Prodigal Concepts » comics

Captain America in 30 graphic inspirations

rod rodriguez — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:25:14 +0000

When Captain America throws his mighty shield,

All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield.

If he’s led to a fight and a duel is due,

Then the red and white and the blue’ll come through

When Captain America throws his mighty shield.

- opening theme from the 1960′s Marvel animation series

Captain America “The First Avenger”, is the latest Marvel live action incarnation. This will feature Chris Evans as Steve Rogers “Captain America”, and Hugo Weaving as the “Red Skull”.

Captain America first appeared in March 1941, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Steve Rogers, was a sickly military recruit enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum to aid the United States war effort against the “Axis” powers in World War II. Wearing an American Flag themed costume and wielding a disc shaped shield made of an experimental alloy called “Vibranium”, which was originally intended to be made into tanks. The vibranium was created by accident and never duplicated, attempts to reverse engineer it resulted in the creation of “Adamantium”. Which was later bonded with Wolverine’s skeleton and bone claws.

The movie “Captain America – The First Avenger” will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is scheduled for release on July 22, 2011 in 3D. I hope you all enjoy and find inspiration with this roundup. After all “Cap’n” is known for being relentless, surrender is not a part of his vocabulary, a good trait to have for start-up’s in the web design arena.

ninjaink

cruzaderazn

Ashmantle

herobaka

mbreitweiser

ANDREA11179

isikol

hobo95

agustin09

xzykho

Valzonline

deadhead16mb

sneedd

Ceshira

FlowComa

buchemi

zenithuk

Konjur

xxnightblade08xx

NineteenPSG

Jam-Wah

drawsgood

lovetherobot

Cinar

RentonAlex

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com inspirations…

Green Lantern in 30 graphic inspirations

rod rodriguez — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:40:19 +0000

While I slowly simmer in procrastination to write a new tutorial I’ve decided to make another graphic illustration roundup, this time from the DC universe and another summer blockbuster for 2011 (Please don’t let it be a disappointment). “The Green Lantern” is scheduled to be released on June 17, 2011 in 3D.

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. – wikipedia

Ryan Reynolds stars as Hal Jordan the first human “Green Lantern” and “Thaal Sinestro” will be played by Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) at the directors chair sits Martin Campbell (Casino Royale).

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light! – Green Lantern Oath

All comic-togists know there’s been quite a few human Green Lanterns in the DC Universe timeline but the most famous of them all aside from he’s really my favorite is Hal Jordan. Dude, it’s like asking who’s the best James Bond, Sean Connery or the other guys. I tried my best to make this roundup as Hal Jordan-ish as possible, but there’s just too many kick-ass graphics out there that I can’t help myself but include them here. Not to mention that the maestro Alex Ross is much into the Golden Age of the DC Universe. So it doesn’t matter if it’s Hal Jordan or Alan Scott, even Guy Gardner or John Stewart at the most you may find some Kyle Rayner in the mix but look past into the character background and you will still have the “Green Lantern”.

Alex Ross

For me Alex Ross can make any comic book super hero come alive with depth. His style of painting, his attention to detail and the way his characters are always staring off into some far away place is uncanny.

FrodoBacchi

A kick-ass fan art painted in Photoshop Essentials

drawsgood

Michael Myers illustrations was first featured here @prodigalconcepts in LOST – Michael Myers (the animated series) awhile back. Some of his work are grungy vintage art deco minimals like this “Green Lantern” poster.

xzykho

I’m guilty of self promotion here, I got inspired during my search of graphic materials for this article and decided to include it.

Grasset

A scanned sketch rendered in Illustrator and colored in Photoshop.

sinccolor

A mighty fine collaboration I’ve seen so far. Art by Jim Lee, Inked by Scott Williams, colored by sinccolor.

hyzak

Created in Zbrush, Cinema 4D, PsCS4 and a few hours later, tadaaa, even comes with a tutorial it’s in Spanish though so better ready that trusty Google translate.

strongstuff

A commissioned art deco poster of the Green Lantern corps, I’m really loving this minimalistic stuff.

xXNightblade08Xx

Another collaboration giving new life to an already awesome line art.

thincage

Simply hand drawn oldschool with a brush pen, white colored pencil, and Copic markers on 8.5 X 11 textured cardstock.

Cinar

What pure unadulterated talent can do with a sketch pad, markers, white ink and correction pen.

Thuddleston

Pencils -n-inks done in Manga Studio colored in CS4.

joshwmc

A cool attempt on a teaser poster, pretty early on after the announcement I suppose. The year’s a bit off but the result is brilliant.

Heartattackjack

More minimals, I don’t think I will get enough of this wonderful pieces of art. They’re so simple, just lines flat colors but still comes out with a power punch.

JimOfRapture

And another one, two in a row, this one done in a stained effect to give it more of a vintage feel.

SaintYak

I don’t feel Hal Jordan here, maybe it’s the hair style but the sketch and colored markers work for me.

Hungrysparrow

A Photoshop 7 creation, brings a lot of memories.

Cinar

Another marker masterpiece from Cinar.

xzykho

It’s still me, this time with mask and lantern logo, a bit self indulgent I suppose because I even included my sites URL, my bad. I hope you guys appreciate it though.

FrankDa

I love how the eyes and the chest insignia seems to be glowing.

Bakanekonei

“Green Lantern 41″ alternate cover penciled by Eddy Barrows, colored by Bakanekonei.

Cinar

It’s like hearing sweet music, Cinar’s work is unmistakably his, a commission piece. Done with markers and correction pen.

Wallpapers

Official “Green Lantern” movie freebie desktop wallpaper from their website, just click the image to grab yours.

rodolforever

I think this is the last minimal for this set, admire it one more time, the lines, the flat colors, the textures, ahhh this must be love.

by Alex Ross

No need for an intro, this is Alex Ross country. Not exclusively Hal Jordan or “Green Lantern” for that matter, in fact I think it’s way better. Featuring the Green Lantern with other members of the Justice League making their appearance together. Grab em while you can.

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com inspirations…

Thor – The god of thunder in 30 graphic inspirations

rod rodriguez — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:42:16 +0000

Who doesn’t like mythology? How about a mythological character turned into a comic book super hero? And what if the comic book super hero was given a life on the BIG screen? This summer we will be seeing more than one comic book super hero turn to live action, starting with “Thor”, god of thunder and son of the Norse god Odin.

The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
—Marvel.com

Stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Kenneth Branagh directs and is scheduled to be released between April and May 2011 in 3D.

I have compiled 30 of the best graphic illustrations and portrayals of the thunder god himself viewed through the imagination of those artists and fans who holds a special connection with the “Mighty Thor”. Enjoy this weeks round-up!

Mike Mayhew

diablo2003

YamaO

MCornelius

thisismyboomstick

nesmosfactory

MiaCabrera

Meredyth

LordMishkin

harveytsketchbook

earache_j

ashasylum

anjum

ANDREA11179

MCornelius

Reau Wimberly

Sasin

wildlifehoodoo

Wallpapers

More Marvel “Thor” Wallpapers

And if this roundup still doesn’t fill your appetite for the god of thunder, be sure to get your weekly dose of Thor at Jarreau Wimberly’s Thor Thursday

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com inspirations…

Johann Bodin’s magic cards and illustrations

rod rodriguez — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:44:10 +0000

Anyone familiar with “Magic Cards” knows that a lot of talent goes into the design of a single card. And I’m not talking about those David Blaine or Criss Angel types of magic cards that disappear in front of your face. What we have is commonly known as Magic: The Gathering or just Magic and sometimes simply MTG cards, it’s a complex card game similar or inspired by role playing predecessor card games such as “Dungeons and Dragons”. And this game is very popular that it’s estimated to be played by some six million players in over seventy countries.

Our featured artist for today has contributed some of his creations to this interesting game. Guys and gals meet maître Johann Bodin a French artiste who developed the passion for drawing at a very young age while growing up in Caen, France. He is a big fan of science fiction, horror, and fantasy from different platforms such as movies, comic books and literature.

Johann Bodin has been working as an illustrator since 2005, drawing for magazines, role playing games, CD covers, comic books and some publishing companies. Occasionally he would also put up a show of his collection of paintings comprised of abstract art. So if you’re in the area is sure to be on the lookout for such art shows.

In the meantime for your viewing pleasure…

Magic Cards

Deathless Angel

Narcolepsy

Urge to Feed

Might of the Masses

Gnarlid Pack

Bojuka Ruffian

Awakening Zone

Digital Illustrations

Find Johann Bodin on the web

Website: yozartwork.com

Blog: yozart.blogspot.com

Social Networks: myspace | facebook

LOST – Michael Myers (the animated series) at Bēhance

rod rodriguez — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:46:32 +0000

I’m a ~~big~~ huge LOST (T.V. series) fan even from the very beginning, so when they aired the final episode last May 23, 2010 it was a bittersweet moment for me, just like losing a long time friend. I got to know the back-story for each of the main characters like Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Hurley, Sayid, Ben, Sun and Jin even the “Black Smoke thing” and a few more characters that came and went from season to season that made up the entire population of “The Island”. So it was a treasure find to stumble on Michael Myers tribute at Bēhance network, an illustration series of some of the main characters that used to accompany my sleepless nights or on weekends (when I get caught up in my work) from week to week.

Michael Myers (not the knife wielding, scary guy wearing a mask from the Halloween Movie franchise) is a designer and illustrator from Iowa, U.S.A. (also referred to as the “American Heartland” which incidentally gave us the spooky looking, mask wearing but hard rocking band Slipknot*) his illustrations are just phenomenal! He creates these imaginative characters that ranges from the obscene to the abstract or a fusion of spooky and funky that only makes it more interesting and fun. Michael Myers interpretation of the LOST cast makes this feature post of the week because he has given a new life to the characters we’ve all grown to appreciate throughout their 6 seasons. The T.V. show’s time to shine has passed on to the realm of re-runs but our special guest illustrator Michael Myers shining moment will continue to brighten our days for a very long time. I hope you guys enjoy!

The Black Smoke

Jacob

Mr. Charles Widmore

Mr. Eko

Daniel Faraday

Miles Straume

Desmond Hume

Walt Lloyd

Richard Alpert

Benjamin Linus

John Locke

Charlie Pace

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

Sun-Hwa Kwon

Kwon Jin-Soo

Sayid Jarrah

James Ford a.k.a. Sawyer

Kate Austen

Jack Shephard

Find Michael Myers on the web

Website: www.drawsgood.com

Blog: Drawsgood Illustration and Design Blog

Portfolio: Deviantart, Bēhance, Society6

Social Network: Twitter, Facebook

Sana Takeda’s Graphic Illustrations for Inspiration

rod rodriguez — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:37:07 +0000

Comic books often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a funny book, comic paper or comic magazine have grown from simple forms of entertainment teasing our youthful imagination to expensive and most sought after collectors item and why shouldn’t it be? Each page is a work of art, it’s like having an art gallery in your hands. Each color and line strokes, each shade is masterfully created to give us graphic visuals that only needs a few words usually just a short dialog in word balloons to tell a story, powerful images that can draw out emotions from us.

Today were featuring the amazing works of Sana Takeda she’s a Japanese Artist based in Tokyo, who developed her illustration skills while working as a 3d modeler for a game publishing house. Her work with several big name American comics like Marvel, Aspen and Image speaks loudly of her talent and creativity. Currently she’s taken over the duties of penciling, inking and coloring the contents (internal) and cover art for Ms Marvel.

Check out her Marvelous illustrations…

Ms. Marvel Series Covers

Series #42

Series #43

Series #44

Series #45

Series #46

Series #48

Series #49

Series #50

Spiderman

Spiderman Clone Saga

X-Men

X-Men Forever

RF Online

Look for Sana Takeda on the web

Website: Sana Takeda’s Art Gallery

More gallery: Marvel Images

Blog: Sana Takeda

20 Iron Man Illustrations for Inspiration

rod rodriguez — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:29:32 +0000

Who doesn’t know Iron Man? Even before Robert Downey Jr. wore the powerful exoskeleton, Stan Lee’s tank armor clad ultra rich playboy super hero creation has been fighting for world peace inside our imagination from comic books to animation series and now a blockbuster movie with a sequel.

Born Anthony Edward “Tony” Stark, he is an industrialist playboy and genius engineer who suffers a severe heart injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a massively destructive weapon. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. He later decides to use the suit to protect the world as Iron Man. Through his multinational corporation, Stark Industries, Tony created military weapons and his own metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime. Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have gradually removed the Cold War themes, replacing them with more contemporary concerns such as corporate crime and terrorism. – source: wikipedia

I was planning on seeing the sequel to the Iron Man blockbuster movie this weekend with my wife, but all the good seats were booked solid. And I don’t want to compromise the experience of watching the movie from the perfect vantage point just because I want to be one of the first to see it. So without anything to do on a hot summer weekend I decided to compile this Iron Man illustration set to get it out of my system until I can finally see the movie (hopefully before this week ends… please, please, please). I hope you guys like them. And without further ado… here’s Iron Man!

eMorales

Sam Gilbey

LZ Creations

Wasiqharis

splendidrivers

Travis Charest

Calvey

diablo2003

Busasami

pnutink

katklich

Inkfloyd

deffectx

caiocacau

atlantiz15

rodolforever

strongstuff

francis001

Adi Granov

The End

If you liked the illustrations let the creators know by clicking on the images to go to their respective sites and leave a nice comment or two. And I wouldn’t mind having some comments myself or even just a track back. You can find the social bookmark buttons at the end of this post. Just click on “Sharing is Sexy! and pick any social bookmark of your choice.

Inspiration: How to Draw Cartoons Online – Jeff Scarterfield

rod rodriguez — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:45:31 +0000

The internet is overflowing with rare gems. Websites that we can consider a great find in the multitude of websites trying to get a piece of that popularity pie. As a web designer I am often on a quest in search of new skills I could include to my arsenal. And one time I was so inspired by doodle art during my research for my articles “We will, WeeWillDoodle” together with those awesome illustrated websites I’ve featured in “Inspiration: Cultural themed website designs”, that I felt like I had to try it out for myself right then and there, but I was immediately reminded of my limitations because my freehand skills are limited to just doing basic shapes and tracing.

Not to be deterred so easily I sat down to checkout our good old friend Google looking for a tutorial on “how to draw cartoons” which brought me to the website of Jeff Scarterfield from Costa Rica. As fate would have it, it was effectively titled “How to Draw Cartoons Online”. A website that teaches anyone how to draw cartoons. His style is very simple and easy to follow that anyone can do it and the lessons are totally free. You can use it for your projects or if you want to make a hobby out of it. Whatever purpose it may serve this site is one of those rare gems out there. An inspiration and a great resource of drawing styles and technique.

About Jeff Scarterfield

Jeff started drawing at a very young age and soon enough it became his passion, his subjects range from cartoon animals to people and everything in between. A traveler among other things and currently calls Costa Rica home. He put up his website on December of 2007 with a very clear goal — creating simple-yet-effective drawing lessons in hopes to help as many people as possible to become better at drawing… and of course – to inspire people to start drawing too! A cool guy who I think would be fun to hangout with he is really there to help you and inspire you. I hope you all enjoy his lessons as much as I did.

Lessons from Jeff Scarterfield

80′s Cartoons – Skeletor

Skeletor is the arch nemesis of He-Man “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe” a cartoon series from the 80′s. Jeff shows us how he recreates Skeletor using a symmetrical approach.

The initial framework for Skeletor

The final output

View the complete tutorial

Anime – Chibi Characters

Chibi is a Japanese word used to describe a “small thing or a person with a small body”. In manga it often refers to a childlike version of the original characters.

the framework for the Chibi character

View the complete tutorial

Movies – Avatar Dragon “Leonopteryx / Toruk”

In the movie “Avatar” there is a rare dragon that the humans call “Leonopteryx” and the Na’vi people refer to as “Toruk”. Jeff shows us how to draw “the Last Shadow” with just a few strokes.

the frame for the dragon

the final output of the Avatar Dragon

View the complete tutorial

Be Inspired to be an Inspiration

Totally awesome right? Be sure to check out How to Draw Cartoons Online website for more of the complete set of drawing lessons. Jeff has a lot of drawing tutorials available and he continues to update his website with new lessons as well as new categories all the time. And remember to be inspired so you can also be an inspiration to others. If you find this article useful or interesting please help me spread the word and share it with your friends by clicking on the social bookmarking button “Sharing is Sexy!” at the end of this post, Stay Sexy!