One Eyed Illustrations

Commissions time and The Comic Trivia contest on Twitter

2010-07-13T00:21:00.000-04:00

I am currently looking into setting up a way to do commissions for pay. The rate will be a 10 USD per commission and a shipping rate to be determined later. This is a base rate and additional fees will be added for special material requests. Here is what the base commission will get you:

A fully colored piece on a 9''x12'' inch Smooth Bristol Board. The piece will be colored in marker and inked with a .8 Micron Inkpen. This provides a bold clean look to the piece and will be wall worthy. The commission will be mailed to you along with any and all sketch work I will do in order to prep for the final piece.

There is only a few things I ask when it comes to commissions- 1) I will be allowed to scan and post the piece on the website as a way to advertise and provide examples for future customers. 2) That you could take a picture of you with it when it arrives. I will post it on the website if you want, but this tells me that it arrived safely. 3) Recommend me to your friends if you are happy with the piece.

Now there is a way to receive a free commission. That is through twitter based contests. Follow me at http://twitter.com/JordanCJennings and throughout the day I will post a comic trivia question. At the end of the day I will pick a random correct answer and give the person a free commission. Now some days I might do another contest in place of the Comic Trivia but the trivia will be the basic contest.

So email me at Comicbookoverkill@gmail.com to discuss commissions and be sure to keep checking out twitter for free commission contests

Cyclops Minimalism piece

2010-05-19T01:29:00.000-04:00

In between working on the strip (which you should check out by the way), playing my DS, and Job Hunting I do random bits of art. This one is not related to the Lantern Project, but instead just a one of, for now. It's a Cyclops Minimalist piece.

Is it artsy? Maybe. Was it simple and fun to do? Oh yeah. I love doing this stuff. The only thing I hated was that my marker wanted to give out during the coloring process. Though it led to me using another shade of blue and made the piece look nicer. I liked that. I might do more minimalism, but not too sure. If I get the inspiration I will do it, but for now sit back and enjoy this one piece.

New Art Project: The Lanterns #1

2010-05-12T03:19:00.000-04:00

Here I am again folks to bring you the first piece in a new Art Project. I started on this project a while back. Right around the end of the Comic Coalition project but I've been distracted by school and Mere Mortals to get to do it. Well with Mere Mortals having found a home (http://meremortals.thecomicseries.com/ Updates every Sunday and Wednesday) and school being out I have time to do some art work. This project is a simple set of what if's and re-imaginings. It's simply titled the Lanterns and was prompted by a discussion on twitter about how some of the DC characters were a better fit for certain Lantern Corps as temporary members than the ones that were selected.

For today we have the selection I best see fit for the Sinestro Corps and that's Batman. "Now wait a minute," you might be asking yourself, "Batman was 'dead' and a black lantern. He couldn't be a Sinestro Corps member." Well first, this sorta already happened a while back before the Sinestro Corps war when a yellow power ring tried to enlist Batman into the Sinestro Corps and second Wonder Woman was able to overcome being 'dead' with the power of the Star Sapphire Ring. Though to be fair she was living before she became a reluctant member of the Black Lanterns. So that might factor into why Batman wasn't picked for the honorary deputy of the Sinestro Corps (I have an image of a Yellow Lantern Barney Fifth now).

Now why did I pick Batman for the Sinestro Corps spot? Well it's primarily because to me Batman instills a lot of fear into his villains and that screams yellow ring. Also I like to draw Batman, so yeah, there's that. Now I guess it's time to introduce you to the art.

First I have the quick sketch I did a while back for this idea:

First you may notice I decided not to use the Sinestro outfit that was given to him in the comic image above. Reasons for that are 1) I didn't like it. It looked too much like Sinestro's old costume before the War. 2) I didn't have it on hand to reference so I went from memory and what I thought worked. You may notice the curtain rod cape that he's wearing and that's because I thought of the weird gothic Batman art design you occasionally see in comics. Also there are oversized blades on the arms and legs. I done this to make him look more intimidating and fear inducing. For the symbol I just drew an oversized bat and placed the Lantern Corps logo in the center. Unknowingly I made the bat match Sinestro Corps' costume design. That was accidental but awesome. Not much else to say about the sketch.

Now here is the final inked and colored version

Now there are some differences between the sketch and the final version. The biggest one is the change in pose. The sketch was more dynamic looking and this one isn't as dynamic. I don't know why but that's how it came out. The other big difference is the removal of the Lantern and the new placement of the "fear" blurb. There are a couple first for this picture. This is the first time I've fully colored something for the site. That includes provide a realistic flesh coloring to the character. Makes the piece look infinitely better when compared to others. One thing I do like about this piece is the use of black. It fills up almost half the page and would've been the whole page if my marker didn't give out during this piece. Overall I love this piece and how well it came together considering I have not that much experience in actually coloring my own pieces in a semi-competent way.

That's all for now. Remember to check out Mere Mortals every Sunday and Wednesday for new comics. Oh what you know it's Wednesday. Check it out. Also RIP black marker. You've been a great tool considering you were dirt cheap.

Now to go buy a new Black brush-tip pen/marker.

Mere Mortals 002- Free Comic Book Day part 2

2010-05-05T00:16:00.000-04:00

Click to enlarge

Here is strip 002. I'm still waiting on the confirmation to Comic Genesis. So I will continue hosting on here. Now for some commentary on the strip- I decided to digitally letter this comic after the disappointment of my crappy hand lettering. I use the vector tool in Inkscape. The program is very intuitive and easy to use. The only problem I'm having is that it likes to crash. I just make frequent saves to combat this. Oh the digital font is from Blambot. Awesome site if you are looking for comic fonts for free and pay. I've been using blambot for nearly a year for some awesome fonts and this is the first time I used it for a comic.

Join me next time for some art and hopefully the URL for the Comic Genesis site.

Mere Mortals 002- Free Preview

2010-05-02T18:57:00.000-04:00

Hey all the big companies are doing it. Figured I should offer a preview of the recently finished Strip of Mere Mortals now with Digital Lettering.

Click to enlarge

Just like other previews the words have been removed to prevent any spoilers. Now what's with the giant monkey!? What's Jim thinking!? And why are the duo mad at each other? Check back Wednesday to find out!

Mere Mortals 001- Free Comic Book Day

2010-05-01T00:00:00.001-04:00

Click to enlarge

Well here it is folks, Mere Mortals Strip 001. Right now it's currently hosted on this blog while I await verification over at Comic Genesis. Should be up and running by the time Strip 002 is set to go online. Well I guess I should have some commentary on the comic. This strip was the most complicated of the first few strips since it has so many things going on in the background. Also I need to work on my lettering and find my darn ruler. Can't draw a straight line to save my life. Overall I am pleased with this comic and I think the next few strips will continue to get better.

See you all Wednesday for Strip 002 and hopefully a webcomic site.

Mere Mortals Promo Image- work in progress

2010-04-28T00:58:00.000-04:00

Figured I would chart process that goes behind the development of a Mere Mortals promo image. First one I've done for the comic and I Figured I should as Saturday's release date is looming. When coming up with the sketch I was stuck trying to decide on the pose. At first I was going to do a homage cover of Amazing Fantasy #15, but decided not to do that one just yet. So instead I went with a more original route and done a set of poses in which the characters show their fandom. Here is the first sketch-

Mere Mortals promo image sketch

Nothing to this one, I'm basically laying out the pose and including the weaponry for Cliff and Jim to wield. I decided that Jim should carry Thor's Hammer and Captain America's shield. The shield didn't make it to the sketch for the fact I didn't have a circle to trace to get the proper shape. I included the Iron Man movie t-shirt as I wanted to add elements of Iron Man to the sketch to complete Marvel's Big Three. Now for Cliff I had a more difficult time coming up with his weaponry due to DC characters not carrying much, or my mind was blanking, who knows. So I decided to include Cliff wielding eight power rings. I'm thinking Green Lantern, but it could be all eight. I also included Wonder Woman's bracelets, Batman's Utility belt and Superman's Shield to the shirt to give the complete DC Trinity.

Now the next level

Mere Mortals promo image phase 2

So I go from the standard copy paper and transfer over to drawing paper. Here I plan to ink the image. Also since I added Cap's massive shield I will add Iron Man's gauntlet to Jim's right arm to make up for the lack of Iron Man in the sketch. Not much different about the sketch other than the shield and slightly re-detailed face of Cliff. I am now playing around with a Masthead/Logo for the comic and you can see the first draft in the corner. I think I like it. Expect this to be ink sometime in the next few days.

Check back later for the inked image and hopefully the URL for Mere Mortals over at Comic Genesis. The first strip just needs to be inked. I am considering doing lettering by hand or digitally. Not sure there.

Here's a preview of the final pencils of Mere Mortals strip 001

2010-04-27T17:57:00.000-04:00

Mere Mortals Strip #001

Oh first off, you may notice I don't use bristol board or actual massive boards for my comics. The simple explanation is that I don't have a massive (and expensive) A3 scanner to scan boards of that size so I'm forced to use a normal sized pad of paper. Still the size I use is too big for the scanner I own so I have to reduce the amount of space down to 8.5'' x 11" in order to get the full comic in the scan. I hate working on restricted space as it limits the space between characters and limits how I can properly block the sets. I can deal with it though and I'm very pleased with this page. I was able to have stuff in the background and characters in the foreground. Something I like to do as a writer/artist (a wratist, if you will). Now I will scan the comic when I get home and begin the super fun project that is inking (which is something I have yet to master). I ink with traditional media so really the scanning process is to give me some back up of the pencils. Though I do have a pencil of the strip it was too big for the scanner so I had to shrink it down to size.

That's it for now. You can expect Mere Mortals this Saturday (May 1, 2010) over at Comicgensis.com, which I still need to submit to and set up.

Meet the characters of "Mere Mortals"

2010-04-26T23:04:00.000-04:00

Here are the two main characters from my new webcomic "Mere Mortals" (to be released this Saturday for Free Comic Book Day). If you aren't familiar with the premise of the webcomic, here is the breakdown: The two characters (Cliff and James) are two massive comic book fans living in a world of Superheroes. So basically we have two geeks living in a world of original superheroes talking about real life fictional one. It's like Venture Bros in that it's a strip about heroes in a world of heroes. Well here are the two main characters, Cliff and Jim.

First up we have Cliff.

Cliff is a DC nerd tried and true, and he's not afraid to tell you that. He essentially in love with Geoff Johns for what he calls "saving the DC Universe." Cliff basically ignores all other publishers outside of the DC entertainment titles and will not hesitate in insulting you if your fandom doesn't match his. Despite his irrational dislike for other companies and their fans Cliff is fairly nice to people, you know, just as long as you are not a Marvel Zombie. That brings us to Cliff's best friend and roommate Jim.

For some reason Cliff puts up with Jim and his fandom of any company besides DC. In Cliff's mind he views that everyone has to have a foil. That and Jim was his best friend growing up. Cliff likes to tell people the foil excuse though. Now Jim is a Marvel Zombie. If it has Bendis name on it, he'll buy it. Including Spider-woman. Though Jim is a Marvel Zombie, he does buy outside of the company, but not much. Namely the few Image titles that Bendis penned. Jim is a former Valiant Comics fan and misses his favorite universe.

That's the two main characters. Keep checking in to see the supporting cast and remember Mere Mortals debuts Saturday. URL to come later.

Work begins on the comic strip.

2010-04-21T12:33:00.002-04:00

If you follow me through twitter or check out my various websites, you know I have been working on a comic project for ages. Well in reality I have been working on several ideas over the years that eventually became one massive universe. Well I wasn't sure how to present this universe. I didn't want to go straight in with a team book and explain everything as I went. As for a webcomic that can be boring. So I decided to try to develop a comic strip that would focus on a few characters that while minor in the big picture, would give audiences something to relate to and would work as an introduction to this massive universe of super humans. Now what is this strip comic about?

Well it's about these two comic book geeks living in a world of super heroes. It's a simple idea and most likely been covered before, I know, but I think it's just simple enough to work. It also allows me to have fun drawing random things and exploring the world I've created through the eyes and minds of two normal Joes instead of a gang of heroes. I will be back later to introduce you to the cast of the comic but till then here is a preview of the first strip.

Click to enlarge

Not much is spoiled about the comic, I kept out the dialog. But as you can tell from the strip it will be presented in a Sundays comic format and that the first arc revolves around Free Comic Book Day. Expect this strip next Saturday.

Now to go finish penciling strip 002 and name this comic series.

Comic Coalition Project Part 04: Thor, Lyra the Savage She-Hulk, and Machine Man

2010-04-15T18:56:00.001-04:00

This is the final batch of sketches from the Comic Coalition Project. This week I tackled the Norse God of Thunder, Lyra the Savage She-hulk, and, everyone's favorite robot, Machine Man.

Thor and Frog Thor

The story behind this sketch is that my friend wanted a Thor sketch. No problem. But I wanted to do something unique so I added everyone's favorite Deity possessed Frog to the sketch and split them with a simple lighting bolt. The hardest part of the sketch had to be the placement of the circles on Thor's chest, or maybe Frog Thor's face. Nevertheless I enjoyed working on this sketch. Never pass up a chance to work on Thor.

More after the Jump

Lyra, the Savage She-Hulk

I have to be honest, I never read a comic with Lyra. I can't stand Red Hulk nor Dark Reign, which led to me missing out on the comics featuring Lyra. Not sure if I should consider it shame, but oh well. This was a fun request and the only female of the bunch. I did notice that she wears the same boots as Thor. Thought that was weird, but yeah here she is. It was nice drawing a female for once. Need to do it more often.

and the final sketch of the Comic Coalition Project-

Machine Man

Machine man was an interesting sketch. Wasn't sure on the pose so I admit I went something Generic but I think it worked well for this character. The most frustrating part of the sketch had to be the trench coat. More specifically the collar. It doesn't help I never even seen a trench coat in person. Next time I will get some reference pictures before attempting another sketch with a trench coat.

That concludes the Comic Coalition Project. It was a fun experience and I will begin work on my next art project here soon. Thanks for reading along.

Comic Coalition Project Part 03: Superman, Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon, Spawn, Nighthawk, and Darkseid

2010-04-11T23:32:00.000-04:00

This is an extra double sized edition of the Comic Coalition Project. This time I take one two of DC's biggest characters, Marvel's new poster boy, a raccoon, and the 90's creation, Spawn.

Clark Kent changing into Superman

This is a classic pose of Superman that I've been wanting to try for some time but never got around to it. Well now I did and I'm pleased with how well this turned out. The picture doesn't to this justice. The amazing thing with this sketch is that, despite being a new pose and a character I am not too familiar with, it took only a few minutes to do.

Iron Man, in flight.

This Iron Man sketch was not the first draft. I did an entirely different pose for Mr. Stark before I did this piece. The problem with that pose was that it was stiff. Everything about the sketch was nice, but it just looked stiff and too much like my Green Lantern sketch. Well after watching Iron Man with my girlfriend the other night, I came up with this in flight pose of Iron Man and I like it more. Though the butt still looks odd, but then again I'm no Ed Benes. Also the choice for this classic armor comes from the fact I own a small Iron Man toy with this armor and it helped with the perspective. That and I like the pointy face-plate.

Comic Coalition Project part 02: MODOK, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, and Spider-man

2010-04-10T00:31:00.001-04:00

In continuation of the Comic Coalition project here is a batch of new sketches. This time I drew M.O.D.O.K, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Booster Gold, and Spider-man.

M.O.D.O.K

This one was one of the more interesting sketches as I've never drawn MODOK before nor any character like him. Getting things right was a challenge and while I'm not fully satisfied with the final product, the recipient enjoyed it. That's all that matters to me.-

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Ah, Green Lantern. One of the more difficult poses of this batch. I always have trouble with limb placement with characters in flight. This one I must've erased several times in order to get right, never really did, but this still one of the better Hal Jordan Sketches I've done. I need to scan it in because for some reason my phone doesn't want to take a clean picture of the sketch.

See more after the jump

Booster Gold

Booster Gold wasn't that hard. Had some trouble in thinking of a pose then I remembered that he was a Football player in the future. So I took the Heisman Trophy and used it as a base for this sketch. Worked pretty well. Still don't like the facial expression, but I will keep practicing that.

and Spider-man, the most difficult character of them all.

Every single time I sketch Spider-man I want to go back in time and hit Steve Ditko with a bat. I love the iconic costume but it's a pain to draw. With that said, I liked how well this sketch came out. The pose was new one and the mask-less Peter worked well. The fingers are a little chunky, but what can you do.

That does it for now. Check back later for more sketches

The Comic Coalition Project Part 01- Silver Surfer, Batman, Doop, and Wolverine

2010-04-07T23:39:00.000-04:00

This project came about this morning while playing around in my sketch book. I was fiddling around with the Kirby Krackle effect and I figured the best character to demonstrate the Kirby Krackle would be the Silver Surfer. The Surfer just so happened to be the favorite character of a friend from Twitter, Primewax. From there the idea sprouted that I would sketch the favorite character of each Comics Coalition member, for free. Now who/what is the Comic Coalition? Simply it's a lose connection of comic fans on Twitter that discuss comic book related topics on a near daily basis. Pretty cool gang for a bunch of comic nerds, if I say so myself.

With that out of the way here is the first batch of Comic Coalition sketches:

Silver Surfer

More sketches after the jump

Batman

The most bizarre request- Doop dressed as Batman

The most difficult so far- Wolverine

That's it so far. The Wolverine sketch was a challenge thanks to his mask and claws. Those are some of the most frustrating things to draw in perspective.