Monday, December 31, 2007

Sagittarius!

Just in time for the New Year, I've finally almost finished a series I started last year!! What can I say, I've been busy :)

Sagittarius was actually roughed out ages ago but I only now had the time to polish up the drawing and turn out a final. In researching classical Greek robes for woman I found this particular cross-your-heart-bra style wrap and thought it was an awesome way to reveal bottom cleavage. I wanted the pin-up to look like the women in Steve Reeve Hercules films, or like the Goddesses in "Clash of the Titans"...a movie accurate costume.

Hope you all had a lovely Holidays! Happy New Year!

best,
j.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Seasonal Greeting Holiday Card!

This here post compiles the evolutionary sketches of this year's Holiday Greeting card. I usually like to draw a pin-up girl for the card I'll hand out and e-mail. This year my gag was a pun on "fur" with a gal in a "fir" coat.


I tried a few different attitudes for the lady before resting on a wry smile and sarcastic line to her Husband. Her fella is meant to be enjoying the little joke he's played on his lady. But somethow it all just wasn't that funny a gag to me. It's not obvious enough in that "wakka wakka" or "wah wah" kinda bad punny way that I love jokes to be. I could think about it four ways to Sunday and it still wouldn't make the gag any better (and I do use the term loosely :)



So...I went back to the first drawing I did. Yes, my first approach was two female fir trees hanging out and gabbing. It's cutesy and definitely punny in just exactly the way I wanted. That'll teach me to over think these things so much.


Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope that however you choose to celebrate you have a wonderful week and also a Happy New Year!
best,
j.bone

Friday, December 07, 2007

Doom Patrol!

The title says it all. Just look at those awesome costumes. Why aren't there Doom Patrol toys for me to buy. I'd love the ol' twelve inch G.I. Joe size for these guys. That would be swell.

j.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

It's My Element, Man!

Today I'm posting a few pencil drawings because I don't often do that (and I haven't had time to ink any of these yet :) I hope you don't mind. As I mentioned last post I've been drawing the covers for the upcoming Super Friends comic book aimed at a younger reader. The characters are based on the new toy line by Mattel. The toys are super cute! I've got Batman already and am eagerly awaiting the release of Aquaman. In a dream world the next batch of figures would include some of my favourite characters...Metamorpho, the Doom Patrol and the Metal Men. This sketch is my take on Metamorpho if he were to be one of these toys. His accessories would be a bunch of shape changing appendages that you would snap on.

Next up are some sketches of super gals. I was reading the Black Canary archive book and sketched her up in some down time.
And, of course, you already know that I LOVE Wonder Woman. These sketches were my attempt to draw her as Diana Prince (I was also reading the Wonder Woman Showcase collection recently released by DC...boy is Steve Trevor ever a dink in those stories. He's all "Marry me, angel. Marry me. I won't be happy until you marry me, Wonder Woman." Yikes. What a bore.)






Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to have some finished art for my next post.
best,
j.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Adventures of Solar Stella!

Like a lemon meringue pie comes Solar Sella, the final installment in my Women in Space triptych. I had planned to scan in some Stella pages just to show you all exactly who this gal is...unfortunately I can't find a copy of the book in my house. There must me one somewhere. I had a box of about ten of them at one point. When I find a copy I'll make sure to upload a few pages to this very blog.

And here they all are, together for the first time (here anyway). I placed Barbarella in the fore because she's really the first one.
In work news, I'm currently inking my final issue of the Spirit. It's a little bittersweet, working on this one. I'm happy to be at the end but sad that I won't be working with my good buddy, Darwyn, anymore. Not that we won't be doing other work together in the future (quite possibly the very near future ;) but it won't be the monthly team-up I've enjoyed this past year.
I've also been drawing and colouring covers for a new Super Friends book aimed at younger readers. Just as soon as I'm allowed to I'll post a few of the covers here. I absolutely love drawing DC's finest and can't wait to show you all my work.
best,
j.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I Heart Space Girls!

Long ago, back when I worked at an animation studio here in T.O., I heard that the company owned the animation rights to Barbarella! I sketched up a bunch of character ideas and tried to pitch myself as a develpment artist on the project...but alas, twas not meant to be. It was one of those projects stuck in a development black hole. Lots of art was thrown its way but nothing ever returned!

From those development drawings was born my first published comic book work, Solar Stella! I started drawing a mini-comic in my spare time using Barbarella as the jumping off point. Solar Stella was a pin-up gal lost in the farthest reaches of space. Her adventures were just meant to be good old fashioned fun with lots of cheesecake drawings. The book came out in 2000 and I'd fully intended to follow up with more Stella stories but, as it turned out, I started getting higher paying work. Stella would have to wait. And wait...and wait...
I still love the space girls and I still plan on doing more with Stella. These girls are meant to be a three piece ensemble. For some reason I had an idea to draw a trio of Space Girls with identically positioned legs. The girls are Barbarella, Dragonfly (from the movie CQ*) and eventually Solar Stella.

j.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A little Cabaret!

This is not a caricature. I recently had my caricature done by the brilliant Joe Bluhm and the equally brilliant (and adorable) Sam Gorrie. And they showed me that a caricature not only captures likeness but is also hilariously funny (if you have a sense of humour about yourself). So when I set out to do a drawing of the the talented songstress of Toronto Cabaret, Sharron Matthews, I stayed away from caricature! I'll leave caricaturing to the pros (see links to Sam and Joe). In the end I kinda think Sharron could easily be a character in an Archie comic the way I've drawn her here. The biggest problem I had with my drawing was in the colouring. I'm not 100% happy with the turquoise even though it's one of my favourite colours and one that Sharron has worn on a few occassions. But it's the best colour with her skin tone and purple background.
So just for my own pleasure I coloured up a monochromatic version. The purple makes Sharron look like a blues singer or something. I imagine she's belting out a tune originally sung by Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald. In reality she's probably singing "Jessie's Girl".
j.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

L'il Hawkman!

What do I want for Christmas this year? (Is it too soon to talk about Christmas? My mom wouldn't say so...she usually does all her shopping in October!) I want the new line of Mattel's DC SUPER FRIENDS! They are just the cutest little toys and I want 'em all.
The first wave has Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Lex Luthor. I'm really hoping the toys sell well so that we'll get more Justice Leaguers like Wonder Woman, Plastic Man and Hawkman! In my dreams they'd also do Metamorpho and the original Doom Patrol...but those are only dreams...*sigh*.

I can't wait till these cute little toys are in stores!

Incidentally, I've been working on some cool stuff lately but can't spill it just yet. Soon, though.

ever yours,
j.






Friday, August 31, 2007

Back to School!

An older image but one that's apropos for today...all over the neighbourhood parents are rejoicing and children are crying. Next week all the kids are back in school! Not that it means anything to me, personally. Not anymore. But when I was a kid I actually kinda liked going back to school. I was a nerd kid and getting new notebooks, pens and pencils was exciting. Once the school work started, though, the excitement quickly vanished.

So, about the drawing...it was originally done as a pitch for an Archie-like approach to the Marvel characters. I'd been drawing a teen version of Tigra for a while and used her as the main character in the pitch (which was written by Brian McLachlan of Princess Planet fame). I think the characters are pretty self-evident but I'll still leave it up to you commenters to name them all. :)
The book never happened but it sure would have been a lot of fun.

j.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mike Wieringo 1963 - 2007

Today ended on a very sad note...I learned that this past weekend the incredibly talented, incredibly nice Mike Wieringo passed away of heart failure. Mike was one of the sweetest guys I've ever met in comics and I'm unbelievably sad that he's gone. But my sadness must pale in comparison to that felt by friends and family members he's left behind. Their loss is immense.

I had the good fortune to work with Mike. The above four pages of art are from the SIDEKICKS Super Summer Fun Special put out by ONI press. My friend J.Torres put it together. I think Mike had written J. to tell him how much he liked our Alison Dare project, and from there a friendship grew. Mike graciously agreed to draw a segment in the Summer Fun book but only if I agreed to ink it. Honest, that's how the job was presented to me and who am I to argue with Mike Wieringo! :)
My brush was merely a tracer's tool on this job, I assure you. The pencils were printably tight. All I had to concentrate on was not ruining the faces on Mike's adorable girls ( at which I hope I was successful). I met Mike later that summer at a convention in Philadelphia and I was happy to find out what a great guy he was. He ended up sitting with some friends and I for the entire night, entertaining us with hilarious stories and jokes. It's the only time I've ever hung out with Mike in person but it truly did leave a lasting impression.
We kept in touch through e-mails over the years...and only now do I realize that I didn't write to him nearly enough. I wish I could send him another e-mail right now...
Rest in peace, Mike. We'll all miss you.
Sincerely,
J.Bone

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Happy Birthday to Everyone!


Whew! Back from San Diego and happy to be home. I love San Diego...the beaches, the weather, the food. And, of course, Comic Con! Lots of news out of con. My buddy Darwyn won THREE Eisner awards. Best Single Issue for BATMAN/ THE SPIRIT #1, Best Graphic Album reprint for ABSOLUTE DC: THE NEW FRONTIER, and Best Publication Design for ABSOLUTE DC: THE NEW FRONTIER. Though we weren't at the awards we drank a toast when we heard the news.
Now it's back to the drawing board. Deadlines loom!
j.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Wonder Woman! I love you!


Just because. I haven't drawn Wonder Woman in a while and I really missed her.
j.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Funny Books!

A while ago I drew a three page comic sequence for DC's line of Cartoon Network books. I missed the book when it originally came out but I've since received a few copies thanks to my kindly editor Rachel! For your enjoyment (and to update my blog, finally :) I've scanned the pages in full colour. Here they be:



The gags were written by the show creator Tom Warburton (who I've never met but I picture Patrick Warburton - Puddy from Seinfeld).
Have a super secret agent day!
j.


Monday, June 11, 2007

Conventional Wisdom!

This weekend there was a comic book convetion in town! For the first time I charged for sketches which meant I could take my time and do a much better job than ordinarily...not to say that I don't try to do a good job but when you're doing a drawing in ten minutes or less sometimes things get a little wonky...especially by the 30th or 40th drawing.

So here are some of the sketches I did this weekend.
The guy who asked for this Lois Lane drawing didn't show up on Sunday. Steve Zegers, if you're somehow reading this I'll have the drawing with me at TCAF in August...after that it's up for grabs. :)











And now I'm exhausted.
j.


Thursday, May 31, 2007

In the Spirit of Giving!

Today's post is partially brought to you by the fabulous Cal Johnston owner of Strange Adventures in Halifax! It's also brought to you by the letter "S". "S is for Spirit", a character I've been inking over the brilliant Darwyn Cooke (who just Google searched his name and found this post :)
If you're ever in Halifax do yourself a favour and stop by Strange Adventures...Cal runs a shop the way I wish more businesses were run let alone comic book stores. Super nice, super helpful and he knows comics! I've done a few signings out at the store and have honestly never seen such a big turn out or encountered such friendly groups of people in my whole comic book career. On the first free comic book day Cal organized the handing out of free comics at the movie theatre which was then showing the very first Spider-Man movie. Is that not awesome?! So, above is the drawing I did for Cal's birthday last year...which honestly doesn't begin to repay him for all the great things he's done for me. And below is a picture Cal sent me...a customer of his works with the UN and on a recent visit to Darfur took along a copy of the Spirit! Apparently the kids loved it so much they insisted on keeping the comic.

Doesn't this picture just make you happy? It makes me happy!
Have a happy day, ever'body!
best,
j.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Reel 'Em In!


When I posted the image for Cancer a buddy of mine mentioned he thought the gal would have freckles. She's a red head and he's right that she probably ought to have 'em. I had that in my brain when I drew Miss Pisces and yet I ended up colouring her as a brunette. She could easily have any colour of hair (God bless Photoshop) and as I come to end of the theme I really start to notice just how many brunettes I've drawn. You could very well guess the colour of my own hair by the appearance of my characters.
And speaking of appearance...it hasn't escaped me that there is a shocking lack of ethnic diversity in my Zodiacs. My day to day gig in illustration has taught me to be more wide ranging in my skin tone colour choices and I actually think it's important that I reflect diversity in my pin-up drawings. My plan is to go back over the drawings once I'm finished and create new heads for each image and recolour them. Photoshop makes that easy, too! :)
Peace out,
j.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Cat-Fish Creek!

I know, I know...it's been ages since I updated. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Mostly I got tied up with work. The other big reason was that I didn't want to post any drawings that weren't related to the Horoscope theme until I was done with the Horoscope theme. Unfortunately the final few Zodiac drawings kept getting pushed to the side as more paying work came in.

Enough kvetching. Here, finally, is Pisces. The earlier fish woman was believed to be Pisces but she is actually Capricorn (the fish/goat or goat/fish depending on your preferrence). I've always known Pisces was going to be gal in hip waders fishing off a riverbank. When I was a kid we used to catch crayfish in cups in a river/creek pretty similar to what you see here.

Because I've been away for so long I felt it only right that I post a second image. I recently got the Art of Shane Glines which I highly recommend checking out if you can afford it. This drawing is more than heavily influenced by the gorgeous linework on display in Shane's book. The "S" curve on the front side of Selina's money bag is my little tribute to Shane's book (actually I've been throwing that line in a lot of my drawings lately).


best,
j.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Sunny Beach!

Boy, what I wouldn't give to be sitting on a beach right now! It would mean, first of all, that I'd be warm and second of all it would mean that all my work is done because I would never go on vacation with jobs left unfinished. Alas tis not to be...

So it's sorta been known for a while now that the latest batch of drawings are Signs of the Zodiac. I started with Virgo, followed by Taurus, Libra, Capricorn (not Pisces as you may have thought), Aries and finally Leo. This one is...Cancer! I'm more than half done but work has kept me from finishing the final few. I hope beyond hope that I can finish the rest soon so as not to interrupt the complete set with posts of work done in the meanwhile.

Have a lovely day!
best,
j.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Queen of the Jungle!

Cue jungle soundtrack...crickets the size of your hand create a pulsing background rhythm...exotic birds cry out...k-k-kaw k-k-kaw...the bass purr of a jungle cat sends a shiver up your spine...the Queen of the Jungle perches, her leonine hair remains remarkably unfrizzy despite the humid jungle air. What product is she using to maintain such body? Does she even own a hair dryer? Or know what a hair dryer is?!?

This one turned out better than I could have wanted! Could be that it's my sign and I really wanted an image that I wouldn't mind having on my wall! :) There is one part that still bugs me...and that is that her bosom looks uneven. I probably shouldn't even point that out because maybe no one would have noticed. But just in case someone does notice I want you all to know that I know.

Incidentally, I looked up some facts on Sheena, the original Queen of the Jungle...and I found out that she was the first female comic character to get her own title. She beat Wonder Woman by three months. I also love the fact that she was co-created by Will Eisner who also created the Spirit...the book on which I am currently working!

best,
j.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Norse Goddess! Or Vi-Queen!


Boy oh boy, this one was tough. I drew a male version of this one first and wanted to use the same stalwart pose for the lady. But how to make a female warrior advancing with her hefty hammer into a sexy pin-up. Forgo the sexy, really. So I focused on making her a bosomy barbarian with shapely gams and sporting just a smidge of lipstick. She kinds reminds me of Sorsha from Willow! Maybe it's the snow.
j.
p.s. I love coincidence and in an example of sheer coincidence I was about to hit "Publish" this post when I heard on the radio an ad for a Dodge RAM! Zowie! I'd better hit post while the stars are still aligned!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Under the Sea!

I suppose something should be said about the strangeness of this fish woman! Her tail is based on one of those old drawings of fish made before the invention of the camera. When sailors would come back with horrible tales of creatures beyond description which populated the seas and oceans of the world. It's the only time I've ever seen a shark drawn with whiskers. In the latin this little mermaid is known as ANTHRO POMORPHOS (or so says the book 1300 Real and Fanciful Animals from Seventeenth-Century Engravings by Matthaus Merian).
This week my good friends Chris and Angela delivered their first baby. I drew this little caricature of Junior Stone (not his real name) sight unseen. I took it upon myself to extrapolate the facial characteristics of the mother and father, merging the more prominent features into the likeness you see before you. In the end he looks nothing like this. More to the point I managed to completely forget that neither Chris nor Angela have brown eyes. Almost all babies have blue eyes at birth (or so I'm told) and only in the coming months will they learn his true eye colour. At any rate congratulations to my friends on their successful procreation.
your friend,
j.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Roller Gal!


When I was a kid my hometown still had a drive-in A&W. I loved getting food served to us in the car! I don't know why that should be so awesome but it totally was. The girls who worked at the A&W weren't on roller skates but back in the 50's it was common...it sped up service in the then new fast food industry. Check out the book CAR HOPS AND CURB SERVICE by Jim Heimann for some fun history, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
This is entry number three in the continuing theme. I badly want to pun on the phrase "working for scale" but can't really figure out what the phrase means...and if it only applies to actors.
best,
j.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Rodeo Gal!


She's an old cow hand from the Rio Grande! Next in line, still continuing last post's theme. This little filly is practical, reliable, patient and affectionate. But she's also a little bit lazy and when pushed you'll find she's one stubborn lass. Seriously jealous she'll lassoe your a** if she catches you making time with another gal!
I always love drawing cow-folk...ever since working on Mutant Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red (written by Mr. Paul Dini). When I look through that book I still think it's some of my best drawing ever.

best,
j.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

New Year's Eve!

Shocking! Shameful! Disgraceful? Don't be silly. It's a drawing of the world's first woman, tastefully shielding her more private bits from leering eyes. Over the next few posts I'll be featuring pin-ups I drew as Christmas gifts for my family. This is Eve before the fall...I couldn't hide her nudity with leaves as did the classic painters because she is not yet ashamed. Y'see, she's still virginal here. That's an important key to the theme of this and the next few pin-ups. *wink*

best,
j.