Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: Spotlight on… the Background

My submission to this week’s The Line It Is Drawn sketch challenge was both a comic book cover homage (to John Byrne and Terry Austin’s classic Uncanny X-Men #141) and a love letter to the numerous no-longer-produced comic-book related cartoons I have enjoyed over the years, from the Superfriends to Green Lantern and Young Justice.

Many of these shows were represented in a “wanted poster” in the background, with taped “updates” containing an overgeneralized reason why these shows are no longer being produced (and for the sake of accuracy, there is really no single factor that ends the production of an animated television show, so these simplified explanations are not to be taken as hard fact).

The 16 characters on the poster were obscured either by these taped updates or the figures of the animated Hal Jordan (from Green Lantern) and Artemis (from Young Justice) in the foreground. So as a “DVD extra” (and to demonstrate that I can be irrationally obsessive with detail), I am showing the full poster unblocked. Enjoy.

Getting to Know Xum

For a change of pace, here are five facts about Xum Yukinori that he has not yet posted on his blog:

1. The 12 countries Xum has resided in are: South Africa, Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, and Spain.

2. One of Xum’s favorite aunties loves to tease him and Namiko about their marriage being “dekichatta kekkon” (although love had everything to do with it).

3. Namiko has never told Xum about Isamu’s biological father; and Xum has never asked.

4. Xum had never attended art school; the only “formal training” on illustration he had received was during his tenure working in a manhua studio in Hong Kong, where he picked up valuable tips and techniques from his fellow artists.

5. “Professor Xum” is not really a Professor (but he believes that you already knew that).

More to come.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number seven in a series.

[Scene from "Father Figure", the seventeenth episode of the non-existent second season of the wonderful "Green Lantern: The Animated Series"]

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number six in a series.

(It started with this, and then exploded into...)

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number five in a series.

[A retooled birthday gift commission; with the permission of the recipient, I have replaced the "birthday boy" with myself.

Based on the legendary cover of "The Flash" volume 1, number 123 by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.]

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number four in a series.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number three in a series.

(Inspired by Giancarlo Volpe's "Green Lantern the Animated Series: The Musical," A.K.A. "Drop-kicking You in the Feels.")