TRADING CARDS - Wolverine

Finally here with card #6 is probably the most well-known mutant - Wolverine. I think whoever drew the original card must have either really hated Wolvie or really hated anatomy. Look at that back arm... try to do it yourself. It hurts!

"A born savage prone to berserker rages, Wolverine uses that wild side to fight for justice as an X-Man! Though his powers have recently undergone some radical changes, he's still the toughest fighter alive!"

Does anybody know what 'radical changes' his powers went through in 94? And I can't believe they missed out on saying "the best at what he does" instead of saying "the toughest fighter alive".

TMNT - LMDR

Every once in a while I feel the need to draw the turtles. Can you blame me? I'm trying to stay positive about their upcoming Nickelodeon show and so far I mostly like what I've read about it. Here's hoping for a good show, a return of Bebop and Rocksteady, and a return of Turtlemania!

TRADING CARDS - Jubilee

Jubilee comes in with card #5. I don't think I have ever really drawn Jubilee before. Sure, she was a part of the classic 90s cartoon show which I still love to this day, but she was never my favorite character. I'm also not sure if I've ever read a comic that she was a part of until the modern de-powered/vampire version of her came out recently.

"Rambunctiousness is Jubilee's trademark - whether this teenager from Los Angeles is blasting villains into submission or blasting her boom box on the way to the local mall!"

I know I keep mentioning it, but I'm pretty surprised by who got the first five slots. Cyclops, Rogue, Beast, Gambit and Jubilee probably aren't the first five mutants most people would name, but I think 6-10 will be more surprising.

PAINTINGS - Under the Moon and Retro Telephone

I added two new paintings to our shop last night and I have more coming soon!

Boy and Girl Under the Moon SOLD!

 "This is the time of night when the moonlight shines down and we can reveal who we truly are.."
Remember falling in love under the honesty of night and a bright, full moon? There's just something about sitting in a quiet field at night and looking up at the sky with the one you love.

Retro Telephone

Part of my 'retro' series, this painting is meant to tug at your nostalgia. This telephone is carefully crafted to look aged and to remind you of the way things used to be.

My other paintings for sale can be found here and have you checked out Janae's watercolor trailers yet?

Minotaur

One way to challenge yourself to draw things you might not normally draw is to just pick a letter and draw a bunch of things starting with that letter. I picked M and the minotaur stood out from the mailman, mountie and musician as something to ink and color.

TRADING CARD - Gambit

Coming in at #4 is Gambit. He's one of my favorite X-Men mainly because he was in the 90s cartoon show. He's also pretty awesome in the recent Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon, though he is still in his theiving days in that show. I prefer him to be on the team, but his dark past is part of what makes him interesting.

"Smooth and suave, Gambit always seems to have the winning cards - especially when this ragin' Cajun charges up the deck with his mutant power, dealing defeat to villains."

I'm kind of surprised such a love-him-or-hate-him character would be the fourth card in the series (still no Wolverine?) but I love him, so I won't complain.

The Man Without Fear

I'm not too big of a Daredevil fan, though I appreciate his place in the Marvel universe and I enjoyed playing as him in Ultimate Alliance. Miller's run on DD has been on my read list for a while, so I need to make sure I get around to that. The one thing I tried to add (or I guess subtract) from his costume here was the eyes. I made them part of the shadow, but I just think it would look cool for the blind superhero to not even bother with eye holes in his costume.

The Goblin

Have I ever drawn the Green Goblin before? I'm really not sure. I've been catching up on my Spider-man lately, both comics and cartoons, and I have to admit he's a pretty awesome villain. He's just so insane. He's kind of like the Joker... if the Joker could fly, knew Batman's identity, and was also a wealthy businessman. I love how the Goblin is like Norman Osborn's second personality. Like he doesn't quite realize they are the one in the same. Norman just thinks the Goblin is trying to help him achieve all his goals by any means necessary... which usually involves throwing someone off a bridge.

TRADING CARDS - Beast

Back to the trading card recreations with card #3, Beast! So if you've been following my blog at all, you know that Beast is my favorite X-Men character and I love that he got the third card spot. He's also on the Blue Team, so it just keeps dominating. I remember really wanting this card as a kid even though the illustration is a little weird. He was like the one card I actually remembered what it looked like. I'm telling you, he has always been my fav. Which makes this post extra special because I get to do my favorite X-Man for my 100th post!

"The Beast seems every bit as fearsome as his namesake - until he opens his mouth! Then the humor and genius intelligence of this founding memeber of the X-Men comes through with every word!"

See, even that description makes him sound like an awesome character. Plus it has two exclamation points, so you know it's exciting.

Changes and Updates

I've made a few changes lately to help better brand everything. First (well not chronologically) is the new header which you can all see above. Second, I figured out how to make a tab bar (also above) so you can easily navigate between my illustrations, paintings, portraits and commissions. I also finally put up buttons on the right to both The Hers and His Shop (etsy shop for the wife and I) and for LeeXopher (my brother's site - home of the webcomic Rock of Pages).

I also made the switch on deviantART to natexopher. Unfortunately, you can't just change your name on there (which is why I had put it off for so long) so I had to create a whole new account and start over. Fortunately though, this let me start with a clean slate and I can separate myself from some of the really old work from when I joined over 6 years ago.

I have some exciting new stuff coming soon so stay tuned for more X-Men Trading Card recreations and some brand new paintings and illustrations.

The Captain

Worked on a small series of heroes to get myself back in to inking with pens. I had been doing it digitally for a while now with my tablet, but a little disconnected and sometimes couldn't get the exact lines I can with a real pen on paper. The trade off is then the inks have to be scanned and fixed up. I'll be playing around and trying to get the right working process for myself.

TRADING CARDS - Rogue

Continuing with my trading card redos is #2, Rogue. I'm pretty surprised she got the second spot. I would have figured Cyclops would be first and then Wolverine second, but --SPOILER ALERT-- Wolvie doesn't appear til #6 (and looks awful.. just wait). Anyway, here's Rogue as #2, apparently clearing out some of those rocks that Cyclops was blowing up in his card. Here's her (terribly written) bio:

"Rogue's powers forever deny her the simple comfort of another's gentle touch. But that doesn't stop this good-ole southern gal from having a good-ole time fighting side by side with the rest of the X-Men's Blue team!"

Rogue is awesome (again, Blue Team) and quickly becoming one of my favorite X-girls.