Johnny Morningstar's One-Stop Doodlerama!

[Johnny Morningstar]

I got a new perscription for my glasses. I got an old drafting table. I got paper and one of those table lamps that won't stay still.

It's been too long since I've picked up a pen and pencil -- the joys of a three-year drawing block. I've been museless for quite a while.

All the files are attachments. For those who have dial up (unfortuantely, I'm one of them), placing the pics in a thread just takes too much stinking time to load.

Feel free to leave comments, suggestions or requests.

HEY, FIRST TIMERS! If this is your first time in my Doodlerama, skip around. I recommend checking out some of the latter pages. The computer coloring is far better than my earlier stuff and there may be some brief nudity!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1..... In the Beginning; Draw Me an X Wave 1; Doodlelution Part 1
Page 2.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=2&pp=15) Doodlelution Part 2
Page 3.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=3&pp=15) The College Years; I discovered COLOR (again)!
Page 4.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=4&pp=15) My comic characters with color
Page 5.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=5&pp=15) Unpopular Marvel and DC characters; Misc.; DMaX Wave 2
Page 6.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=6&pp=15) DMaX Wave 2 cont.
Page 7.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=7&pp=15) Pencil, ink, color character composite project
Page 8.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=8&pp=15) Pencil, ink, color character composite project cont.
Page 9.... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=9&pp=15) Misc; DMaX Wave 3; L's Gangster; The Ugly
Page 10... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=9&pp=15) Night; Can a Man be a Wolf?
Page 11... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=7596&page=11&pp=15) More Night; Experimenting with a Werewolf; DMaX Villain
Page 12... (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?p=749101#post749101)



Up first....

This one is right before I hit a creative block. It's one of the few attempts at computer coloring. I probably did it the hard way.

I went in with Photoshop and blanked out the bad guy's... well, I think they were his gun holsters... to lessen the break-up in the shadow. I also decided to lead off with a stronger pic than the "brooding thinker" doodle.

[Johnny Morningstar]

If anybody is interested, here's the full doodle that I took my avatar from.

I can't think of a decent name for the guy. I'm staying away from the whole verb/noun/adj that characters (and now real people) are being named. However, I am fond of taking small town names and using them for character names. I did that quite a few times in some college fiction.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a character that's in his current form. He was originally the elf guy in my avatar. I dropped the ears. I think I'm going to set his story in the "real" world.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Dark Pheonix I did for one of the Draw Me An X series before Crisis on CBR. It's a few months old.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Punk Storm from Draw Me An X.

[Johnny Morningstar]

And, Jean Grey to round out the Draw Me An X submissions.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a sketch I did of some brute reaching (possibly) for a sword or maybe a baseball bat with a nail through it. I don't like the profile, but I dig his fleshy chin.

[Johnny Morningstar]

The bad guys. For some weird reason, I prefer the static poses for characters than the whole action pin-up thing. But I like the action pin-up things, though.

[Johnny Morningstar]

She's the Angel of Death (Ret.) and not happy she's been cybernetically altered! I did this one today (June 30, 04).

[Johnny Morningstar]

It's Evil Wylie! Based on a real-live person! She's a bad woman with a bad temper with bad automatic weapons. (July 1, 2004)

[Johnny Morningstar]

A recent attempt at coloring the above Evil Wylie!

[Johnny Morningstar]

The bored, eccentric gunslinger slash criminal mastermind. Also, he's a Morningstar, too!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Good guy seen above versus the bad guy as seen on CBR.

I should have took a break doing this one you can practically see where I ran out of steam. (July 3, 2004)

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here are some quick doodles I did this morning. One is a 'before' look for the "reluctant killer" another is some Charlie Angel looking girl and the third is Po (I may change the name along with the character's age. I keep flip-flopping over 7- to 10-years-old or 13- to 15-years-old. Her function is to balance out the Good Guy Formerly with Elf Ears).

I've actually met somebody with hair and a similar face just like Po, a couple of years after I started the character. I would've loved to have taken head shots of her with the pig tails and glasses for some sort of reference.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a 2002 doodle of Po with more of a animated look.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a colored Po drawing that includes an alleged villian. I really need to come up with definitive names. I can't find the original copy of this color doodle that I saved on CD, but I did have a high-quality printed version I scanned in.

This is the mid-teen version of Po.

Again, feel free to leave comments, constructive criticism or requests. I'm trying to get back into drawing shape again.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's another quicky of my semi-reformed killer "before" when she's still in shape and a bit younger.

I'm undecided on how the cybernetic hair will be drawn. It's easier to do the porcumine but I like the robo-dreds.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Another quicky slightly showing the relationship between Evil Wylie and the smoking bad guy.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

cool stuff reminds me of jim mahfood in a way, are you a fan of his?

[Johnny Morningstar]

I enjoy Mahfood's Stupid Comics one-shots Image published. He's one of those rare guys who can piss you off in one panel and win you back in another with his commentary.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Whew. My attentions have been split 180398503845 ways last week and I couldn't hit the drawing board at all (or backpack, for that matter).

I have three leading characters that I've focused on for a long, long time. They're like "paper, scissors, rocks" with their personalities. Anyway, this guy is an elite military knight captain who is duty bound and amoral. His forearms are cybernetic and he lost both of them early on in his career when he was just a cocky and lowly private.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

looks cool, i remember when i was a cocky lowly private. fortunately i didnt lose my forearms, although cybernetic forearms might not be so bad

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm trying to work on a larger drawing but I can't seem get one of the characters nailed down. It should be simple, but I can't seem to get one of faces correct. I want to do it just right because I want to try coloring it.

To break up the monotony of sketching, erasing and tossing, I drew a female goth detective.

Sigh. Once more into the breech.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a black 'n' white version of what I was sorta trying to go for.

[Johnny Morningstar]

And, the color version.

I moved all three heads closer in photoshop among other small tweaking. I should try one with dialogue.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I liked my quickie female goth detective, I gave it another whirl. I don't even know what the side of a shoulde holster looks like. I apologize upfront.

Hmmmm. I've noticed everybody I draw doesn't smile.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a sketch tinkering with an idea for an splash page ending. The reformed killer having a flashback to her "glory" days as employed government sanctioned assassin wondering if she is capable of feeling any remorse for whom she just killed.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a teaser for Black Mob, the core group of bad guys in my doodle universe in full color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Ta-da! The debut of Black Mob.

I actually came up with a design for my reformed killer's artificial arms that I like. I also like the "stick figure" look, too, because it makes her look awkward and more grotesque.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm thinking about changing Morningstar's skin from the deadish blue to slightly albino. Which do you prefer? I like both, but storywise I can't explain why this person has blue skin.

[Johnny Morningstar]

COLLEGE SERIES

I was digging through the old drawings and stuff and found some gems. I'm damn jealous of the energy and free time without Internet, PS2, TV to get in the way. Just pesky term papers and readings. Somewhere along the way, I learned a way to draw feet that suited me... that I've forgotten along the way.

This first drawing of mine was published in the Snow Island Review, a Francis Marion University publication. You can see I've been toying around with certain characters forever. That semster, it had a communism (I interpreted as police state) theme.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a demoness and her evil yet debonair partner. I'm beginning to think I should start swiping myself.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Wow, there's a lot of nudity in my old drawings. I mean a lot!



...geez. Are those real?

I have no ideas on the guidelines here, so I'm playing safe (sorry).

But here's one I did depicting an origin shot of one the characters I've already posted. I might try coloring it later on.

I can definately see a transition from a forced mixture of LOTR/Star Wars (these were done around 1998-1999) themes to erotica (geez) to western to my current approach.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a "spooky" pic I did that saw publication in the Snow Island Review. I'm very partial to this one. It's hyper detailed. I love the shading in this one from the hand sneaking behind the main figure. I think I just discovered disposable technical pens at this time.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's Titania from Shakespeare's Midsummer... I did this for some optional extra credit. I really like this one, too. Especially the detail in the hair, vines and leaves.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's adult Po. She originally was a fairy and more of a platonic partner to the elf. Anyway, here is another drawing I did for the Snow Island Review.

FMU 4Life!

[Johnny Morningstar]

And the final installment of the College Series is:

The Commie Companion piece I did for the communism issue of the Snow Island Review. In the first drawing was the dictator with the wanted posters of Po and the Elf. This one is the freedom fighters Po n Elf defacing the dictator's propaganda poster.

END COLLEGE SERIES

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's the colored version of the secret origin pic. If anybody complains, no she's not naked.... honest. :evilsmile

[Johnny Morningstar]

I've been practicing with color and page layout. Here's the black and white version.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Now the color version.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Reflections entry.

[Johnny Morningstar]

EDIT: possible cover design. I fixed the biggest problem I had with it (bumping similar colors).

[Johnny Morningstar]

A pencil Ultimate Gwen.

[Johnny Morningstar]

The Mayor!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Whew, get distracted for five days and you're almost bumped to the bottom of the NEForum!

Here's another cover idea. It's mixed media with a photo of somewhere in Hong Kong as the background.

I probably should make the title text lighter/brighter.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Toying around with an alternate design with one of my characters.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A rough first page of a comic. Not for the squeemish! Don't nag me about the lighting source.... it's hidden by the foreground... yeah, that's it. Hidden.

I was experimenting with how to make a nighttime city skyline. I tried using photos but that didn't work. You have to find the right angle online and I don't have any skyscrapers nearby.

Crossword puzzles work nicely. Oops, I already see a mistake in my skyline. I'll fix that on the original.

One down, 15 to go.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm getting a lot of views! You know, feedback is appreciated (hint, hint).

Lessee, this is Formerly Known as Elf black and white, prepped for coloring. I have a first name, but not a last name for him yet.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a color version. I'm playing around with his colors. So, instead of the brown trenchcoat, I've gone with gray on black to see how "winter" colors look on him.

Hmmm. What do you think?

[Johnny Morningstar]

Evil Wylie prepped for coloring. There are two versions. :evilsmile :rolleyes:

[Johnny Morningstar]

The color version. I was playing with lighting in this one.

EDIT: I don't know the policy on swear words, so I changed the **** Toy belt buckle just in case. So, now there are three versions of this pic. The clean, clean one, the curse word and the... other version.

I should point out that this character is evil and being evil, she wouldn't wear child-friendly belt buckles.

[Johnny Morningstar]

BLEH! I don't like this doodle. I like the female pose a lot better than the male and I dislike both their hairdos. I stopped this drawing midway.

[Jaye]

Another quicky slightly showing the relationship between Evil Wylie and the smoking bad guy.


!!!

Very nice!!!

[Johnny Morningstar]

She's a mean, mean, mean woman and she translates well into video games with create-a-character functions.

Thanks!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a page I'm working on.

There's only three original drawings -- drawn seperately-- and composited in photoshop and colored.

This may be the most convoluted and ass backwards way of drawing.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Playing with lighting and a different way of shading in Photoshop. Some mild nudity.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Gun toting and more lighting work. Trying to get that animation color on a not-so-animated style of drawing.

[jesterpress]

you know what makes really good comics ....detailed backgrounds that drive the artist crazy

[Johnny Morningstar]

I know where you live!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Elizabeth Bathroy from Night published by Jesterpress. See above!

[Johnny Morningstar]

The last thing some poor schmuck will ever see on their security camera.

[Johnny Morningstar]

For the next series of drawings, I think I'll do second-tier or unpopular Marvel or DC characters and obscure independent characters. First up is the Red Skull (B&W).

[Johnny Morningstar]

My version of the Molecule Man. I can't remember his costume that well... hmmmm, maybe this would be the Ultimate Molecule Man. Yeah, that's it. The Ultimate Molecule Man.

[jesterpress]

Everything looks great Mr. Morningstar...I'm going to try to get your bathory pict put up on our jester press webpage

:cool:
http://www.jesterpress.com

[Johnny Morningstar]

A color Jack-O-Lantern from Marvel -- as suggested.

[Johnny Morningstar]

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE! It's Rage! Rage!

I changed the yellow in his mask to something more more suitable. Yellow? He's Rage, shouldn't red be used on his "costume"?

[Johnny Morningstar]

Johnny Sorrow from DC. It's a color quickie done with an ink pen, jumbo sharpie and Pshop colors.

[Johnny Morningstar]

For my 600th post, here's a black and white of the Blob done with a jumbo sharpie and a .7 mm technical pen. The biggest pens I have for Marvel's biggest big-man. The only Pshop done to this was filling in his singlet with black. I didn't want a 9 a.m. Sharpie headache.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a black and white of the Lizard Lady from Trouble with Girls. In case you're not familiar with her, she's a well-endowed female Asian pirate.

Trouble with Girls was published by Eternity, Comico and Marvel's Epic. Aircel published a four issue Lizard Lady adult mini-series. The characters were created and written by Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Also doubling as a Draw Me an X entry: Crazy Lorna! All pencil.

Get your ass to church, Polaris!

[Johnny Morningstar]

The hip and groovy Coffee Shop Dr. Strange that Marvel tried to pimp us during the mid-90's.

Okay, so I'm grasping for something to draw today. Sue me.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Taking a break for the MU/DCU/Indie stuff...

This is a character design I'm toying around with. She's supposed to oh-so-slightly manga (you won't even notice) and innocent do-good cop.

All pencil.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Draw Off 9 entry. I'm going with Johnny Morningstar. I figured that if I had to pick a CBR handle that I've got to translate into a drawing, I might as well use my name since I've never had a visual for it. (and I can use the end result for a new avatar! ;) )

[Johnny Morningstar]

Jean Grey black and white, ink.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Jean Grey in color!

[JadeDragon]

Hey JM!

I really dig the new Johnny Morningstar Avatar! Nice work!

And Jean Grey looks dope. Nice emotion and colors.

Fantastic job on the huge sketchbook thread. You have a great work ethic. When ya love to draw, it shows! :)

I'll keep checking back!~~~JadeDragon

[Johnny Morningstar]

Thanks!

The avatar is only my third one. The color one is definite change for the better! I keep hearing the Fonz's voice saying horrible things, everytime I look at my Draw Off 9 entry. "Eeeeeey, let's destroy the world! Women and children first, guys!"

I should slooooow down, though, but I can pencil, ink and color something pretty quickly. I'll get an idea and I just gotta throw it together now, now, now! But, I'm drawing (finally) on a regular basis and that's what I wanted to do when I started the Doodlerama.

I appreciate the comment on the Jean Grey. It took about an hour and a half for the whole thing. I can do a comic page (depending on the detail or complexity of coloring needed) in the same style in 3 or 4 hours. And, yes, unlike my pin-ups there is a background or two! ;)

[Johnny Morningstar]

White Queen, in pencil.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Movie Magneto, in pencil.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Professor X adjusting his package (I had to cover for the hand flub), black and white, ink.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Pencil sketch of one of my characters. It was done on a scrap piece of paper used for protecting the drafting table from ink bleeds (in case you see stray blotchs).

[Johnny Morningstar]

Various pencil headshots of my major and minor characters (my hand hurts). Only one has to be obviously be retooled. He's too generic looking.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I've recently been tasked to color some pencil drawings. Whew. That's been different.

Anyway, one -- that I didn't draw -- turned out pretty darn good. The less spotting I have to do the better. I'm not a fan of pencils-to-color (Gene Colan being the main exception) because the drawings look too soft. Gimmie strong ink lines any day.

Here is a practice color version of Crazy Lorna pencil drawing.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Man, I suck at drawing buildings. So, I've taken to Photoshop to design an outside apartment building. I combined some hand drawn details to lend the computer drawing a bit of my drawing style.

Here's a rough draft.

Now, I have to place drawn people around the building. Ass-backwards. I know, I know.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Now here's the building.

Basically, this is like a animation technique.

I have a a background element.

I have a foreground element

What I did was draw four different SWAT guys and placed them in and around the building.

I'd post my first attempt at drawing this by hand, but I rather not extremely embarass myself.

EDIT: It's the 95 percent complete version (with shading).

[Johnny Morningstar]

For the DMAX Jam. I traded Polaris for White Queen. Here's the black and white.

[Johnny Morningstar]

And the color version, which is subject to be touched up.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Cowboy sketch. I can't draw horses, though.

700th POST!

[jesterpress]

Johnny, You never stop...you must draw in your sleep or something...no wonder your monitors can't keep up :p

[Johnny Morningstar]

I drew something dirty, dirty, dirty and I'm not going to post it.

Imagine: Santa's evil punk girlie helper with a strap-on. I should look into getting an account somewhere for uncensored stuff (members only).

[Johnny Morningstar]

Pencil sketch of a bad guy.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Taking my time with drawing and coloring the long-winded way. Eli after being punched.

[JadeDragon]

Nice emotion in that last one, Johnny! Dig those flames.

Keep on trucking, brothah! Great work ethic...

Cheers!~~~JadeDragon

[Johnny Morningstar]

The flames are a cheat (photo). :)

During my beginner's phase of using Photoshop for sports features, I would keep a photo I took of a mobile home engulfed in flames on hand. I'd clone out the skeleton of the burning trailer to have stock flames.

I'm tentatively calling this one Santa Maria. I want a Hispanic female character, and here's a first inked attempt.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Santa Maria, color, mixed media.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Santa Maria 2, color, mixed media.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm going to do one big compilation of all my characters. Each one is getting a full body drawing, color and then composited into one big ol' poster.

Up first is my female cop pencils, then ink and (shortly) color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Johnny SOB

Pencil... sorta. I started inking when I realized I forgot to scan it first.
Finished inks.
Color.

[JadeDragon]

I dig that last batch, man. You have such a groovy style. So when are you going to do a whole comic?

Keep em coming!!~~~JadeDragon :)

[Johnny Morningstar]

I have a 16-pager completed (colored and lettered). I haven't decided to publish it black and white through a small printer, yet. It's not that great because I've had to completely redraw some pages and had found some plot holes when lettering (Moral: EDIT, EDIT, EDIT BEFORE DRAWING!), but in all fairness, it's the first time I've ever completed a comic installment.

Rough drafts of some (or a portion) of the pages in the first issue are posted on this thread.

Thanks, about the style, Jade. It's still a work in progress, though.

Up next is the Pencil, Ink, Color version of the Commandant from the first arc of a story.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Johnny SOB needs stripper/bodyguard. Here's one. She isn't bottomless, I haven't decided what the undies will look like in the pencil drawing.

I'm going with the peripheral characters and supporting characters first.

Anyway, pencil, ink and color versions.

[Johnny Morningstar]

The second stripper.
Pencil, ink, color.
I'm not too thrilled with this one. But, the strippers are subject to change at any given notice (better offers, firings, promotions).

[Johnny Morningstar]

Lil Po, pencil, ink and color.

[jesterpress]

Hey Johnny,
Just had to drop you a line to say that the half tones that you added to Clay's Come Get Some project LOOK FREAKIN" GREAT !!. It really adds some depth that only makes what was once great even better...I can't wait to see what you can accomplish with clay's other project.

talk to you soon
troy
:eek:

[Johnny Morningstar]

This is complete as it's going to get -- a color version of one of Jade Dragon's pencil pages from his Sketch A Day Forum: Original (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=16986&page=10&pp=15)

This is also my first attempt at coloring an entire comic page from pencil.

If I keep tweaking and cleaning this page, I'll go insane.

EDIT: Gah! I can't stop!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Eli. Pencil, ink and color.

[Jaye]

Eli. Pencil, ink and color.

Not sure why, but I always click on the INKs version of your stuff first. When I saw this inked one I thought: No way is the color one cooler than this, it looks great all clean and b/w. But, you outdid yourself, those colors were well chosen. Nice work!

-13th

[Johnny Morningstar]

Thanks! All three versions are included to show the steps and difference from pencil to color.

I have eight figures saved in a composite photoshop document. I got at least seven more to go and it's a neat project being able to put all my characters into one banner document.

Goth Detective pencil, ink and color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

The mayor pencil, ink, color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Jack, pencil, ink and color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Santa Maria, pencil, ink and color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Ryder, pencil, ink, color.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Morningstar pencil, ink and color.

Almost finished with all the character composite piece.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Evil Wylie pencil, ink, color

[Johnny Morningstar]

Ab. pencil color ink.

FINISHED! (I think).

Coming soon, the final product.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A color idea for my clawo-american character.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's a banner ad template I made with all those sketches. I'm kinda "meh" about it.

As king of huge memory files, the original Pshop document was 90something MBs! I'm the Cookie Monster of eating memory!

The guy in the undershirt is way too bright and stands out too much.

I have another idea but I couldn't do it if I wanted to use every character drawn. I'll go back and do something else with about 5/6 characters.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A head sketch. It kinda reminds me of Sin City's Marv and The Shield's Lemonhead.

[i_mmmchocolate]

A head sketch. It kinda reminds me of Sin City's Marv and The Shield's Lemonhead.

Wow, I love that! Nice.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Hey, thanks!

This is a sketch of a generic arrest.

[Johnny Morningstar]

One of my gimmicks as a reporter, is that I do ride alongs with various law enforcement agencies.

Anyway, I got tired of running bad night time photos and decided to go creative this go-round. This is the doctored photo (just playing with contrast and the color red) without the feature's logo.

EDIT: Holy crap! That's my reflection in the glass!

[Johnny Morningstar]

A pencil sketch of Santa Maria.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Gangster for i_mmmchocolate.

[i_mmmchocolate]

Gangster for i_mmmchocolate.


Once again, sweetness.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A black and white Jean Grey for DMAX. I took my time and based it off a attention-lost doodle while at a county council meeting.

I doubt Jean would actually dress this way... maybe Ultimate Jean.

I didn't include the pheonix flames, yet. I wanted a version without it.

EDIT: I've included the original "note book" doodle I did on a council meeting agenda. It's not I was avoiding work but election night (for me) ended at 2 a.m. and I really couldn't focus on square footage at 9 a.m. the same morning.

[Johnny Morningstar]

ULTIMATE DAZZLER! Yeah!

Probably my favorite Ult. X-Man and the funniest intro in modern comics!

@&#&$#!

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm starting a hardback sketchbook.

"Real" sketchbooks are a 50-foot wall for me. Growing up, I filled them mostly with doodles and rarely anything semi-completed. It's a lot of blank paper.

Here's something I did waiting for the school board meeting to start.

[Johnny Morningstar]

This is a dummy cover or a possible ad copy for Jester Press' Night. I even did a title logo.

I really like it. Mixed media and pretty cool.

[Jaye]

It does look cool!
What up with her mouth? Is she bleeding profusely, or is she a messy eater?

[Johnny Morningstar]

Gna-HA! See, I got your attention and now you would flip through it at the comic shop or possibly purchase it!

She ate all-you-can-eat ribs at Applebee's and they ran out of moist towellettes. It was... unfortunate for the staff.

My favorite part is the gun silhouette.

Seriously, thanks for the compliment.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Another 'Night' sample. Same color scheme. This time with a burning church.

[i_mmmchocolate]

I'm starting a hardback sketchbook.

"Real" sketchbooks are a 50-foot wall for me. Growing up, I filled them mostly with doodles and rarely anything semi-completed. It's a lot of blank paper.

Here's something I did waiting for the school board meeting to start.

Very nice!

I don't know what it is with me and drawings of badass men.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Badass men have character!

Sorta.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Badass Jack a la Sergio Leone.

[i_mmmchocolate]

Badass Jack a la Sergio Leone.


Sweet, Johnny.

I like the colors you chose too!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Thanks, again! How long have you been going through this badass men phase? It is a phase, right?

Another G,B & U style screenshot.

[jesterpress]

Way to go Johnny....everything looks great !!

[i_mmmchocolate]

Thanks, again! How long have you been going through this badass men phase? It is a phase, right?

It must be a phase. For the past couple years, I clip and print out anything with a badass man in it.


Oh wait- for the past couple months I've been clipping black and white photographs of all types of stuff. It's mostly stuff I find in magazines.

[Dark Sun]

i really like your cartoony style

[Johnny Morningstar]

i really like your cartoony style

Thanks! Personally, I don't think I have a "style" nailed down. Usually, when I'm thinking I'm going to color a drawing, I tend to do less detail. But, I do like the animated shading.

[Johnny Morningstar]

It must be a phase. For the past couple years, I clip and print out anything with a badass man in it.

Oh wait- for the past couple months I've been clipping black and white photographs of all types of stuff. It's mostly stuff I find in magazines.

Hmmmmm.

If you're clipping and saving as a scrap book for a envelope full of badass men, that's a phase. It's a fetish if you hide it. But, if you're pasting them on all four walls and the ceiling... well, that's just cool!

When I think of a badass man, it's a mingly-merging of all the Clint Eastwood western characters and an older Rutger Haur.

The key to a good badass look is the sneer.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A Night pin-up. Full color.

I experimented with rain, rain striking a surface and I created a slightly cloudy sky.

So, this is another bloody, gun toting female but with an Uzi.

It's been a while. I've had some heavy workweeks, a couple of DVD box sets arrive in the mail and several bouts of uninspiration.

EDIT: added is a grayscale version with a Night logo. I'm sure the copywright holder is thrilled that I keep abusing his character. :)

EDIT 2: A harsh contrast version was added.

[Jaye]

I've got to buy that chick a bib.
She is waaaay out of control with those baby backs.


Nice work!

[Johnny Morningstar]

A super rough pencil sketch I'm going to ink and try a new effect.

[Johnny Morningstar]

EDIT: changed some stuff around.

[jesterpress]

Love it when you show the Process from Pencils, Inks to full background color... :cool:

[Johnny Morningstar]

Learning to draw a wolfman. Forgive the standard pose. I'm going for something non-traditional.

I keep having a hard time because:
1. I have to fight my natural urge for feline features.
2. I'll come up with a sketch concept that I like and can't translate it into a tighter drawing.
3. Or, I just can't capture the appeal of the sketch.

:mad: dammit

[Jaye]

The mouth is SO GREAT in the sketch, the grey wash around it in the colors takes away from the animal-ness of it, I think.






.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I agree.

When I inked several attempts, I failed to keep the skethiness of the mouth/stubble for that animal vibe. I tried inking facial hair but it looked even worse. So, I attempted to fix it with color.

I ink too clean, I guess.

Here's two sketches and two incomplete ink dawings that I trashed (literally, I had to fix the wrinkles). Any suggestions?

I'm thinking that I may have to draw this character larger for the added detail.

[Jaye]

Hmmm. Does he need a full beard? Perhaps just a goatee would give you the room to have all those expression lines and tooth deatails. I like the pre-sketches, and agree the one you posted origianlly was the best of the bunch. But they all had the animal stuff that got lost. Coloring too clean is not a bad thing! Its wonderful. I'd much rather spend time with a clean coloring job than a messy one. Drawing him bigger might be your best options.

Does he have a name?

[jesterpress]

:rolleyes:

[Johnny Morningstar]

Hmmm. Does he need a full beard? Perhaps just a goatee would give you the room to have all those expression lines and tooth deatails. I like the pre-sketches, and agree the one you posted origianlly was the best of the bunch. But they all had the animal stuff that got lost. Coloring too clean is not a bad thing! Its wonderful. I'd much rather spend time with a clean coloring job than a messy one. Drawing him bigger might be your best options.


It's not my character, by the way. So, I probably shouldn't toy with the concept... but... but... but... I can't help myself.

I'm probably setting myself up for failure attempting to deviate from traditional mid-transformed werewolf concepts. I want more of a Charles Manson look to him and less dog features. Something different, y'know.

Slowly plugging away.

I appreciate the coloring compliments, by the way.

[Johnny Morningstar]

A "normal" looking female killer.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Gnah-HA! I may have gotten my in-between werewolf!

[Johnny Morningstar]

This young lady will go with the werewolf later on.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Full color Wolf 2.0

[Johnny Morningstar]

Full color agent.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Eerie cop. Color.

[Jaye]

Soemhow I missed your last few posts. You definitely nailed the wolfman though! Well done. Also, the cop is great. Woulda known he was a cop-type from a mile away, nice work.

-13th

[Johnny Morningstar]

Rough and sick cover or ad idea for Night (now by gasoline graphics). A zombie family portrait.

EDIT: I went back and added some text.

[Jaye]

Wow! Excellent.

-13th

[howyadoin]

I like a lotta this stuff more in the pencil stage than in the ink stage. Have you ever considered colouring the pencils, or using sketchier inks?

[Johnny Morningstar]

Generally, I'm not a big fan of pencils-to-color and prefer the solidness of ink. That said, I haven't really tried coloring my pencils that much (I have a penciled Polaris that I colored somewhere on this thread).

Hell, a couple of years ago I preferred drawing black and white only.

I am aware that I lose some style/emotion/looseness from pencils to ink and that may have something to do with me using technical pens. If I use a brush, I might as well be fingerpainting.

Right now, it's a trade-off.

[Johnny Morningstar]

For Draw Me an X Jam II: Villains.

I picked Scalphunter from the Marauders. Here are my rough pencils. I sorta patterned him after Danny Trejo from many of Robert Rodreguez's films.

[Johnny Morningstar]

FINAL DMAX Scalphunter.

[atoningunifex]

That came out very well, johnny. Very well indeed. You and bakla will probably end up being the showcase stars of DMAXJ2

[i_mmmchocolate]

Eerie cop. Color.

Nice!

I like the side pose and coloring used.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Hey, thanks, Atoningunifex. I'm my own worst critic, but I am happy with Scalphunter -- note the power drill and tape measure belt buckle.


i_mmmchocolate: The cop is a tentative design for somebody else. I'm thinking about changing the hair to thinning, plat-blond that's slicked back. He doesn't look haunted enough... or maybe, he shouldn't. Any opinion?

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm putting together a "bible"/portfolio with all my major characters trying to define their looks. About 90 percent of them are nailed down. I kept flipping back and forth on my claw-character. I decided to go with the more human look with her face.

I need to work on an easier technique for her hair.

Full color, mixed media.

[i_mmmchocolate]

i_mmmchocolate: The cop is a tentative design for somebody else. I'm thinking about changing the hair to thinning, plat-blond that's slicked back. He doesn't look haunted enough... or maybe, he shouldn't. Any opinion?

Sounds like it is worth a try! Thinning blonde hair and pale skin may make him look even more haunted.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'll give it a whirl. I gotta ween off GTA: San Andreas, first.

Evil Wylie. Mixed media (mushroom cloud).

[Johnny Morningstar]

Creepy cop version 2.

[meethraa]

We really have to work together on something one of these days.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Shoot me an idea or something.

On a side note, I've been scripting a bit and rewriting a first attempt at a completely finished (never printed) comic. That's the reason for the lack of postings.

Honest.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Morningstar under a bridge. Guns! Mixed media.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I recolored and reworked an earlier Santa Maria drawing. Mixed media.

[jesterpress]

Johnny ! I really dig the new picts...the coloring is fantastic...like the bridge and the windows and all that cool stuff...I'm looking forward to seeing your "bible"...I've been trying to track down the Korean printers that print in color but no luck so far .....but I'll keep you posted when / if I find something

[Johnny Morningstar]

A couple of sketches.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I'm a bit behind on things. Mostly my fault. Anyway, here's a black and white drawing of Eli, for his bio or possibly a promo... or both.

Will color and incorporate into something else, later.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Ah, the first draft of a comic page promo!

[Jaye]

Nice work, as always.
Did you try it without splitting the last panel? The guys face seems ike it would have more impact if it was taking up the bottom panels, with no split. Like this he sorta fades in with the background.... of course that may be what you're going for. Either way, nice work, and great colors!

-13th

[Johnny Morningstar]

Thanks to the modern miracle of Photoshop, I changed the panels.

It's three, instead of four, and the third panel includes the entire face.

Also included, is the blank version.

[Johnny Morningstar]

And the sidekick.

[atoningunifex]

And the sidekick.


I like that quite a bit.

[Johnny Morningstar]

I don't like the bomb that much. Of course, it's my first time figuring out how do a dark, reflective surface that's glowing.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Bad cop, badder cop. Sorta. It's a bit cheesy, I think.

1,000th post!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/johnnymorningstar/guildcopy.jpg

[Jaye]

For some reason the preview of this Beowulf comic (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4693) reminds me of your stuff. Not sure if anyone else will see a similarity, but it was worth mentioning. Be well.

-13th

[jesterpress]

JM...I was surfing around ComicAvalanche.com the other day on in their must read indy section was a pretty nice looking color comic printed by Comixpress, so if you didn't want to go B&W, comixpress might be a good option to be able to print in color...I'll see if I can post a link to that book...you gonna make it to Charlotte Comicon Feb 13th ??

[jesterpress]

http://www.comicavalanche.com/wasteland.htm

Wasteland is available via comixpress here.. This 24 page one shot is in full color with beautiful art from J.Augusto who is a one man band for writer Keiran Murphy. Kieran weaves a tale about a father trying to find his estranged son, only for him to discover that his son has become a ruthless killer. Set against the backdrop a world in the grip of a second ice age, Wasteland tells the story of a man trying to save his son in a world gone mad.

You can visit Wasteland's forum at Ronin Studios to give your feedback or just to drop the creative team a word or two.


Check out that COLOR !! :D

[jesterpress]

Johnny....finally got the JP website updated with the picts that you've done and some of the coloring work but for some reason the creds that I put up for you didn't make the upload so I'll fix those asap....but if you go to the site and look under art - misc sketchbook that's where they are...at some point I think it would be cool to get you your own JP Sketchbook page but that's up to you if you want that or not :D
Troy
http://www.jesterpress.com

[Johnny Morningstar]

Whew.

Six movie posters and a cover in about 10 days on top of my regular reporting duties. It's a sports tab, something I mainly do by myself (writing, layout and design). Last fall, I finally got the okay on my sport tabloid pitch -- it's a small paper and this was their first ever special section. Anway, the first tabloid won second place for best sports special section in the S.C. Press Association Awards (officially on March 4).

Here's an example of a project I'm almost finished. I'll be hitting the drawing board after this sucker goes to press.

[Jaye]

Congratulations on the award!

That photo looks pretty good, I like how the builidngs are coming up around them... the skyline in the back sort of loses me because its out of proportion and angle compared to the buildings they are amoung. I'd love to see the finished version. Cool coloring too!

I look forward to more of your drawings soon.

-13th

[Johnny Morningstar]

Ah, don't sweat the background. You can't see it with the lettering.

I was grasping for a title at this point. It was my last one and I was going cross-eyed after sitting in front of a computer for days and days.

[Jaye]

Ah that looks great! I bet the players loved it.

[Johnny Morningstar]

This particular group did not get a sneak preview -- I was late for a game to show them. Oh well, it comes out Tuesday.

Another high school baseball team got to see their poster ahead of time. Those seniors went ape shit -- which makes the time and effort I've spent on this project worth it.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Here's some photoshop work I've done for a sex offender registry story I'm working on.

It's kind of creepy. The little girl isn't local. Yes, those are real registered sex offenders, though not in my side of the state.

My gut reaction was that this was too creepy for publication, which probably means the pic is doing its job.

Any opinions?

[Johnny Morningstar]

A new female character I'm working on.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Playing around with a setting. Eh. Might as well make it April's doodle.

[Jaye]

Any opinions?

Chilling and creepy.
So, nice work!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Thanks.

A couple of friends (with kids) were creeped out as well.

I tell you, the area I work in is tough as far as getting any feedback at all. Well, unless I f-up a story or something. THEN, somebody might call. We get 0, zero, zip, zilch letters to the editior.

Anyway, here's a cover idea I'm working on. I kinda like it -- kinda don't.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Character revamp for my bar owner... actually, it's smushing two designs together.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Unknown female bad guy stretching, popping a few joints.

Yeah, it's time to get off my ass.

[Jaye]

Character revamp for my bar owner... actually, it's smushing two designs together.


Excellent!

[Johnny Morningstar]

Shield/crest draw off entry.

[Johnny Morningstar]

Color version of the cigarred one.

[Bracey]

Nice stuff man! You using color, I never thought I'd see the day! Incredible stuff!!! Boy I've missed seeing your work!

[Johnny Morningstar]

:eek:

Holy crap! Long time no see!

=====

What was I thinking back then?

The weird thing is that color has made me more concious about the black and white line work.

[Bracey]

Be afraid, be very afraid! :D

[Johnny Morningstar]

Bloodstorm for DMAX III! Black and white.

[Bracey]

Nice man you art's really been progressing!!! Check out my attatchment!!! One of my favorite pics of late!

[Johnny Morningstar]

DMAX JAM III, Bloodstorm in color.

[atoningunifex]

Cool, Johnny. I bet matt will stick that front and center.

[howyadoin]

DMAX JAM III, Bloodstorm in color.I like the smoke effect. Very cool.

[Bracey]

Nice John! Ive just finished my first digital coloring. What do you think?

[Johnny Morningstar]

Technically, it's great. Content.... after your last two pieces, I'm wondering if you need to talk to somebody. Professionally.

:)


Thanks Howy and Anton.

DMAX III won't be the same without Bakla, though. Hopefully, he'll sneak on in at the last minute.

[Bracey]

Did a new color piece (not my art). What do you think?

[Johnny Morningstar]

You're an airbrush kinda guy, are you doing the same techniques in your painting program that you would do in real life?

=====

Teaser for the web site.

[Bracey]

Yep I apply both airbrush and paintbrush technigues to my digi art. Start with what you know eh? He's a photo manipulation I did to recreate a guy's character more realistically. I'll post his pic then mine.

[jesterpress]

johnny...here's that link to the comicartfans gallery I set up....so just let me know if you want me to take down / load in any picts....

check it out and let me know what you think

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=5881

:D

[jesterpress]

By the way Bracey...pretty cool coloring...I especially like the werewolf pict....

[Johnny Morningstar]

I got a front page image ready for the comic portion of my web site. I'm going to make it an image map, here's the jpg.

The web site is thejohndavis.com, the link is in my signature.

[Bracey]

Jester: thanks man! That's only the second thing Ive ever colored in PS.

Johnny: Did you scan that crumpled paper background? Looks great with that art.

Some newer stuff from me:

Reaper
http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=966570&Start=1&Artist=Bracey452&ByArtist=Yes

Manslaughter
http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=956791&Start=1&Artist=Bracey452&ByArtist=Yes

[jesterpress]

Finished that TFM trade to day and it was really cool. I liked all the hidden stuff like the lawyers name was John Carpenter and all the zombie stuff...I'm assuming that you read it ?

[Bracey]

Hey Jester, you like werewolves...dig on this:

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=265522&Start=1&Artist=Bracey&ByArtist=Yes

[Johnny Morningstar]

If I have to see another cap and gown, it'll be too soon. And what a @%&# weekend and Monday at work.

Bracey: yep, scanned in the legal pad paper. It fits, too, if you ever see all the doodling in my note pads when I'm sitting through government meetings.

What's with you and the living dead, anyway?

Troy: I've never read TFM, yet. I just finished Cerebus... all of it. Now, I'm working off the comics and hitting Fables.

I'm getting the miscellaneous drawings uploaded on the web site. I got the 'etc' front page up that contains a section for Night and the DMaX stuff I've posted here.

Anybody know how to do pop-up style windows when being linked?

[jesterpress]

Bracey..I dig the "I'm with him piece"...it's cool :D

Johnny...you never gave me the thumbs up or thumbs down on the comicart fans link ...everything cool with it or what would you like to see changed??

[Johnny Morningstar]

I can't put this file on CBR -- it's way too big. But, I uploaded my first character bio strip on my web site.

Go here (http://thejohndavis.com/comicsbio.html)

Click on Eli!

[jesterpress]

Great Job with the web page Bios...I like em...

[jesterpress]

those new pages look great!!

[Jaye]

Holy crap, where the heck is Johnny - he's been gone for over 6 months!!?