This is some work I did from late 90's I think. My original sketch pad was obliterated with a spilled coffee that went unchecked for a while. But I had some scans of my originals. This one has the moire patterns still in it because it was printed on a laser copy and then scanned. I like how it looks but I think Wolverine looks out of place (almost like he's floating on the alien instead of kneelling in a calmed rage over its carcass) 

This is some more work I did from the late 90's. I would really love to try to get into the comics industry, but I think I've got a lot more work to go before I'd be ready. This is again a scan of a print out (and you can see the moire patterns here too). The original sketch is mine. It was ported into photoshop and played around with some filters to give it the flares on the armour.

And finally another sketch done around the same time. No filters. Just tried to get nice clean line work without too much detail. I thought it came out pretty good, but there's unfortunately no background in it.

I've been trying to learn how to draw in the little boxes in the live area of a comic book format. But it's harder than it looks-- a whole artform in itself!

Paul, I think it's kind of like that infamous saying goes....

"Life is what happens while we're busy making other plans..."

I admit I might never make it into the industry, especially now at 40 I'm much older than most people trying to enter in. But I think if a person is really determined to do it, then they can do it. I really believe that. Keep in mind that Stan Lee didn't start Marvel comics until he was 40. Just something to think about.

Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that around 10 years ago our oldest boy was diagnosed with autism. It's been a real struggle and it really devastated the expections for our family that my wife and I had. It was a around this time that I also received my first rejection letter from Marvel. And I think I just gave up around that time.

In hindsight, 10 years later, I probably should have been happy with any reponse. Base on what I've read, apparently most people don't get any response at all for a cold submission. 

Likewise, I think this might have been a good thing to step away from the dream for a bit. I'm definitely more mature and experienced now then I was back then. And although we still struggle at times, my oldest boy (now months away from being a young teen) is now doing better, so I don't think it was a mistake to step back and focus on the family at this time.

But I've never given up on this dream.

Lately I 've been talking with Tom Nguyen through facebook, looking to pick up some tips on how to improve my skills. I also picked up his book Incredible Comics with Tom Nguyen. He's been very helpful too.

It'd be great to get some tips and insight from John Byrne too. I think I've got the basic skills down, but I need a lot of work to get back to some strengths I had before. Even at my best I think I'd still need to practice, practice, practice before I'd be ready for serious comic work (including meeting deadlines).

Like I said before, working within the live area of the comic panels is really not as easy as it looks. It's definitely an art form in itself!

I'll post some more stuff soon. Thanks for the feedback.

Hulk v Thor, with Thor laying the smackdown with Mjolnir on top of the Green Goliath's thick skull!

Going back a long time now, I really loved when Simonson added the beard to Thor. Thor's costume looks a lot different now. Even the hammer looks different now. But I loved the beard! 

The Danger Gills Gone Wild!

This would have been from college (Graphic Arts) around '95.

During this time I really tried to move away from comics and try a more naturalistic style. The wolf was from a Wildlife book on Wolves. Because the original sketch is lost (and I had to scan this from a print out) you can again see the screen moire patterns, but the original work is mine.

This one that I really liked. I also did more portaits during this time too, trying to do real people instead of comic charaters. But I unfortunately do not have many of those sketches.