Swing Batmanbatmanbatman Swing!

Supergirl and Batman walk into a bar...

I previously blogged about the cartooning class I teach in the summer, and how I discuss basic shape and form as templates for your final drawings. I have a few basic drawings of a mannequin I print out for the students to see the shapes and guidelines of a beginning sketch.


The mannequin is female, so I usually draw a female character as an example...


...but there's always a boy in the class who doesn't want to draw a girl (...you'll learn, son, you'll learn...) which opens up the opportunity for me to prove that the mannequin drawing is truly nothing more than a mere template...


...and that you can adjust your final drawing to suit your needs. This is where I discuss basic shape and form, and the differences in male and female basic body structure.

And if you have to draw a male character, Batman is always the go-to guy for me. ;)

A cheer goes up. They've made a hero out of him.

Then the cheering disintegrates...


...and the screaming starts again.

text by Frank Miller
art by Me

Swear to ME!

He'll tear you up, son!


Need to ink and color this one soon. Or else Batman will punch my face in.

Round 1

Okay, so I finally have some done. More to follow. If you have one coming to you be sure I have your address by emailing me at bubbashelby@gmail.com

Batchuck Chuck

In honor of the next major money sucking...I mean time consuming...I mean fan ravaging...I mean terribly confusing...head scratching...unbelievable...out of character...

Let's start this one over again, shall we?

In honor of the next huge world shattering comic book crossover event, simply known as Battle for the Cowl, Woodchuck Chuck has offered up his services, should the regular Gotham City vigilantes be unable to carry the weight of the loss of their hero Batman.

Or in the unlikely event that the battle with Gotham City's seedy underbelly should bleed into the redwood forest.


"I'm the gull-durned Batchuck!"

Batman 2.0: The Dynamic Do-Over!

Project Rooftop is running a fun contest right now in honor of current events taking place in the DC comics Bat-universe.

Batman 2.0: The Dynamic Do-Over is calling on folks to design an appropriate costume for Dick Grayson (Robin I/Nightwing) if and when he takes over as Batman.



I designed a costume based on a merger between Nightwing and Batman. I decided against any Robin-esque components, as Grayson dropped those years ago when he left the Robin persona behind him. Besides, that one has been done before by Earth 2 Robin.

I also figured that this will be Nightwing taking over as Batman, not Nightwing pretending to be Bruce/Batman. He's still his own person, which was a huge reason he went out on his own in the first place, and he'd want that to be obvious.

I designed a costume that took the biggest elements of both Nightwing's current costume and the immediately recognizable components of your general Batman costume.

I love my design, I just can't decide between two different color schemes. Maybe you can help?

I like this first one because it incorporates the yellow that is a part of all Batman costumes, and it has more of a Batman feel to it. The yellow is also reminiscent of one of Nightwing's earlier costume designs.



I like this second one because it pulls further away from Batman and more towards Nightwing, maintaining a more consistent color scheme relevant to Nightwing's current costume. It's also more logical, as the yellow of the other one would be too bright to fight crime in (although we are dealing with comic books here, so sometimes logic has no place - case in point: Robin.)



So if anyone wants to help me decide which one I should enter in the contest (I have until Feb. 4th) leave me a comment. My daughter already voted for the one with yellow trim, so that one is currently in the lead.

UPDATE: It appears yellow is the favorite of everyone I have spoken to or heard from - so now I've modified it slightly by eliminating the third shade of blue - better?

Nananananananana Batman!

My daughter has "Town" in school tomorrow. They pretend the class is a town and they do all sorts of fun stuff, including setting up shops. They then sell stuff for fake money which they can use at other kids' shops. They also earn money throughout the year for good work etc.

So I was drafted to make some ATC cards for her shop.

I made ten cards based on a list she gave me. The first one is Batman. I know this one will sell, because we all know how much kids love Batman!

A couple more (B)AT-Cs

(Both have been traded)

ATC Requests for Wynn

Here are the ATCs Wynn Ryder requested (along with a Harley Quinn I think he'll like!)

That unmistakable "Keaton pout"

Ledger/Joker, Pfeifer/Catwoman, Harley Quinn and The Crow.

Artist Trading Cards

I recently heard about Artist Trading Cards: You get these little 2.5" x 3.5" cards for all different media (illustration, watercolors, acrylics etc) and you create art. Then you trade. kind of like baseball cards, only not lame.

So I bought some, and I owe a couple to fellow artist Wynn Ryder. Whatever he doesn't claim is up for trade, so if there are any artists out there who want to jump in on the trading fun just drop a message! If you aren't an artist and don't have any cards to trade, I also accept toys ;)


Batman: Pencil and Cool Grey Prismacolor markers.


Woodchuck Chuck: Pencil sketch.

The Flash. Ink and color markers.


Batman: Ink and Cool Grey Prismacolor markers. (Traded.)


Pink Poodle: Pencil sketch.


Doomsday: Pencil and Cool Grey Prismacolor markers.

More to come!

Me: Then and Now

There's an illustration meme going on right now: Draw yourself as a teen.




Almost twenty years later...I haven't changed all that much.

Own a Batmobile!

...or at least my illustration of one! The 1966 Barris Batmobile to be exact!!!

I donated this illo to Thomas at Say It Backwards

He's got a charity eBay art auction starting May 3rd for Candlelighters, a charity that helps families with children who have cancer.

Check eBay May 3rd, under seller "MisterMxy" (I'll update this post with a link when they go live!)

Composite Supergirl

There's a corny old comic character called Composite Superman - half Superman, half Batman, all evil!

There is a thread on The Drawing Board where folks are drawing him, and it was mentioned that there hasn't been a Composite Supergirl (one would assume SOMEONE has drawn her, but I've never seen her.)

So I rectified that situation.

Supercar #5: Batmobile - 1989

Here's my "Super-Car" take on the famous and iconic 1989 Batmobile and Michael Keaton Batman.

The Bat-Mite Returns!

I gave up reading comics for a few years, but I recently got the bug again. I blame Grant Morrison. His run as writer for Batman is really a kick. I picked up the story arc "The Island of Mister Mayhew" and fell in love with it's modern twist on Golden/Silver Age concepts. I love what I'm reading and seeing, and was surprised as can be (which is hard for a comic book to do these days) to see Bat-Mite at the end of Batman #672. Interesting, to say the least!

So without further ado, here is my rendition of that little pixie.

Batman - 1939 Style!

Batman was cool from day one. Here is a recent drawing I did using costume cues from his very first appearance in 1939.

Cats

This started as a pic of Black Suit Spidey and Black Cat. I messed up on Spidey's arm (fixed in Photoshop) so I redrew it as Batman and Catwoman. Cool beans.

1966 Batmobile

The best car EVER!

Riddle me this....

A Riddler/Batman/Robin drawing I did for a friend and his son.