Joe Vriens

Tales of Avalon pinup

2011-10-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Pinup for Tales of Avalon comic!

I was kindly asked to do a pinup for these fine folks in Italy.

I like the animated look of the book and the characters are pretty slick.

I hope these peeps all the best-very friendly and they

worked around my busy schedule as well!

check out their blog too

joverine outs

snakt snakt!!!

PS!!! for those that art and wanna learn from the best of the best

follow this link for super discounts at Schoolism!!! pass it on to all your friends!

Red Hulk needs Coffee NOW!

2011-07-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Red Hulk needs more lovins

or a nice hot cup of fresh coffee!!!

I sketched this out in between matches

of my ritual of Breakfast Halo.

I think my craving of bitter brew inspired the mood of this one ;)

TOOLS USED(FAQ)
the pen is a Pentel brush pen-awesome
and the pencil is a Carmin Red Col Erase pencil
sharpener is crap-dont buy it lol
sketchbook is um...

Cachet by Daler Rowney

or so it says on the back 8.5x11
White out for the white scratchy bits
and some Copic MarkersSoon after posting this on Twitter I received a reply with
fanart!!!

This was done by Melanie Manuel
her Twitter is @iammelon
and her blog can be found here!
UPDATE!
another piece of fanart!
this one done by
Jeffrey Riddle
his Twitter is @1afro78

thanks for tuning in to the jogeetv show buddy!
looks great man :)

Red Hulk ©Marvel

links provided are amazon affiliate links ;)

this means:

Same price to you and you support this humble sketchin dude!

Interview with 'Something We Like' :)

2011-07-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone

Just a quick headsup to check out

an interview I did with

a crazy cool site

called

Something We Like

Here's a snippet from their about page

Our Mission: We are in the business of empowering, inspiring, and multiplying creative individuals, so each of us can outgrow our limitations and come out strong and confident in the professional world.

Here's a screencap teaser of the interview :)

joverine outs

Snakt Snakt!!!

JoGeeTV topic: DC comics reboot(sorta)

2011-06-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Here's a quick post of jogeetv episode 205!

The topic was DC reboot-

although we didn't really reboot much,

just kinda drew some DC characters suggested

by our viewers and/or our Deviantart polls.

I combined the 3 images into 1 wallpaper

left side is my Joker, the middle is Dax's Dick Grayson and far right is my Gorilla Grodd(or just a gorilla with metal tentacles...)

cheers!

download for Cintiq 20wsx sized wallpaper :D

Thanks for stopping by!

here's a link to the JoGeeTV show homepage.

joverine outs

snakt snakt!

The Joker, Dick Grayson and Gorilla Grodd ©DC comics

RandomVeus go get!

2011-05-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

UDON to Launch “UDON Presents” Graphic Novel Line with RandomVeus Vol.1

like the title suggests

I HIGHLY recommend you go pre-order your own copy of

the gorgeous new book RandomVeus by the uber talented Jeffery CHAMBA Cruz

it's being published by Udon Ent. in large format

to showcase the amazing artwork within in the best possible way.

here's a couple preview pages:

Pr-order yours here!

RandomVeus from Amazon

RandomVeus Vol.1 goes on sale July 2011.

RANDOMVEUS HC Vol.1

$29.99, 144pp, 8.25″x11.25″, Full Color, Hardcover

ISBN: 978-1-926778-28-0

Diamond #MAY111239

I can't wait for this book!

Chamba is one of my favourite artists out there

and I KNOW this will be his best work yet.

*images courtesy of Udon Entertainment and www.randomveus.com

*links are affiliate links

Drawing and blogging on the iPad, is it any good?

2011-03-15T10:19:00.001-07:00

In this post I'll be testing Blogpress(BP)and Art Studio(AS) apps. I'll have more to report on Blogpress after I've posted a few more times so I'll focus on Art Studio for now. So consider this my short term review of drawing and blogging on the iPad which I hope to follow up with a long term update later on. I guess it's a first impression of the iPad as well since I just bought it. I should also mention the Evernote app as I've been using it quite a bit between my iPhone and iPad. So far I love Evernote, although I do see room for improvement.

Art on the go! Cool right? Not so much. I'll explain in a bit.

Oh the iPad.

When I first saw it I thought "ooh pretty, but why would I need one after already owning an iMac and an iPhone, not to mention a Cintiq 20wsx?" While I like Apple products a lot I wouldn't really consider myself one of the crazy Macheads that needs every iGadget, nano and pod they release. So why did I drop $600 on one?

Well for those that don't follow me on Twitter (@joverine) or watch the jogeetv show (live stream I do with D__Gee Friday nights http://livestream.com/jogeetv ), or don't 'watch' me on Deviantart shame on all of you! Er that and you would already know that I've been in Hong Kong for a month and will be here until mid to late April. Why is that important? Well it's the perfect excuse to buy an iPad that's why!

Yes I'm well aware of iPad 2's release a month after this purchase and yes it burns to swallow especially with the same price point... but I 'knew' it was coming and bought one anyway as I wanted to have the iPad for my 24hour journey.

The story:
I had visions of watching Netflix(not available outside North America apparently, so that didn't happen) playing some Infinity Blade(very pretty game-worth the purchase imho) and sketching digitally during my 24hour journey. I definitely used my iPad a lot on the plane but since I couldn't watch Netflix as planned and didn't have and iTunes credit I relied on the in flight movies/shows- not a big deal and this saved me a lot of battery life as a bonus. There wasnt any free wifi(bummer) so I played a lot of Angry Birds and Infinity Blade.

Art Studio app:
When I eventually got the itch to draw and give Art Studio a test run I of course chose to sketch out my favourite demon hunting brute. Balto is dodging an attack from an offscreen tentacled foe. Probably some form of miscommunication I presume...
PS...Please see my previous post if Balto conjures up images of an animated dog.

Above is the 'final' image. Approximately 2hours(?!) done in Art Studio on an iPad.

I find that I get a little excited every time I think about drawing on the iPad. I dream about creating sketches on the go whenever I have some dead time, like on the subway or sitting in a cafe for example. Being able to draw and paint digitally while away from the studio is a dream come true!...almost.

So why the buzz kill about Art Studio? I'm not exactly sure to be honest. I just find that whenever I have the chance to draw on the go I find myself getting frustrated after using it and end up smashing pigs in Angry Birds minutes later.

It might be the lack of pressure sensitivity with the stylus(or finger) or maybe it's the bugs in the software, or maybe it's just being spoiled by my Cintiq(probably the case here) or it may just take time to adjust to this new experience.

Above is an example of rage inducing Art Studio shambles in action. To reproduce this try using an opacity layer while you're creating your masterpiece. Everything is fine an' dandy initially but a few zooms and swipes later and you're blessed with a spontaneous artistic suggestion by the Art Studio coders. Some of you may think that it looks kind of neato like its some kind of spiffy under lighting effect, but you're wrong. It's annoying. There's a few other glitches here an' there but this one bugged me the most. Fortunately you can get rid of this strange effect by turning layers on and off or switching the layer effects back an' forth until AS gets it's act together. This is definitely better than permanently screwing your image but it's just one of those things that make me want to wait for a portable Cintiq.

If its starting to sound like all is doom and gloom hold up. There is some sweet sauce worth mentioning here.

I haven't given up on Art Studio yet. I am going to test things further as I get accustomed to the lack of 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and drawing with my hand raised off the drawing surface. (the latter is apparently easily fixed by wearing a special glove, but that's not ideal for drawing in public in my opinion) I will allow for some adjustment time before casting this app away because in spite of it's flaws Art Studio is still pretty fun overall.

Blogging on iPad:
I think my favorite about this post is that I've composed it entirely on the go, in different locations over several days. Yes this was always possible with a laptop but since I don't own one I'm loving this option.

On a side note:
I love how my Artist Sketchbook app looks on the iPad with it's large beautiful screen. Everything is so vivid and juicy! For those that don't have it yet head over to iTunes and search 'Joe Vriens' in the app store or click the pic below.

I also have a few iPad cases available in my zazzle store featuring some of my artwork if you're interested. Follow the link in my sig below to find them.

Verdict:
So my overall initial impression of iPad blogging and arting on the go is a 3.5 out of 5. There are definitely some sore spots that dampen the experience but I feel that my long term review will prove more positive as I spend more time with my portable iSetup. I will share my thoughts about blogging remotely with the Blogger app and explain how I use Evernote in the process as well.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this post and/or the iPad in general.

Joverine outs
Snakt Snakt!

"good things may come to those who wait but GREAT things come to those who create!"

Like my art? Want it on a skateboard, mug, tshirt, print and much more? Browse my online store here http://tinyurl.com/4zx24eq

Werewolves attack

2011-02-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

A pack of hungry werewolves attack a helpless victim!

Oh wait, this ain't no pansy, this mofo's got it under control.

His name is Balto and he has a nasty habit of kickin ass.

Look out puppy pack cuz this brawling mauler is about to go BERZERK!!!

Haha. Or something like that.

I've been drawing this character since I was about 13 years old. He's evolved only slightly over the years with a minor glove tweak or colour change here and there but that's about it. I hope to hunker down an' write out some solid stories for this guy in the coming weeks/months.

Let me know watch think in the comments!

Joverine outs!

Snakt snakt!!!

Visit my online store

Battle Berzerker Balto © Joe Vriens

Goldilocks and the Three Bears...sorta

2010-12-22T00:27:00.000-08:00

This was done for the J.Scott Campbell interview on sketchaholics(bobby chiu's cool site)

the contest was to draw a sexy girl in fairy tale theme.

My idea was to do 3 Teddy's as a play on words instead of Bears...

not sure if I was successful at all but it was fun!

I didn't make the upload deadline(missed by mere seconds thanks to slow computer and last minute idea)

This was a fun exercise as I rarely draw girls as it's a huge weakness for me.

I'm surprised I'm posting it! gah!

I drew 3 small thumbnails, scanned into photoshop so that I could blow it up-

then put a piece of watercolour paper directly on the cintiq and lightly traced the image.

I then tightened the drawings up with carmine red col erase pencils

and inked them with my Pentel brush pen.

I LOVE the brush pen on water colour paper-first time trying it and I highly recommend it!

I will DEFINITELY explore this further!

Here's some (affiliate)links for the tools I used:

the col erase

the Pentel brush pen

the water colour paper is Aquarell cold press 140lb/300G Grain Fin :P

the cintiq 20wsx

Critiques are MORE than welcome to anyone that has a firm grasp on the art of women! I need all the help I can get

maybe I should try one of these out? :/

new Udon Trades out!

2010-12-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Check out these previews!!!

Two new Udon books out this Wednesday December 15th!

Yup-including some Darkstalkers by yours truly !

Darkstalkers Vol.2: The Night Warriors TP collects the 3-issue Night Warriors mini series, plus allt eh bonus stories fromt he original Darkstalkers comic series, and the hilarious Darkstalkers-mini comedy strips. Featuring story by Ken Siu-Chong and the artwork of Joe Vriens,(<--hey thats me!) Eric Vedder, Alvin Lee, Mark Brooks, LeSean Thomas, Skottie Young and Joe Ng.

Street Fighter Legends Vol.3: Ibuki TP collects all 4 action packed issue of the Ibuki mini series,

plus three related bonus stories. Story by Jim Zubkavich, art by Omar Dogan.

You can order both from Amazon!

Streetfighter Legends:Ibuki

Darkstalkers Volume 2: Nightwarriors

Enjoy!

And if you haven't done so yet

grab a copy of Udon's behind the scenes book(tutorials)

and creator owned comics!

The book is called Vent and it is awesome.

Want to avoid Black Friday lineups and brawls? shop online! iPhone/iPad cases now available!

2010-11-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

*super long scroll down post :D

Some of you may or may not already be aware, but I have a Zazzle store featuring my art on perdy products from mugs to iPhone cases! It's actually through Artsprojekt which is part of the Zazzle site. I'm extra excited to have the iProducts available-maybe because it's a new option that just launched on the site?

Here's a sneak peak of some of the items for sale there...

***(note-some of the poster default prices are on higher settings-check size and quality if you prefer a lower price-some are set to huge! which obviously cost more)***

Beastly werewolf by joverine
See more iphone 3 cases

Beastly werewolf by joverine
Browse more iphone 4 cases

pink sock monster by joverine
More iPad cases

Pink Sock (also avail on iPhones)

Wizard of Oz by joverine
View other iphone cases

Prints

werewolf bust by joverine
Browse more Artsprojekt Posters

'Subconscious Space Critters' Posters by joverine
Browse more Artsprojekt Posters

MadCow Posters by joverine
Large format printing by Zazzle

You can adjust the price by choosing sizes and quality options(I noticed the default option is on a higher setting here)

so yeah...I'm obviously excited to have my art on stuff-it just makes it more real to me somehow. I always tried to imagine how it would feel to have something I drew(for myself) on mugs or posters etc!

Look around the artsprojekt site-there's tonnes of awesome artists there btw!

Here's some of my favs

Camilla d'Errico

Techno Tako iPad Case by camilladerrico
Browse other iphone 3 cases

Milk Thistle Ninja Girl Mousepad by camilladerrico
View other Artsprojekt Mousepads

Pascal Campion

Cinemascope by pascalcampion
View more iphone 3 cases

Family time by pascalcampion
Browse Artsprojekt Posters

and an artist I discovered through Artsprojekt Yukari Masuike (toronn)

Twilight tiger by toronn
View other iphone 4 cases

Titans Kitchen by toronn
More Artsprojekt Postcards

whew! that was a lot of work haha

oh well-fun to share

cheers!

joe

livestream Warrior dude

2010-11-22T05:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick video of the progress.

If you're interested in watching this guy being created in real time follow this link to jogeetv on livestream.

If you don't know what jogeetv is you can get an explanation in my previous post.

Here's the link(this one explains that we're on blogtv instead of livestream-we haven't picked one yet :P )

cheers!

Photoshop CS4

(brush=Splatter 27 pixels 1--that's what it says when I hover over the brush =P )
Cintiq 20wsx
1hour(and 45seconds apparently)

We have our own TV show!!!

2010-11-18T23:57:00.000-08:00

Well it finally happened. I'm on TV!

(well sorta)

here's the story:

My good buddy Dax Gordine (http://d-geedoodles.blogspot.com/) were enjoying a pint at a local pub and shootin' the shit. We usually talk about life in general, what we want to do with our art and the like.

I had this idea of making some type of online virtual comic con type show for some time now and ran it past Dax. He immediately loved it and his enthusiasm for it brought it to life!

I mean, check out this amazing promo piece he did for it!

I love Dax's passion when he finds something he loves.

It's contagious.

I often have ideas that end up wasting away on post it notes or envelopes because I just lack the faith or motivation to bring them all to life. Sometimes he comes across a sketch on some crumpled piece of paper I have or in my sketchbook and yells at me for not showing him earlier-or for not finishing it or for not posting it online hahaha-everyone should have a friend like him. There are many drawings that would have spent the rest of their lives in the recycle bin if it weren't for him!

He doesn't blow smoke up your ass either-if he doesn't like something he'll tell ya.

When that happens I listen. Dax has an amazing eye when it comes to art-I keep telling him he should be an art director. He always knows how to improve my drawings without bruising my ego.

Thanks buddy!

We tried using Ustream and ran into technical difficulties-then Live Stream...more issues...we were about to give up. 2months later Dax mentions that Jeffery Cruz has been drawing live for the last few days. Some of you may recognize him as lastscionz on Deviantart or

Chamba aka Udon noodle/mega talent that creates glorious Streetfighter comics.

This created a spark of interest of course!

Dax and I were watching Chamba on BlogTV which inspired us to open up our own account.

Thanks to some help from Chamba and Robaato(co-host), we were able to set everything up within minutes.

I casually started to sketch out a Ryu bust to test things out. I started to get into it and even began to colour it when Dax realized we were live-and we already had 4 viewers?!

We didn't announce anything and it was merely seconds after we opened the account!

I added some shading to the Ryu bust and handed the wacom pen over to Dax.

He immediately drew the same Ryu but in his signature chibi style.

Awesome!

We'll probably do this type of sketch jam collaboration often on JoGeeTV.

We signed out of BlogTV but within an hour or two I fired up the Cintiq again and

started another broadcast.

I started doodling what ended up being a werewolf.(surprise)

This one took about 2hours-with a half hour break in there somewhere. I'm sure viewers popped in and out as I'm not sure who could sit and watch for 2hours straight...

Here's a closeup of the werewolf head as requested by some of the viewers. Apparently the resolution is low on BlogTV-something Dax and I will try to resolve if possible from our end.

The show is currently scheduled weekly on Friday evenings-8pmEST

The plan is to have an hour show but it may go longer?

We're going to wing it until the show develops its own unique flavour.

Here's a link- JoGeeTV

(we just combined our alter egos- joverine and D_Gee haha)

be sure to subscribe so you get a heads up when the next episode airs-or if we have more secret impromptu shows :D

The Art of Darksiders book in Stores Today!

2010-11-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

The Art of Darksiders book is out in stores today!

You can also get it on Amazon if you prefer that option.

Joe Madureira aka Joe Mad is easily one of my biggest influences of all time.

His art has a feral energy to it at all times and you can clearly see it expressed throughout

the action adventure he helped create with Vigil Games.

This Udon published book is full of concept art and illustrations that will make any

comic book or fantasy fan drool all over themselves.

Go get now!

Artist Sketchbooks site is gonna be huge!

2010-11-01T19:37:00.001-07:00

Have you been to the newly refreshed revamped and re-awesomonated

Artist Sketchbooks site yet? no?!

GO NOW!!!

haha

no seriously go check it out, it's going to be a big deal

and I'm glad and honoured to be a part of it(thanks Bobby and Imaginism!)

It's broken down in very simple easy to navigate sections even.

Artists, Books and Apps(and artist of the month)

Featured artists

Featured Books

Featured Apps

my page! •__•

Pass this on to anyone that loves awesome art, artbooks, art apps and awesome artists!!!
cheers!
joe

uggly muggly

2010-10-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

monster design I did about 2yrs ago

I'm pretty sure it's safe to post it now

I figure it fits the Halloween month of October :)

cheers!

Skullkickers #2 sells out!

2010-10-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

and my pinup gets promoted to a cover!!!

see the full article here

As stated in my previous post, I did this image

for Skullkickers creator and fellow Udon'oodle Jim Zubkavich.

I originally intended to do this free as a 'thank you'for the many years of supportand friendship.

My karma bank seems to be balanced in my favour

because now that it's been promoted to cover I'll actually be paid for it!

To be honest I feel I've already been paid-the feeling of giving selflessly makes my soul smile.

I highly recommend everyone check out this comic-I was instantly drawn to it(no pun intended-srsly!)

It's a fun romp through some fantastical places along side some gnarly characters!

Skullkickers ©Jim Zubkavich

Skullkicker pinup

2010-10-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

below is a sneak peak at the greyscale water color

before I scanned it into Photoshop

Fellow UDON-oodle Jim Zub has a brand new action packed comic full of monsters, werewolves, mutant slugs bounty hunting and more!

Here's a pinup I created for him using red col erase pencil to lightly sketch it out, a Pentel brush pen to ink it, Pentel water colors for the greyscale and Photoshop CS4 with my Cintiq for the colours and extra touchups. This was all sketched, inked, grey scaled in a Robert Bateman sketchbook.

Jim asked me if I was interested in doing a pinup for Skullkickers. He sent me some preview issues to read through for reference and inspiration. This comic is so up my alley and so fun I started working on it the very same night. I'm a sucker for sarcastic fantasy action heroes slaying gnarley fang toothed baddies I guess!

This was extra enjoyable as I haven't used watercolours in over a decade!

Skullkicers ©Jim Zub

here's a link to the Skullkickers site! go bookmark it now!!!

Buy the comics through Amazon
I've even provided the links below :]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde commission

2010-08-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Halloween already?!

This was a fun commission I did recently of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

It was for a long time fan who has been a repeat happy customer.

Hmm...customer isn't the right word, but you get my gib.

I'll include some behind the scenes here for those interested.

Above:

a compositional rough, the face were near completion here

but I wasn't quite happy with the posing

Here's a little Easter Egg for you kiddies...

I wanted to add a subtle transformational image in between

the 2 characters-a sort of eerie subliminal touch I guess.

I'll reveal the process in the next 3 images.

To do so I took Jekyll's face,
enlarged it, flipped horizontal...

I stretched and pulled it using the warp tool

to get the face to flow into Jekyll's pose...

and set the layer to overlay...

I turned down the opacity and made some adjustments using Levels...

I erased away the edges to blend it better...

That's pretty much it!

Here's a detail shot of the ghosted face.

I wonder if anyone noticed it before revealing it here?

haha

Ok, back to work for this guy.

Thanks to Galim for commissioning this fun Jekyll and Hyde painting.

He also received a video of the creation of this image.

Repeat customers get cool bonus's!

Image created in Photoshop using a 20wsx Cintiq, coffee and El Dorado rum. ;)

Sketchaholic Marathon: Sharks, cows an icecream!

2010-08-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sharks like icecream too!

This was my 2nd Sketchaholic contest of the day.

The topic was "Animal for a head"

My buddy showed up 15min. after starting it so I just posted what I had.

We left to grab some supplies(printer ink)

When I got back I had a pleasant surprise...

Turns out I won that one !!!

This just proves that the training is working right?

or the first attempt was a 'try hard'

This was my 1st entry for Sketchaholic today.

The topic was "Strange Encounter"

I wasn't happy with how it turned out,

but submitted it anyway.

Sketchaholic is all about training to think faster

and sharpening your skillz so swallow your pride right?

This one was for a previous Sketchaholics session.

The topic was 'Little street performer'

I didn't finish in time to upload it as I started it so late in the hour.

This is quickly becoming my favourite way to train at my craft.

I love the challenge Sketchaholic contests provide!

Sketchaholic Marathon:little ugly creature

2010-08-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry for the

Sketchaholic Marathon held by the

awesome peeps of Imaginism Studios.

If you haven't checked it out I

highly recommend you do.

It's a great way to push yourself

and grow as an artist since each image
has to be completed and uploaded within the hour!
This is where my one hour monster tutorials really comes in handy ;)

The topic for this one was

'little ugly creature'

These are the same peeps that offer

some amazing online courses.

The teachers are not only working professionals,

but some of the top talent in their industries.

If you're interested follow this link.

Here's a look at the layers I used(above)

Above:

Layer set to Normal
Greyscale sketch using 2 different brushes(doesn't really matter which)
and smudge tool for the 'hair'

Above:
Layer set to Normal
Grass layers using a brush that looked like 3 hairs :)

Above:

Layer set to Overlay

Black and white used to create the sunbeam

and also adjust light and shadow

(I use an overlay layer because I can lighten or darken

without distorting the actual drawing)

I also added in some fireflies/dust particles here.

Above:

Layer set to Colour

Colours added on this layer.

Above:

Layer set to Overlay

A blue/green gradient was added to

create a mystical forest type feeling.

And of course I applied my 1hour monster techniques,

although I went with the 1st thumbnail I created since

I started late. This creature was completed in about

40min. start to finish :)

Thanks to T.bear, Peter Chan and Bobby Chiu for today's Sketchaholic Marathon!

cheers!

Go Shark yourself with Discovery Channel!

2010-08-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Shark week 2010!

It's that time of year again

and this year I was able to participate directly!

I was commissioned by the amazing Baker & Hill
to do all the shark parts for the funky

Shark yourself interactive on Discovery Channel's website!

You upload your photo and

add various shark parts like eyes and fins etc

until you morph yourself into a shark-human hybrid!

very similar to the creaturefy stuff I worked on last year.

haha

silly fun sauce

more fun than even a double rainbow...

I uploaded a portrait of Frankenstein that I did awhile back

and gave him the Shark Yourself treatment.

So go shark yourselves and if you send me yours

I'll post 'em up on this blogpost!

Happy Shark Week everyone!

Here's the link to go Shark Yourself.

Animoto is my favourite way to make videos! hands down

2010-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

So I made a promo video

featuring my recently released Scatterbrains (iPhone/iPad app)

I didn't have much time to create a video,

not to mention edit it and make it look pro-sauce...

so I turned to my favourite video editing software..er site...Animoto!

The app features all original creator owned artwork.

There's even a few that have not been published anywhere,

online or otherwise!

I love how you can zoom into each drawing to check out the details up close.

I also love seeing my art in my iPhone! awesome-sauce!

I can't even imagine how sweet the iPad version must be...must resist purchase...

Here's a link to the Artist Sketchbooks site which you can follow to the App store

or you can just go into iTunes and search "Joe Vriens"

The app is a collection of my artwork

for your iPad or your iPhone.

In Bobby Chiu's words it's 'inspiration in your pocket' !

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I love Animoto!

It's the easiest way to make a quick 'n' dirty video

featuring slides of artwork (or photos)

dynamically moving across the screen with an overlaying music track.

It's literally 3 steps from start to finish!

I'm pretty sure a drunken monkey could figure it out =]

If you want to make you own videos

head on over to the Animoto site and sign up

its free-unless you want to go with pro version.

I use the free version so far which is perfect for my needs.

You can also buy custom themes but again, I stick with the freebies :P

Thanks for all the amazing support to everyone that stops by and says hi.

I hope you know how much I appreciate the lovin'!

cheers!

joe

ps...ads are up on the blog once again...Let me know how you feel about that in comments section!

the quick fox...rides the octo-glide?

2010-07-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

A quick post here!

I just wanted to share a commission I did

for 'Clever Blue'

I did in exchange for some luggage!

I'm liking this new concept!

Trading art for stuff I need! haha..wait that's called bartering isn't it?...hmmm

I wonder what I would have to draw to get myself a brand new VW GTI?

hmmm hahaha

This fox character was designed on the fly while

referencing my older subconscious drawings.

It's on comic board and drawn with Carmine Red Col Erase pencils.

ps. 'Clever Blue' has even started painting it already! Pretty awesome :)

If you wanna check it out head over to her blog here!

cheers!

Darkstalkers #3 and Ibuki #3 out today!

2010-07-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

On the same day as Preview Night at San Diego Comic Con

in the spirit of any Streetfighter game

Udon offers a killer combo!

This one isn't done using your Playstation 3 controller though.

This one is found at your local comic shop!

Darkstalkers #3 and Ibuki #3 are out today!

wooooooooot!

Variant cover by Emily Warren!(above)

pencils above by Eric Vedder(above)

pencils above by Joverine(above)

cover A by 'the' Alvin Lee!

In Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors #3, it's the frightening conclusion to the 'Night Warriors' saga as Demitri, Morrigan, Donovan, and Pyron all collide in a final contest of power! The fates of both the planet Earth and the demon dimension of Makai hang in the balance… but will either realm survive the fury that the Darkstalkers unleash!? Written by Ken Siu-Chong, with art by Eric Vedder and Joe Vriens. Variant cover by Emily Warren!

Variant cover by Adam Warren(above)

art by Omar Dogan(above)

In Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki #3, Ibuki faces her final ninja test - to do battle with the mystical hermit Oro! Does she stand a chance against one of the greatest martial artists of all time? Probably not... but Makoto and Elena will be there to cheer her on anyways! It's all out ninja school girl action by writerJim Zubkavich and artist Omar Dogan. Variant cover by Adam Warren!

If your local shops don't carry these titles

you can either ask them kindly

get them through Amazon...hint*

if you click the links above they all take you to Amazon

*bonus if you order through those links you give your humble servant

a few pennies without inflating cost to you! woot! haha

Hey I just ate a bread sanwich...help a brother out ;)

cheers!

I'm in Art Squared Digital Painters 2!!!

2010-07-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

Not only do I get selected to be in the book,

but they also use my MummRa portrait for the promo video!!!

wow

You can check it out here at the Rage Publishing website

Below is a cut & paste from their site:

With the success of the first book, Art Squared – digital painters 2 is the second in the series of books produced by the team at ArtSquared.co.uk. Throughout this edition you can enjoy a selection of more than 70 of the worlds best digital artists, showcasing more than 130 images, spread over 172 diverse pages of artwork.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy and geek out haha!

cheers!

joe