BROKEN PIECES #5

So the final issue of Broken Pieces came out a few weeks ago and I forgot to post about it with everything else that's been going on. It's available in stores and on the Comixology app. Here's a colored & lettered preview:

http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/newspreviews/119510-broken-pieces-5-preview-broken-pieces-5-preview.html

And here's the original pencil art for those pages

 And Broken Pieces was even nominated for an award for "Unexpectedly Great Read of 2012"!! Go to http://comicattack.net/2012/12/comicbooks-bestof-2012/ and scroll down till you see the category and please vote for us! Here's a comprehensive guide to help you through the process:

The Legend of the Shadow Clan

Here are the two covers I did for LEGEND OF THE SHADOW CLAN, the next book I'll be drawing for Aspen Comics, due out in Feb 2013! Here's the full story:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=41546

I'm really excited about this project for a few reasons. I get to work with writer David Wohl, creator of Witchblade & The Darkness. And I'm doing full inks for this series, a departure from the tight pencils I've been doing for Aspen so far. I've been loving inking so much lately and I'm really looking forward to exploring the process in a full book like this. And the guys at Aspen are launching their 10th Anniversary initiative next year, called "10 for 10", and Legend of the Shadow Clan is spearheading the whole thing!

NYCC sketches

NYCC was amazing! The energy in the place really kept me going on a weekend when I should have been a complete zombie. I coasted on coffee and enthusiasm and did a bunch of sketches, which is the best of part of conventions for me. And it was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I'm already planning on being there next year!

NYCC IS HERE!

This weekend I'll be in Artist Alley at NYCC. My table number is C7, and here's a map to make it easy: http://www.mapyourshow.com/shows/index.cfm?exhid=364463&booth=C7&show_id=nycc12&userid=&lang=EN&locale=EN

I'll have some prints:

And some sketchbooks (B&W 60 pgs)

And I'll have tons of original art for sale. Everything from the warmup sketches I've posted on tumblr to comic pages to sketch cards.

I'll be taking sketch commissions too, but only about 5 a day, so if you want one then finding me early wouldn't hurt.

ALSO there's an Aspen panel on Friday at 1:30 in Room 1A01 that I'm going to be a part of, so try and catch that. I hear they're going to be previewing some art for a new series I'm drawing next year.


And that's the rundown. Come say hello, it'll be fun you guys!

BROKEN PIECES #4 out now!

BROKEN PIECES #4
Mark Roslan – Writer
Cory Smith – Art
Beth Sotelo – Colors
What is lost in life is found in…death!
Aspen Comic’s newest original series, BROKEN PIECES, continues!
The fight between mortal and monster could very well shatter the pieces of their existence altogether! As Gabriella attempts to regain any semblance of focus after the heart-wrenching loss of her husband following the accident inside their lab, her work within Trinion dutifully presses on. Meanwhile, Trinion director Damon Ludas has his own sights set on putting an end to the unrestrained amalgamation of a man wreaking havoc on his security forces. And Ludas’ plan calls for unleashing his own form of pain and punishment upon the monster—the ruthless mercenary known as Harrick, and an ensuing clash that only one can possibly survive!

Written and created by Aspen’s own Mark Roslan, BROKEN PIECES will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish!

Here's a page of pencils from the issue side by with the finished page:

See a full preview here: http://geeksunleashed.me/2012/10/01/preview-broken-pieces-4/

Some Updates...

Hey! Like the new blog header up there? It's about time I made this place a little more presentable, right?

There's some pretty exciting stuff going on and it's a been a while since I updated this thing. In the meantime I've mostly been posting warm-up sketches and stuff on my tumblr: csmithart.tumblr.com

The folks at Aspen have been keeping me pretty busy this year, too. I'm working on the final issue of the series Broken Pieces right now, and I've even started work on my next project with Aspen, which I'll talk more about when they make an announcement. But I will say that I'm pretty excited about this one for a couple reasons. For one thing, the subject matter got me pretty excited- I think it's something I could really have fun with. Also, I'll be doing full inks for this book!!

In other news, I'm getting ready for NYCC. I'll be in Artist Alley at table C7 with prints and sketchbooks and original art and everything. And there's more Independents coming your way from me and Ben Christian very soon, so keep an eye out for that.

And the thing I'm most excited about is that I'm writing stories now too. The image in the banner up top is the first piece of art created for a short story I'm writing and drawing titled "The Package". It's a small piece of some stories and ideas I've wanted to draw pretty much since I was a kid, and if it goes well there will definitely be more. So far it's going fucking amazing. Here's the b&w for the banner art:

BROKEN PIECES #3 Cover Process

Here are my cover pencils for Broken Pieces #3, out in a few weeks! I've done a few covers for Aspen at this point, but this is the first one I really had any input on conceptually, so it was awesome to work on. Mark (BP writer) and Vince (editor) gave me a few ideas to run with and I did a few layout sketches to show them first.

 After showing these to colorist Peter Steigerwald, the guys wanted to see a combination of layouts 1 and 2, which I resisted at first. I always immediately think combining two layouts is going to be the death knell for any composition. But I tried it anyway, and it ended up producing the stronger layout in the end, proving I'll always have a lot to learn at this.

And here's the awesome finished piece! I'm really excited for this book to come out- it was a real learning experience and I hope you'll check it out! I'm already hard at work on issue 4...

Head over to the Aspen blog http://aspenmltinc.blogspot.com/ and check out some work-in-progress shots of the coloring process posted last week.

THE GUTTERS- Issue 310

 

I drew a page this week for the webcomic The Gutters. I got to draw one-handed Rick Grimes and some zombies, but I also had to draw a car. So I pretty much broke even.

Here's the inked page:

 

It came out a lot sloppier than I expected. Never again with the Prismacolor fine tip pens/markers. Erasing the pencils lines took off about 40% of the ink too.

181 Days of Jack Kirby Characters

Last year I challenged myself to doing a sketch card daily and posting it to twitter, and I chose to do characters created by Jack Kirby because I knew there were hundreds and it would keep me busy and motivated. Oh yeah, and because Kirby created some of the greatest comic book characters and designs ever and I knew they'd be fun. Towards the end they weren't "daily" so much as "when I had the time", but I managed to finish the set anyway. Here they all are in chronological order:

Here it is ENLARGED.
And here's a link to the Twitpic Gallery.

I also want to really thank everyone who retweeted these cards and helped me spread them around the internet. You guys rule. I hope you enjoyed checking them out as much as I did making them.

THE PRIDE #3 -Cover Process

Here's another cover I did for Joe Glass's comic The Pride. Roughs, pencils, inks. Joe left it pretty much up to me to figure out what to draw here, so I went with a big fight scene (it happens in the issue). 

It might seem like a lot of work for one image, but it got kind of complicated with all the different characters and how they interacted. I even sent Joe this color comp early on to make sense of my messy drawing:

Logan

Angry, bub. Angry.

Fathom #5 In Stores Today

I drew ten pages in this week's Fathom #5. That's 25% more pages than I drew in issue #4, for you statistic enthusiasts. Here's a panel mash-up from the issue: