Stephen's Comic Genius

2016-08-09T14:18:00.000-04:00

Recent artwork 2014 - 2016

Custom Super Hero Portrait

2013-03-24T18:51:00.000-04:00

My latest artwork was commissioned for a graduating senior who loves Spider-man. I had a blast drawing this. I decided to place his school in the background.

Pet Avengers 4 page comic!

2013-03-05T00:17:00.000-05:00

Just finished a really fun project! The client ordered a four page comic-book of her pets as the Avengers!!! So much fun. We bounced a few ideas around for a story but she left the majority of it up to me.

Here's the finished comic:

And here's a look at the pets that inspired it:

I had a blast with this project! I feel like my skills are improving with each comic. And this time I even got to add in some sound effects and cheesy dialogue :) Best. Job. Ever.

Super Hero Family Portrait

2013-01-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

Another successful Etsy sale! This client was great to work with, provided lots of feedback and had a clear vision of what she wanted. Interesting enough she ordered from me after checking out The Comics Factory. A very popular company that also creates custom superhero portraits. One thing she noticed was that while they simply draw the client's face onto a pre-made body and background, I create everything completely custom for the client. And my prices are much more reasonable. Just saying ;) She was very happy with the finished product.

The top version is the one the client preferred as it was a bit darker color wise as she specified. I think this one maybe looks a little more like a comic book.

The 2^nd version I did used cel-shading (only two colors similar to most cartoons). I kind of preferred it as the characters “pop” a little more. I’m curious which most people prefer. Please let me know. Note the difference may seem negligible to most people.

Story of Us Comic

2012-11-30T16:25:00.000-05:00

Here's my latest offering on Etsy. "Story of Us" 4 page comic. It re-tells your unique love story in comic book form. This was a blast to draw and the client surprised her husband with this for their 1-year anniversary.

Superhero Save The Date!

2012-09-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

My latest sale on Etsy was a first. A request for Superhero save the dates featuring the soon to be bride and groom. This was really fun to work on and they were happy with the results:

Latest Etsy Sale - Couples Caricature

2012-07-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

Things are starting to pick up over at my Etsy shop (which is great by the way)! Another completed sale. Mailing out the finished illustration this morning. The buyer wanted a black and white caricature of her and her husband dressed for their wedding, done as a coloring page for a child. So you'll notice I didn't add any of my usual grey scale shading, nope, just black and white line art this time around :).

Latest Commission

2012-07-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

Latest Etsy commission. A family of six as Superheroes! This was a lot of fun. The family was very happy with the results. If you are interested in having your family transformed into Superheroes please order on this site or from my Etsy page here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/73670230/superhero-custom-portraits

Project: Rooftop Presents “Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward” Redesign Contest entry

2012-07-23T02:14:00.001-04:00

Here is my final entry into

Project: Rooftop Presents “Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward” Redesign Contest

Project: Rooftop Presents “Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward” Redesign Contest WIP

2012-07-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

This is my entry into Project Rooftop's latest redesign contest: "Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward". I still have to color it, but I'm happy with the overall design. And if you notice Reed is based on the actor Zach Levi star of the tv show Chuck. And I gave Sue, Sarah's hair style from season 5 of Chuck.

Caricatures

2012-06-24T23:35:00.000-04:00

Recent caricatures:

Stippled Portrait Facebook Contest Winner

2012-05-29T19:37:00.000-04:00

New Artwork! Stippled illustration on 9x12 smooth bristol board.

Power Girl Redesign

2011-12-26T16:28:00.000-05:00

Above is the final illustration submitted to Project Rooftop and below is the initial design phase. I played around with the colors for a while then settled on the basic red, white and blue. Also as you can see I abandoned the bandana idea. I based her basic look off of Smallville's Chloe Sullivan aka Allison Mack. Incidentally Allison provided the voice for Power Girl in one of the DC animated films. Anyhow hope you like it :)

Invincible Redesign Entry

2011-11-27T21:16:00.001-05:00

This is my entry into the "Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue" contest running over at Project Rooftop.

My "in-story" logic surrounding the new costume:

"The one lesson Mark Grayson aka Invincible has learned over his multiple near death experiences, intense battles, and superhero career is that he needs to start fighting smarter.

After the recent Viltrumite occupation of earth, Mark has enlisted the help of Art Rosenbaum (his original tailor) and Robot to employee a little technology to give him a crime fighting edge. The suit is now composed of “Smart Atoms” which absorb and redirect impact. So when Mark/Invincible is hit he no longer feels the full brunt of his attacker’s blows. Additionally the smart atoms make the suit much more resilient than previous costumes even repairing itself when necessary. In an effort to avoid over or underestimating potential threats Robot devised a new visor which provides Invincible with a HUD that analyzes potential threats and ranks their strength, agility and possible weaknesses, enabling him to form a rapid counterattack and hopefully avoiding tragic encounters like those with Angstrom Levy (overestimating) or Conquest (underestimating)."

Here's a look at the various color combinations I played with.

Custom Comic Book - Color

2011-10-15T23:37:00.000-04:00

Latest commissioned art. Just finished this four page comic (including cover) for a client on etsy. Story by Jeff Peabody (her party planner). It's her son as green lantern. Lots of fun but lots of work and in a short amount of time.

And for anyone wondering no it's not a silent comic :P I just wasn't repsonsible for adding the dialogue. Here's the dialogue layout I was given as a script to work from. It's a great story by Jeff Peabody. Enjoy.

New Commission!

2011-10-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

Green Lantern is a popular fellow apparently :) Last month I did a GL commission and here's another one.

This picture was plenty of fun to work on! I tried to incorporate several superhero movie references.

Finally a New Etsy Sale!

2011-09-22T23:57:00.000-04:00

Just completed this sale on Etsy! Very happy with the results. Shipping it out tomorrow.

Superman Rebirth Challenge Sample Pages

2011-07-19T18:00:00.000-04:00

Here are three sample pages from the Superman Rebirth Challenge I put on a few months ago.

New Artwork: Completed Commission

2011-07-05T16:33:00.000-04:00

So a workmate of mine asked me to draw him as Green Lantern ages ago and I'm finally getting around to it.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out, especially the colors. He's out of town this week but I'll frame it for him and give it to him next week. The final output for this commission was 11x14. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested in having a commission done!

New Artwork: Another Successful Commission!

2011-06-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

So i just stayed up all night...I don't mean almost all night i mean ALL-NIGHT finishing this commission. I literally finished it around 5:30 to 6am, took a shower and left for work. That was rough. Fortunately the girl I did the artwork for loved it, so I'm happy...tired but happy :)

Back to the drawing board: Superman Redesign Round 2

2011-06-15T13:25:00.000-04:00

So DC comics just released the official new design for Superman...i'm not impressed. It just looks lazy. Like they decided to remove the shorts but that's it, no attempt at actually overhauling him. Anyway it's sent me right back to the drawing board. A few months ago I posted my attempts at redesigning him. But now I'm seeing things a little different. Let me know what you think:

Click to view larger and please post a comment, I'm trying to narrow it down so I can do a finished illustration like the Supergirl one. Thanks.

Another Etsy Sale completed!

2011-06-15T13:20:00.001-04:00

My latest etsy sale. The client said her little boy loves it!

New Artwork: Another Etsy Sale whooohoo!

2011-06-12T23:36:00.000-04:00

Ok, so things are picking up on the etsy front. This is my 2nd official sale, and i have at least 2 more on their way to completion. I've very happy with how this one turned out. I focus so much on digital art these days it's nice to do a finished finished pen & ink piece.

New Artwork: Completed Commission

2011-06-10T12:27:00.000-04:00

So last night i finally finished a commission for a guy at work of his son as a jedi (that's two star wars themed commissions for anyone keeping count). Here's the original sketch:

And here's digital painting:

Here's a detail of the face which i'm very happy with! Click for a closer look.

New Artwork - First Etsy Sale!

2011-05-31T21:16:00.000-04:00

Made my first sale on etsy. A lady was interested in having her friends drawn as caricatures. Here's the result. Her ultimate goal is to have the illustration changed into a vector image and have it placed on custom koozies for the couple. I'll post images when she sends them.

Here's the couple and the illustration: