Princess Leia, Han Solo, Yoda and Obi Wan Original Art

Hey!

Just wanted to share some of my recent art. I did a bunch of Star Wars art for Inktober. You can see a couple of them here.

I am currently selling the Princess Leia & Han Solo original art on eBay. Only 2 days left to buy it! Check out the auction here:

http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/151874379072

More Star Wars art coming soon!

J.

TMNT :: Ninja Turtles Covers for sale

Hey guys!

Just a heads up to let you know that my sketch covers for IDW are going on sale today in a couple of hours.

You should be able to get them from the IDW limited site here: http://idwlimited.com/

All up I did 15 covers for them, and they are all original and one of a kind!

Hope you guys enjoy checking them out.

Here are a few more recent turtle pieces I did to wet your appetite!

Happy Hunting!

J.

UPDATE: All covers sold out within minutes of going up for sale. I will be selling off 10 covers as commissions in the near future, so if you are interested, keep an eye out for an announcement. thanks!

Black Widow of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D

Wow... 5 months since the last update! Sorry about that my poor little blog. Today I will fix this up!

I'm back to my commission list, which means I am making my way through the list one by one until they are all done and the slate has been wiped clean. 2013 has been a year of tying up loose ends for me and it feels good!

This piece is one of my standard 9 x 12 copic marker commissions. Here you can see my pencils as well as a couple of other thumbnails for some poses I was trying out. This was the 2nd page of sketches I did until I finally landed upon the pose that I liked best for the piece.

Here you can see a close up photo of the actual art which gives a much nicer look at the actual colours on the piece. Unfortunately my scanner is a real POS.... they dont make them like the used to!

Thanks for reading!

J.

Wolverine VS The Sentinel Head

copic marker and ink on 9x12 bristol board

Hello? Testing, testing.... It's dusty around here...time to clean off the cobwebs and make some regular updates. Anyone reading this?

Well, I'm still making my way through all of these Ozmosis commissions, so if you are still waiting, here is proof that yours is coming soon! There are not too many left...maybe 15 or so and then I might open up for new commissions. Maybe.

Anyway, this one was cool... I was asked to draw Wolverine, which is always fun. I added the big Sentinel head in the background to create a little more of a story for the piece and to give me something which I could use to help Logan pop off the page even more.

traditional pencil with digital pencil

For you guys who like to see some of the steps and progress behind the scenes...well, you know thats what this blog is for... so here you go. I apologise for the watermarks, but people have been stealing my shit and trying to sell it, so I gotta do what I gotta do. Those scallywags!

So, this is kind of where my process is at these days. I like to start with my pencil and sketchbook as I have always done. Once I have something that I'm feeling pretty good about I will usually scan it and then clean it up and mess around with it a little digitally. In this case you can see below that I actually drew the sentinel head completely digitally because it was an idea I had when I was sitting in front of my computer I suppose, so that's just how it worked out.

Find my on Instagram. User name: sommariva

 Above you can see a progress shot I took once I had done most of the line work on Wolverine. In the scan below you can see that line work with the undersketch removed, but this was the same step here.

inks done with a brush pen

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I will see you guys back here very soon!

cheers,
Jon.

Where the Wild Things Are

Copic Markers on A5 toned paper

Hey guys!

Well, I just finished a smaller commission last night that I wanted to share here.

I loved this book when I was a kid. There was so much imagination on these pages. It's the kind of book you see as a kid and remember it your whole life. You know, I probably havnt actually seen the book for maybe 30 years, but those monsters have always remained vivid in my head.

So, when I was aksed to draw one of the monsters from 'Where the Wild Things Are' by my friend, Charles Santoso, I was very excited. Well, I really had a blast working on this piece and spending a little time remembering the story and characters.

Hope you guys like how this one turned out.

More coming soon!

Jon.

LOBO vs ATROCITUS :: Oz Comic Con

Hey Ninjas!

Well....It has been a while since the last update. I have been quite busy finishing off Rexodus and working on a bunch of stuff, but now Rex is in the can and waiting to be published which is good! I can't wait for you guys to see it.

For the past two weekends I had the pleasure of being a guest of Oz Comic Con in Perth and then Adelaide. Wow! What an amazing time. I met a lot of people and it is so great to see so many people interested in what we (comic book artists) do for a living. Very exciting. Over the 10 days I was there chilling and working with my buddy David Yardin we produced a lot of art from head sketches to full size pieces. It was good times indeed!

So, I'm hoping to get a chance to show some of the actual scans here for you guys to check out. If you already follow me on INSTAGRAM you may have seen a bunch of art, but at the end of the day there is nothing quite like seeing a nice clean scan....and further to that, there is nothing quite like seeing the original art in person! At least, that's what I think.

Here is one of the pieces that came about thanks to this tour. I was asked to draw LOBO vs Atrocitus. Now, I LOVE drawing Lobo... This was actually the 2nd time I have done a commission of him, but I had never heard of Atrocitus before. All I really know about him is that he is a Red Lantern and he spews blood. He's a big dude, so I am picturing him going for a WWF body slam here, but Lobo is obviously very ready with his blades.

Had fun working on this one... More to come soon!

Cheers,
Jon.

PS: My latest art book, Ozmosis Chills III is officially SOLD OUT now, but never fear, there will be another coming soon as well as a collected volume of numbers 1 and 2...More on that later.

The Glyph - Chibi character

Every now and then I get to draw a chibi version of a character. I like having fun with these. The Glyph is an original character by a fellow who goes by the name Estonius on deviant art. You can find many different artists versions of this guy in his gallery.

I've been mega busy lately as I am working on the last issue of a comic book called Rexodus. It's a really cool story with very cool characters and I can't wait to start showing off pages and designs here. So I appologise for the trickly of updates, but that's whats keeping me busy. For anyone wondering, as soon as I am done with Rexodus, I will finish that last issue of Gemini. It will happen!

On the flip side, me being busy means there will be a lot more art coming soon!
In the meantime, you can always grab a copy of my new art book which is available now! Books are doing well, so if you want one, don't miss out! I'll be posting up a preview of the book for you guys here soon.

The image you see above is an older commission I did of this character. This one was drawn on a small piece of A5 paper, so I was really glad to have the chance to revisit this guy without any size restictions!

Hope you like!

J.

Ariel :: The Little Mermaid all grown up

Hey!

Continuing with some A5 head sketches. For this one I was asked to draw my take on Ariel, the Little Mermaid, and to stay away from any cute/kid version. I really enjoyed this request, because I grew up on Disney films. Something I have always wanted to do was to be able to draw girls as pretty as Disney does (or did when they were kings of 2D animation). When I was much younger and first learning to draw, I thought Disney girls were so hot! I couldn't believe that some hairy old dude could make something look so beautiful with just a pencil and paper. Ariel was my first cartoon crush! So it has been interesting to try and capture some of that beauty. I think my 14 year old self would have liked this drawing.

Anyway, I didn't go for the full on Disney version, because then it wouldn't look like I actually drew it, and to be honest I would probably do a pretty shitty job of it. I don't even know if I could. I havnt tried. What I did end up with was a slightly more mature Ariel with a little sexyness thrown in. And I did have a lot of fun with that hair!

As for the art, this is ink and copic marker on A5 size pastel paper. It's small, but the colour and texture of the paper is nice to work with.

For anyone interested, there are still a couple of orignial sketch commission spots open on my new ONLINE STORE as well as art books. I am planning on getting some previews together (photos) of the inside of the book to help any sceptics decide whether this book is worth getting or not. I think it is!

Hope you like! I'll try and post the rest of these A5 sketches all week as I have quite a back-log built up, so check in if you are interested!

thanks!

Jon.

Instagram user name: sommariva

Akuma :: Chibi Raging Demon

Hello Blog!

Today, on this fine Monday evening, I would like to share a drawing I did of Akuma from Street Fighter.

This is one bad ass design for a character. The way he looks says so much about him. He is powerful, angry and full of rage. I love how his hair resembles flames. I'm aware that I am geeking out on this design even as I type this!

So, drawing a cute chibi version of him is kind of tough, cause on one hand you are drawing something kind of cute and fun, while on the other hand you still want to keep the aspects of the design that tell us so much about his character, which in this case are not so cute and friendly. It's not my place to say weather I have succeded or failed in finding the right balance of cute and bad ass, but this is what I was going for.

I have to say that this version is kind of more kid-like than what I would call "chibi". Well, I enjoyed the hell out of drawing this guy cause he is one of my favourite characters, even though I tend to use Guile way more when I play the game. If you played me on Street Fighter you would loose. Just saying! Uness you are Justin Wong, or the dude that beat him in this video of amazing SKILL! Go to 2:37 to see what the fuss is about. I love SFIII.

As always, I thought you might like to see the pencils and inks behind the piece. And in case anyone is wondering, this one is already sold and will be flying to his new home along with a copy of my artbook as soon as I have them in my hands and ready to ship out. Inked with copic pens and brush pen.

So, there you have it... my chibi Akuma.

cheers!

Jon.

Lobo :: A look at my drawing process

Hey guys!

Today I thought it would be fun to share a new piece I worked on last Friday and a look at the steps I took to get to the final piece.

I often get asked to make tutorials on how I work with copics or how to draw. This isn't exactly a tutorial, but it should give you an idea of the steps involved.

So, first of all, here is the finished product. This was a commission for someone who bought a copy of my new art book Ozmosis Chills III.

For this commission I was asked to draw LOBO. I LOVE drawing this character! He is easily one of the coolest characters in the DCU. I like the fact that you can exagerate his proportions and go a little crazy, and I think the more you do this the more it suits the character. I hear the rumour that THE ROCK was going to play Lobo in a film version, and I think that would be really cool! I'm hoping for a great movie, as DC needs to start making some decent flicks! Batman was great of course, but I can't say I was a big fan of Green Lantern. Big let down, that one.

Anyway, To begin with I did a little research on the character. I checked out some past interpreations and read up on him so I had an idea of who he is. Then I started drawing some sketches. I actually got a little hung up on the layout and design of the drawing, when finally I decided to just go for more of a cool looking full body pose. I've done a few bust pieces recently, so I wanted to go for something different.

Once I had decided on the sketch I liked I began with the process of finishing it up and making it all look pretty. The pens I use are actually made by copic (except for the brush pen) and so they all hold up really well when you go over them with marker. No streaks if you are careful. So, in the inking stage I am laying down all the main holding lines to create the forms.

Once I have the bulk of the outlines done, I can move on to laying down the tones. I take a moment to think about which parts will be light, which will be mid tones and which will be dark. You set yourself some restrictions and then let the markers do their thing.

Once that is all done, I go back in and start adding all the extra details, such as hair, highlights, scratches, crinkles etc...

And that's pretty much it!

cheers! Jon.

Ozmosis Chills 3 2012 Art Book Cover!

CLICK IMAGE TO SEE A BIGGER VERSION

EDIT: Check out this review of Ozmosis Chills III on Parka Blogs site, for a preview of the inside pages plus a video flicking through the pages! CLICK THIS!

Hello!

Today I want to show you guys the cover for my latest art book, Ozmosis Chills 3, along with some of the behind the scenes stuff.

The making of this book has been an adventure in itself with a successful indiegogo campaign to back it up, and many pre-orders taken from the conventions I have attended. To those people who supported this project, I say thank you! There is a fun page in the book dedicated to you guys!

For anyone else who wants to order a copy of the book, I am printing a limited number of extra copies, and it will be available here through my blog. More details within the next 2 weeks, as soon as I have the books in my hands and ready to ship. It is currently at the printers getting made! So check back soon if you are interested!

My idea was to incorporate the old cover from OC3:Natural Selections (the NYCC 2011 edition, pictured directly above) in the background of the cover. I suppose it represents how this book is actually the "bigger picture" version of my art book. This book is the most complete package and art book I have created so far, and I hope the new cover image represents this in some way. I also wanted to fix up some funky things on that original cover which I was not happy with. Well, the whole book is a re-tinkering of something I thought I could do even better. Funny thing is, I'm already looking at the new cover as I post this and thinking about how I could have made it even better.

Above, you can see an Instagram snap I took of the proof pages I got from the printers. I have to say I am so pleased with the quality of the print I am getting for this book. I think the quality of the print is brilliant and I could not be happier with the way my art has been transfered to paper.

Those who have been following my blog for a while will know that i like to share all the steps and sketches and making of a piece of art, so here I will also share the ink scan I took of my original art. I later cleaned up this file for colour.

I also thought you guys might like to see a WIP snap I took of the back cover illustration while I was working on it.

So there you go! This is the cover art for Ozmosis Chills 3, and the book should be available to purchase online in around 2 weeks from now.

Hope you like!

J.

Ozmosis Chills Art Book Preview!

Hey guys!

Just a quck heads up... With only 2 days left to pre-order the art book, now is the time to go and guarantee that you get yourself a copy!

Grab it from here: ART BOOK!

Attached you will find a nice little sneak peek at the insides of the book!

Hope you like.

Jon.

Chibi Female Shepard :: Mass Effect 3

Hey guys!

Just a quick update here.

As I am sure you are aware, I am working on art for those people who pre-ordered a copy of my art book, Ozmosis Chills 3. There are till 12 days left for you to order my book.

Let's talk about art... So this is the first Chibi I have worked on for the chibi category. I was asked to draw Female Sheppard from Mass Effect 3. I have attached here, just for you blog checkers all the steps from pencils to inks (original art) to the finished colours.

Hope you like!

Jon.

PENCILS:



INKS:

Venom, Little Gladiator and a bunch of Instagram sketches

Hey guys!
Wow... Long time between blog updates!

I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet for now, but it will be heavy on the art :)

So, I have been using Instagram to snap some sketch book stuff, and here are some of my favourites from the past couple of months. (user name is: sommariva)

Heads up: I will be revealing some info very soon for you guys who would like to pre-order and ensure that you get a copy of my art book OZMOSIS CHILLS 3. It is on it's way!

OK... More art soon!
Jon.

This was a con sketch I did recently at Oz Comic Con in Adelaide. Venom finally gets to eat Spidey... Sorry Spidey.


This is a character I created and designed for fun. He might come back again in the future if you guys like him.


This was just an olden day photo head study. Drawing moustaches is fun!


WW2 soldier. Again, just for fun. I thought the paper and markers I was using would suit WW2 pretty well.

Hope you like! Thanks for looking.

Darkstalkers :: Dimitri & Morrigan