Feb 27, 2012... And the Winner is...

Damn right I am cheating today... here's the results from our family's Oscar Picks...

in this years Charipar family Oscar (guessing) Challenge.. The winner with 8 correct choices is.... AYLA!

This is Ayla's first time winning, her father Andrew Charipar took the top prize the last two years and Ayla is proudly following in his foot steps.

Second place (and proving that Christmas Tree-ing WORKS!!!) is Ray Mallari with 7 correct (Random guesses).

Tied for Third place is Tracey and Granpa with 4 correct choices and Drew bringing up the rear (go ahead and insert your joke her, Trace) with only 3 correct choices.

Ayla picked the Best Picture with the Artist

No one picked best Director Michael whateverhisnameis for the Artist

Ray picked the Best actor in a leading role with the guy no one has ever heard of from The Artist (anyone see a trend here?)

Ray and Granpa picked the Best actress in a leading role with Meryl Streep from the Iron Lady (and NOT the chick from the Help... boo hoo)

Tracey and Ayla both picked the Best actress in a supporting role with Octavia Spencer from the Help as well as they both picked Best Screenplay with Midnight in Paris

No one picked the Best actor in a supporting role, Christopher Plummer from the Beginners (poor Jonah Hill... ughhh) but then again, no one picked best Adapted Screenplay with the Descendants, Best Art Direction with Hugo, or Best Visual Effects for Hugo.  Transformers AND Harry Potter were shut out in all categories!!!

Ayla picked Best Animated Feature with Rango... yeah... Rango.  PO WAS ROBBED!!!

In and Utter example of how random picking works... Ray not only picked Achievement in Cinematography with Hugo, He also picked Documentary Short with Saving Face and Costume Design with the Artist (Granpa also picked that one) and... believe it or NOT, he got Animated Short Film by randomly picking number 2... The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lassmore.  I will NEVER joke at Ray's expense again... ok, that's a lie.  he he he (is anyone still READING this??? Guess we'll find out)

Anyway, other memorable notes was Granpa picking 2 out of three for Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Sound Mixing... he picked Hugo on 2 and Hugo won all three.

The Muppet song won for Ray, Tracey and Ayla and the only three Drew got correct were all random picks with File Editing for Dragon Tattoo, Foreign Language File with a Separation and Makeup with the Iron Lady... so in other words... i Suck.

not bad for a bunch of people who only saw maybe three out of the nine nominees for Best Picture this year.  For Next years Oscars... we should all strive to do better... AND SEE MORE MOVIES!

Congrats again to Ayla.

Feb 26, 2012... Size matters

OK, not really anything new to post today but I wanted to discuss page size... and you all thought I was going to talk about something else, didn't you?

Anyway, you may have noticed on the two pages preview that the images were a little larger than a normal comic page... and that's because it will be.  A normal comic page has a "live" area of about 6x9 inches with the total page size of 6.625x10.25 inches.  My comic will be published at the larger 8.5x11 inch pages.

Why?  Cause I like it larger, that's why.

I've published some of my sketchbooks at 8.5x11 and I really, really like that size so the next volume of Cornerstone will be published at that larger size.  Much more coming soon...

-Drew

Feb 25, 2012... the Master

OK, I will admit, this is nothing to do with Cornerstone but a new sketch for Illustrious Bits Sketch Blog.  The Master from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I was doing this as a simple sketch and went all into it.  If I get time, I might do it as a complete sketch, inks and all, but we will see...

enjoy
-Drew

Feb 24, 2012... ABC's

OK, here is a bit of a 2-fer.

First off, this is the rough layout for pages one and two.  Andi and Ms. Pennyworth and class are touring the museum.  More layouts coming soon.

And now, the ABC's.

I will totally admit this up front, what I am about to tell you I did not read myself.  A good friend of mine, who's a whole lot smarter than me when it comes to these matters, read about it and then told me about it.  Probably in a "How-to" book on storytelling by Will Eisner or someone like that...

From what he told me, the ABC's of storytelling are a principle, or a rule or something like that for storytelling.  In panel to panel storytelling, one of the best ways to tell a story is to move the flow of the images in a ABC pattern.  These two pages are a good example of that.

"A" is the dino splash page one.  In the next panel the "A" dino is part of the background and Ms. Pennyworth is the "B".  In panel 2, we see Ms. Pennyworth "B" and Andi "C" and then in panel 3, a closeup of Andi "C".  The story flows from A to C, from the dino to Andi.

People may not even see it but next time you are reading a comic, a good comic story, name the elements A, B C and so forth and see if the story teller followed this principle... or rule... or whatever it is called.

-Drew

PS thanks Todd... you are the smarter one here... I said it... now shut up!

Feb 22, 2012 ... panel work

OK, the fact that I have not posted doesn't mean I have not been working on it... it just means I've been too tired to post, he he.

Anyway, i am working on Cornerstone from two angles.  The first is the script.  I am still working on writing out the script for the first 8 pages, this is the exact opposite of how I usually work.  For my first two graphic novels, i drew 95 to 100 percent of the art before I even started writing the script.

A little messed up, I know, but that's just how my mind works.  This time I am working on the script at the same time as the art.

Another step in the process is sketching out individual panels separately then combining them all together on a single art page.  This is my second attempt at page 2 panel 1.

Page one has already been laid out I just want to get a few more pages setup before I scan and post it.  More coming, I promise.

-Drew

Feb 20, 2012... Why I don't want to do Color...

Truth... The real reason I don't like to do color drawings... There are HUNDREDS of people out there that do it soooo much better than me.

For example... my daughter... ROCKED this drawing I did of Killer Croc and she's not even finished with it...

Feb 19, 2012... JEM!

Having just got back home from Mega Con just a few hours ago, I was half inspired/half tired and out of my mind... and this is what happens...

Jem from the 80's cartoon with just a few liberties... okay... a LOT of liberties, he he he.

enjoy
-Drew

Feb 17 and 18, 2012... Mega Con

OK, so maybe this is a little cheat, posting for two days in one but I have a good excuse... Mega Con in Orlando FL this weekend.  OK, even that is a lame excuse since I am only going for one day and that's not till tomorrow.  I have been working on Cornerstone but what I have been working on I can't post simply cause it would ruin some surprises within the story... "yes", this means I am actually working on a script BEFORE I start drawing... whoa, something I have never done before.  Shock, shock.

More Monday after the show.  Have a great weekend, everyone.
-Drew

Feb 16, 2012... page layouts

I had to drive into the office today for my day job so I did not have a lot of extra time to work on this but I did start the initial layouts for the first part of chapter one.  Here is the first six pages (of what might be 8 pages).

Ok, let me interrupt myself for a second here and explain a little bit about my process.  First, I come up with an idea or a "scene".  Mostly just high points of the story, like a goal I want to achieve in the story telling.  Then I proceed to small thumbnails.  This is what I have here.

More tomorrow
-Drew

Feb 15, 2012... Andi

Just a quick post to say I did some prelim sketches of Andi but I am too tired to scan them in and post them.  Just know that I DID work on them, he he he.  Post pics tomorrow

-Drew

UPDATED, here's the design of Andi.  I like the school clothes but still have to work on the overall design.

Feb 14, 2012... Happy Valentines Day

Tonight's post is about a new character who appears in the first chapter of part one of the New Cornerstone book.  Ms. Pennyworth.  She's a teacher at Andi's school.  Other than the fact she fits the "sexy teacher" model perfectly, I'm not going to say anything else about her just yet.  She's more important than she first appears and a pretty important part of the new story.

enjoy
-Drew

PS I hope everyone was nice to someone special today... tomorrow we buy candy, he he he.

Feb 13. 2012... new character design

The first part of the New Cornerstone volume starts off with a story about Andi, the witch.

It starts back when she is in High School at age 12 and then follows her to college and the police academy.

Andi is a cute, plucky red head witch who's story takes place over eight years and she does a little growing up from the start to the end.  Here is a simple face/age comparison sketch I did today.

Ultimately, the third sketch is too mature/sexy for her character and her final appearance will be closer to the "college" face.  IF she progressed beyond that, she might have made it to the mature/sexy Andi... but anyone who has read volume one knows... that won't happen.  Sorry.

More tomorrow
-Drew

Feb 12, 2012... Cornerstone Update

Not much happened today but I did finish writing up my proposal for my editor on what I plan to do for the third volume of Cornerstone.  This may not seem like a big deal but compared to what I actually wrote down the last two times... it's HUGE.

Tomorrow I work more on plotting out the events of the first part of the book.  It's a story that revolves around one of the main characters from volume one, Andi, the witch.  I don't know if I wrote about it before but in volume one her character was to appear one time, say one smart ass line and then be gone... but I kind of fell in love with her and ended up giving her a bigger role in volume one.  Anyone who has read volume one knows that it did not end well for her and I've always felt a little guilty about that.

This story brings her into the forefront, gives her a really great introduction and makes her into a much bigger, important character and going forward, she only gets more respect.  More to come...

-Drew

Feb 11, 2012... it has OFFICIALLY begun...

That's right folks.  The die has been cast.  The bones have been rolled.  My next volume of TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE has officially started.  I will be posting EVERYDAY from now till the project is finished on my Blog so check back often.

First thing on the agenda... finish writing the plot for the first chapter and get it to my editor for review.

This is actually a very big step for me since both volume one and two of Cornerstone were done completely without a written plot, script or synopsis.  I simply started drawing and just kept going till it was done.  This time I am actually laying done the idea on paper, mapping out where everything will start, go to and end and making it just a little easier for me to follow.  Kind of like a blueprint, something I did NOT do the first two times.

You might ask yourself "how the heck is that possible?" and believe me when I tell you that when I tell people how I work on a project, most people think I am insane.  Well, "yes", I may just be... but what the heck... here we go.

more tomorrow
-Drew

Week 10 at Illustrious Bits... Cammy from Street Fighter

This is my sketch for this weeks subject over at Illustrious Bits Sketch Blog... Cammy from the Street Fighter Video Games.

Cammy is NOT my favorite character, I'm a Chun Li fan, but I do like her.  I tried something different with this one and forced the perceptive a little and I think it came out "ok".  I was truing for... something and I'm not sure it came out right.

I also added speed lines digitally but i think when I have time I will go back and add a proper background.

Slave Leia Lois Griffin

This is one of those really long lost commission requests that has taken me forever to get back to.

I had an idea and I guess this one came out pretty well.  Hope the requester likes it...

enjoy
-Drew

Week 9 - Marrow of the X-Men

it's Marrow week over at Illustrious Bits and here's my sketch.


Well, I was the first one to post last week and the last this week... ughh.

She's a really crazy member of the X-Men who's mutant power is to pull bones out of her body and use them as weapons.  I guess for the big bone she pulled out her whole spine, he he he.

enjoy
-Drew

Glob World interview with ME!!

I recently finished an interview with a UK based webcasters that does interviews and reviews of comics called MOMBcast.  Check out the site here and read the interview here.  I got a chance to tell some stories (which I love telling) about comics, conventions, original art and even threw in a few about the kids.

enjoy
-Drew

missed a few...

 These were two sketches done recently for Illustrious Bits Sketch Blog that I forgot to post here as well.

The first is an unfinished Killer Croc for "Any Batman Villain" week at IBSB.  I plan to finish it at some point in the future, still needing to add a background and some effects.

The second sketch is Catra from She-Ra for the "Any Character from She-Ra" Week at IBSB.  This one came out pretty quick and looks pretty good.  I like it.

I didn't know much about the She-Ra Universe and had to rely on good old fashion google searches and found Catra.  Her original costume was very basic and I found a couple of re-designs other artist had done and really like them and did my own interpretation of the character.

enjoy
-Drew

Sad day...

Just heard the news about the Comic Geek Speak Super Show for 2012 getting cancelled.  What a crappy day.  I hope everything goes well for those guys and that all things work out in the end.  Guess the way this year is going so far... this will NOT be my year.  He he he.

Back to drawing...

-Drew

week 6 - Death at illustrious Bits

Not sure what happened here but I am happy.

I was on a roll... Gambit, knocked it out.  Spider-Woman, done and done, Starfire... had her finished 2 weeks in advance... Death...

nothin'.

Not sure why this drawing took almost 3 full weeks to get done, maybe it was back to back holidays with a birthday thrown in for good measure... maybe.  But here she is.

Not exactly what I had originally planned but I think it came out cooool.

enjoy

-Drew

Week 5 - Starfire at Illustrious Bits

This weeks pick was by me for Starfire.

Originally I was blanking on an idea for this week and Jamie was torn between Spider-Woman and Starfire and I just went with it.

Starfire is a great character who I have drawn a few times before and none were that good so I jumped at the chance to re-draw her.

The effects did not come out like I originally planned but i think it came out well.  Also, usually I do the black and white then add gray wash later but this time I skipped the gray and just kept it b&w.

enjoy and I can't wait to see what everyone else does.

-Drew

Week 4 - Spider-Woman for Illustrious Bits

HA! Fooled you.

I went with the Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman for week 4. Why might you as, especailly since the Jessica Drew version is soooo much more popular?

Easy... Black and White, baby.

I loooove the simplicity of the Black and White costume (plus I HATE my coloring latley and chose this version so I did not have to color it... keeping the trend going!).

Anyway, Great pick Jamie!

Spider-Woman © Marvel Comics

Week 3 - Gambit for Illustrious Bits

Leave it to Rich to recommend a "guy" for week 3 and ruin the party, he he he.

This is my Gambit sketch for week 3. This is actually the third sketch I did with the first 2 sucking.

Actually, this one might go up on eBay next week and who ever gets it will see my first attempt on the back, ughh.

enjoy

-Drew

Gambit © Marvel Comics

Week 2 - Zatanna for Illustrious Bits

Zatanna was my choice of sketches for week 2.

I choose Zatanna for two reasons. One, I'm a sucker for a girl in fishnet... and second, I owed a Zatanna sketch to some one and what better way to get it off my list than to make it this weeks subject. Ta-da.

I've drawn Zatanna several times before... sometimes the sketches some out ok... others sucked. This one came out pretty good.

Looking forward to what everyone comes up with...

-Drew

Illustrious Bits.... the banner

Jamie Fay created a GREAT banner for the new site... check it out here... growing by the day.

-Drew

WELCOME TO ILLUSTRIOUS BITS!

Hey Guys, something new for you to check out...

IllustriousBits.com

A NEW sketch blog venture brought to you by the minds of creative geniuses Rich Bernatovech, Jamie Fay and Me.

Starting this week of November 21, 2011 we will begin posting sketches done by all three artist based on a subject that will change every week. The first week subject is… Wonder Woman!

In the next few weeks we will be picking future subjects and opening up membership via invitation to other artist, so we plan to grow…

Come back each week for new sketches and from time to time we will take suggestions from our fans for an up coming weeks subject. Let us know what you think and keep checking back…

More coming soon...

and here's my Wonder Woman pic of the week...

check out GLOB WORLD

check out issue 0 (drawn by me) and issue 1 (I drew the back up story) of GLOB WORLD on Grapic.ly, brought to you by the guys at Action Lab Comics.

Issue 0 is free and great, especially if you have children. Enjoy... more coming soon.

-Drew

The trouble with Licensed properties...

So I got back from the New York Comic Con on Monday (after missing my early flight and ended up spending 4 extra hours in the airport) and I am jazzed about drawing... Only ONE little problem...

I have 2 projects both due about the same time and one is a Licensed property and even though I just penciled a page that made me really happy... I CAN'T SHOW IT TO ANYONE!!!

As soon as I get approval to post ANYTHING... I will and as soon as I can work on something OTher than these two projects... I will.

Starting in November... I am working on a NEW graphic novel for 2012. I still have not decided if it will be HERO or CORNERSTONE but a new book IS coming.

stay tuned... 2012 will ROCK.

-Drew

a few more sketches done at the NYCC

Just a few more sketches from the New York Comic Con 2011.

Warlock from the New Mutants (had a ball with this one)

Star Sapphire Harley Quinn

an original character

Princess Leia and Darth Vader

Tigra (from a really GREAT Avengers sketchbook)

Bullseye killing Elektra (at first I though this one would be really hard but I liked how it turned out)

a few more coming soon...

-Drew

a few sketches done at the NYCC

a few sketches done at the show...

Black Lantern Wolverine

Captain America throwing his shield

The New Batman and Robin (Damian)

another Black Lantern Wolverine

a friendly smiling Walrus

and Blue Lantern Red Robin, Orange Lantern Kid Flash and Red Lantern Superboy.

I've got a few more I will post a little later

enjoy

-Drew

NYCC Black Lantern Harley Quinn

I sold a regular Harley Quinn and then did a Star Sapphire Harley that also sold do I did a Black Lantern Harley Quinn next.

it did not sell so... eBay... eventually.

This one was fun and I'm thinking about doing a series of batman villains (maybe just the girls) as different lanterns... maybe...

-Drew

NYCC Red Lantern Hulk

yet another sketch from the New York Comic Con... Red Lantern Hulk. I liked this one but no one else did, he he so, again it may end up on eBay sooner or later.

-Drew

NYCC HellGirl

One of the few sketched I did while in NY at the New York Comic Con that did not sell and come home with me... HellGirl.

When I was packing for the show I found a really old drawing of HellGirl from 2004. My "style" was soooo different then that I just HAD to re-do it.

Since it did not sell, it may end up on eBay sooner or latter.

-Drew

a little "making of" Red Lantern Punisher

Red Lantern Punisher

Another pre-ordered commission for the New York Comic Con... Red Lantern Punisher.

enjoy

-Drew

a little "making of" Hello Kitty as Wonder Woman

Hello Kitty as Wonder Woman

yet another pre-order for the New York Comic Con.

Hello Kitty as Wonder Woman.

This one and Hello Kitty as Iceman were just too fun to wait on. I jumped up my sketch list to get these two done.

enjoy

-Drew

a little "making of" Hello Kitty as Iceman

Hello Kitty as Iceman

Another quick commission for the New York Comic Con.

Hello Kitty as Iceman.

This one kind of drew itself... and color was a given and made perfect sense.

This and the Hello Kitty Wonder Woman were a BLast!

enjoy

-Drew

and a little "making of" Steve Rogers Super Soldier

Steve Rogers Super Solider for NYCC

This was the first of a few request I received for pre-ordered commissions for the NY Comic Con.

Steve Roger - Super Soldier.

More coming soon

-Drew

another Frekin' Sweer!!

Another colorist liked my sketch of Samanya from Drumfish Productions comic Neverminds and took a crack at coloring it... WOW!

Armand Strange goes by TheRealSurge on Deviant Art, check him out here.

He did a GREAT job on this one and I can't wait to share it with Rich and the Drumfish guys.

Thanks again Armand.

Pre-Order a Commission for the New York Comic Con

Hey all,

If anyone is going tot he New York Comic Con from October 13-16 (a scant few three weeks away) and would like a sketch from little old me... just let me know...

I will be at Artist Alley table C6. Check out the show link at www.newyorkcomiccon.con to see a map of the floor... it's HUGE!!

I will be doing sketches at the show but if you know you will be there and want a sketch, send me a request here through my blog or to my email at misfitcorner@hotmail.com. At the show I will be charging $25 for a Black/White/Gray sketch on 9x12 bristol paper but if you pre-order, it's only $20 (plus, if I have color and feel like adding it, I will. At the show color will be very very limited, and that's just cause I suck at color).

Also, before everyone asks... I don't take money up front. I have my reasons. Just pay me at the show. If you make a request and DON'T pick it up, you can bid for it on eBay after the show where almost all sketched go for higher than my commission rate.

I will be taking requests now through Friday, October 7th. Any requests made AFTER Friday 10/7 can be done at the show but no guarantee they will be done BEFORE the show. If you send a late request, I will work on it but let me know when you will be there so I can make sure it is done by then.

Few rules... single characters preferred but if you NEED more on one page, it can be done but might cost a little more. Ask first.

No explicit sex or nudity (ok, nudity is OK but I reserve the right to veto any request that is just plain wrong... you know the type I'm talking about).

Creator owned characters are also OK but make sure you send/bring reference... I don't do too well with verbal descriptions... I'm a visual kind of guy, he he.

I also reserve the right to veto any "stupid" requests. What I mean by that is ... example

Guy... "can you draw me Captain America?"
Me... "sure."
Guy... "Sitting on a couch smoking a bong with the Red Skull."

That one I actually did but HATED it so I don't usually do them. You can ask, but I reserve the right to say... "NO".

Also, obsuce characters do frighten me... I like challenges but again... remember the references.

thanks again and I hope to see a lot of you at the show
-Drew

oh my Frekin' Sweer...

Rey Arzeno over at Drumfish Productions kind of liked my drawing of Henko... and colored it last night... WOWOWOW.

This is incredible! I've never seen a sketch I did colored this fantastic in such a short amount of time... I posted the pic last night and he had it colored this morning... WOWOW.

Check him out here and if you are going to the NY Comic Con, he's at table G3. Also, check out Rich and Jaime and all the Drumfish goodness at table T12.

wow

-Drew

a little "making of" Neko from Neverminds

HENKO from Neverminds

Another drawing for Rich of one of his characters from his comic Neverminds.... HENKO.

I don't really know a lot about the character but I really liked his look. Most of the pictures I've seen of him have him showing off an animal-based power but he always looks... cute. Well, maybe... handsome. I wanted to twist that a little bit.

I'm not sure if his powers changes his face but I liked the eyes and the cheeks and the mouth. Hope Rich and the boys like it too.

My original sketch had whiskers... and I thought that went toooo far in the wrong direction. ugh

hopefully there is a few more in me before the NEW YORK Comic Con next month...

-Drew

just an old idea reworked...

a while ago, I worked on a T-shirt idea that showcased three of the four main characters from Cornerstone. I then re-did it with all four characters.

Then just the other night, an idea came to me... so I broke the four images into four individual images, added text and then inverted it all (thinking it would look soo much better on an all black shirt).

I don't know, i think they came out cool. Maybe I'm almost there with this idea... maybe.

-Drew

a little "making of" Jacob and Zoe

Jacob and Zoe as Yellow and Red Lanterns

Just catching up on a few commissions before I head feet first into my next project. This one is for Jacob of him and his cat Zoe as a Yellow Lantern and Red Lantern.

I'm running low on colors so I did not go overboard here but I like it none the less.

enjoy
-Drew