Scranton or The AmeriKim Dream

First post of 2013! While I haven't been the most prolific artist so far this year (or any year...) please don't mistake the lack of posting for a dip in productivity, in fact, there are big things coming along in the next few months!

For now, the first order of business should definitely be the art accompanying this post; my friend Kim's birthday was fast approaching and I was asked by a mutual friend to draw Joe Biden for the occasion; the inspiration for the piece would be painting of Napoleon Bonaparte, a man for whom my affection is no secret. I have been reading a lot about early to mid 20th century illustrators (Robert Fawcett and Albert Dorne, especially) and felt this was as good an opportunity as any to try to put what I'd learned from looking at their work into practice. Of the piece itself, I will say that while drawing the resolute desk seemed like a good idea initially, it became quite evident that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. But chew I did, several markers, and some time in Photoshop later, this piece is the result.

In other news, I should mention that I have been taking a course in sequential storytelling at Montreal's Concordia University since September (actual name of the class is Special topics in Drawing: The Graphic Novel, taught by one Patrick McEown, if you're interested in looking it up) and have learned a great deal. So much so that I can say with confidence that you will be seeing a webcomic appearing by me quite soon, before the summer, I would say.

And finally, it would be a crime not to mention my involvement in Pure Steele, an adventure book by some of my good friends, in fact, the very same friends by and for whom this Joe Biden piece was commissioned. They were kind enough to allow me to contribute to this tome which has been very much a labor of love for them, and it is an immense pleasure to have my name appearing next to theirs on its cover. Pure Steele will be published some time this year by Blind Ferret Press.

Green Lantern

I originally had this idea for a mid-transformation Green Lantern as a potential Hallowe'en costume, until it kind of dawned on me how much work that would entail. So instead, I drew it.

I've been trying lately to become better at drawing full compositions where surroundings are given as much attention as the focal point, in terms of rendering. As much as I feel my artwork has improved in the last few months, I can't help but look at this drawing and see that I haveso much more work to do and so many things to learn.

Onward and upwards, I guess, hope you enjoy this one!

Montreal Comic Con 2012

I'll be attending the Montreal Comic Con this weekend, artist's alley booth #1430!

Come by my table where I'll be drawing, giving away a free mini-comic and will also have a few drawings from this very blog available as well as a limited number of this Sherlock print (and its original art) for sale!

I am also taking comissions if you are so inclined, inquiries can be made at stephenlmorrow@gmail.com

Hope to see you there!

Jean Moebius Giraud 1938-2012

I was a fairly late convert to Jean Giraud (Moebius)'s work, despite being fluent in french, and having easy access to European Bandes Dessinées, until my late teens I had only been aware of him through his work on Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal). Since then I've made the effort to seek out more of his work, though I've still barely scratched the surface.

I have been (slowly) working on this project called Pure Steele for the passed months, and one day when walking to my day job in Montreal, I passed a bookstore and in its window display, tucked neatly at the side I see L'homme Du Ciguri:

(Image source: www.humano.com)

Immediately, the thought inhabited me that I needed to draw an homage to this cover using Steele, the piece was just so perfectly layed out in my mind. So, I set out and got a cream colored paper to evoke the desert:

And then proceeded to color it in Photoshop:

In all, I'm quite satisfied with the result, and I look forward to a lifetime of getting to know, and continuing to get inspired by, Moebius' vast library of work.

Maurice Sendak Tribute

I don't remember how or when I discovered Maurice Sendak's work.

I know I didn't have any of his books lying around when I was a kid, so it was probably in my mid-to-late teens. One day I turned around and Where The Wild Things Are was suddenly a huge inspiration to me; I don't know what it is about that story that resonates with me in such a meaningful way, but it's just held such an important place for me that it feels like it's been around me forever.

More than just his books, it's Maurice Sendak's words about his work, about people and life that have just found their way into my own ways of thinking; I'm still at a loss to explain fully how I felt when I heard the news of his passing, but hopefully this drawing is proper tribute to the man who isn't nearly done inspiring me.

"I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can't stop them. They leave me and I love them more."
-Maurice Sendak

Doctor Who

Yet another belated gift, this time for my fiancee's birthday, we're both massive fans and late converts to the show Doctor Who (she especially likes the Daleks); we started at the 8th Doctor and have watched every episode together. I was really excited to get a piece done, but it's quite daunting when trying to do justice to something you love for someone you love. But, finally, I figured out what I feel is a decent composition and set out to work, this piece is the end result.

The challenge, in my opinion, when drawing something you're such a big fan of, and friends will attest that my Doctor Who fandom teeters on worrisome, is trying to capture the spirit of the characters. While I'm not sure I managed to accomplish that, I'm still pretty happy with this piece.

Also, I'll just go ahead and publicly state that the Eleventh Doctor is the superior Doctor and I don't understand how there's even a debate on this issue.

Enjoy!

Sterling Archer

"Well excuse me Lana, it's a rampage "

Archer, created by Adam Reed, is currently my favorite TV show, partly because both Sherlock and Doctor Who are holding out on me, but mostly because it's hands down the funniest, most entertainingly witty show on the air right now.

My style doesn't lend itself to an animated style so well, but I still wanted to make an homage to the show that's consistently entertained me from the very start. So, while I know that I basically have to specifically tell you that this is Sterling Archer, I'm still happy with the piece.

In all, I think a big part of it is that I sometimes feel the need to express my appreciation for something that I've taken so much enjoyment from.

... Do you not?

Megaman

I'm a really big fan of Megaman. Not only his design, but also, for the vivid memories of him making me melt down in utter frustration, the bitter taste of failure after pathetic failure poisoning my psyche and still just having so much fun that I'd always keep coming back for more.

I drew this image of Megaman a little while back, and had my very talented brother Daniel Morrow mock-up a loving homage to those days of blowing in cartridges and thowing the controllers in fits of rage. You should give his blog a look, it's a minimalist's dream!

Enjoy!

Madman: A step-by-step look

I've recently had a few people ask me about my process, so I thought it might be time to have a proper post regarding how I work. For this example, I decided to draw Mike Allred's Madman because I love his costume and felt like drawing a leather jacket.
Conveniently, THE MADMAN 20th ANNIVERSARY MONSTER has just been released and it looks like a beautiful book, seek out a copy if you haven't yet!


Due to time constraints, I didn't get to mess with composition too much, (I'd like to add some street Beatniks at some point and a proper background) but my process in that regard isn't so different from any other artist, I'll start with a post-it sized drawing, figure everything out and then transfer it to a larger sheet of paper.

I'm left-handed and smudge a lot when I draw, so I use a very hard lead (4H) to block out shapes and proportions, when I'm happy with the pose and everything, I'll draw everything up in much the way an inker would, however, I do this in HB pencil. This is all done in a 9"x 12" sketchbook, I should add.

If I were to add a background, I would do this with a lightbox on a different sheet. I try to be as messy as I need to be here and clean up as I go. (The Aquaman piece, seen lower on the homepage for instance, was done on 5 seperate sheets of paper.)

Okay, I'll admit I got overexcited and forgot to scan a step, sorry. Here, I lightbox all of the messy pencils onto a nice, clean sheet of bristol in HB pencil. Since I've made my light source decisions in the sketchy phase, I don't shade the piece in pencil, preferring to create mass entirely in marker.

Basically, I use Cool and Warm gray tone markers and try to create textures for different surfaces. (Leather boots, soft leather for the jacket, hair, etc.) While also taking the light source into account.

I finish by inking the outer edges in black with Faber-Castell pens, and soften the edges with a black color pencil. I find this makes the drawing kind of pop off the page a bit more.

I then scan the image and flat it out, nothing fancy.

Then I proceed to color it in Photoshop CS5, no real science behind it: I use the stock brushes and probably way too many layers, and voilà! One Madman drawing done by yours truly!


I hope this has been interesting, and that you've enjoyed the piece.

Thanks for reading!

Kelly Tindall's Archie Snow

It was my friend Kelly Tindall's birthday recently, and since I wanted to draw my favorite creation of his, Archie Snow, I segued that into a gift, because I'm ever so kind. But seriously, If you aren't aware of Archie (He appeared in a back-up story in the Image comic PROOF, among other things) or of Kelly's work you should definitely check it out!

Also, I always think of Bill Nighy when I draw Archie Snow. That's apparently too old, but I don't care: Bill Nighy.

Br-Aquaman

When friends ask me to draw things for them, I tend to try their patience quite a bit. I procrastinate until I feel bad about making them wait, so I then try to salvage my broken friendships by giving them a little extra.

Here's one such occasion in which I drew Aquaman for a friend.

And here it is in color, because I'm all about going above and beyond.


Enjoy!

Montreal Mini-Con 2011

I'm going to have a table at the Montreal Mini-Con this Sunday December 4th, at Place Bonaventure. I'll have this Hellboy print, some sketches (I'll also be drawing in-person) and a brand new original mini-comic called "Wishes".

Come by and say hi!

Neil Gaiman's Death

Here's a marker sketch done in anticipation of the Montreal Mini-Con on December 4th. It's of Neil Gaiman's version of Death as seen in the classic series Sandman from Vertigo. I decided to use Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman as influence because I thought it would be fun, also, I'm pretty pretentious.

Do enjoy!

Pure Steele

After a prolonged absence, I have returned! Here is an image from a book I get to work on with Some fantastic people, I'll just let the website namedrop for me, if you don't mind:

Pure Steele

It's a fantastic project so far, and I'm really proud to be a small part of it, as it's going to be a gorgeous book. So be sure to keep an eye out for it!

UPDATE: And now here it is colored, because I said so.

Fame

After a prolonged absence, which I apologize for,  I really should have been producing more, I give you, finally, my full 9-page comic:

FAME
Part one

Part two

Art and Script by Stephen Morrow

Lettering by Daniel Morrow

Concept by Stephen Morrow and Raina Ebel

Dorothy

I just love the Wizard of Oz, and sometimes, I just need to get these kind of images out of my system. Entirely done in Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos tablet.

New Header

As you might notice, or not, if this is your first visit to my blog: I have a new header!

I'm pretty happy with it, as it's a far better attempt at Art Nouveau than my last one, in my opinion. In any case, I've been equipped a bit more suitably lately, so I thought it would be nice to add some progress shots of this one.

I made it in PITT pens and Gray markers on 11" x 17" bristol, coloring was then done in Photoshop CS4.

Enjoy!

Vision Machine

I have been reading Greg Pak's Vision Machine (if you haven't do yourself a favor, it's free) I whipped this up after reading the first issue. I then found out this costume was redesigned, but I liked this drawing enough to color it up.


Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Sketch (Greg Pak)

Greg Pak challenged his Twitter followers to draw him as a Centaur, and so, this is my attempt.


Enjoy!

Back In Action! (It Came From Nowhere)

I finally got to finish up this poster now that my computer has come back to the land of the living. My brother handled the lettering of it. This is the start of what I hope becomes a series, work has begun on the next iteration already.


Enjoy!