Like I said in my last post, I've just finished up a big project so I'm chompin' at the bit to work on some new things. Luckily, today I got to work from home. I was able to really sink my teeth into some of my back logged projects, and I still had time to finish up a Galactus ATC sketch that I've been wanting to redo.

See, I've been in the middle of an ATC trade with the mega-talented Chrissie Altese, who I met through an ATC trade with the equally talented Wynn Ryder. Because I've been so busy lately that I'd failed to finish up her final card, but I made plans to get that done tonight.

After I finished up my days work, I logged in to my blog reader and noticed that Chrissie had posted the cards she had done for me over at her blog, and what a treat for the eyes! She completely nailed these cards. As I say almost every trade, I think I may have won out on this one. My little sketches are nowhere near as good as hers, plus she's fantastic with color (which I am not). I'm more comfortable using black and white, but I'm thinking I need to start stretching my color legs a bit in the future.

Anywho, here are the cards I did for Chrissie; Galactus, the Punisher and a character I'd never heard of before, Modesty Blaise. I'm going to throw in the first Galactus card that I did, for good measure. I was disappointed in it, but maybe Chrissie will like it (or she can trade it off to someone else).

This Saturday I finished up a project that I've been working on for over 4 months. While the end result of the project was not what I hoped for, the project was still very rewarding in many other ways and I'm pretty proud of the way it was handled. I had the opportunity to work with some really good people throughout the experience, and I got to meet some of the most honorable, hard working professionals I've ever met in my life. That all being said, I am a glad I can close the book on this one and begin working on the long list of projects I've gained during the time since I first started working on the aforementioned project.

On Sunday, since it was so beautiful outside, and since I knew that I'd have an incredibly busy work week ahead of me, I decided to spend some time out at the park with my wife and sketch a bit. You know, my last sketch was reflective of the worst in people, the duplicitous, all that is bad in humanity, so for this sketch I wanted it to be hopeful and bright, to represent joy, even in the face the undesirable parts of human nature.


Conner Kent, the current Superboy, was a good choice for this. Conner, a clone created from the DNA of both Lex Luthor and Superman, is a very positive and happy character. He's struggled against the darker parts of his nature and has put himself on the right path, taking the high road. Conner chose to be a hero, not a villain, and that means something.

I think we all have that kind of choice to make sometimes-to do the right thing, the smart thing, the best thing-but we're often tempted to take the easy path. It's easy to be ugly and hateful, to get caught up in a tide of negative emotions, to want to get revenge, or inflict pain on someone who we think has wronged us. In many ways, that's the type of society that we've become. It's much harder, and more noble, to take the path that leads to hope and light for everyone.

So, with those thoughts in mind, I drew this quick pen and marker sketch. It's a simple sketch, not one of my best, but this little drawing was about more than the end result on the paper. It was about parting the clouds and letting the light shine in. It was about hitting the pause button on the grind, the pulling and hauling. It was about hitting the reset button and gearing up for a brand new day.

Sorry to get so heavy, but I find it's healthy to take time to reflect on things from time-to-time. You know I always appreciate anyone who stops by to look at the pictures, and even more the ones who take the time to read the post.

Peace.

I've been getting together with a group of friends every couple of weeks to have a sketch-up. Basically, we pick some sort of subject matter, then sit down for a few hours and work on the project in whatever medium we choose. You may remember my post about our first such night, and my buddy Erik's post over on his blog, featuring work from our second sketch-up.

Last night we decided to have an Artist Trading Card jam, where each of us would produce three cards each, then at the end of the night we'd draw numbers to see which cards we get to take home, except our own, of course.

I wanted to have some fun and use my Tombo markers to add some bright color to what I was going to work on. I started the night with a quick, two color warm-up sketch in my book of heroes. My subject? GALACTUS! This was a good way to start the night. From there, I moved on to my three cards; Power Girl, Thor and Darkseid.