Taco Trio (Andy, Tom Nguyen and Keith Champagne), Andy Smith was there Doing nice commissions and signing.

Here he is...Franchesco! He sold his sketch books out the first day so I missed buying one. He is such a talented artist and a great guy.

My "Full Mon Craze" Posse, Ace Masters (Publisher), Rusty Bartlett (Editor) and Cesar Feliciano (my favorite penciler).
Rusty was selling autographs for $1.00 each for sodas.

Parting Shot. Darth Vader and a minion enjoying a copy of "Full Moon Craze".

Brandon Wasn't able to make it as well as a few others so that stunk. But it was a great show and very productive. We enjoyed the people and sold a lot of books.

Jim Lee and a lot of others were there and they do wonderful work but they are not on the inkwell so...

See you next time.

Post by Jim Tournas

The Boston Comicon in 2008

Monday, November 03, 2008

Boston Comic Con 2008

Hi, it's me!

Well I got back from Boston's new Mini Comic Con and it was a pretty good show overall.

Rusty and I got there a little after 10:00 am and it was crowded.

I saw some guys from the Inkwell, Mark McKenna, Bob Almond, Scott Ambrusion, Norman Lee (Who was there with what I thought was a penthouse Pet of the month, You dog Norman ;-) ).

Cesar Feliciano was there with Kris Carter, Bob Shaw (Serendipity Sales art rep.) along with Peter Laird, Paul Ryan and Mike Lilly and many others.

But the reason I really likes it was Bernie Wrightson, Who is perhaps the one standout artist of my comics reading life.

Bernie was there with Liz, and a bust of Frankenstein, modeled after his drawings. He was very Gracious, and a Friend of mine bought a couple of his drawings for $2,000.00. Wow, I thought Neal Adams got a lot.

I introduced myself, told him about the Inkwell awards and asked if he would do a cover for the Secret Invasion book, He at once said he would (what a guy), so I grabbed Bob Almond and a book, and Bob sealed the deal.

His art has always been number one in my book, and if you don't have it already, buy the newer Frankenstein volume. It reproduces his art more faithfully then the earlier edition, and is a must have.

Anyway, I could go on, but he is just to good an artist and you guys know that already.

Peter Laird, Local Boy does good, was there as well and he looks great.

Scott Ambrusion was there all in his Pirates outfit, he actually looked at home in it.

Cesar and Kris were there doing sketches and hawking there wares. I hope they made a ton.

Mark McKenna and Norman Lee were there set up next to Wrightson and Paul Ryan. Paul was there with his Phantom art. I really like Paul's work.

Mark had some Wicked cool inks he brought, and his work is just Stellar.

Norman is getting to be quit a penciller, and it would not surprise me to see him pencilling at some date in the future.

Brian Kong was there and is a super illustrator. He even offered up an Invasion cover for the Inkwell awards, along with Norman Lee, Paul Ryan, Peter Laird, Hannibal King and A few others. So they get a Tip of the Hat as well for that.

There was Larry Harrison, an advertiser of the Inkwell Awards, so if your ever in Salem, Mass or Medford, Mass you can visit one of his comic and gaming superstores. And Larry is actually one of the nicest guys I know.

The show was bustling, and I love the fact that it is close.

Now on to the Pictures.

Bernie Wrightson

Franky

Bob Almond

Cesar Feliciano

Ed Couts (Love that wash)

Kris Carter (Hard at work)

Mark McKenna and Norman Lee ( Two talented guys)

Peter Laird

Scott Ambrusion ( Didn't I tell Ya)

Paul Ryan

Mike Lilly ( This guy can draw and I love Bob's Inks over him)

Brian Kong (he looks to young to illustrate so well)

Partingshot: I had some Halloween candy left
so I forgot all about driving Rusty home.

Well that's it for now so see you soon....Jimmybob

I also made it to the 2009 NY Comicon with my art rep at Serendipity Art Sales:

New York Comic Con 2009

Hi Everybody!

OK here's the skinny...

New York Comic Con predictions were that artists would have a tough time selling sketches for big money and it may be slow. That was the buzz I heard. Then we got to the Big Apple around 4:00 pm on thursday, I drove a van For Larry Harrison and Rusty drove one as well. We unloaded and got to our rooms that night dead on our feet.

Friday Morning I drove the Gang over to the Javitts center and Bada-Bing! a crowd...a goodly crowd on Friday Morning. Wow! Imagine that, people must want to get in and out before the weekend. So we piled out of the van like a Barnum and Baily clown car, except for all the knee and back creaking. Jay Fife unloaded his Refridgerator size portfolio trunk and we were off.

The place was buzzing at 8:30AM with setups going on and dealers checking out the competition and the throngs were lining up for tickets.

Artist alley was sparse but that was probably because they have a quick setup and can come in a tad late. Bob Almond had our Box of Inkwell Awards comp books for those that donated last year to help support us via Ebay auctions. We also got signatures of all the contributors to sell some of these CSketch books for the 2009 Inkwell Awards.

I got about 15 Dark Avengers Sketch Cover Variants for new sketches this year to auction off.

We did very well and you can get the EBay Link for those from www.inkwellawards.com site.

I met some wonderful new artist and Inkers and it was a great show. Jammed every day. Sunday was as good as Saturday!

Now on to the Photos...

Jimmy Cheung was at artist alley. An incredible Penciller and fav of mine, not because Johnny Dell Inks him, because I love his art style.

Artist Alley was wall to wall most of the show.

The Entrance was a huge mass most of the show as well.

There were a ton of Girls and boys dressed up in some pretty good costumes.

Yeah, I Know, But What can I say ;-D

A slow lull in the day.

Did not see what was going on, Just took the picture as I was going by.

One of Larry Harrison's workers at the show.

He won't call us "Tracers" anymore...

A young lady as Nightwing...interesting...

A Ross pose.

More crowd shots... are you there?

Hey everyone said take more costume pictures.

A sea of fans and collectors.

Bob Shaw (Inkwell Awards Committee member) of Serendipity Sales (Middle) had a roster of artists.
Kris Carter, a good Friend and upcoming artist was doing well at the show.

Cesar Feliciano was in good Form cranking out sketches.

and most recently back again at the Boston Comicon 2009.

So I have been out there in the public trying to get my name more recognizable. Any way I am looking forward to adding some samples of my latest work and sharing the trials and tribulations that I am dealing with as I live the dream. Alright folks until later . . ."Vaya con Dios muchachos"