30 Days of Night

(2007)

Here’s a collection of preliminary designs for a series of character mini-busts for Gentle Giant LTD. Don’t think they were never produced.

They’re all rendered in blue pencil on 8.5×11 cardstock.

(PS: I you’ve never seen the film, go watch it asap- it’s one of the greatest vampire movies ever!)

30Days 1.

Little girl vamp with teddy

30Days 2.

Little girl vamp with bones

30Days 3.

Marlowe howl

30Days 4.

Marlowe hands up

30Days 5.

Marlowe growls

30Days 6.

Marlowe stare

30Days 7.

Lady vamp snarl

30Days 8.

Lady vamp claws up

30Days 9.

Lady vamp scream final

30Days 10.

Lady vamp scream layout sketch

30Days 11.

Hipster vamp claws up

30Days 12.

Hipster vamp howl rough sketch

30Days 13.

Scar vamp growls

30Days 14.

Eben with axe

30Days 15.

Eben swinging axe

Batman

A collection of submission/ audition pages and sketches I did for DC Comics, (and their legendary art director at the time, the great Mark Chiarello), from the 90s.

I met Mark at a portfolio review and we hit it off famously. He was wonderfully supportive, so I just kept sending him pages, which ultimately led to my first pro work with DC…

But the timing was tough, right as I was (maybe) ready to go pro, my band got offered a deal and I had to choose. Ultimately, I chose music and we were off to the races… but I’m still very grateful for the time, expertise and encouragement Mark showed me all through that time- and since.

I love that guy… and I’m a much, much better artist because of him.

Regular and blue pencil on 11×17 art board, (except for the sketches marked *, which are 13.5×16.5 heavy sketch paper)

Batman-MB 1.

Batman enters a church

Batman-MB 2.

Batman finds a very upset Kurt Langstrom…

Batman-MB 3.

Batman offers to help the distraught doctor, but it’s too late…

Batman-MB 4.

Langstrom’s already started to transform…

Batman-MB 5.

Into the Man-Bat!

Batman-AZ 1.

Azrael hunts down a terrified criminal (*Notice that this page is on Marvel art board…) (SOLD)

Batman-AZ 2.

Batman watches from above… (SOLD)

Batman-AZ 3.

Batman intervenes and confronts Azrael!

Batman-Trains 1.

A page from a short story that never saw print

Joker-1

*Batman sketch A

Bane Vs. Batman… prelim for cover design

*Batman sketch 2A

Prelim sketch for the Azrael page elsewhere in this collection

*Batman sketch 2B

Same as ‘2A’, but flipped upside down

Spider-Man

I’ve always had a fondness for these pages… I did them for a submissions editor at Marvel who kind of blew me off, but some time after, they ended up in front of Sam Raimi, which led to my being hired on both Spider-Man 3 & 4 and a number of other projects.

Regular and blue pencil on 11×17 art board

SM 1.

An alley cat, just enjoying the day on a rooftop in NYC

SM 2.

Spider-man appears and befriends the lil’ guy… until the cat reacts to something terrible that caught Spidey unaware…

SM 3.

Venom attacks! (SOLD)

SM 4.

Spider-man escapes Venom's clutches (SOLD)

SM 5.

Spidey gets himself- and his new lil’ friend- to safety

ASSASSIN

Assassin (2002)

This was my first gig right after I moved to LA from Vegas. I loved the story and the fact that the 1st issue was shot from pencils. It always bummed me out that we were never able to finish the series.

Regular and blue pencil on 11×17 art board

Assassin 1.

The cover image for the 'zero’/ introductory issue of Assassin

Assassin 2.

A terrified criminal runs for his life through a snowy graveyard…

Assassin 3.

He looks everywhere for some sign of whatever’s on his trail…

Assassin 4.

Samuel, the world's deadliest- and most feared- assassin, closes in on his quarry…

Assassin 5.

Sensing the coast is clear, the criminal makes a run for it, but…

Assassin 6.

Samuel’s already there… the criminal pleads for his life

Assassin 7.

Samuel’s reputation precedes him- the criminal’s so terrified that he has a heart attack…

Assassin 8.

And drops dead at the assassin’s feet. Samuel’s such a bad MF’er that he doesn’t even have to left a finger to kill his mark…

Assassin 9.

Samuel leaves the dead guy in the graveyard where he belongs

Assassin 10.

Cover for issue #2

Assassin 11.

Alternate cover design for issue #2

Assassin 12.

One the few finished pages for issue #2

The Dark Knight

In 2006, while I was in New Zealand, working on 30 Days of Night, I was asked to do some character/ concept designs for both Two-Face and The Joker. There was no script, (at least, that they’d let me read), so I just went on the ‘broad strokes’ descriptions the producer gave me.

The more ‘harlequin’ looking Jokers were actually ideas for the ‘joker cards’ that were to be used in the film and marketing materials.

(Interestingly, they ended up using the same ‘devil’ image from David Lee Roth’s 1991 album, A Lil’ Ain’t Enough…)

Each piece is rendered in blue pencil on 8.5×11 cardstock, except for the two Two-Face images- they’re both sketchbook pages.

To this day, The Dark Knight was one of my favorite movie going experiences of all time and I think it’s one of the greatest films ever made

TDK 1.

Two Face acid side

TDK 2.

Two Face normal side

TDK 3.

Ledger Joker, smoke

TDK 4.

Ledger Joker smile

TDK 5.

Ledger Joker little teeth

TDK 6.

Ledger Joker crazy hair, little teeth

TDK 7.

Ledger Joker- prosthetic nose, brow

TDK 8.

Ledger Joker straight on

TDK 9.

Ledger Joker- The Man Who Laughs, with scars

TDK 10.

Modeled after Miller’s Dark Knight Returns Joker: white suit, etc

TDK 11.

Joker card icon- less rendered

TDK 12.

Joker card icon- frilly collar

TDK 13.

Joker card icon: old school, Jerry Robinson-esque

TDK 14.

Joker card icon: old school #2

TDK 15.

Joker card icons: scarier with 3 point hats

TDK 16.

TDK 17.

Classic, old school Joker riff

TDK 18.

Joker card icon: more rendered (SOLD)

Batgirl

One of the many submissions I did for DC: the Two Face page is actually from a different 3 page sequence, but I can’t find the other 2 pages!

Regular and blue pencil on 11×17 art board

BG 1.

Batgirl’s surprised by Harvey Dent AKA, the villainous Two-Face!

BG 2.

Batgirl investigates the sewers beneath Gotham… (SOLD)

BG 3.

Batgirl doesn’t like what she finds…

BG 4.

And she’s attacked by Killer Croc!

BUZZKILLER

These are all from an animated video that was to accompany the band’s first single back in the day.

As we were finishing the record, I was pulling double duty with all the pre production and art direction for the video…but by the the time it was ready, things had kind of fallen apart with the label and all that work ended up being the world’s most expensive screen saver.

That said, I’ve always been proud of the work and I think the designs are pretty damn cool

Rendered in regular and blue pencil on 11×17 graph paper, except for the first image, (*), which is blue pencil on 8.5X11 cardstock.

*BK 1.

‘Skully’, the bio-mehcanical ‘hero’ of the video

BK 2.

Background plate. The skyline of Eightball City… (SOLD)

BK 3.

A study of one of the armored soldiers that appear

BK 4.

Background plate. The sign graveyard in Las Vegas… and yeah, this is actually a real place!

BK 5.

A front and side study of the armored soldiers’ helmets

BK 6.

Sin City indeed…

BK 7.

BK 8.

Skully, behind the dash, driving his flying, convertible muscle car

BK 9.

Skully at the wheel, front view

BK 10.

BK 11.

BK 12.

I wanted to try a ‘superhero/ supervillain’ take on Elvis…

BK 13.

BK 14.

Oh, uh… thankyouverymuch (SOLD)

BK 15.

BK 16.

BK 17.

BK 18.

BK 19.

BK 20.

Elvis studies (SOLD)

BK 21.

More Elvis studies

BK 22.

BK 23.

BK 25.

BK 26.

BK 27.

BK 28.

BK 29.

BK 30.

WATCHMEN

Watchmen is absolutely one of my favorite books of all time. It’s influence on not just comics, but movies, TV, pop culture and literature in general, cannot be overstated.

These are some sketches, designs and storyboards I did for a few pre-Zack Snyder versions that were in development.

I actually did get to meet with Mr. Synder about working on his version, and although he was wonderful about it, he had the great Dave Gibbons- the artist who actually drew Watchmen in the first place, (and who’s one of my all time favorites)- signed up as his chief storyboard, character and concept artist.

So… yeah. What the hell you gonna need me for?

Each piece is rendered in regular and blue pencil on 8.5×11 cardstock… the storyboards are also pen and marker

WM 1.

A hand drawn cover for a presentation of character sketches and storyboards

WM 2.

A more ‘contemporary’ take on The Comedian… tried to ‘militarize’ him a bit

WM 3.

Rorschach study. Hurm…

WM 4.

Rorschach storyboard

WM 5.

Rorschach storyboards sequence A

WM 6.

Rorschach storyboards sequence B

WM 7.

Rorschach storyboards sequence B

WM 8.

The Comedian from the book

WM 9.

Ozymandias victorious

WM 10.

Character headshots on sketch paper

WM 11.

Dr. Manhattan character study A

WM 12.

layout rough for Dr. Manhattan character study A… which I actually like (a lot) better than the final

WM 13.

Nite Owl from the book

Miscellaneous

A collection of random pieces that I found while sifting through all this work I’ve saved up…

Specs are listed for each piece individually

Misc 1.

Predator… this was for the poster for a big show at The House in Blues in Vegas, opening for the great Living Colour. (you can see the notes in the margins) Pen and ink on 10.25×14 sketch paper

Misc 2.

Chapel pinup for Image/Extreme Studios. Don’t know if it ever saw print. Pencil on 11×17 art board

Misc 3.

Amalgam is the official name for when DC and Marvel do stuff together. This is a submission page with Dark Claw, (a mashup of Batman and Wolverine) and The Hyena, a mashup of The Joker and Sabertooth), who I always thought were the 2 coolest characters to come out of the whole thing. Pencil on 11×17 art board

Misc 4.

A quick sketch of DC’s Zatanna. Blue pencil and sharpie on 11×17 art board

Misc 5.

Rough sketch of Snake Plissken from one of my all-time favorite movies: Escape From New York. pencil on 11×17 art board

Misc 6.

Alice Cooper. Pencil on 6.5×15.25 drawing paper

Misc 7.

‘Tiger man’ sketch for a gig poster, don’t remember for where or what… but I’ve always kinda liked it. Pen and ink on 10.5×14 drawing paper

Misc 8.

Another piece for a gig poster- think this for when we opened for either Fuel or Static-X at The House of Blues in Vegas. Pen and ink on 10.5×14 drawing paper (SOLD)

Frankie 1.

Misc 9.

Impulse page. I’m gonna be honest here, i have no memory of what this was for… I think it was for a fill-in thing that never happened. I dunno. Pencil on 11×17 art board

RKG 1.

Skull Wheel 1.

Alien WC 1.

Cocky 1.

Local H 1.

JLA

Years ago, I did a long stint as one of the principal storyboard/ concept artists for The Transformers ride that is now a staple at Universal Studios Hollywood. It was a lot of fun and the ride’s fantastic! My work was seen by a producer who was working on a pitch for a similar high-tech ride, based on The Justice League, he wanted to open at some huge as-yet-unopened theme park in Dubai.

I have no idea wether it all ever came to fruition or not, but some of the boards were pretty cool…

JLA Lex Armor 1.

(SOLD)

JLA 1.

(SOLD)

JLA 2.

JLA 3.

JLA 4.

JLA 5.

JLA 6.

JLA 7.

JLA 8.

JLA 9.

JLA 10.

JLA 11.

JLA 12.

JLA 13.

JLA 14.

JLA 15.

JLA 16.

JLA 17.

JLA 18.

JLA 19.

JLA 20.

JLA 21.

JLA 22.

JLA 23.

Spider-Man 3 (Promo Stuff)

Here's a bunch of the stuff I did for the merchandising/ style guide for Spider-Man 3. At the bottom, I've included a few examples of how they used some of the images- tried to find some good pics of the Slurpee cups from 7-11...

You haven't really made it 'til your art adorns a limited edition Slurpee cup...

Dammit. Now I want a Slurpee.

SM3 1.

(SOLD)

SM3 2.

SM3 3.

SM3 23.

(SOLD)

SM3 4.

SM3 25.

SM3 5.

SM3 26.

SM3 9.

SM3 10.

SM3 22.

SM3 12.

SM3 20.

SM3 8.

SM3 21.

SM3 7.

SM3 24.

SM3 6.

SM3 11.

SM3 13.

SM3 14.

SM3 15.

SM3 16.

SM3 17.

SM3 18.

SM3 19.

Birds of Prey

Technically, I guess, it should be Secret Files: Birds of Prey, but what’re ya gonna do? My first ‘real’ gig for DC, but it was kind of a disaster: the editor and writer each sent me a different version of the script… by the time we got it figured out, I was left with very little time to correct everything and get the pencil pages to the inker.

So… kind of a bittersweet work memory, but hey, it got published!

Pages are pen and ink on 11×17 art board

BOP 1.

(SOLD)

BOP-2

BOP 3.

(SOLD)

BOP 4.

BOP 5.

Lilith Demon Princess

This was, technically, my first pro comic gig… and I had a blast! I was just starting out and pulling double duty, trying to get all the pages done while the band was just starting to really find its legs in Vegas. It was a great time. So much fun.

Considering how far I’ve come as an artist since, a lot of this stuff makes me cringe now- but I’ll always have a huge soft spot for these pages. I learned so much on this project and they’re a big part of what got me here… and that’s pretty damn cool.

I’ll always be grateful to Ben Dunn and the fine folks at Antarctica Press for giving me a shot.

All pages are pen and ink on 11×17 art board- and there’s many more going up!

LDP 0.

Lillith Demon Princess cover (SOLD)

LDP 1.

LDP 2.

(SOLD)

LDP 3.

LDP 4.

LDP 5.

LDP 6.

LDP 7.

LDP 8.

LDP 9.

LDP 10.

LDP 11.

LDP 12.

LDP 13.

LDP 14.

LDP 15.

LDP 16.

LDP 17.

LDP 18.

LDP 19.

LDP 20.

LDP 21.

LDP 22.

LDP 23.

LDP 24.

LDP 25.

LDP 26.

LDP 27.

LDP 28.

LDP 29.

LDP #2 2.

LDP #2 4.

LDP #2 5.

LDP #2 7.

LDP #2 8.

LDP #2 11.

LDP #2 20.

Star Wars

Here’s a few Star Wars pieces I’ve still got laying around.

Specs are listed on each piece

SW 1.

Darth Presley. Pen and Ink on 9.5×14.5 heavy art board (SOLD)

SW 2.

A take on a ‘Big Daddy Roth-esque’ version of Darth Vader for Gentle Giant. Don’t think the line ever saw production, but it was a cool idea. Always kinda liked this one. Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 cardstock

SW 3.

Darth Maul. Remember I came home from seeing a screening of The Phantom Menace, sat down and drew this…. but don’t remember why. Pen, ink and markers on 10.75×14 sketch paper

SW 4.

Darth Maul. Prelim for color sketch. Pencil on 8.5×11 copy paper

Supergirl

Worked closely with an aspiring TV writer on a pitch for a really great take on Supergirl. This was long before the eventual CW show. Found these takes on her costume.

Blue pencil one 8.5×11 cardstock

SG 1.

SPAWN

Spawn submission and a comp sketch. Old school, fool!

Pages are pencil on 11×17 art board, sketch is pencil on 12×16.5 sketch paper…

Except for PRAWN, who’s rendered on 8.5×11 sketch paper

Spawn 1.

Spawn 2.

Spawn 3.

Prawn 1.

Red Circle

These are from a story called Red Circle, for a series called Tales of The Red Star, based on the sci-fi, soviet-themed comic series The Red Star, published by Archangel Studios.

The story was written by a still-up-and-coming Geoff Johns and unfortunately, it never saw print… which is a shame, because Geoff really wrote a great script. Very ‘Orwellian’, which I loved.

Interesting thing was that the book was ‘assembled’ from a number of hand-drawn and 3D modeled elements, so getting the pages down was a lot trickier than normal. Some pieces were on art board, while others were on vellum to better integrate with the 3D elements.

RC 1.

blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 art board

RC 2.

Blue and regular pencil on 11×17 art board

RC 3.

Pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 4A.

Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 4B.

Same as 4A, but with 3D background sheet for comp. Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum with backing sheet

RC 5.

Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 art board

RC 6.

blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 art board

RC 7A.

Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 7B.

Same as 7A, but with 3D comp sheet behind. Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 8A.

Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

Same as 8A, but with 3D comp sheet behind. Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 9A.

Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

RC 9B.

Same as 9A, but with 3D comp sheet behind. Blue and regular pencil on 8.5×11 vellum

Angela

Angela submission for Image/ Todd McFarlane. Got a call, thought I was going to be put on something, but then never heard back. Much later, someone told me it was likely Todd’s falling out and legal battle with Neil Gaiman over the character of Angela… so probably for the best.

Always kinda liked the pages tho

Pencil on 11×17 art board