More Inked Characters

Here are a few new characters I've recently drawn in pen and ink. In case anybody is curious, my method for these is very straightforward. I just start sketching on Strathmore 500 bristol (vellum surface) and once I've arrived at a character design I like,  I ink it using Micron pens. It's a very relaxing process.

More Ink Characters

Here are a few more animal characters drawn in pen and ink. All of these drawings so far have been made in india ink on bristol board, using micron pens.

Ink Characters

I've been having some fun with pen and ink in the past few days...

H. P. Lovecraft podcast

This weekend I joined Matt, Dave and Jason of the Bookhouse Boys podcast on their special Halloween episode for a discussion of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, other Lovecraft (and Lovecraft inspired) works and horror in general. We had a great time! Please download the podcast and hear what we had to say (but if you haven't read much Lovecraft, be aware that there are "spoilers" in the episode):

http://bookhouseboyspodcast.podomatic.com

The picture you see above is a drawing I did several years ago for a Lovecraft edition of Graphic Classics. It was inspired by a trip to Angkor in Cambodia. Many of the ruins there are covered in dense, beautiful relief sculpture and since that sort of thing plays a role in some of HPL's stories, I decided to work elements of the Cthulhu Mythos into a relief. I don't think I've ever had more fun working on a drawing!

Graphic Classics comics can be found at http://www.graphicclassics.com

Con sketch: Sweetums

Wizard World Chicago was a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by my table, say hello and look at my art. It was great to see old friends and meet new people.

I did quite a few sketch commissions at the con and a few people intend to scan them and send them to me so when that happens, I'll share more of them here. Meanwhile, here's a quick brush and ink sketch I did for Sarah Kramer (I hope I have your name right, Sarah), who has an entire sketchbook she's filling with muppet sketches by different artists. It's a great idea and I was more than happy to draw a muppet.

Bat-Mite and Batgirl

Since I will be at Wizard World Chicago this weekend, here's something a little different: ink drawings of comic book characters!

The first two drawings are of Bat-Mite, an impish character that's been appearing in Batman comics on and off since the early '60s. I've always liked the character and did the first drawing while at the Summit City Comic Con earlier this summer. The second drawing is much closer to the original character design which, if I'm not mistaken, was drawn by Batman artist Dick Sprang.

Rounding off this trio of bat-drawings is Batgirl, a character I've liked since Yvonne Craig charmed me on the old Batman TV show when I was a kid.

All 3 drawings are for sale and I'll be doing more of them at the con this weekend so if you're interested in purchasing a drawing, checking out some original art or just saying "hi", please stop by my table (#3501) at Wizard World Chicago, in Artist's Alley.

If you're interested in purchasing or commissioning a drawing, you can contact me at: jim@jimnelsonart.com.

More Hammerfast

I'm immersed in an assignment right now (painting some beings from Japanese mythology) so here are a couple more character drawings from the aforementioned Hammerfast project.

Hammerfast

Back in the Fall of 2009 I had a rare opportunity to do some pen and ink drawings for a Dungeons and Dragons project called Hammerfast. I was in the midst of preparing for a trip to Paris when I began the assignment and I couldn't finish before I left so I took approved sketches with me, refined them and prepared them to be inked while I was in France. I inked them as soon as I returned home so I could get them in to a very understanding art director. None of that has much to do with the final drawings themselves but my illustrations for Hammerfast will always be linked with that trip in my mind.

The two drawings posted above are from the Hammerfast project. They depict a dwarven ghost, a dead sentinel roaming the walls of a city and a three-headed dragon named Calastryx.