Drawings For Humans

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Happy love day, kids. We celebrated at Spitballin' with a tribute to Emma Frost! Check it out!

Donatello

2012-02-11T22:42:00.000-08:00

A little TMNT sketch I did for fun in between other stuff. My eighth birthday party was completely Ninja Turtle themed--Raphael plates and party hats, Michelangelo cake. Good times. I traced a Donatello out of a turtles story book I had and pinned it to the wall, convinced my friends I did it. And so began my career as an artistic fraud.

Sketches and Warm ups 02/11/12

2012-02-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Messing around with portraits of some favorite Batman villains. My success level is all over the place on this one.

Batman and Robin from last Wednesday's drink and draw. Lines by me, inks by Marcus To. This was pretty popular on Tumblr either because Marcus fixed so much of my drawing or people like to see Batman say "bra'".

Bebop and Rocksteady from the 80s TMNT animated series and toyline. Wish they'd bring 'em back, though I know it's a rights issue or something like that.

Zombies vs Cheerleaders #6

2012-02-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

So excited to finally show you guys this--it's cover B for Zombies versus Cheerleaders #6, out this spring! The line work is by me, and the colours are by my frequent brother in arms Adam Metcalfe. One of my favorite things to do in a page is litter it with little gags and props but I never get to do it as often as I'd like what with deadlines and stories having to be all serious and stuff. Here I got to go crazy.

In addition to that, inside there's a 6 page story written by Eric M. Esquivel and penciled and inked by myself. I've been dying to post some of my art from the issue, I really think Eric and I spun a good yarn in the allotted space, and I hope you guys all rush to your comic shops and preorder! Try and aim for cover B. I think there are 4 covers in all with this one only being on 20% of the run, so it's no easy task. I know you're up to the challenge, though. You've been around. You've seen things.

Sketchbook 2012

2012-02-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping a sketchbook again. It helps me work out what direction I want to push my stuff in. Lately when it comes to style and stuff I just don't know. Here's a brief peek.

More Recent Spitballs

2012-01-29T09:26:00.000-08:00

Art dump of stuff I've done in the past little while for the Toronto art collective Spitballin' Comics. If you haven't checked it out, please do!

Triumph of the Goofballs

2012-01-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

My two favorite super villains of all time are Black Manta and Mysterio, so I have a real soft spot for comics' less-than-sinister n'er-do-wells. It made this recent pair of commissions all the more fun, getting to show some of the lesser known bad guys trouncing their more famous counterparts. The one above is of DC's the Lord of time trouncing Marvel's Kang the Conquerer.

And this one has Captain Marvel's foe Mister Atom making short work of Brainiac and Ultron. I fell in love with Mister Atom while doing this. He looks so much like somebody Astro Boy would have punched in the face. Hope you guys like em.

Doctor Who "Journey's End" Commission

2011-10-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Rose Tyler and the Duplicate Doctor as they appeared in the series four finale "Journey's End", for a very nice fellow Whovian. I'm not the best with likenesses, but I did alright here I think--the Doctor could stand to have a weaker chin but that's what drawing superheroes all day gets you. Fun to do and it reminded me of how much I loved the Tennant series, which I'd forgotten, being all caught up in Matt Smith's run.

Firestorm Commission

2011-10-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a Firestorm I just did for an awesome cat! I'd never drawn the character before, so it was fun for sure. You can't get much more "It's 1978 and you're reading a DC comic book" than Firestorm.

1-Hour self Portrait

2011-10-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

I call it a self portrait. Others may call it a desperate cry for help. I draws 'em like I feels 'em.

Recent Spitballin' Sketches

2011-10-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Time once again for me to dump a bunch of my recent contributions to the awesome group sketchblog Spitballin' Comics here. First is my attempt at making the New 52 revamped DC universe Red Robin costume work. With a few small adjustments, I actually really like it. I still don't like the version they've gone with though...

And here's Fox McCloud from the Star Fox video games. If you're ever challenged to keep a drawing of a fox from looking like a drawing of a long-snouted cat, pray I'm not your phone a friend.

David Bowie's in space. Whatcha doin' up there, man?

And this week's contribution, Goku from Dragon Ball Z. As always, head over to Spitballin' to check out the other submissions to these theme weeks from a bunch of other awesome Toronto cartoonists and artists. It's a good time!

Happy 70th Birthday, Aquaman!

2011-09-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

I plum forgot it's my favorite DC Superhero's 70th birthday today so I had to squeak this in before the clock struck 12. I drew this last month at Fan Expo, and since never have I ever liked a drawing I've done of the classic Aquaman (too much pressure!) I sat on this until now. Would have liked to do something brand new and better as a tip of the hat to the Sea King, but I remembered too late, so this'll have to do.

Happy birthday, Aquaman!

Recent This and Thats

2011-07-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a good long while since I remembered to update this blog. Truth told, Spitballin' and worky work I can't really show off take up most of my time, and double posting work I do for Spitballin' here doesn't always seem worth the effort. But here are a few recent Spitball sketches I was happy enough with to share twice, starting with Grunge Josie and the Pussycats, above.

Next is M.O.D.O.K., the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, villainous mastermind and butt of many jokes in the Avengers comics. M.O.D.O.K. week ended up being one of our better ones overall, lots of fun stuff and a cool guest post.

Finally, what I assume/hope will be a traffic-puller-inner, this week's Spitball--Marvel Zombies, featuring X-Men mainstays Cyclops and Wolverine. Everybody's doing someone different as a zombie, so it should be cool to see once they're all up. I've got some other zombie-related work coming up this fall in Moonstone's Zombies Versus Cheerleaders, so this was a nice warm up for that.

Wrecking Crew commission

2011-05-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

(Click to Embiggen)

Kind of a fun commission--this guy and his friends play some Marvel Comics Magic the Gathering-type card game that's no longer in production, so they make their own cards for private use and wanted some original art for them. The background was misappropriated and edited, but a BG wasn't part of the commission price, and it's not a commercial card so everybody be cool.

I have a soft spot for the Wrecking Crew. None of their designs are very inspired, but I kinda like the idea that some people who get super powers at Marvel just don't have a flare for names or costumes and just kind of wear whatever. Almost invariably these types of characters are villains, but Kitty Pryde and Cannonball have worn some hard-looking disasters, too. They can't all be Dr. Doom.

White Violin

2011-05-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's gonna be a different kettle of fish at Spitballin' Comics this week. Instead of us all just doing one character, we're each taking on a member of the Umbrella Academy, from the titular comic by Gabriel Ba and Gerard Way. As always with these Spitballin' things, click the link above for a better look at my entry, and check out below for the black and white line art. This marks our sixth week doing the group sketch blog thing. We've got some great characters yet to come, too, so here's to six more.

Spitballin' Starfire

2011-05-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's Starfire Week at Spitballin' Comics, courtesy of Gerard De La Costa and Gerard De La Costa's libido (I kid--we'd asked him to pick a woman haha). Click the image to head on over to the Spitballin', and see below for the lineart!

Spitballin' Hellboy

2011-05-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

This week at Spitballin' Comics we're doing Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and it's shaping up to be the best week on the blog so far. Click the image to head over to my contribution where you can enlarge it and what have you. Gonna include the lineart here for behind the scenes bonus goodness.

Cap and the Invaders

2011-05-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Captain America and the Invaders plus Wolverine--Captain America week is almost wrapped up over at Spitballin' Comics. So far we've seen awesome work up from Ken House, Michael Walsh and Selena Goulding so far, with Neil Tavares and Meaghan Carter still to come! Check it out!

Astro Boy

2011-04-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Over at Spitballin' Comics the crunch crew and I have been doing a week devoted to Atom/Astro Boy in all his various forms (uh, two, I suppose). I figured I'd feature a different version of my Astro Boy piece here, with a simplified mouth I couldn't decide if I liked better or not. It's really hard sometimes to go with the simpler version of something when you put more time into the other version, so I'm presenting them both to pussyfoot around making a decision..

If you haven't yet, do please check out Spitballin'--tons of cool art posted there every week by awesome up and coming illustrators here in the Toronto scene. Astro Boy week wraps up this Sunday, and there's more cool stuff to come!

Spawn - Spitballin' lineart

2011-04-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

The lineart from my first post over at Spitballin' Comics, the artists collective sketch blog I formed with some fellow Toronto illustrators for love of the game. A character a week is the goal--let's see how we do! Check out Spitballin' Comics for the finished colour sketch and more of my rambling!

Spitballin' Comics Launch

2011-04-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, myself and some of my fellow GTA* illustrators launched Spitballin' Comics, a brand new artists collective sketch blog. Every week we'll pick a different character from the wide world of comics and nerd-dom and draw up our takes on the characters. We're rolling alphabetically, so first choice is mine--Todd McFarlane's SPAWN! Michael Walsh is a human dynamo, and he gets us started with the awesome piece previewed above. Check it out and give us a follow!

*Greater Toronto Area, not grand theft auto, for out of towners and non-Canadians.

Fan appreciation con day 2

2011-04-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Slow day today but managed to snag a few fun commissions--first is Living Lightning, who I thought I only vaguely had a notion of, but it turns out I was thinking of Living Laser anyway. I love the goofy, obscure guys so this was one of my favorite commissions ever. Kinda wish I hadn't looked through the book before hand, though--Marcio Takara, Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Leonard Kirk, Dan Parent, Agnes Garbowska, J. Bone, on and on and on, and all awesome work. Did my best to live up to the standard (Leonard Kirk "sketches" like most people draw diligently for 8 hours).

And another Deadpool! I brought my markers and totally managed to kill my deep red. Had to switch it up to do the job--the contrast between reds seems harsher on camera than it did in person. Did this in a mad rush in the con's closing minutes--came out alright.

Fan appreciation con day 1

2011-04-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Some sketches from the Fan Appreciation con today. Forgot to take pictures of some of them (it slips my mind I have this capability). I was super excited to get to do a sketch on this blank Wolverine #1 sketch over--my first time ever being asked to do something like this. Deadpool as Wolverine. Bummed I forgot to bring some markers.

Electro, for some cool dude.

Deadpool in the army. The guy that got the Deadpool sketches (and often gets Deadpool sketches) is always super enthusiastic and complimentary--I count him as one of my two fans. Yep, two, baby. The big leagues.

More tomorrow, if I remember.

Sinister Nine dans la colour!

2011-04-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man versus nine of his most fearsome foes, now with colours by tag team troubadour Adam Metcalfe. Slick!

Hack/Slash sketch card commissions

2011-04-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Had a couple blank sketch cards lying around from last Halloween's Hack/Slash set, ended up being commissioned to do these by a nice guy in the UK--one of Vlad, one of Cassie. I tend to use pretty simple colouring when I do these, both because I'm a sucky colourist and it's fun to see how far you can make the simple application go. Given that, I was really pleased with the way the chalkboard came out--neat effect, I think.

Sinister Nine preview!

2011-04-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

Lineart preview of the print I'll have on hand at the Toronto Comic-Con Fan Appreciation event, April 9th-10th in the north building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (gods willing). Managed to squeeze in nine of Spider-Man's sinister foes, including the original Sinister Six, Goblin, Rhino and Venom. The two-day con is completely FREE and cartoon heroes like Manapul, Sprouse, Darrow, Van Sciver and To will be there (as well as the whole Northern Guard team) so come by and say hello if you're cool.

Sheena sketch card 4

2011-03-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

I think I said I was done posting these Sheena sketch cards I did for the 5Finity set, but I lied. Now I'm done posting them. Pr-probably.

Just Playin'

2011-03-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Scanning marker is merciless, I have no idea how to do it at all--but these are some sketch card size sketches of Marvel superheroes I did the other day, in chronological order. I think I got the hang of it better as I went through.

Sheena sketch card 3

2011-03-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

One final Sheena sketch card--I know she's the queen of the jungle and that's not where ostriches live, but ostriches are cool and leggy dames are cool so there you have it.

You almost wouldn't believe how dramatically different the colours are from the original, to the scan, to the upload. This stuff gets frustrating.

Nightcrawler

2011-03-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

(Click to embiggen.)

Kinda like how this one came out. Really fun character to draw.

Iron Fist

2011-02-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

One half of everyone's favorite comic book bromance, I used to think Danny Rand was the lamest guy ever when I was a stupid kid. Now I've grown to love his Spider-Man dew-rag and little yellow slippers. Proportions on this are a bit silly (bit of a running theme with me lately) but I figured I'd post it anyway.

Click to embiggen!

Northern Guard #2 5-Page Preview

2011-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

So according to publisher Moonstone Books, The Northern Guard #2 is available in finer comic shops next Wednesday, March 9th, at the crack of whenever your comic shop opens. In anticipation of this momentous occasion I'm posting some of the inked pages for the issue, sans colour or whatever to give you humans a look at the process.

As always, click to embiggen! Hope you guys like it!

[Edited to adjust shipping date.--DJC]

Sheena sketch card 2

2011-02-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

Another sample from the cards I did for 5Finity Inc's sold out Sheena sketch card series, shipping out tomorrow. Skies are purple, I guess, man!

Voltron Tribute

2011-02-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

Voltron: United and Drawn, the official Voltron art book, came out early this month and is in stores now, as well as being available for purchase on the official website. This the piece I illustrated for it, line work by me with Adam Metcalfe on colours. It's full of great art and history and such so if you grew up on Voltron and you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. It is so choice.

Sheena sketch card

2011-02-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

I recently did a series of Sheena queen of the jungle sketch cards for 5Finity Inc, and some of them turned out pretty alright. They're already sold out I guess--pretty cool.

The Aquagent of Victorian England

2011-02-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

Done to submit to Superhero Cocoa, a superhero redesign blog that's taking part in a redesign Aquaman month crossover with a few other sites. Their theme is to re-imagine Aquaman as he'd appear in a different culture/time, so I went with a turn of the century British Aquagent, protecting the waterways and the lost city of Atlantis' magics and riches from his rogue admiral half-brother Ocean Master and the deep sea plunderer Black Manta. Aquaman's pretty much my favorite superhero so I took the redesign to his supporting cast as well. Topo's still an octopus.

Voltron Art Book out this Wednesday

2011-01-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

The Official Voltron Art Book is out this coming Wednesday from 5Finity Productions and Moonstone books. It's got a pinup by myself with incomparable Adam Metcalfe on colours. You can get it through most comic shops or online at www.voltron.com. I'm pretty sure owning one will finally make you popular.

Northern Guard #1 hits shelves TODAY!

2010-12-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

Pencils and inks by myself, colours by KT Smith.

Today's the day, peoples of the world! I wanted to share a few pages with you before you all go out and buy 20 copies, but not being sure what I could and couldn't show I went with the two pages that were for sure on line before now, pages 3-5, where Nanook of the North lays siege to a clandestine drilling operation in northern BC, and runs afoul of our villain, the Red Rogue. By now you're hooked beyond all capacity for rational thought, so I'll leave you to rush out and get your copy, dear reader!

The Northern Guard is a 3-issue mini series published by Moonstone Books, written by Ty Templeton, illustrated by myself, coloured and lettered by KT Smith, with interlocking covers by Jason Edmiston. It'll make your eyes rain!

Northern Guard #1 in stores December 15th!

2010-12-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Very sorry for the short notice but after a delay at the printers I'm told The Northern Guard #1 will be in comic shops across the continent this Wednesday, the 15th. Pictured above is 1:5 my variant cover, showcasing the comic's stars, revamped 1940s Canadian comic icons Johnny Canuck, Freelance, and original creation Nanook of the North!

Northern Guard is a 3 issue mini series from Moonstone Books written by Ty Templeton, coloured and lettered by KT Smith, with covers by Jason Edmiston and interior art by this guy right here. Back up features include reprints of the original comics some of these characters featured in, never seen since their original publication over half a century ago! It's everywhere you want to be!

"The Pro" Sketch Card

2010-12-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

Did this last summer for 5Finity's sketch card series of Garth Ennis and Amanda Connor's superhero spoof comic The Pro, which is full of great art and designs. For my cards I decided to concentrate more on the Pro's supporting cast of heroes than the Pro herself--here's the Saint and the Speedo for example. Some of these were pretty cool, but unfortunately, this is the only one I got a scan of. These were done in pigment pens and Copic markers.

Northern Guard #1: Yes, it seems to be quite late. It was supposed to hit stores on the 24th of November, and it still hasn't. It's been printed and everything, we're all trying to figure out what the holdup is. I'll post here as soon as I know which of the coming Wednesdays it'll be arriving in comic shops (we already know it's going to be later than the 15th). In the meantime, we're all super sorry for the delay, but the book is coming--I promise!

Hack/Slash Baseball Styles

2010-11-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

Another of my Hack/Slash sketch cards for 5Finity Inc, my favorite of the bunch. I really hope whoever out there has it likes it, it was another one I wanted to pocket for myself. Wish I still had it, but it's out in the world now. God speed, little doodle.

Updated Commission Information:

1 Character, Full body B&W: $50

$15 each additional character
1 Character, Full body color: $75
$20 each additional character

All prices are for pencil and ink drawings and for private commissions only--nothing for commercial use or publication.

Original characters are fine, with reference. I might take more complicated requests as well, with the price to be negotiated. I may post the piece on the internet, or in a sketchbook or something (in the case of original characters, you'll be mentioned and credited).

Single character drawings are 8x11 or 9x12, multiple characters usually end up on 11x17 boards, and prices don't include shipping which I try to make close to cost depending on where you live. Rates are the same for US or Canadian funds--you just have to deposit it upfront through Paypal before I can get to it. After payment's received it'll be a week to a month for me to finish, depending on my schedule.

You can send your requests via email or note me on deviantArt. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

email: davidjcutler@live.com

2nd Omega Guardians Commission

2010-11-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is my second outting doing a commission piece for Ursa Magnus and friends, interpreting their original superhero characters the Omega Guardians. Tried to mix things up a bit this time and do more of a poster shot of the group--Jetleg and Inker Guy are especially really neat designs. Check them out on deviantART!

"Very Very" Illustrations

2010-11-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

This sequence was done for the short story "Very Very" by Sandy Navaro, published in the Fall 2010 edition of R.E.A.L The Canadian Kids' Magazine, an educational mag for kids K-3. The finished art's slightly different in the published version (gone are the Coraline-esque button eyes) but I really wanted the originals for my online portfolio, so here they are. Mostly really happy with these.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

(Click to embiggen)

Something monstery from the sketch book--Gill-man from Creature From the Black Lagoon, easily the coolest of the old Universal monsters. Freaks the hell out of me.

Bebop

2010-10-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

Youse wants a drawing of Bebop on All Hallow's Eve Eve? Duuh, sure thing, boss! This is kind of a Halloween post, right? I mean, Bebop's a monster of sorts. You decide!

As always, click images to embiggen.

One final Hack/Slash sketch card

2010-10-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last one I'll throw up, for now--a nice blood splattery one, because 'tis the season. This one was a lot of fun, layered red acrylic paint on over an ink and copic drawing, then used a toothbrush for the spatters of blood-rain or what have you. Almost didn't want to give this one up.

Another Halloween Hack/Slash sketch card

2010-10-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Another of my recent sketch cards for 5finity's series of Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash in finer comic shops just in time for Halloween. Pigment pens, copic markers, white out pens, love of the game.

Hack/Slash sketch card

2010-10-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween, 5Finity productions have released a sketch card series of Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash. I have 16 in the mix this time around. Lots of fun to do--the most fun came from covering everything in blood with copious use of red copics.

Real Magazine cover work

2010-10-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover for volume 5 of the Elementary Edition of REAL: The Canadian Kids' Magazine, out later this month I believe. One of my interior illustrations was appropriated for the cover as well, which is awesome. I'll probably end up posting some of the interiors weeks from now, too.

Leonardo Leads

2010-10-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

After a brief turtle-break I decided to come back to the Ninja Turtles and finish off the quartet with Leonardo. Somewhat unfortunately, I did this right after finishing up a kind of big and rather cartoony illustration job, so I think the inking style especially is kind of different from the ones that came before it.

(Click to Embiggen)

A big part of the reason I ever started drawing as a little kid was to try and be able to draw a really good Ninja Turtle. Getting there.

No Bad Dogs

2010-10-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Piece I did for the short story "No Bad Dogs" written by Laura Best, appearing in volume 4 of the grades 4 to 8 edition of REAL Kids Magazine. Wanted to stick this in my portfolio eventually so I figured I'd share it here as well.

Omega Guardians OC commission

2010-09-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Commission piece I did for Ursa Magnus and his cohorts of their original superhero characters, the Omega Guardians. Check them out on deviantART!

The Northern Guard #3, January 2011

2010-09-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Holy shirt, it's that time again and Northern Guard #3 has been solicited. It's by the same people it's always by--Ty, myself, KT, and Jason on covers. Out in January 2011, the not too distant future. It's everywhere you wanna be, baby.

Charity Sketchcards

2010-09-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

(Click to embiggen)

Did these four interlocking sketch cards for a charity auction deal with March of Dimes and 5Finity Inc. Looks much better in person, these marker drawings never can right for me. I realized too late that I should have stuck to three cards side by side as that's all those card holder things will fit. Maybe they were auctioned off individually? I'm not sure. Fun, though.

Raphael

2010-09-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

Another turtle for reasons I can't begin to imagine--Raphael this time. My version's more in line with the Raph of the original comic books or the first couple movies--the angry, scrappy Raphael more than the sarcastic 'funny' one he was on the cartoon series. So he's like a battle damaged tank, less concerned with finesse and accuracy in a fight and more with inflicting damage.

No pencil version this time around as this started out as Leonardo until I re-thought what I wanted to do with them.

Donatello

2010-09-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Donatello, probably the turtle I have the most affection for nowadays. I did this much quicker on the heels of the last one than I intended, but they're fairly fun exercises and I tend to need to remind myself drawing is fun every couple of days haha... It's fun to try and make the turtles look physically distinct from one another, and communicate some of their personality in their face and build. I gave Donny more of a nerdy unassuming face, big beak, lankier, taller build than Mike. He's a thinker.

Dunno if I'll keep this up for these but thought it might be interesting to show the pencils and inks again, especially since it changed so much between the two. Wanted to make his face a little more likable, as well as get rid of the tool belt I was originally giving him. Didn't want to cheat the geting-personality-across-in-the-design thing with too many props. He ended up with bicycle gloves for some reason? Maybe this Don drives the turtle cycle exclusively, I dunno.

Michelangelo

2010-09-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Michelangelo, the turtle no kid can do without and no adult can stand. Started as a rough sketch from months back, but I liked the face enough to want to see it through. The other three may be coming in the future, similar motif.

Figured I'd post the process stuff, too, seeing as how I actually had it all scanned for a change. These are the DVD extras to which you've become accustomed.

Drink and Draw 08/09/2010

2010-09-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ocean Master sketch from last night at the kind-of-weekly Toronto Drink & Draw. Always surprised how few people know Orn, seeing as how he was a villain on Brave and the Bold as well as JLU and featured on the Injustice Gang in Grant Morrison's 90s JLA book.

Snikkety Snikt, dingoes!

2010-09-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

I always think of brown costume Wolverine as Australian Wolverine, due to his inexplicable accent in the 80s Pryde of the X-Men cartoon, which I watched again just this morning. The accent I remembered, but I was seriously surprised to hear him call people "dingo" instead of "bub". Dunno whose idea that was.

New Avengers sample pages

2010-08-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

Script from New Avengers vol. 1 #56, written by Brian Michael Bendis and provided by Marvel. These were a part of my FanExpo 2010 con portfolio.

He-Man and the Masters in color

2010-08-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Final colours on the Masters of the Universe Print, a Cutler Metcalfe joint. Forgot to include Evil-Lynn and Moss Man and as such I've failed you all.

Briefly: FanExpo was a blast, thanks so much to everyone who came by and said hello--can't wait for next year. I did a lot of commissions but I always forget to ask people if they'd be so kind as to email me a scan of them or, you know, bring a camera myself. There's a Deadpool or two floating around out there that I was pretty happy with. If any show up, I'll post 'em!

Riddle Me This Shiz Right Here

2010-08-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

Questions, Mr. Wayne? My work raises too many questions?

Then why not come down to FanExpo Canada this very day and ask me them in person! Commissions, sketches, prints, idle chit chat--I got what you need.

Did this very quick Riddler job for love of the game. Love the Riddler in all his incarnations (even Jim Carrey's), but I especially have a soft spot for Frank Gorshin's brilliant turn as the prince of puzzles in the 60s tv series. Tried to capture some of Gorshin's performance in the face, but like Jim Carrey's attempts at copying him, I fell short.

Mr. Miracle and Big Barda colours

2010-08-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Banged out some colours on the previously posted First Couple of New Genesis pic, for no good reason at all. Taking a break from penciling, I guess.

Bizarro hate FanExpo!

2010-08-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Finished colours on the Bizarro pencil drawing I'd posted earlier this month. I'll have prints of these on hand at FanExpo this very weekend and you should come along and bring your jukebox money!

Toronto Drink & Draw 18/08/2010

2010-08-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Legion of Superheroes villain Validus. Drawing in bar lighting is not an easy thing.

Down, Down and Near!

2010-08-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

A Bizarro boy and his Bizarro dog. They am best enemies. Another warm up drawing that got away from me and became a full thing. All my warm ups get away from me and become full things.

A friendly reminder that I'll be at FanExpo Canada in artist alley, table p65B with hometown heroes Ty Templeton and Jason Edmiston to my left and right. Prints, high fives, and commissions on demand are the order of the weekend. Come say hello!

In comic shops December 2010...

2010-08-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

So it has been solicited, so it shall be sold: The Northern Guard #2 and the Voltron: Defender of the Universe Official Art Book hardcover.

The Northern Guard, of course, stars Johnny Canuck and the heroes of the Canadian golden age in a story by Ty Templeton, with art by me, colours and letters by KT Smith, and a cover by Jason Edmiston. The Official Voltron Art Book features tributes and such by all kinds of very fine folks, but perhaps most earth-shatteringly, it has a pinup of Princess Alura and the blue lion penciled and inked by me with colours by intercontinental tag team champion Adam Metcalfe.

Yes, December just became the most important month in your whole year.

Mr. Miracle and Big Barda

2010-08-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

My favorite of Jack Kirby's New Gods and one of my favorite comic book couples (one of like two I'd like to see stay together as long as there are superhero comics). Bottom's a little faded--my scanner's on its last legs and it does what it feels like.

He-Man and the Masters print preview

2010-08-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

(Click to embiggen)

Pencils for my main print I'll be trying to push on people at the con, my favorite characters from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (minus Evil-Lynn and Mossman, who I somehow neglected). I guess I'm running on an action figures nostalgia theme? Now it just awaits inks and colours from your hero and mine, Adam Metcalfe. This is just a preview, the final piece won't be cropped as tight around the edges. The print and the original will be on hand at FanExpo at the end of the month.

Somewhat a labour of love on this one--He-Man was my first passion as a kid, predating Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, TMNT, Bucky O'Hare and Aquaman. I had He-Man and Skeletor as early as my first Christmas; More cautious parents wouldn't have let these choking hazards into such small hands, but mom and dad were wise enough to know sometimes the coolness of space barbarians supersedes the survival of their first born past infancy.

Let's croak us some Toads!

2010-08-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars? It was kind of the jam in 1991. Looks at first glance like a Star Fox knock off or Ninja Turtles cash in, but the original comic it was based on predated both (okay, it was in stores the same month as TMNT #1, but still). The cartoon was canceled too quickly but it managed to spawn an awesome toyline and an even better NES game before it died. Drawing these guys is insanely fun.

Likely going to have a few prints of this available at FanExpo at the end of the month. Sort of a niche thing, but I figure if a couple Bucky fans do pass by--who are they to resist it?

Slash, the Evil Turtle from Dimension X lineart

2010-07-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite characters from the 80s Ninja Turtles toyline. Did this for fun some weeks ago with every intention of colouring it but, again, it never happened. Maybe later this summer.

Generation X pinup

2010-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

I did this pinup of the angsty 90s mutated grunge kids from Marvel's Generation X a while back and intended to do it as a print for the fan appreciation con back in June... things got busy though and I didn't like how the colouring was going, so I eventually abandoned it and moved on to something else. I kinda forgot that I'd done it until I came across it this morning looking for something else. Figured I'd post it so it doesn't go to complete waste.

If you've never read or even heard of Generation X you should really check it out. One of the diamond in the rough superhero gems of the terrible 90s, especially the first 30 issues or so.

The Northern Guard #1, November 2010

2010-07-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

At long last it has been solicited--The Northern Guard #1 from Moonstone Books. Written by Ty Templeton with pencils and inks by myself, colors by KT Smith, and a cover by Jason Edmiston, it'll be in finer comic shops November of this year, and continuing for 3 issues monthly thereafter. It's also got a variant retailer incentive "O Canada" cover by me, pictured above, which should be hard to get your hands on but whoever manages gets a free high five from me, guaranteed.

Drink and Draw 2

2010-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Electric Boogaloo. These are from the June 30th drink and draw, which was a lot of fun and very well attended by all the cool cats (the bad dogs couldn't make it). Karaoke afterwards. Good times. I've mostly (entirely) been working on things I can't post here any time soon so I figured I'd just update with these doodles to keep in the habit.

Aquaman.

Cyclops and friend Dean, primed for adventure.

Cosmic love on the rocks with no ice.

Bizarre sketch card/signature combo

2010-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's me alright--and the guy next to me is Gerald Ford.

This is an Airboy sketchcard I did for 5Finity Productions and Moonstone Books that ended up being sealed with the autograph of former president Gerald Ford. Ford's always been one of my favorite presidents because of my childhood fondness of his 'appearance' on the Simpsons. Say, do you like football? Do you like nachos? Well why don't you come over and watch the game and we'll have nachos. And then some beer.

I love this thing. I wish it were mine.

Toronto Drink and Draw Sketches

2010-06-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Just about every Wednesday there's a drink and draw thing here in the city, often heavily attended by pro and aspiring pro alike. When it comes to the drinking and drawing, I'm usually more the former and not so much the latter, but this last time I thought I'd give the opposite a go and try my hand at drawing in dim bar lighting. So here's the Thing and Luke Cage, fast as fast can be. Fun times.

She-Hulk commission

2010-06-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Commission I did for a cool dude by the name of Andrew for the Toronto Comicon last week. Me on pencils and inks, Captain Adam Metcalfe on gorgeous colors--it's posted up on his blog as well. He's my tag team partner for this sort of thing, so if you order a commish from us, this is a decent sample of what we do.

Dinobot--Maximize!

2010-06-02T01:55:00.000-07:00

(Click to Enlarge.)

That's right, Beast Wars fan art, you heard me. Beast Wars was a Transformers franchise spinoff and one of the first CG animated shows on television. Friend Meaghan Carter loaned me all three seasons on DVD, and this was the end result. The show was a favorite of mine in the late 90s, way better than it had to be. Even today, outside of Avatar, I can't think of any kid's shows where the characters grew and changed the way the best ones did on Beast Wars. Dinobot's always been my favorite.

There may be more of this to come, haha...

(The background image is edited from a texture by http://arcy-is-distracted.deviantart.com/)

New Warrior Forest Girl Print

2010-05-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of two prints I'll have available for purchase at the Toronto Comicon Fan Appreciation Event This coming Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th. It won't have the "Toronto Comicon" bit at the top--that's just there so you don't just download the smaller version, you hooligans. The other print is still being coloured, but I'll post it here before the show. Hope to see you there!

He's just a chill guy

2010-05-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

The longer you look at the words house and mouse the less they look like they should be pronounced the way they are.

Business Card Illustrations

2010-05-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

I started doodling this alien girl in my sketchbooks back in early 2008--K'yoot, the teal-skinned world conquerer in a bubblegum Jetsons dress. I whipped up this pinup shot to go on the back of my 2010 business cards, although I'm starting to worry about the loss of clarity at such a small size. Might get some tweaking yet.

Update (May 7th, 2010): And here's the illustration for the front of the card. More of this is going to bleed off than I intended (for some reason it was the only way I could get it to size right) so here's the full thing for the curious. Originally there was a robot sidekick but it was too busy for what's going to end up being such a small illustration.

Portrait commission process

2010-04-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really a process thing and not really a portrait, but it is a commission so I'm kind of speaking truth. These entries get hard to name. This is for a client (and, okay, friend) for her twitter and website. Hence the craptacular last second watermark. I get to keep publication rights so here it is here.

Anthology Comic Sequentials

2010-04-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

These are for an anthology comic being published by my old school, featuring the work of the graduating third year class. A few of us did 4 pages each in a 20 page story (thereabouts?) about a girl going through a fighting game opponent by opponent. My contribution is chapter 2. It'll be lettered when it sees print

The Guardians - Nanook

2010-04-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

The next promo pinup for Johnny Canuck and the Guardians of the Northern Light, Nanook is one of only a few original characters in the series. The book is mostly a re-imagining of the forgotten superheroes of Canada's comic book Golden Age, but Nanook has no 1940s counterpart and stands on her own. So, she was created by Templeton and Cutler I guess. That's pretty neat.

Nanook's a snow elemental, a powerful Inuit deity who possesses the body of a mild-mannered government agent Thor-style, and has the ability to summon a... well, maybe I won't say, but it's awesome.

I should probably mention these garish little logos I've been doing are by no means official, it's just me trying to learn Illustrator for fun or profit.

Cyclops marker collab

2010-03-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

Did this with semi-frequent collaborator Adam Metcalfe on colour duties last December or so, and since he posted a nice scan version of it on his blog I thought I'd snatch it and do the same. There was a Beast we did too, but I didn't get a scan before I gave it away. If I ever do I'll throw it up maybe.

The Guardians - Freelance

2010-02-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

This is a pinup shot of one of the main characters in Johnny Canuck and the Guardians of the Northern Lights, from Moonstone Books, by Ty Templeton and myself. Thought it might be fun to introduce the character and show off the update/redesign I did for him. Freelance was created in 1941 by Ed Furness and Ted McCall, and he was the second Canadian superhero to pop up. You can read a little more about the character here.

Image courtesy of International Superheroes.

Freelance is a favorite of mine, and of all the revamped characters in the book, the one who sticks closest to the original design: blond hair, red shirt, L logo... We made him a little younger and a little more street-clothes, but the basic look has been retained, I think.

I started this as a warm up before doing a big Freelance heavy action sequence, but I kept going as it was pretty fun. I'll probably do more of these as the release date approaches.

Avengers Portfolio 2010

2010-02-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

The fruits of my winter labors, this 8 page sequence (including one double page spread) featuring Marvel Comics' Avengers characters is the main piece of my 2010 portfolio, drawn from a script provided by veteran penciler and instructor Dave Ross. (Click to embiggen.)

Moonstone Maximum Sketchcards

2010-02-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

Another project I did for Moonstone Books. I was asked to do sketchcards of their characters and licenses for insertion in the Moonstone Maximum trading cards they did with 5Finity (in finer shops everywhere right now, I believe). I did these in pen and copic marker, and they turned out pretty cool.

I'm not allowed to post all of them, but since they've posted a few and I've seen others on ebay and stuff (grr), I figure it's safe to post a few here. If you ever find one of mine and see me at a con or something, present it to me and I'll... I dunno, but you'll win something?

Digital Color Illustration 2

2010-02-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Mondo Gecko from the Ninja Turtles universe of characters. Loved him as a kid so I did some redesigining.

From Christmas 08.

Star Fox from... Star Fox. With these last two I was playing around with adding some made-in-Illustrator elements rather than just straight photoshop colouring.

Semi-Daily Aquaman Comps

2010-01-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

An Aqua-Haiku

By David J. Cutler

Dear friend Aquaman

No one seems to understand

But you're the bomb, yo.

Cold day for chubby kid

2010-01-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

Just something I liked from my life drawing sketchbook. Done on a cold day from the window of a Starbucks of a kid waiting for a street car looking envious of my being in a heated building.

Johnny Canuck announcement

2010-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like Moonstone Books is gearing up to start promoting the book, so I can finally publicly say what my project with them is--Johnny Canuck and the Guardians of the Northern Lights! It's being written by comic book kung fu master (and my former instructor) Ty Templeton, with colours by Keiren Smith and painted covers by Jason Edmiston. Oh, and pencils, inks, and character designs by me. This guy, right here.

Johnny Canuck is a revival of the "Canadian Whites", which is a nickname for the Canadian pulp and superhero comics that popped up during World War II when American comic supplies were cut off in the Great White North. Now Johnny Canuck, Blackwing, Trick Merlin, Red Rogue, Zor the Mighty, Freelance and others are reimagined and revamped and thrown into the post-apocalyptic near future for your four colour enjoyement. Yeah!

3 issues, Launching this July, gods willing. I'll post some pages sometime, or maybe some process stuff, when we figure out what to preview.

Marvel Portfolio Submission 1

2010-01-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

This was my first attempt and impressing the guys at Marvel for their portfolio reviews when they came to town last Fanexpo. Spider-Man and Black Cat vs Assorted Spidey Villains.

Acrylic and Gouache Illustrations

2010-01-23T18:24:00.000-08:00

Jack Rabbit and Turtle Girl, a couple original characters in acrylics, I think.

Sea Monster in gouache, done for class. Trying some stuff.

DC Comics' Booster Gold painted in gouache. Had fun going super cartoony with this.

This was from an assignment where we had to design a wrap around box cover for an original video game concept. I came up with girl fight and populated it with some older characters of mine and random sexy nurse, cheerleader, etc. Acrylic and China ink and a bit of gouache.

Stuffed animal parade?

2010-01-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

Adorable cartoon stuffed animals for your eyeballs. Yes, that is an Aquaman bear. Yes, I have real problems.

Digital Color Illustrations

2010-01-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

Commission of Marvel's Deadpool.

Forest Girl, an original character I do a pin up of now and again.

Ray Fillet, a satellite character from the Ninja Turtles cartoon and Archie comic. Redesigned him a bit.