Rachel Summers :

X-23 :

Similar to previous iPhone wallpapers, I thought it’d be interesting to see how this image would look as the lock screen.

Rogue (X-Men) :

Elektra :

Psyclocke :

Zombie Beast Inked :

Zombie Beast Coloured :

Zombie Nightcrawler Inked :

Zombie Nightcrawler Coloured :

When did you get into the artistic field?

I took a keen intrest in art from about the age of 4, I took part in my first competitions at 5, coming first in all of Gwent, South wales. did art G.C.S.E in comperhensive school getting a C grade, didn’t like art class in school, I was into comicbook art and horror, the school wanted you to do drawings of vase’s and flowers,etc. After school I was still drawing more of a hobbie, doing it in the evenings and weekends. So I’d say I’m self-taught.

Is there any styles which have influenced you?

I would have to say I am heavily influenced by Steven E.Gordon creator of X-men Evolution, and Jeff Matsuda chief character designer for both Jackie Chan Adventures and The Batman, I love how there art work is clean and simple not over worked! I draw for fun and my son Lewis (7 years old) to colour in. 

Is Lewis your only son?

I have two sons, Lewis as mentioned and Oscar who’s 18 months.

You must be swamped with two boys to look after so thanks for your time to answer some of my questions!

For more of Gary’s work check out :

• Photobucket
• DeviantArt

Wolverine – Pencils :

Wolverine – Inks :

Wolverine – Final :

For more of Ryan’s work check out :
http://www.ryanbenjamin.com/

For more of Adam’s work check out :
http://www.adamcline.com
Adam’s Deviant Art

Hope everyone had a very Happy New Year. Hard to believe that 2009 is now over and it’s the start of a whole new decade. Will the previous decade has been aptly named the noughties, I wonder what we will call the next ten years . . perhaps the teens?

Christmas Rogue

I’m always amazed with the effort that Dean puts into the backgrounds for his sketches. Absolutely amazing! I have some other of christmas sketches which will be showcased later this year and they are just as impressive. Keep watching this site for ‘em to come up!

Anyway . . it’s been a little crazy here in real life especially approaching the holiday season, so I might be slightly slower responding to emails and enquiries. Your patience is always much appreciated. Anyone with exciting holidays plans they want to share? Or started their christmas shopping?

Final :

Wasp :

Have you always wanted to be a comic artist?

I always wanted to be a comic book artist since I was a kid. Once I graduated from college, I had to make a decision, move to NYC and live in poverty while trying to make a go at it as an artist, or get a real job and pay some tuition bills. At first I said I would get a real job and then after a couple of years, try the art thing. Well life happens, and before I know it, I’m married, have two amazing sons, and fifteen years pass by. Once the boys were old enough to find out I’m really not that cool to hang out with, and that they had friends to spend their time with, I started to get the itch to get back to drawing. I somehow found an art group called APA-5 that was doing a monthly collection of their work. That got me back into the swing of things and since then I have been back drawing. I ended up doing two self-publishing projects with APA-5, along with various work that appeared in the other members self-publishing comics.

A lot of comic artists’ dream is to “break” into the industry. How have you gone in that respect?

I had a couple of close calls, but soon found out, it’s really hard to get a paying job in comics! Go figure. So here I am, doing commissions and dabbling in other people’s projects. I’m currently inking a book for Visionary Comics called The Offspring, that may or may not ever see the light of day. But we are all hopeful that it finds it’s way into reader’s hands.

The internet is an amazing tool to show your work and meet other creators. But it’s also an amazing pain in the ass to get requests to do work for free. And hear the same sales pitch that this particular concept will get picked by Image, or Marvel, or insert publishing company here. All I have to do is draw and ink 20 pages in a month for free! And all the while, I still sit by the phone waiting for Marvel or DC to never call me.

If Marvel or DC one day makes the call . . what would your dream assignment be?

I still hold close to my heart, to one day be the artist on Superman.

What do you do for fun?

Well between working and supporting my family, taking the boys to their different athletic activities, and doing some freelance Graphic Design work, I have very little time for fun. Or drawing for that matter. I keep holding unto this dream of having this extra time and energy to draw much more than I currently am doing.

How would you describe your artwork?

I always have such a tough time figuring this one out. When I first start a conversation with someone about my art, they ask who do I draw like. I never know how to answer that. One time I answered a guy that I was similar to Terry Dodson. Where that came from I have no idea. But when he saw my work the next time we met, he said “dude, you do not draw anything like Terry Dodson. You’re more detailed than that.” So it just shows I have no clue on how to handle this question. I would like to think, I’m the traditional, middle of the road, comic book artist. Not a realist, but not a cartoonist. Does this make any sense?

What comic piece really inspired you? (Please don’t say Rob Liefield)

I am really going to show my age with my answers to this one. I will forever be influenced by Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes issue #239. It is drawn by Jim Starlin and inked by Joe Rubinstein. I was just blown away by it. The figures were so strong and powerful.

As a kid first figuring out this art stuff, I wanted to be the next Neal Adams (who at that time didn’t want to be?) Then there was Mike Grell and Gill Kane. I was a huge Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, so when Marvel came out with John Carter, Warlord of Mars drawn by Gill Kane, I was in comic heaven. His figure work got me to look at the human muscle and how the human body was put together. Which this then lead me to Burne Hogarth and his wonderful Dynamic Figure Drawing books. It wasn’t too long after that, that some guy named John Byrne started to draw this comic called Uncanny X-Men. And then Frank Miller took over Daredevil. It was with those issues that I started to pay attention to panel layout and how backgrounds affected a scene.

Today I love the work of Adam Hughes, Frank Cho, Terry Dodson, and Ed Benes. The Benes JLA stuff is just amazing to me. But can you see a common theme here? Hot chicks. And it just so happens that most of my current commission work is women. Could there be a connection?

Thanks for your time and I hope the dream of breaking in comes soon! All it needs is for you to convince one editor to take a chance on you. Good luck!

For more information check out :

• Art of Michael
• Michael’s Twitter
• Michael’s Comicspace

Email mmunshaw [at] artofm2.com if interested in any commissions.

What originally got you into comics?

I originally got into art through comics, I mean like most kids I drew all types of things growing up, but it was comic-books that made me actually start to appreciate the craft of creating art. I am based in England and I grew up in a very small town and comics just weren’t really stocked, so I had to make do with the odd summer special reprint that would turn up in one of the smaller newsagents. It was the X-Men that I really loved, the characters, the stories, the art, the sexy ladies. :)

Haha . . I think Jim Lee’s X-Men helped in that respect. I still loved the way he drew Psylocke. When did you start working?

I started working professionally as an artist when I was 13, designing costumes for some local professional wrestlers. I remember some of them got on a pretty big tour round the UK and I was supposed to go see them, but I ended up getting pretty ill and couldn’t make it. Afterwards one of the guys turned up with this poster that had been signed with get well messages from all the wrestlers on the tour – the highlight being The British Bulldog – Davey Boy Smith. I was so proud!

After college I started to move away from comic art and more into pin-up and portrait art – but regardless of what form – I have always been working as an artist in some form. it was actually only earlier this year that I got commissioned to do some comic-book characters and once I started I couldn’t stop myself. It’s giving me a chance to play with all these new techniques and styles and is getting a pretty good reaction so far.

That’s cool. I’m a big wrestling fan too (it’s a guilty pleasure) and I remember British Bulldog! I’ve seen some of your commissions and they are amazing! Love your showcase piece. Can you tell me a little more about it?

This piece is called A Dark Night and was my tribute to Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker as well as being a real fun piece. The full size of it is is 16 1/2″ tall and 35 1/4″ wide as it’s made up of 3 separate bristol boards. It’s done in pencil and inks. The main concept of it was to have Ledger’s Joker surrounded by the comic book versions of the other Batman family characters. The women all over him and the guys not too happy about it!

I tried to add little details in the piece, such as the interplay between all the characters, like the way the Joker grips Ivy’s hair and in return her vines crawl up his leg, or Catwoman playfully tugging at his tie, but with her claws out and ready – all the while the Joker is ready to stab her in the back! They don’t play nice and that’s the way they like it!!

I liked how the final piece turned out! I think Ledger’s performance is probably the scariest portrayal of the Joker. Thanks for your time and I wish you all the best.

For any commission details or enquiries, please feel free to email him on jack [at] reddlife.com or visit his website at :
http://www.reddlife.com