VED!

Art of Capcom 2 Poster

2010-07-12T12:10:00.001-07:00

Udon is also releasing another Art of Capcom book this year. I had the pleasure of contributing a double page splash for it and I decided to draw every character from the Street Fighter, Darkstalker, Rival Schools and Final Fight games. Below is a few samples of the step by step I did to get it done.

This took me waaay too long to do. There is over 110 characters I believe and I don't think I'll do one of these again. We also had to make it a themed piece and I decided to choose the Olypmics as they happened to be in Canada this year.

I started the process digitally. Roughing out quickly a picture flow so your eye would read left to right and back into the picture. I decided to do a line up as this was an easy way to show all of the characters. It also avoided me having to draw every face or full body as there just wasn't enough time for all that.

Once I laid in a rough layout, I printed it out on separate pages and traced over the rough poses, dropping in characters here and there. I started with big characters first placing them in easy to read areas, then filled in the spots with misc characters trying to avoid possible color conflicts.

Then came the fine tuning of the pencils. Little by little I roughed it all in, double checking references for all the characters making sure I got everyone. I also added misc characters that I thought would be a fun addition for the die hard fans. Just around the same time, they were announcing Super Street Fighter 4 so I had to make sure Juri was in it.

Once I cleaned all the pencils up, I began flatting this monster and also had to draw in a background registration building of sorts. Initially it was going to be for Vancouver registration but I decided to just generalize it and go with Capcom instead. I think it made more sense too.

Funny enough, I thought I was done but then they go and announce Hakan as the last new character for SSF4! So I had to quickly go back in and add him, replacing Chun Li's rump with him.

All in all, I had a lot of fun working on it. It was a massive undertaking though so I hope you all like it... see if you can find them all!;)

Cheers!

VENT

2010-07-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

Udon is finally releasing it's first creator owned anthology called VENT. For more information about it, see the official press release here - VENT

This is very exciting for me as this will be the first published work of Aardehn! I have a short, full color 5 page story in the book which will coincide with my current storyline but can also be read as a one off, for those of you who don't follow along with my online comic.

Alongside my pages, I contributed a poster with a tutorial on how I created this piece. This is just a sample of the tutorial, but rest assured a full write up and more images are included. I also have a 6 page gallery of misc Aardehn artwork.

The hardcover is only available at SDCC and a few other shows I believe but you can already pre-order the soft cover here - link

Hope you guys enjoy it and would love to hear your feedback on it all.

Cheers!

Rock Band 3

2010-06-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

I enjoy playing RockBand quite a bit but didn't pick up the second installment. Now the third is upon us and I'm in! Check out this review here -

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/109/1096281p1.html

I'm a huge fan of the piano and this one comes with a Midi keyboard which you can learn to actually play like a real piano, at least for the songs they have. Sounds pretty kick ass so hopefully it actually works that way hehe.

e

RIP Frank Frazetta

2010-05-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, sadly, the master has moved on.

link

He was a HUGE influence on my work growing up and even more so today. My condolences to his family and friends, he will be missed greatly.

Thanks Frank, you will never be forgotten.

eric

Con Sketches Galore!

2010-05-04T12:29:00.001-07:00

The Fabler Interview

2010-04-14T22:20:00.001-07:00

I was asked for an interview last week by The Fabler. It centered mostly around Aardehn, so I was more then happy to answer their questions.
Check out the interview here -

Aardehn Interview

Hope you like!

Cheers,

Eric

Sacred Seasons update

2010-03-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

For the last 6 months I've been working on the new version of Sacred Seasons. What originally started out as part 2 of the game, turned into a total revamp of the original instead. Check out the official announcement here -

Sacred Seasons

I have a feeling this game/franchise will grow huge as time goes on. It's a unique story which is refreshing in a sea of cloned mmos.

When it's released I plan to post a bunch of art I did for it, so stay tuned!

e

Darkstalkers 1 pg 13

2010-03-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

So here's the first time you see Dimitri and Pyron. I hadn't drawn Dimitri before so he took a few goes before looking somewhat decent. That face of his gives me a challenge every time. The rough was fairly straightforward and I liked having the chance to draw Morrigan again;).

I eventually decided to reuse the same pose as the Morrigan from page 7 as it seemed to make more sense. I do feel like I drew this one better though... anyways, every page is a new adventure.

I think I have 1 more page that I'll post up from this issue. When issue 2 is released, I'll make sure to post those pages as well.

cheers!

e

Darkstalker 1 pg 11

2010-03-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

So here's Huitzil's chance to fight back, and give Anakaris a good beat down! This page was a blast to work on, since you get to see each of the characters transform a lot. The rough worked pretty good from the get go but I still wonder if I could have done the transforming Huitzil better...

I like how this page turned out though. Overall it works but again, I think I would have liked to have added a few panels to show some of the transformations. Just ran out of room!

Anyways, that's the last page i'll be showing with Anakaris in it so i hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers,

e

Darkstalkers 1 pg 10

2010-02-26T06:40:00.001-08:00

As the book was released on Wednesday, I'm able to start showing more of the penciled pages. I'll just pick some of my favorites instead of boring you with all of them.

This page was tricky. The script asked for a bunch of action shots with Anakaris attacking a Huitzil. As you can see by my roughs here, I struggled to find an appropriate layout.

3rd times a charm as I finally found a layout that worked, but had to cut a panel to make it happen. I'm not going to bother posting the thumbnails to this page as it was mostly just barely legible scribbles..

Here's the final -

Anyways, I'll be posting more soon!

e

TX Comics Update!

2010-02-25T05:46:00.001-08:00

TX Comics has released it's new website and along with that the brand new TX store!

Check out the site here - TX Comics

Check out the store here - TX Store

A lot of improvements have been made in the last of couple months thanks in most part to Ramon Perez and Karl Kerschl, those guys kick ass!

We have some really exciting news on the horizon so stay tuned as we continue to grow:).

Cheers,

VED!

Darkstalkers 1 pg 8

2010-02-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

So in keeping with my earlier posts, here is Darkstalkers page 8!

I really like how this page turned out. The thumbnail went pretty quick too.

The rough took no time to lay in as well since there wasn't really any complicated characters or action shots to figure out.

I enjoyed working on this page and really spent some time on the backgrounds.

Anyways, hope you like it and more pages are around the corner!

Cheers,

Eric

Udon's Darkstalker Tribute book review.

2010-02-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

I just came across this 1up review today while scouring the net. I was happy to see not only a positive review, but that the reviewer had chosen my Morrigan pinup as one of the pinups to showcase in his review! Check it out here -

review

Anyways, shameless self promotion I know, but isn't that what blogging is all aboot?

On a side note, I will be posting more work soon, just have to wait until the books are on the stands;).

Cheers!

Eric

Super Street Fighter IV anime!

2010-01-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

I just came across this tonight while researching SF characters. Looks awesome and I can't wait to check it out!

SSFIV anime trailer

I love Juri.. she kicks ass!

Enjoy!

e

Darkstalkers 1 pg 7

2010-01-15T07:15:00.001-08:00

Wow, I really slack at posting here. I should make an addition to my growing list of New Years resolutions to "Post on blog!".

Anyways, as I did with my Final Fight pages, I wanted to post the rough to final work as I find that the most interesting part of the process.

Looking back at these, I notice how some of the rough art might have worked better then the final I had done, but that's always how it goes. I think I would have fixed Morrigans pose a little and also reduced her enormous breasts in that first panel;).

The second last panel I could have made her neck not as long but I didn't really notice it until I saw the colors. Oh well.

Generally, I'm pleased with the page, but I think I did a much better job overall on issue 2. When the book is finally out, I'll post probably all the pages here with a few at Deviantart to lure people here! :)

Anyways, thanks for hanging around here and I just added "Post on Blog!" to my New Years list.

Cheers!

Eric

Yes! DARKSTALKERS RETURNS!!

2009-11-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I am really excited to share with you that Darkstalkers is making a return. Udon has finally announced what I have known for many months now and have agonizingly had to keep to myself.

On top of that, I was asked to pencil the 3 issue mini-series! I am completely beside myself as I am a MASSIVE fan of the Darkstalker universe.

More information from Udon available here -

http://udoncrew.deviantart.com/blog/28282018/

Also, check it out at Kotaku as well -

http://kotaku.com/5402049/darkstalkers-returnto-comics

Anyways, I know posting here has taken a back seat, but I hope to rectify that in the next coming months.

Stay tuned!!

Eric

Toronto Fan Expo

2009-08-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone:).

I will be attending this years Fan Expo in Toronto on August 28-30th. I will be sitting alongside my fellow Transmission X professionals and hope to see some of you there. I will have prints for sale along with my very first sketch book. Also, I will be doing head sketches and taking commissions of Capcom and Aardehn characters if anyone is interested.

Anyways, if you are going, please stop on by and say hi!

Cheers,

Eric

Watch HOME

2009-07-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I just purchased Home on Bluray and just finished watching it. I suggest everyone take a look at it and it can viewed for free here-

HOME

We need to change how we live.

e

Aardehn goes live with Transmission X!

2009-07-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

You read correctly! Aardehn was invited to join with Transmission X (www.txcomics.com) comics, an online comic collective! Please stop on by and check it out and we have a new forum up for readers to login and let themselves be heard!

Also, I created a new Facebook group for Aardehn, as the last one was shut down by Facebook, as they deemed it as spam?!? Anyways, a new one is up and running, so please swing on by and support me as I spin my wierd and wacky tales in the mystical world of Aardehn.

Cheers!

Eric

SF 2 Turbo #7

2009-06-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a page I did for the upcoming Street Fighter 2 Turbo #7 issue. It's the second back up story I had the pleasure of working on, set in the Final Fight universe.

I penciled then inked it, using nib for the first time. I loved the detail I was able to get with it and plan to use it more in the future, but i do need a lot more practice with it.
Here's a link to the Udon preview page -

SF2 Turbo #7

I'll post the roughs and finals after the book hits the shelves.

Cheers!

Darkstalkers Tribute Poster

2009-06-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Looks like we're finally allowed to show these.

This was my take on the Darkstalkers poster. I wanted to show all the characters so I tried thinking of some unique ways to do that and I always kept coming back to this idea.

This also was a great excuse to draw Morrigan twice, from the front and the "behind":). I also thought it would be neat to have a painterly style in her "real" world, then anime cuts in the "cartoon" world of gaming.

This was done in tight pencils, then colored in Painter and Photoshop.

I will be selling prints of these at SDCC as well.

I will eventually post my rough-final process, so stay tuned:)!

Final Fantasy 14

2009-06-17T21:08:00.001-07:00

I am really looking forward to this game. The trailer looks amazing and the website had this amazing piece of art on display so I pieced it together as best I could. It was done by Kazuya Takahashi.
Consider me a huge fan Kazuya!

Anyways, if it allows you to play as a Samurai again, i'm sold!

E

Digital Kontent

2009-06-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, back from MoCCA and had a blast! NY is an amazing city to have a beer or 7 in:). After TCAF, we we're invited back to Digital Kontents headquarters and had a podcast with them. Check it out here:

TX Podcast

Anyways, it was a great experience, even though I was a little shy... all in good time I guess!

Cheers,

Eric

MoCCA

2009-05-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

Next week, i'm off to MoCCA for the first time. I had a blast at TCAF so i'm really looking forward to NY's show. I plan to have prints for sale again and hopefully something new too. Anyways, if anyone happens to be going, swing on by and say hi! I'll be sitting with the TX crew again.

e

SF 2 Turbo Backup

2009-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

So here are the roughs of the Final Fight back-up story in this months Street Fighter 2 Turbo #6.

I start by thumb-nailing out the panels right on the script as I read it. I then scan in all those thumbs and piece it together into something a little more coherent.

Once that's done, I proceed to tighten them up. Sometimes I really need to sit down and flush them out better, so I blue line all the pages tighter - nailing composition and the forms along with placement of the word bubbles. Once that's all done, I rescan, tighten up just a tad more in Photoshop then send them off for approvals.

Here's approval-ready rough layouts:
The only revision I got was on pg 4. Udon felt that the last panel should be bigger and also be an up shot. So we decided to squeeze the top two panels together and enlarge the last panel.
Here's the new page:

I think that worked out much better. I had to adjust the angle of Haggar as he didn't feel like he was sitting on the same plane as Cody and Guy. A small tweak and I was ready to go.

From this stage, I print out the pages to fit onto a 11x17 comic board. Tape it down using a light-box to line it up, then proceed to blue line it. Once blue lined, I proceeded to pencils, using a mechanical pencil with a 2H lead. For smooth and faster outlines, I used an HB pencil.

Here are the final pencils:

I had a lot of fun working on this. It certainly was a LOT of work but in the end it's always worth it. I look forward to more of these projects and I hope you do too!

Cheers,

eric

TX Banner for TCAF

2009-05-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

This was one of the many Transmission X banners adorning the balcony walls at TCAF over the weekend. I really liked how this turned out and I will probably turn it into a poster for Fan Expo.

Post TCAF

2009-05-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

Well I have to say, TCAF was an awesome experience! I got to meet alot of great people and learned a shit load about selling my own wares. It also was my first appearance as an official Transmission X artist, so now there's no excuse for weekly posting!
I plan to do a relaunch of my Aardehn site for chapter 3 and make it more inviting. I got big plans and I'm stoked to hit Fan Expo in August! Anyways, to all those that came out and purchased sketches and prints, thanks a ton! You make it all worth it!

Cheers,

Eric

Street Fighter 2 Turbo #6

2009-05-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the pleasure of working on a 4 page back up story in the Street Fighter 2 Turbo series, published by Udon Comics. Here's a link to Udon's site regarding it:

Street Fighter 2 Turbo #6

I'll be posting the pencils once it goes on sale. Go pick it up already!:)

Cheers,

e

2009-05-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of the prints I will be selling this weekend at TCAF. Trying to work on my painting skills and had a lot of fun doing it. There's some issues with it, but gotta keep at it! hehe, Anyways, all done in photoshop. I will be posting the breakdown of it soon too:).

TCAF

2009-05-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Next weekend I will be attending my first TCAF show. I'll be sitting at a table alongside my fellow Transmission X cohorts sketching, signing and selling anything to do with my webcomic Aardehn. For the first time I will actually have merchandise available, so i'm really excited to see how things turn out.

Anyways, stay tuned for more announcements regarding Aardehn!

Cheers,

eric

Morrigan

2009-04-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

This was an old inked pic I did way back in the day. I love Darkstalkers and Morrigan is perhaps my all time favorite female character out there. She inspired Celeste for my Aardehn world over 10 years ago! sheesh, im getting old.
Anyways, hope you like it!