For the Love of Drawing by James K
A Cool Project for Any Fan of Comics
I Just wanted to drop a quick post on you — in light of the Emerald City Comicon coming to Seattle March 13 and 14. A number of years back, when Peter and I started going to this particular show, we got an idea from our friend-in-comics, Jim Demonakos, to create a book of illustrations from industry artists coming to the show. As many people know, the artists will gladly sketch something for you, if asked (a small fee might be necessary). Sometimes they’ll even do it for FREE!
Inspired by our friend, Peter and I purchased big black sketch books and began our illustration projects. The really great idea is to select a particular character you like, then ask each artist you meet to provide their individual take on that hero, creature, team, villain, whatever. Everyone has their own style — sometimes we’ve been surprised by what we have gotten back… It really can be a thrill. I feel lucky to have a rather large collection (six years and still building) of some of comic-dom’s finest. Our books are priceless at this point.
Hellboy, drawn by Steve Lieber, 2004
As you will see from some of the below selections, I chose Hellboy (Mike Mignola’s great character) and to my delight, I was able to score a quick sketch from the creator — Mignola himself! Peter selected a favorite villain of his — Doctor Doom! Take a look through the sketches below, and maybe you’ll be inspired to try building your own book.
Hellboy, drawn by Randy Emberlin, 2004
Hellboy, drawn by Alex Maleev, 2005
Hellboy, drawn by Shane White, 2006
I gave Shane White a scan of his drawing, and he uploaded his own colored version!
Helboy, drawn by Andy Kuhn
Hellboy, drawn by SHIEK WANG
Hellboy, drawn by Adam Kubert, 2005
Hellboy, drawn by Steve McNiven, 2005
The man himself, MIKE MIGNOLA, snuck in a sketch at ECCC 2009!
And from Peter’s Dr. Doom book:
Doom, drawn by Steve Lieber, 2004
Doom, drawn by Randy Emberlin, 2004
Doom, drawn by Alex Maleev, 2005
Doom, drawn by Steve McNiven, 2005
Doom, drawn by Shane White, 2006
Doom, drawn by Stan Sakai, 2009
Doom illustration
Doom, drawn by Tone Rodriguez, 2009
Filed under Artwork. Tagged adam kubert, alex maleev, andy kuhn, comic book, comicon, comics, convention, dr. doom, drawing, emerald city comicon, hellboy, jim demonakos, mike mignola, randy emberlin, seattle, shane white, shiek wang, stan sakai, steve lieber, steve mcniven, tone rodriguez
2 Responses
James, this is fun to share our collection like this. For years, I’ve personally enjoyed the fact that different artists have provided unique interpretations on my character, Dr. Doom. But it’s no fun if the book just sits on my shelf — the art needs to be on display like this. This is really everybody’s art for everybody.
PS-My favorite Dr. Doom illustration is from Steve McNiven (he did it for FREE!) and my preferred Hellboy drawing is the colored version from Shane White. AMAZING!!
This is amazing. I think Shane White really knocked out of the park when he colored his work in afterwards. I don’t even know him but that says a lot about his character. What a cool guy.
This is the best post.