How To Draw The Shlomo Way

So you're probably doing a double take at this seeing as I just posting it a couple of days ago. Well yes and no. In the previous version I had posted a scan that didn't have a back ground for or the Hulk's body (except his pants) colored yet so those items I did in photoshop for time's sake. But yesterday I finally got around to finishing the whole thing by hand and it came out so very differently then before.
Do you want to know how I did this particular illustration from start to finish? Well of course you do so I'll tell you but unfortunately I can't do it with a beat like that cool Marvel rap video from last week so you'll just have to read on.

1) First, put a hole in the box and then you put your . . whoops wrong explaination :) Pretty much like any other illustration this started as a pencil sketch.
2) Once I got it to more or less look the way I wanted it to I went a head and inked it. And if you're saying to your self about now "what do you mean you inked it?" then you've seen Chasing Amy one too many times (not really that movie rocks!).
3) All the color areas on ROM and Sabra were done with fine point coloring pens. So was the Hulk's pants.
4) Next came the Hulk's skin which I did using a combination of pastels (coloring chalk), coloring pens and coloring pencils.
5) And the last step was putting in the background which was just pieces of clothe with pastel powder on them smeared across the paper.

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Well even today Rom just seems to turn up in the damndest of places rather it be a rap song on Youtube or in geek magazine. A big thanks to Rick "smash" Hansen for the heads up on this which I just had to update this posting with for obvious reasons. The first half of the ROM entry is basically just a run down of the toy and comic book history nothing you all don't know already. Interesting that despite being well aware of the character rights legal issue Geek magazine never the less published the cover of ROM #1 which as far as I know they shouldn't have been able to do legally speaking. I guess like IDW Publishing earlier this year with that Rom vs Mars Attacks splash page they just didn't give a shit. It seems every other publisher out there has a bigger set of stones than Marvel which won't even give us a cameo of Rom even now that he's human.

The ebay connection and some new fan art!

So I finally got my copy of Marvel Team Up Annual #3 which I bought on ebay from a seller who really took their sweet time getting it into the mail. As such you may have noticed I just updated the clip art in the previous posting (The Delmar Connection) Brock Jone's meeting with Power Man & Iron Fist check it out. And you may have also noticed that over the weekend the addition of some clip art from Machine Man #19 of a cameo appearance by Brock Jones compliments of Gary Martin Jr. "a Rom curator".
Poor Brock, longing for the good ol days of his football career stardom having to do the 9 to 5 routine in a business suite behind a desk at Delmar never really settled well for him. The random happenstance of having the Torpedo armor handed off to him like a baton from one runner to another gave him an opportunity he couldn't resist despite the danger to himself and even his family. Unfortunately on the heels of him finally being ready to hang up the super hero gig and go back to being a full time husband and father he had a first time encounter with the sorceress female Dire Wraiths and we all know how that story ended.

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And speaking of all things ebay I guess this is a good a time as any to share these two large scale sketch cards that I saw on ebay some time ago. I seem to remember the full body one going for about $70 and the other for $40. Pretty reasonable prices for some well done original art. Just for the record I didn't buy em I'm just featuring a jpeg file I made out of the ebay ads of them here for this posting.

More custom figures and a little art critique

Most of you remember Trapper (Vola) from the spaceknight squadron I'm sure. We first saw her along with the rest of the Squadron in ROM annual #2. It would be several years later that we would see her again as ROM found himself being reunited with his fellow spaceknights during his journey back to Galador toward toward the end of the series.

This custom figure update I'm adding needs no introduction.

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 Looks like there's a custom figure for just about every look Sabra has ever had since her first appearance about 30 years ago all the way up to her last known appearance.

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Remember how in the previous posting I was talking about how I rarely come across Rom related fan art that I all around really like and how most of what I see is often mediocre or a mixed bag? Now take a close look at this one. In particular how this scene is composed and how Rom is drawn. . . . . yeah you can tell this guy has some skills. But I don't if this guy just got lazy at a certain point in this illustration or if that's his genuine interpretation of the Hybrid character but the way his face is drawn just does not work in what is otherwise a well done drawing. It looks way too caricaturist almost like something you'd expect Fred Hembeck to draw. No offense to Hembeck, it's just not the drawing style I want to see here.
It's a pity this fan art was very close to being an all around great illustration like the Dann Phillips art work in the previous posting. And speaking of which there have been some recent new Rom fan art uncovered recently. Rather it's good or not I'll let you all decide for yourselves:
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Spaceknight-Cometh-379360677
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/ROM-Commission-382118842
One last thing here, just to put into perspective what a good deal that Rom original by Dann Phillips was on ebay you'll pay $75 if you wan this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-ART-AVENGERS-SKETCH-COVER-ROM-SPACEKNIGHT-BY-VAN-SCIVER-/330946867699

New ROM logo header concept

So look what I just found. I've been mostly leaving links to newly discovered Rom related fan art on my postings but I thought this one would be a good posting because it's especially unique. From a design stand point I think it's pretty damn nice. And that's coming from someone who's done logo design and worked as a commercial graphic artist for 10 years. But as far as a header for the comic book goes I'm not sure it quite makes for an ideal replacement. Maybe it's because I've been seeing the original almost my entire life now or because the original "pops" in a way the more subtle redesign. But just to be clear I do like it I think it has merit for perhaps a house ad or some sort of packaging art.

 How about a little Sabra to go with your ROM posting today folks? And speaking of Jewish superheros from the Marvel Universe.

I recently picked up a copy of Incredible Hulk#319 from a dollar bin at a comic convention I was at

recently. I used to have it back when it first came out in 86 because it had a ROM flash back cameo in it and I wanted to read it again after all these years. It also had a guest appearance by Doc Samson who I didn't learn was a Jewish character (born Leonard Skivorski, Jr.) until after I had made (that fucken figures!) a video for Youtube about Jewish comic book superheroes only about two years ago.

Notice how Samson has long hair? Well in the biblical fable of Samson & Delilah he derived his superhuman strength from his long hair, and when it was cut he became vulnerable. Basically you've got an Achilles Heel sort of analogy. The biblical Samson was also Jewish in case you didn't know or surmise that already. It's kinda ironic also but probably not a coincidence that the gamma ray Samson is a psychiatrist given the amount of Jews in the field of medicine and psychiatry historically. Unfortunately I don't happen to be one of them otherwise I'd be better off these days I bet.