Micah Champion Sketch Blog

Silver Bells, Silver Bells, It's...

2013-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

the Silver Surfer in Space! Check it out.

You Look...

2013-07-12T05:37:00.002-07:00

Marvelous?! Take a gander at my new blog for the abominable.

Stick It Too Ya

2013-06-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Check out Slaughter's original cover to their 1990 debut album Stick It To Ya over at my new blog!

An Inhuman Task

2013-05-07T09:41:00.003-07:00

Want To See A Flying Mermaid?

2013-04-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

If so, check out my blog post about it at www.micahchampion.com!

I'm Moving...Grab A Box

2013-04-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

Hello, out there. I'm moving my blog to www.micahchampion.com. The reason is my online "presence" is spread a little too thin and I honestly can't think of a good reason to publish stuff here and not publish it at my other blog. So, I decided to consolidate.

It's been a great five years or so blogging here and interacting with you all, so please join me over at www.micahchampion.com.

Thanks!

Santa's X-mas Survival Guide After the Zombie Apocalypse

2013-02-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is a commission I completed for a man interested in Santa and zombies. There's a clever pun there somewhere...perhaps, to do with stocking/stalking...but heck if I can think of it. Merry Z-mas!

She-Hulk's a Lawyer...

2013-01-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

...so there's a lot of gray area.

I'm experimenting. Woohoo! I used the my Copic airbrush system, which uses markers as the ink holder, to shade Mrs. Walters. There's not a lot of control like a traditional airbrush and, admittedly, I'm not super-duper proficient at it, so I think the results are mixed.

What do you think? Any airbrush tips or tricks you could teach me, my fellow travelers?

Kraven's Second to the Last Hunt!

2013-01-17T08:58:00.003-08:00

A client commissioned me to recreate or re-imagine page 11 of the Amazing Spider-man issue 294. The issue is part 5 of the notable and great story arc "Kraven's Last Hunt". It's incredibly dark story for your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, which isn't too terrible uncommon, but so well written that Peter Parker's innate moral character isn't violated. He's still the hero, and though not perfect, struggling to live up to a higher standard while the world grows dark around him.

I'd not imagine my work approaches Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod's. But I'm grateful for the work and the chance study masters, which is the best way to learn.

On a side note, does anyone know an affordable way ship this page without trading a child as collateral?

Hulk Just Want Blog To Be Left Alone

2013-01-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well, Hulk, this blog is a safe place to hide out. After four and a half years and 166 posts, I've only four "followers". So, take a rest. Curb your anger. It's quiet around here. Yet...

The Spectre Has a Small Bladder

2013-01-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman, also created this fellow, the Spectre. Apparently, the DC Universe's personification of the Wrath of God, I've read that he's the second most powerful character next to the Presence, DC's supreme being. While I'm not surprised that God's wrath is shredded, because nothing says divine vengeance like a cut six-pack, why the outfit? I don't get it.

I understand the origin of most caped, cowled, and spandex clad of the order of comic hero-dom are acrobat and circus inspired, but Mr. pasty is wearing a cloak and an incomplete set of Green Lantern's Underroos.

When I drew this picture, I thought it be cool to have him holding a lantern (I know, right?). I stopped, well, because the lantern began to resemble something I use for camping. In turn, this reminded me of the times while camping with the family and sleeping terribly because I'm outside, sleeping on the ground, and suspended between the mind states of sleep and consciousness because my son seemingly reenacts every scenes from the movie Karate Kid, though he's never seen it, over and over again. I realize I have to potty and that requires stumbling over every object in a pitch black, unfamiliar environment, dressing, and making my way to the bathrooms without my glasses and a lantern.

So, I stopped because I wasn't interested in completing a drawing of the Spectre, nigh-omnipotent weapon of the Almighty, finding his way to the campground bathrooms without his glasses at 3:37 am because he's exhausted from the Flash reenacting the Karate Kid II and kicking him in his sleep all night.

My Vision of the Future

2013-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Vision. He's a synthezoid, a made up word. So, yes, despite being red-faced this android, has learned to endure mistakes.

Happy New Years! For my New Year's resolution--at least, regarding art, artwork, and art as work--I'm resolving to be more productive. How? you might ask.

I'm going to suffer my mistakes with any single work and strive to correct those mistakes on the NEXT piece. That means I will finish, having given it my best effort, but not return to do it over again, and again, and again. It is a maddening habit of mine that turns me into a grade-A you-know-what and causes those around me to suffer.

So, there you have it, my vision for 2013.

Ya Know, It's Not the End Of the World

2012-12-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Pencil sketch of Marvel Comic's world eater, Galactus. I thought his helmet was Mayan-ish. Upon further review, no. Minus 10 cultural points.

If you've ever experienced the end of the world, you know life seems to keep on keepin' on. Oh, did your girlfriend break up with you? Nope, you're not going to die. It just feels that way. Did a close relative die or tragedy strike or blatant human evil twist your gut in knots and leave you feeling impotent? Unfortunately, you're going to make it.

Bemused by the sudden interest in Mayan astronomy and end of days intrigue, I wonder who are these people that other people say take this stuff seriously? I don't think I've met a single one. Have you? Or, is this a vast left/right wing conspiracy by late night talk show hosts to collect good material? Maybe, they only exist in our imaginations so we might feel smart.

Of course, this thought is closely followed by the hope that the end of the world is indeed a joke and not the real deal. Because, geez, I sure would feel ridiculous having scoffed at the world's destruction when it really did happened. Then, I think,"Now, that's ridiculous!" because if the world really is D.O.A., then nobody will care if I scoffed at it because we'll all be dead. So, I'll continue to take it lightly.

Oh, ho! In any scenario I come out looking bad. And that's the real tragedy, right? Well...no.

There are so many ends to our world that we survive, expect the one real one we don't. It's just we usually can't pick it out until after the fact.

Yule Tide Treats!

2012-12-20T09:32:00.002-08:00

My daughter is a phenomenal artist. She continually asks to ink and color my drawings. Of course, she creates her own drawings (see above), usually bound together to accompany the story she written. Also, she fashion tissue paper, paper towels, or any other found item into dresses and accessories for her dolls. And, she's only eight.

You can't see it now, but I'm beaming with fatherly pride.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Expected Visitor

2012-12-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

My Monday morning post in this time of yuletide cheer. Noir. I know, I know. But, it's so fun!

The Daredevil Made Me Do It!

2012-12-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

Do you know that Marvel is offers Daredevil’s comic in audio? This is extremely old news, but I hadn’t heard of it until browsing the internet for comic art last week. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

What's A Matter? Scared?

2012-12-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

What can I say? It's Daredevil. Man without fear.

This is the first pencil sketch I inked with my new Windsor-Newton Series 7 brush. I have lots of good brushes, so I was a bit skeptical about it being the "greatest inking brush ever". But, I have to admit, it's a great brush, especially when it comes to finer marks. I usually avoided feathering because what I thought was my lack of dexterity. I still need to work on my finger dexterity, of course, but it seems a much more manageable task now.

You Look Marvelous!

2012-12-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to get this commission from a very nice, very patient, very understanding client. Thigh high boots are cool.

Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura) versus Venom.

Flagship #1

2012-11-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

This comic is sorta an inside joke, so I realize some of the humor might fly overhead if your not acquainted with Ricochet.com. But, hopefully, it's still good for a little chuckle.

Sewing My Mouth Shut or, What Not To Say To Your Bride

2012-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

So, last week, I was sick. Not the type of sick that you, indeed, feel sick--maybe, even bad--but not diminished. Not the state of sickness that's viewed more as an opportunity to eat large quantities of cereal, watch alternating episodes of White Collar and Psych which must end in an even number because neither of these series need feel slighted in your newly formed, anthropomorphized, shut-in, three person relationship, and to catch up on laundry. If you're older--and by older, I mean, you're a parent--this kind of sickness provides you the opportunity to listen to the radio as to update your faded knowledge of popular acts ever since that day you realized that you didn't recognize any of the VJs on MTV or even (gasp!) VH1 (that's still a music station, right?). Then, sick of this junk, you surrender to comfort and turning the dial to a station playing music closest to the decade in which you attended high school. Finally, unable find any good tunes, you playing, depending on your age range, the Beatles, Al Green, CCR, Lynard Synyrd, Carol King, Hall & Oates, Def Leppard, Boys To Men, Sublime, or the fail safe of all music collections, Bob Marley on vinyl, tape deck, CD, or MP3, because they all sound best on the medium they were originally recorded on with the exception of eight-track.

I wasn't that kind of sick.

I was the kind of sick where sleeping became a gutsy, special forces training style, endurance test. I'd sleep, awakening suddenly because I'd stopped breathing, and then fall back into uneasy slumber because of exhaustion. Repeat that scenario until there's so little oxygen circulating through your blood stream you don't recall whether that occurred fourteen times or just once. Plus, all the other gross, obnoxious sickness stuff , too!

Now my poor wife has the bug. She feels terrible and I feel terrible for her. In fact, last night while watching TV, I said, probably the stupidest thing I've ever to my bride in effort to empathize. I said, " You look terrible, honey, like you're dead behind the eyes."

And the rest, well, went like you might think it would go. Sorry, honey, feel better soon.

Wolverine Sketch

2012-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wolverine came by my house and graciously volunteered to pose while I practiced inking.

Animation Goodness Me

2012-09-06T08:05:00.001-07:00

Speaking of being sidetracked by all the pretty pictures, how 'bout stills of moving pretty pictures? Paul Felix is a visual development artist that's notably worked on Disney projects like Tarzan and Lilo and Stitch. Check out the website Unofficial Paul Felix (Felix doesn't maintain his own website) for a real visual treat and then wonder where the time went.

I'm a Visual Person!

2012-09-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Batman scolding Micah for not reading enough.

I have something terrible to admit. Here goes. I've never actual read an an entire art book. There I said it. And...and my fingertips feel lighter on the keyboard. What a relief!

I own quit a few instructional art books by some of the best artist/instructors out there. And, for sure, I have read pages from these books, but I usually get lost in the pretty pictures. Two of my favorites are by James Gurney, the illustrator/painter/creator of Dinotopia, Imaginative Realism and Color and Light. Another set of books is by the late, great Andrew Loomis, which I perused on the internet because his books were out of print and ridiculously expensive to buy. Luckily, they're back in print and available to buy at more reasonable prices.

All these books contain some great advise and education, and that's usually why I grab them off my shelf, but thirty minutes later I've forgotten the reason for referencing the material because there so gosh darn good at art, dang it. I'm an art fan first and an artist second, I guess. Oh, well.

Stan Prokopenko, a professional fine arts painter, thankfully has made a few videos based on Andrew Loomis' approach to drawing the head. The videos are fun and entertaining and require me to not to read an art book while viewing, which saves me a lot of time. Check them out and thank me for helping you not read later.

Dancing With the Stars: Avengers Edition

2012-08-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I haven't seen the movie and I'm coping as best I can.

A sketch from my sketchbook rendered with pencil, Copic markers and multiliners.

Happy Monday!

When Holding A Hammer Everything...

2012-08-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

looks like a nail...

You'd think Thor's dad, Odin, took a parenting misstep gifting his headstrong, arrogant prone son an enchanted hammer. Of course, he'd need to be be banished to learn humility! But, again, Earth might not be the best place to send him to learn that lesson. Did Odin research Midgard at all? Reality TV alone would give me pause.