Megaro-Goji portrait and two Lily tests

Had a busy but great Thanksgiving!

Below is a quickie I just finished for fun:

A portrait of my personal favorite Godzilla design (the "Megaro-Goji" from Godzilla Vs. Megalon)!  Drawn on tablet in Photoshop.

And here are two Lily pieces I did before Thanksgiving (also done on tablet in Photoshop), with two alternate designs/hairstyles:

Shorthaired variant.  Drawn on the 18th.  Logo is close to the final version (already completed)!

I like this one better!  This is more like the final design I'd settle on, although the hairstyle might go back to the original (which this one is a variant on).  Drawn on the 23rd.

REKIRA Comic Test 01

Here, for my 40th post on Blogspot, I present some more new Rekira pieces I did last night.  A couple of test pieces for the comic project.  Both are done on tablet in Photoshop.

Here's an illustrated color test, for a 50s-style cartoon-like design:

Here's a somewhat rough take of what a typical page would look like, with shading:

And here's the same one as above, tinted in blue.  I thought this looked beautiful.

Bessie Kills Giants

I recently read a really charming and poignant graphic novel story, called I Kill Giants, which was written by Joe Kelly (of Man of Action Studios) and drawn by J.M. Ken Niimura, and published by Image Comics.  The comic is about a young girl named Barbara Thorson, who's a troubled outsider (getting into trouble at school, bullies, etc.), and imagines herself as a slayer of monsters in a fantasy world, being a D&D freak and all.  (Somewhat similar to Pan's Labyrinth.)

I sort of thought or Barbara as a more badass version of The Mighty B!'s Bessie Higgenbottom, in that, despite their differences, they're both "nerdy" bespectacled characters!  And then, it finally dawned on me; "I should do a drawing of Bessie as Barbara!"  And here it is, drawn tonight on tablet in Photoshop.

I think my Bessie drawing skills are getting better!  :)

Pippi at the Picnic

I present two new Pippi Longstocking works!

The one below I completed tonight on Veteran's Day, in Photoshop on tablet.  Here is Pippi, Tommy, and Annika enjoying a stroll in the countryside.

And here's something I completed on August 5th, a scene from the first Pippi Longstocking book, where Pippi wrestles an irate bull to save Tommy from its fury, and actually broke its horns off!  (Yes, like I said, the books are that cool.)  This is one of my favorite scenes.  This one was done in Flash on tablet.

I may do some more drawings of this scene, only better!  (And probably in Photoshop.)

Happy Birthday, Kali!

I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to the very lovely, funny, and talented animator/singer, Kali Fontecchio!

I thought that with my drawing spirit recently restored (and fighting my cold, which is wearing down), I'd actually do a birthday card for her, as I enjoyed her work so much!  I'd been kept so busy for the rest of the day, so I rushed to do it at the last minute.  I hope she likes it, and the rest of you out there like it as well.  :)

Finished about 15 minutes ago, on tablet in Photoshop.  Here's Kali's character, Maude Macher, doing a birthday greeting with Lily Merriweather and Rekira!

The Dynamic Heralds - Introduction

Introducing the other heroes of Rekira...

SUPERHUMAN TASK FORCE: DYNAMIC HERALDS!  (Choujin Sentai Dainamikku Heraruzu)

The above picture was drawn on my tablet in Photoshop early this morning, and the logo was done very painstakingly in Flash, pasted into the file.

As you can tell, the Dynamic Heralds are my own answer to not only American comic-book superheroes (like the Fantastic Four or the Teen Titans), but also Toei's Super Sentai Series.  (My personal favorites are 1975's Secret Task Force Goranger, created by Shoutarou Ishinomori, and 1983's Science Task Force Dynaman, the first Super Sentai to be seen in the US mainstream... sort of.)

Back in 1997, I started work on my own attempt at emulating the Super Sentai Series, and the project was called Five-Element Task Force Dynamic V (Gogyou Sentai Dainamikku Faibu), which would've been a sort of brother series to what became Rekira (called Tatsu-Man at the time).  It would've been more marginally realistic than Toei's fare (ie. Ishinomori's 1977 series Swift Hero Zubat and the 1997 anime series Virus Buster Serge, which had one of the best "realistic" attempts at a Super Sentai-like team ever!).  Later, I decided to combine the Dynamic V project into Rekira, and the working names for the team included the last one I used, Superhuman Task Force Hyper Heros (sic; 5-letter words), before I had worked and worked on the concept into what it is now, with the name being a reference to Dynamic V (paired with another 7-letter word).  I'll share the concepts with you readers another time.

Below is the basic Dynamic Heralds Rollcall!  Done in Photoshop (with a tablet) tonight.

Yep, the very same five youngsters I reviewed in my last post!  Each member was genetically modified, or "die-cast," in a digital molecular machine called HERA (Hyper-Electric Re-Atomizer), and also given special mutant powers, depending on their talents.  The basic features of each member is near-invulnerability, regeneration, and enhanced agility.  And they also can't age because of that.  (Maybe that could explain why 70+ year-old comic-book superheroes stay so young!)  Their costumes, made of DynamiChrome, are synthetic suits, generated onto the wearer's body via digital watches called DynamiCores.  The suits can also regenerate if damaged.

The Heralds are assembled by Verena's father, renowned scientist Dr. Victor Freston (alias "Prometheus") and his assistant, Raymond Wertz, who acts as the team's leader.  This portrait of Dr. Freston was drawn on tablet in Photoshop on November 4th.

A somewhat more detailed description of the team:

Herald 1: Captain Vertex (Raymond Wertz - Red) - The leader and gadgeteer.  Has no super-powers, aside from his own basic "die-cast" features, thus relying on his DynamiChrome suit, which has the ability to move for 30 seconds in just 3 seconds (which would've killed the average human being)!

Herald 2: Mysti-Girl (Verena Freston - Blue) - The ESPer of the team.  Can telepathically move objects by first shooting them with a ray from her fingertip.  Also has Enviro-Vision, in which she can see beyond her own surroundings like a map (as though she were seeing herself inside a labyrinth from above).

Herald 3: Steel Hammer (Isaiah Vanterpool - Silver) - The strongman of the team.  His hands can change into hitting weapons, like a hammer and a wrecking ball.  He can also discharge electricity, as well as generate magnetism to catch a metal object.

Herald 4: Therma-Gal (Theresa Lin - Pink) - The team's energy shooter.  Shoots rainbow-colored Rain-Bolt beams from her hands, as well as shoot a very powerful Ion-Prisma Beam, which can burn her opponents to a crisp, or at best, temporarily blind them just from looking directly at it.

Herald 5: Aquati-Kid (Brian Copcutt - Yellow) - The submersible of the team.  He can breathe underwater, and, when in contact with water, control it as a weapon.  He can also talk to undersea lifeforms.

But the question remains... how will the Dynamic Heralds face the mighty Rekira!?!

Stay tuned for more Rekira stuff!

More characters from REKIRA (and a brief character review)!

So, I introduced you to Tatsuo Kongoji last time:

Now, here are more characters from Rekira:

Below is a gifted group of young friends, led by computer programmer Raymond Wertz:

With Verena Freston (whom I also introduced to you in a previous post):

Athlete and gamer Isaiah Vanterpool:

Verena's cheerful friend Theresa Lin, an artist:

And surfer/skateboarder/slacker Brian Copcutt:

What do these five dynamic youngsters have in common?  The answer will be revealed soon!

New REKIRA character preview - Captain Vertex!

For the first time in this blog, I unveil a new character for Rekira:

Herald 1 - Captain Vertex!

Drawn tonight on tablet in Photoshop.

Who is Captain Vertex?  And why does he have the title of "Herald 1?"  You'll find out in one of the next posts!  (During the weekend, or next week the latest.)

New Sketches for November!

At the moment, I am recovering from a cold I've got after my trip to Pennsylvania two weekends ago (most probably the after-effects of same).  Shortly before Halloween, I managed to pass the time to do three sketches:

Of course, I intend for Rekira to have human characters as well!  And for the first time on this blog, I give you a first look!  (If you've seen these characters elsewhere on my other art pages, there have been some changes since then.)  Drawn on October 29th on my tablet in Photoshop, here is Tatsuo Kongoji, the hero of Rekira:

Also drawn on the same night, here is Verena Freston, the series' heroine.  She is part of another set of characters, which I will reveal on this blog in due time.

At this point I was feeling really sick (constantly coughing, really cold, almost shivering, and somewhat weak), and to try to struggle with my cold, I did this "get well soon" card for myself.  Here is a visibly injured and fatigued Rekira, surrounded by his various monster foes.  I pre-traced everything very well, but by the time I got to the monsters in the background, I almost lost it, due to my condition, and I must admit, I held together very bravely at the last moment.  Drawn on October 30th.

More to come!