MOVING RIGHT ALONG.

 Well, New Years came and went pretty

fast. It's always been a time for reflection and remembrance, good things to come, blah blah blah and all that stuff. The way I see it, it's really just a point on the calender that most people use as a time to finally let hope for a better future sink in and flush the toilet of the past years crap. I try to do that at the end of every month. Other than a few bumps my year wasn't that bad, but it's still nice to have that little extra feeling that this year will even be better. 

  Things do look pretty good for this year and I can't wait to dive right in. I've been working pretty hard at getting back into comics after taking some time off from it (way too much time, my mistake) and the work has been paying off. I'm currently doing some pencils and inks on a comic for Beau Smith that will probably coming out this year, I've just finished up some Inking work on the Phantom book for Egmont, and I've got another comic job I'm working on to get off the ground. It's just feels so good to get back to story telling again and working on board larger than 2.5" x 3.5". 

  "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" For all my Trading card fans, although I have been trying to cut back on Sketch card work (with all the new releases of older sketch sets I've worked on it doesn't seem that way) it looks like I'll still be working on at least one set or maybe 2 here and there which will probably be comic related.  There is still a Star Trek set yet to be released with sketches I did for it. Maybe this year. 

 You know who you are - Thanks to all for the emails and kind words throughout the year. I've got better things planned and can't wait to show you. 

Heres to finding enough time to get everything done.

Later

WM

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Warren Martineck    

 

 

New Releases: Killer Space Robots and Stretchy Heroes

   There are 2 new releases in the past 2 days. The first, which started shipping yesterday, is the Doctor Who Big Screen Additions Collection from Stricktly Ink. This Dr. Who set is based around the two 60's movies, "Dr. Who and the Daleks" and "Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D." This was another Stricktly Ink set I drew awhile back and, like their other releases, only did 22 cards for the set. (I'll post the gallery soon and update this as well here) 

  The other set out today is the Fantastic Four Archives set released from Rittenhouse Archives,  who I must say, have really been knocking the comic sets out of the park lately. This new one really looks top quality. The sketch artists have gotten a lot better, must be all the practice. I have all 150 of my cards in a gallery on my ComicSpace page. 

  (Ahhhh, caffeine is just starting to kick in.... what a wonderful feeling)  

Speaking of Sketch Cards, I've finally started cataloging the entire backlog of sets that I've worked on. Holy crap!, I've drawn a lot of cards. Over the years, (since 97-98) between what I've photocopied, scanned, tracked down, downloaded, and aquired with a little help from fans (Special thanks to Tialessa) I've been able to get a really good archive of most of the cards I've drawn. It's taking a bit longer than I planned but my computer will be happy once I've cleared it of all those image files and I'll be happy to get these sketches behind me.

Talk soon.

Later

WM

Catching Up with Other Stuff.

   Happy happy happy, as I've finally finished all my sketch card projects. Those last 550 cards were really killing me. The bulk being Trek cards that were repeat sketches and to keep the mind-numbingness my brain was feeling, I subscribed to a dozen different podcasts to listen to on my Itunes. Some sucked but found a few gems in there.  The Totally Rad Show (videocast) 3 guys from CA talking Comics, Movies, Video Games, and TV. Very cool. Also of note is Indie Spinner Rack. Out of NY and hosted by a friend of mine I went to school with and really great guy, Charlie (Charlito and Mr. Phil) Covering everything about Indie Comics in a fun and really informative way.

Check them out, I'm not kidding! ... and along with some other casts about Macs, Comics, and Tv & Literature, I finished up the card sets with most of my neuro pathways still firing.  

   So I finally got to sit down and catch up with some computer backlog that's been building up and posted all the sketches for The Women Of Marvel Cards I did and can be found here on my Comic Space Galleries Page. I was pretty happy with the Fantastic Four cards I just finished and also got to organize all the scans for those. I'll have those posted also as soon as they get released.  Thanks to all the inquiries about them btw.

   If anyone has any good recommendations for pod or videocasts, let me know. My mind has lately been like a sponge that just needs constant input. 

Later

WM

  

Daydreams And Vending Machines

 Been pretty busy trying to catch up on work and tie up some loose ends of some lingering jobs. I'm doing pretty good with it too, although I wish I had an extra week in there somewhere for a bit more time. I've dreamt about have a second one of me around to get everything done herein the studio and try to get even a bit close to keeping up with and satisfying my mind. It's a crazy and daunting task and I've learned to live with the fact I'll never be able to physically do it all. In the back of my mind I've been tossing around the idea of getting a very part time assistant. 

Maybe a local aspiring artist willing to do something like an apprenticeship. I don't know, still needs some thought.  

    On a less dreamy note, and I will try not to make this a habit and let this blog become an advert but on special occasions like this one..., I have up for auction, on the bay, from the Women Of Marvel Card set my last Artist Proof of the Invisible Woman. (Along with the rest of the FF in honor of the upcoming Fantastic Four set) I did only 5 of these and is the only one I left Uncut. These sold extremely fast and I've held this one off a bit until now. 

... end of commercial.

 

Later

WM

How-To #1, Terminus; The Life And Times Of A Sketch Card

 I've been asked many times how I do my Sketches and what I use. So, I've decided to put together a "How I Do It" type of post.  I've been lucky enough to get full approval from Marvel Comics and Rittenhouse Archives to post this using an upcoming Fantastic Four Sketch Card.  Thanks to them enjoy. 

(Click on the thumbnails for larger image)

This is the classic comic book method. Although I use different styles and techniques for others, the majority of my cards are drawn this way. As far as subject matter, I do put a lot of thought before hand on what I'm drawing. I try to keep every card interesting and also relate each card to the rest of the sketches I'm doing. Yes, portrait cards are easier, but lets face it, they're pretty boring so I try to keep them to just a few and usually only with characters that I will be drawing multiple of. Variety is the way to go but it does take longer. 

1) I start out lightly using a very dull hard lead pencil to rough out the basic forms and layout. These light lines are so much easier to erase when you screw it up or come up with a better composition. I don't use blue line pencils here because it's a finished piece of art and the blue pencil doesn't erase well. 

2) Moving to a softer and sharper lead, I tighten up the lines and details I need to see better. That usually entails, facial features, fingers, little odd whatsit's. I do find as I get better at it and more confident, I need to do less at this stage and go right into inking it which is great time wise. (I did most of the lines here in pic 2 just to show it better.)  

3) I use Black India ink and pens with a comparable quality ink to keep the image strong and fade resistant. I try to use the brush as often as I can to give it a more natural feel and it's much quicker putting down blacks.  I look back at some earlier sets and find the sketches that stand out have more black in them. Using the brush also helps remind me of that and I find myself slapping the black down more now.

4) I use the pens to get in those little details in that make it bit more visually interesting. On the whole, I try not to use markers if I don't have to. I put a lot of time into these cards and I would rather they didn't fade 10 years down the line. 

5) After the inkings done, I start putting down the base colors. I've found that watercolor pencils are awesome for this. They're fast, can cover a wide area or a fine one, and they blend with each other really well when you water them. I have a large stash of black watercolor pencils and use them for the dark areas and shadows. 

6) Blending in the colored pencils is the fun part. Most of the time I use just straight water, but where I want a stronger color, I will blend them with a dye instead. I use Dr. Ph. Martins for this as they're great for an almost radiant color.  Yin and Yang. The dark shadows blended right into a vibrant dye... sweet. 

7) It really comes down to layering. That's what makes it pop and gives the sketch depth and a completed feeling. To finish it off I go in with some Graphic White for highlights, halos, cover mistakes, or whatever. The Graphic White actually pulls the color through from the dyes which makes for a less stark transition. On the Terminus card, I splattered GW with a toothbrush for the blasting effect from his almighty staff. That's also a great technique for space scenes. 

There it is in a nutshell. (a really big nutshell)

Thanks to all for the emails and kind words, hope this was interesting and informative for you. 

Now I need to stop talking about it and sit down and do it. 

Later

WM