Facial Study Female 2

Adding to my previous designs of simplification of the female form, I finished this Facial Study last night.

I wanted to convey a bit more emotion and also learn how to better streamline the the folds and forms of the mouth and lips when smiling. Say what you will, but not all comic book characters have snarling faces on every panel :-D

Facial Study - Female

For today's illustration work, I wanted to focus on starting to..., Distill a style combining ease and comfortability for the line work on my characters. Similar to Christopher Nolan's approach on designing his world of Batman Begins (with the help of production designer Nathan Crowley), I think if I can nail down the facial forms with a versatile simplicity, i'll be able to establish a sharp realistic edge to my comicbook designs.

Below is my first shot at the streamlined female face.

Comic-Con CGC!

So one of the best parts of the Philly Comic-Con was the Silver VIP pass I opted in for. It got me a  few CGC graded comics! These are my first, so I'm totally stoked :-D

The first I saw was a Signature Series, White Pages Fantastic Four #547 signed by the late Michael Turner, one of my favorite artists 

Next in line was this White Pages X-Men #175 with Salvador Larroca as the artist

The next I personally got graded because of my love of Michael Turners covers if nothing else.

White Pages Black Panther #25

Bam! My favorite of the Lot! I noticed that Arthur Suydum had a table set up and quite honestly, looked a little bored so I had to get this signed! I went and picked up a copy of this Second Printing Variant #1 and had him drop me a signature!

Plenty of other sweet opportunities I had to pass up on unfortunately. Mark Texiera, Ethan Van Sciver, Khoi Pham, and even Billy Tan were there. I FORGOT all the issues that I've collected over the years from these fine artists :-( 

Nevertheless, I had a decent chat with Khoi and Greg Horn who was there as well. I actually got Greg's Signature on a few things and also picked up 2 prints from him. Khoi even gave me great advice on what I needed to do to make my illustrations have a sharper comicbook appeal! Both dudes are pretty damn awesome.

Lastly, I got to meet Joe Madureira. My comicbook IDOL.The first comicbook I ever picked up was one done by him and his distinct style has always captured my interest. He had an EPIC line on Saturday and I couldn't wait the absurd amount of time to see him. In the end though, I ended up meeting him on Sunday and even getting him to sign a few issues I had. Yet again, I'd forgotten MOST of the issues I own of his, at home. FAIL.