COMICS 'R' US SATURDAY part 1

So at 11am I met up with friends Lee and Nicola for a late breakfast. I walked past Comics R Us at 11:50am to find it pretty empty. I was horrified at staring down the possibility that no one would turn up. I asked Nicola and Lee not to leave as I might need them to pretend to make me look busy. I inhaled my pancakes (after finishing off a smoked salmon scramble - I learned from the day beforehand to get a good meal in me) and with great trepidation headed to Comics R Us.

Thank god people had turned up. There was about 10 people waiting for me and plenty more came over the course of the day.

What's awesome is the number of familiar faces that pop up. That people come back time and again to see me is so incredibly flattering. To all those who came down to see me, "Thank you." To all those who came down twice, you've honoured me more than I deserve. Thank you.

HAITIAN: This guy came down the day before asking for a MoHo for his girlfriend. He said he saw the Haitian I did during San Diego on my site. He mentioned how much he liked it and if I could do him one. I was mortified! That one was a total fluke! What choice did I have? I hunkered down and rolled the dice. I think they came up rather nicely.





SYLAR: This is my "Sylar" who visited me at Armageddon. I had started doing some sketches of season 2 Sylar for myself and I think I broke my internal Sylar-ometer (tm). I was just generally unhappy with all my Sylars this weekend. They all just didn't look right... Back to the drawing board.









WOLVERINE: I quite liked this one! I can't remember the exact pattern of his suit, but I think this is pretty damn close. You'd think the yellow spandex had burnt an image in my brain, but years of reading comics have rendered me impervious to all but the most fluorescent images.







ROGUE: Now this was fun. He actively encouraged me to go for the 80's big hair and head band. How can you not love everyone's favourite Southern aerobics instructor?













DEATH: I felt myself under huge pressure after the kick ass Dream that I had drawn the day beforehand. Francis Manapul had also drawn the Best Death Ever for my friend JAn. I can only hope he took longer than I did. For while this is a nice picture, mine is but a shadow of his.







MYSTIQUE: Now this was a pleasant surprise. She wanted the comic Mystique, not the movie Mystique (thank god!). There was a frantic search to find what her bindi looked like... and who woulda thunk it? It's a skull.











SEASON 2 PETER: Not bad for off the top of my head, huh? Yeah, I finally upgraded to season 2 Peter Petrelli's and I think I knocked this one out of the park (man).






NATHAN: Oh man. The other Petrelli brother needs work. I've just never done a study of him. I've also only ever drawn him once - for the big poster. Drawing him as a kid in War Buddies doesn't count. Nor does using Adrian Pasdar as reference for his dad. Anyway. None of that sunk in... and it's kinda obvious.








HIRO: Back on firm ground here with good ol Hiro. I almost consider Hiro a break. Once I figure out the initial pose, I can just turn my brain off. This is a pretty good one!










ZACHARY QUINTO AS SPOCK: While I would do a much better photo mash of this, I find this picture I did for Jacinta pretty damn amusing. What a cute concept for a picture!









NIGHTCRAWLER: Still armed with her red texta, here's Siobhan with a kewl Nightcrawler. I channeled all the Alan Davis that I could and it turned out not bad at all.








X-WING PILOT: His name TOTALLY escapes me. But it's the first X-wing pilot I've ever drawn. So I popped my cherry on this one. Damnit. What's his damn name?









ULURU: I'm pretty sure this is Simon (am I right?). He wanted to really challenge me, so he asked for Uluru. Luckily I had started reading my HEROES graphic novel the night beforehand and had just read, "Isaac's First Time" which had Uluru in it. A couple pages later was the Tim Sale sketch. You tried to stump me and I knocked it over the fence. Boo-yah! Man, this sketch was total fun. Monsters rawk.




COMMISSIONS:

If you'd like me to do a commission, email me at grael23@yahoo.com and I will send you an email with the details and prices. Then you can make a decision as to what you want. My list is filling up, so if you want something before xmas, I recommend you get in now.

SIGNING AT CLASSIC COMICS
Signing this Saturday 17th, 3pm-5pm

at

Shop 7, 50 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia

HERE is a map

Signing is free, sketches are $10 and sketchbooks are $15 (same as before).

I'm also doing a radio interview at 4pm on RMIT radio on 90.7FM. So if you're in Melbourne, tune in!