Third Rail Design Lab Pin-Ups

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 9: HAM: Spy Chimp

This week's TRDL R3 Jam was 'Historical Figures'
I was inspired by one in particular, in no small part to my love of simian silliness...
HAM [Holloman Aerospace Medical Center], our first chimp in space... I drew this pic in honor of the 50th anniversary of his flight. Of course, in my version, HAM wasn't just our first chimp in space, but also a super-cool 60's spy! Read below for notes on the process and what some of the details mean...

Please enjoy...

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...ham-spy-chimp/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=19941
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...ham-spy-chimp/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...1109_hampz.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

Third Rail Thrills 48 – Lady Deathstrike Pin-Up
TRDL 2011 Illustration Series No. 10

This illustration was done for the R3 Jam on TRDL’s R3 Forum. Artists can participate in any open jams by heading here. The subject this time: CLAWS

For this week’s Theme Jam (Claws) I chose to do one of the 90′s X-Men villains I always loved in concept, if not always in execution (being no fan of much of the art from that period)… but the idea of essentially a female Wolverine with some degree of techno-mutation always intrigued me, and the basics of her design looked cool. This is my version, mostly on-model. I made her arms proper cybernetic limbs rather than techno-mutated, per se, and I changed the loincloth to a side belt wrap, but this was a compositional choice. This is the 10th pic in my 2011 series, and number 48 in the Third Rail Thrills series, which are contemporary characters in poses inspired by vintage pin-up art.

Please enjoy, hell yes!


Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...strike-pin-up/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=20013
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...strike-pin-up/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...0_ladyd48z.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,

[thirdraildesignlab]

Third Rail Thrills 49 - Velma Pin-Up
TRDL 2011 Illustration Series No. 11

This illustration was done for the R3 Jam on TRDL's R3 Forum. The subject this time: Scooby-Doo

For this week's Scooby-Doo jam, I HAD to do Velma. I've drawn Daphne twice now, on account of her mod style, but never Velma, who was always my favorite. What can i say, the smart brunette in glasses? That tools my leather right there.

Please enjoy, hell yes!

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...-velma-pin-up/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27


Third Rail Thrills is a series of pin-ups inspired by classic cheesecake art. Some of these pieces may also occur in my other series' such as the Propaganda Art or Bomber Girls, but the Thrills series puts them against the showcase background and they are part of a growing collection on the main site.

:::

Options!

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=20082
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...-velma-pin-up/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...1_velma49z.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

Third Rail Thrills 50 - Mary Marvel Pin-Up
TRDL 2011 Illustration Series No. 12

This illustration was the result of the #DailySketchChallenge on Deviantart… I roughed the design for that challenge, and then finished it later.
The first time I drew Mary Marvel, it was a minor redesign and she was punching out her multiverse nemesis, and was done in a more youthful, teen look. The last time I drew her, it was in the Black Mary period, and was one of the more successful nose girl bomber art type pieces I had done to date. This time, I did classic Mary costume, admittedly late teens or so. The pose was initially inspired by a photo of Wonder Woman’s Adrianne Palicki, and the face was inspired by Minka kelly, though neither very closely. This is the 50th Third Rail Thrills! pin-up, which took me by surprise… time is flying!
Please enjoy, hell yes!

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business. http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...marvel-pin-up/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams!

Third Rail Thrills is a series of pin-ups inspired by classic cheesecake art. Some of these pieces may also occur in my other series' such as the Propaganda Art or Bomber Girls, but the Thrills series puts them against the showcase background and they are part of a growing collection on the main site.

:::

Options!

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum:http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...158407#p158407

Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog:http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...marvel-pin-up/

And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here:http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...ymarvel50z.jpg

A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,

Thom

Third Rail Design Lab

http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 13: Iron Man Series – Stealth Armor [Iron man #152]

As I go through these armor designs for the Iron Man series, I’m taken back to my youth when I both questioned the need for all these specialized armors and at the same time fed on them like a starving dog. And consider: this was prior to the merchandising blitz of the Toyfair 90s… they really had no reason to do this other than a little bit of variety, an excuse to do something new and grab a few intrigued first-time readers, and play up Stark’s obsession with designing shit to use on occasion instead of other shit. But when I think about my life today, I totally get this aspect of the character, if we generously apply it to story and not just selling comics: I keep designing characters because I just need to keep designing characters. I have EIGHT bikes, most of them built by my own hand. I get it.
The stealth armor was especially interesting to me as a kid because it seemed so shocking to have a black armor on a (now, clear to me) skyscraper flyby shot. This was before I had a sense of black ops, and all the sorts of unauthorized military and private actions that would necessitate both not being spotted, but nearly as important, not being identified. For my piece, I kept the blacks in the blue direction, and colored his repulsors in an inky aqua.

An explanation of the project and process notes below…

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...stealth-armor/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=20142
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...stealth-armor/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...imstealthz.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 14: Black Death [Cryptohistorical Redesign]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 14: Black Death [Cryptohistorical Redesign]
This was based on a 24-hour sketch challenge on DeviantArt beginning to focus on Golden Age characters. What? Me? Redesigns? Of old characters? IN!

The original Black Death was a guy in a black home-invasion kit with a semi-skull look to his ski mask and a sailor’s knife. And kind of hunched. My redesign reinvisions him as a Victorian-era steampunkish villain, with long stabbies and a faceplate and shoulder plates of hammered steel to defend against attacks by ballistic weapons and a leather armor chest piece for defensive stabby. Not a nice guy. My wifebot(tm) commented only that I need help.

My Cryptohistorical Redesign series takes properties and redesigns them in different time periods, for fun and fancy.
An explanation of the project and process notes below…

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...ptohistorical/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=20178
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...ptohistorical/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...ackdeathrz.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 15: Faye Valentine [Cowboy Bebop]

This was based on a roughly 10 minute sketch done for a challenge on DeviantArt's #DailySketchChallenge, the character being Faye Valentine, of Cowboy Bebop.

As I mentioned on DA when I posted the pencils for this, Cowboy Bebop has a special infamy in my mind as being the subject matter of not one, not two, but THREE aborted private commissions taken to pencils before the clients in question either lost funding or weren't satisfied with the level of salaciousness in the work. That represents 75% of my canceled commissions for the last 4 years, which speaks well of my client track record, but also oddly makes me wonder what it is about Cowboy Bebop that apparently elicits a very specific interest among private collectors. Each request was pretty exotic.

Anyway, while i find the design schemes from this anime a bit left field as far as Japanese mutations of western fashions go, at least the jam involved the most interesting character to me. I don't know much about Faye Valentine, other than in the anime, she has breasts bigger than her head, and wears curious nylons. But in my piece, anyway, she's a quickdraw.

An explanation of the project and process notes via the link :
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...aye-valentine/

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 16: Amy Pond [Dr. Who]

This was done for the TRDL R3 Jam, the subject this week being: Sidekicks.

I've had Karen Gilian on the brain ever since I saw the first episode of the run featuring the 11th Doctor. She is a pretty redhead, with very pale skin and bright eyes, kind of flushed lips, and a very alert expression. She's a pretty neat actress to watch. And in the first episode, she's dressed as a cop, which added to the cool look, contrasting with her hair once she took her hat off. My original sketch for this involved her sitting on the Tardis, but I aborted that detail in the final, once I mocked it up.

Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...y-pond-dr-who/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams!


Third Rail Thrills is a series of pin-ups inspired by classic cheesecake art. Some of these pieces may also occur in my other series' such as the Propaganda Art or Bomber Girls, but the Thrills series puts them against the showcase background and they are part of a growing collection on the main site.

:::

Options!

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum:
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...y-pond-dr-who/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...amypond51z.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 17: Xena - Warrior Princess

This was a finished-up render for a sketch done for the #DailySketchChallenge on DA, the subject being: Xena, Warrior Princess.

I don't think I've ever drawn Xena before, at least that I remember. She's in the commission queue for later this year as well, so this was a goof first take on how I'd approach the character. It's kind of tough when you draw a stylized live-action figure, at least for me, because I didn't want to try and do a straight-up likeness of the actress, but I wanted to capture her presence, the athleticism, and all that cool detail in her armor... but at the same time, i wanted to play with the details my own way, so i did. Hence the Lovecraftian imagery in the armor. Anyway, swords and sandals quota met for February...

An explanation of the project and process notes below...

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27

Third Rail Thrills is a series of pin-ups inspired by classic cheesecake art. Some of these pieces may also occur in my other series' such as the Propaganda Art or Bomber Girls, but the Thrills series puts them against the showcase background and they are part of a growing collection on the main site.

:::

Options!

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...p?f=43&t=20224
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...es-no-17-xena/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...17_xena52z.jpg
A choice for everyone!

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 18: Artemis [Young Justice Cartoon]

This was done for the TRDL R3 Jam on the R3 Forum and DeviantArt Group, the subject being: Young Justice [Cartoon version]; I chose to do the enigmatic Artemis.

I'll admit up front that I haven't seen the cartoon, nor have I read the comic. But I read up a bit on the character, and noted that she is NOT Arrowette, and seems to be a melange of familiar character details as they often do in cartoon/ film adaptations, though I can't help but wonder if she will slip into DC comic continuity, I suppose alongside the Amazonian character of the same name. She's a well designed character, I think. I did mine as a Third Rail Thrills! pin-up girl, and tried to capture all the things about the design I liked most: the curve of the bow, the tones of the green uniform against the very dark utility gear, and the long whip of hair, which I fashioned to form a crescent moon, which is the symbol for Artemis, the Greek (or some historians believe, ore-Greek) goddess herself. I originally intended her to be booted, but I was looking at a nice character reference pic from Jay, who directed some of the episodes of the show; he drew her without boots, and I was inspired to do the same.

I'm foregoing my usual process notes this time, because I went into a little more detail snapshotting the progression, so I've formulated that into an update on my older TRDL Method post in out Tips & Techniques Section. The link is here. Check it out!

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 19: Iron Man Series - Space Armor [Iron man #142]

This round I finished up a penciled/inked piece that actually predates last round's Stealth Armor, not only in comic continuity chronology, but in my drawing order. I skipped ahead to finish rendering the Stealth Armor, but I wanted to get this one wrapped up before starting the next project. At the time, I liked this armor because it was the first, since the original one and its repaint, to be big and bulky. In comic parlance of the day, it still had abs and quads and the like, but the proportions were decidedly thick, which offered a nice sense of real-world spacesuits, if unnecessarily for the Iron man technology world.

I didn't redesign the details of this armor, though I tried to differentiate it from my original armor, but giving it contoured armor segments to evoke musculature, and a normalized helmet size. I tried to make it, as it was in the comics, a beefed up version of a normal scale Iron Man armor, as opposed to the original suit, which simple was what it was in a more primitive state. I did include some edges at the terminus points of the armor components to imply plate overlap when joints bend or sockets swivel, however. At this point in my series, I am not yet accepting the 'smart-fabric' business they've relied on in the Iron Man books for decades. What I DID change, however, is the temperature of the colors. I wanted to differentiate each armor from the others as I can, and this time I wanted to play with different colors that would still read as the classic armor I'm drawing: I took inspiration from the shiny copper surfacing you see in some satellites and space equipment, and pushed the colors of his suit int eh golds and oranges.

The process notes and step by step looks at the work below...
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...s-space-armor/

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 20 - Haywire


This was done for the TRDL R3 Jam on the R3 Forum and DeviantArt Group, the subject being: ARMOR (Theme Jam)
So, I’ve been working on an Iron Man series this year, but for this jam I decided to head back to one of my early comic influences: Haywire, a 12-issue series from DC in the 80s. I’ve always felt that the character design on this book, combined with my manga/anime interests (Shirow’s work specifically) are what formed my design language for mecha, powered armor, and similar technology in my work as an adult. Usually I think about it in terms of detail work and massing that I absorbed from Shirow (the focus on arthropods, sockets and smooth, shaped plating, with small optics) but when I look back, when it comes to drawing powered armor for humanoids, I pull from Haywire: the bulk on the top end with helm and shoulder armor, gradually narrowing to a more human silhouette in the lower half, the emphasis on functional joints and inclusion of hoses and flex-cable… just the sense that this is a machine, not a costume.
While the series was arguably derivative of both the Hulk and anime of the day, I found the concepts interesting and the relatively inky, expressive work (for the day especially) very pleasing. This is my homage to that work…


Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...no-20-haywire/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27
or on DA here: http://trdl-r3-weeklyjam.deviantart.com/

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://thirdraildesignlab.com/forum/...p?f=43&t=20312
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...no-20-haywire/
And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...0_haywirez.jpg
A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 21: Iron Man Series - Crimson Dynamo [ITRDL Redesign]

This entry in my Iron Man Series is one of my favorite Stark adversaries, the cold war foe known as the Crimson Dynamo. I actually REALLY like the original design for this armor, but I wanted to participate in the R-R-RedesignWeekly Jam on DA, So I gave it a whirl. My design has a few nods to the original, though far less to the various updates over the years in the comics: I have hosing coming around the joints as a reference to the original’s ribbed hose design, and there are a few other design references in there as well. Mostly, though, I was playing around with a more militarized armor, with curved hatch doors open to reveal missile bays, of course a reference to the missile imagery in the old Cold War days. Good stuff!
The process notes and step by step looks at the work below…


Click through to read more about it and see process pics and the like, if you enjoy such behind-the-scenes business.
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...rimson-dynamo/

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27
or on DA here: http://trdl-r3-weeklyjam.deviantart.com/

Other viewing options:

You can see this illustration here on the R3 Forum: http://thirdraildesignlab.com/forum/...p?f=43&t=20375
Or here, as above, on the TRDL blog: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...rimson-dynamo/

And you can see a larger view right off my TRDL Illustration Site, here: http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/im...ondynamora.jpg

A choice for everyone!

Thanks for looking,
Thom
Third Rail Design Lab
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 22: Wasp + Ant-Man [Avengers]
Third Rail Thrills No. 54!

This was done for the TRDL R3 Jam on the R3 Forum and DeviantArt Group, the subject being: Wasp and Ant-Man, from the Avengers.

I love drawing the Wasp. She's one of those characters in my reading growing-up that I liked despite several reasons, as an adult, that I probably wouldn't like the same way if introduced to her now. I mean, she's a socialite, her role has generally been 'super-wife' and for older readers like me, or newer ones familiar with her Ultimates version, she carries the bagage of spousal abuse in her storylines. She's described as a scientist but all she does is generate costume changes. And now she's been martyred, for the moment, in an event book a few years ago. So, what's the deal? It's that she was the female founding member of a boy's band, she's a cute brunette sure, and she takes a confident position both with friends and foes. For all her 60's sexist fluff that she inherited from the early days, she is one of the lasting Marvel women that showed real spine and an intelligent, cool-headed approach to the various Avengers conflicts. Anyway, she's also fun for me as an artist because she has had maybe 3,000 costumes over the years, so there's lots of opportunity to draw different looks. This time, it's her debut costume, along with Ant-Man, or rather, his glove.

You can read more about the process on this pic after the jump...
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...p-and-ant-man/

[thirdraildesignlab]

TRDL 2011 Series, No. 20 - Haywire

Talk about high concept... this was done for the 'Lovers from Different Universes' design jam on the Deviant Art group #dailysketchchallenge. I went old-timey, not surprisingly...

My star-crossed lovers, so to speak, are Liberty Belle (Charlton/ DC) and Flexo, the Rubber Robot (Mystic/ Marvel), which was a fun challenge. It didn't start as a redesign effort, but to be honest, Flexo looks like a bright red Michelin Man, and Liberty Belle has one of my least favorite Golden Age outfits, so something had to be done. I made Flexo more humanoid, and to emphasize both the 'rubber' concept and his robotic nature, I gave him a robotic core that you can see within the body; for Liberty Belle, I gave her a pocketed vest, Jodhpur trousers, and a high collar and scarf, and moved her symbol to the sleeve.Then I abandoned her red/blue/yellow color scheme, and gave it a more military vibe. I wanted her to look like a bad grrl in a good grrl time, trapped in her rah-rah patrio persona but finally making a statement and stepping out with her clandestine, controversial lover, so she's got a wild, defiant smile on. The photo context, with the note by Hoover, was just giving it some context.

Artists, come join us on R3 and submit to the jams! The R3 Illustration Jam offers new characters weekly, but all jams remain open so you can contribute to any that you like, here:
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/fo...forum.php?f=27 or here: http://trdl-r3-weeklyjam.deviantart.com/

Read my process notes and see the source material below!
http://www.thirdraildesignlab.com/bl...y-belle-flexo/