You can go here and read a free eight page preview of the issue that includes my pin-up.  And while you’re there, feel free to order the issue.  It’s only $4.00!  It’s the cheapest way to own a piece of my art, and you get to support indie artists!  Plus, it’s such a fun, cute comic book filled with action, humor, and heart.  How can you resist?  The original piece, complete with trim art, can also be viewed in the lobby of The Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio (along with a pin-up piece I did for Kevin Conn’s Lava-Roid comic book – but that is another post!) until July 30th, 2010!

From Left to right, starting at the bottom, we have: Mr. Keen, Sass, Feminazi (Don’t know if that’s actually her name), Bad Kitty, Giant Poop Monster, Bad Tink, Dr. Wicked, The Twins, Skip.  The next row is:  Fly-Girl, Crazy Curl, Unnamed Superheroine in Yellow and Black, Unnamed Superheroine in Blue and White with Pink Hair.  Row Three:  Fly-Girl’s Unnamed Sister, Halo, Psyche, Comet, Briar.  Top Row:  Unnamed Pink-Winged Hunky Hero in Violet and White, Star, Hothead, Tink, Captain Idol, Ultra Woman.  All characters ©Brian Andersen 2010.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2010
Pencil, Ink, Prismacolor Pencil, Photoshop

And what could be a more fun way of depicting Bronze Age Wonder Woman than in a Lynda Carter inspired Wonder Spin?  Another way that I like to depict Wonder Woman, is smiling.  I like the idea of a Wonder Woman who loves life and enjoys what she does.  My ideal Wonder Woman is happy.

This artcard and all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.

Wonder Woman ©DC Comics 2010

Earlier this year, I drew several Star Wars trading cards for a charity event to take place later this year, but I still hadn’t drawn Darth Vader (or any Stormtroopers).  This piece gave me the opportunity to tackle those characters and find my own take on them.  At first, I got a little intimidated by the limited motion their armor would allow, but eventually, I figured out the way I needed to approach it that would work.

8.25 x 11.5 Bristol board.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2010

Darth Vader & Stormtroopers ©Lucasfilm 2010

This piece is going to be presented to Adam at his Make A Wish party this spring, where Blue Thunder and its driver will be present.  I am beyond touched and grateful at being able to participate in this celebration of Adam.  To find out more about Adam and/or to find out how donate to his fund to help contribute to medical costs, please click here.

The challenge for this picture was to come up with a way to integrate the frogs and the Blue Thunder Monster Truck into an image together so that it made sense.  I wanted to draw tree frogs because I think they are simultaneously beautiful and odd looking animals.  I love their bright green color and their contrasting bright red eyes.  Their bodies are a lot like rubber humans, which make them fun to draw.  I thought the best way to overcome the size difference between small frogs and a huge truck was to show the frogs in the foreground, and Blue Thunder behind them.  Because these frogs live in the rain forest, I thought it would be great to showcase the truck ramping off of the rain forest mountainside.  This gave me an excuse to be able to illustrate a lush rain forest aerial landscape shot.  I like these kinds of views because they let me to create the kind of picture where you want to go inside it and explore all the different places in it.  Click on the pictures below to access larger versions.

Blue Thunder Detail:

Frogs on the left detail:

Frogs on the right detail:

11.5 x 7.75 Bristol board.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2010

Because February is such a cold month where I live, and because Ice is such a caring person, I thought she’d be perfect for a Valentine’s Day card.  Ice was stupidly killed off at one point, but has been thankfully resurrected by Gail Simone during her first run of the Birds of Prey title.  I am very glad Tora was brought back, because there aren’t enough loving characters like her in the comics.  Not every character needs be be tough and hard or sarcastic and bitter.  She even charmed the heart of a hardened character like Green Lantern, Guy Gardner.  Ice brings personality diversity to the characters in comic books, and I like to give her features a more diverse look as well.  While I was doing this card, I really liked the idea of making her eyelashes white as well.  I think they give her a very fantastical quality.

This artcard and all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

Ice, Tora Olafsdotter ©DC Comics 2010

I was completely unfamiliar with Yurgod, but the challenge for the cover was to showcase characters that appeared in stories inside the issue.  Some characters I knew, but others, like Yurgod, I only had was a couple of images of him provided by my editor.  However, he was a visually appealing character, and I was eager to try my own take on him.  How could I resist the chance to draw a fantastical creature like this?  The drawings I had were very stylized, and I wanted to inject a sense of realism in anatomy to my version.  In order to depict him in a way that he would fit in even better with other Oz characters more firmly established in the canon, I wanted to add the bow to the end of his tail to echo the bows on the ends of the tails of the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger.  I think the bow makes him look decidedly “Ozzy.”

Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2010

For me, this piece was also an opportunity to go back to the rural small towns and farm areas that were nearby where I went to college.  I had the opportunity to go back there earlier this year for a wedding, and I think it really helped me in depicting the small town/rural setting.

8″ x 10.5″ on Bristol Board
Prismacolor Color Pencils
Superboy & Krypto © DC Comics 2010

Artemis has proven to be a popular character in the Wonder Woman franchise.  She’s more headstrong and less compassionate than Diana, but her heart is in the right place.  She ended up becoming the leader of the Bana Mighdall Amazons on Themiscyra.  Aretmis has just returned to Themiscyra in the Wonder Woman title, and her future roll remains to be seen.

For this piece, I went back to Ed Benes’ original drawings of Artemis in the Requiem miniseries, as well as Nicola Scott’s take on the costume in the recent Secret Six storyline.  In some of Benes’ early drawings, he had the green lining at the decolletage make a “w” shape.  I like that element to help visually tie Artemis into the Wonder Woman family, and as a former Wonder Woman, I believe she’s entitled to wear a “w” symbol – even a simplified one.  I left of the skull on her headband because I thought that element was excessively 90′s.  Instead, I opted to repeat the tripple-arrow “A” symbol that the Requiem costume has on the sternum area.  I really liked the seams and the side-lacing that Nicola Scott added to the costume in the Secret Six issues, as well as the kneecap armor she gave the boots.  The sword is the special demon killer sword that Artemis ended up having in the Byrne run of Wonder Woman that was also included as an accessory to the Artemis action figure that DC Direct made.

This artcard has been sold, but all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink,  and Prismacolor pencil.

Artemis ©DC Comics 2010

I don’t often put political pieces and views on this website, but Green Arrow has been established throughout his years of comic book publication as a hero who takes up liberal political causes, and has even performed same-sex weddings in his comic book title.  Because the character has already come out in support of this issue, I didn’t feel like it was inappropriate or trying to make the character into something that he wasn’t.  My visual inspirations for my depiction of the character come from his costume from the 1970′s-80′s era with coloring influences from his appearances in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.  I really like the Robin Hood inspired lace up vest that the character had in the 70′s and 80′s, but I also like the “G” belt buckle that the character has been sporting in the past few years.

This artcard has been sold, but all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.

Green Arrow ©DC Comics 2010

I’ve always enjoyed the few times I’ve drawn “spacescapes” in illustrations, and this piece was no exception.  I wanted to use photographs of some of the planets and moons in our solar system for inspiration when coloring the ones depicted in this artcard, but I wanted to make it clear that this was not our solar system.  As photographs from the Hubble Telescope has shown us, space can be quite colorful, and I definitely wanted to incorporate that into this piece.

For Green Lantern, I used Ray Caspio as a model for the pose.  I also took visual cues from the updated costume in the comics.  For example, I had the Green Lantern symbol on his chest actually project itself as a lazer light projection hovering over his chest.  I always liked Hal Jordan visually because green has always been one of my favorite colors, and also because he was one of the few superheroes who had brown hair.  Most superheroes when I was growing up had blond or black hair, and I liked that he was different in that respect.

This artcard and all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

Green Lantern ©DC Comics 2010