DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

CAT PORTRAIT #2: THE DESPERATE MAN

2012-02-06T04:31:00.000-08:00

I finally had some free time to finish this version of Gustave Courbet's amazing self-portrait, also titled The Desperate Man. Maybe some of the mysterious, scared look in the original character's eyes is lost in my version, but trying to imitate Courbet work is always a hard task.[The Desperate Man is an original painting by Gustave Courbet]

DAVID'S PROPOSAL COMIC

2011-12-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

These months have been one of the busiest periods of my life. I haven't had time to finish any drawing, the only exception being this page I did for my friend David. If you want to know the whole story behind this page, you can find it here.
I hope next weeks I'll be able to continue my Cat Portrait series.

CAT PORTRAIT #1: THE KNIGHT WITH A HAND ON HIS CHEST

2011-04-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

For a lot of time now I've had in my mind the project of drawing a series of feline versions of famous paintings and pictures.
The painting I chose to start this series (that I don't know if will ever have a continuation) is this one, which is my favorite work by El Greco. I love the look in the eyes of the man and the serious, languid expression of his face. Also, the fact that for some time it was thought that the nobleman portrayed there was Don Quixote's author Miguel de Cervantes.
[The Knight With A Hand On His Chest is an original painting by Doménicos Theotokópoulos 'El Greco']

NUN

2011-03-27T14:47:00.001-07:00

A drawing I made for the cover of a script I've been writing during the last three or four months. Hope to get good news from it soon!

LOBO THE CZARNIAN

2011-02-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

Back in the 90s, one of the few comics I really enjoyed reading was LOBO. I made several LOBO pin-ups and illustrations then, but they must be now growing dust in a dark, lost drawer somewhere between my apartment and my parents' house.
This pin-up here is, as you may have realized, a tribute to one of the most famous promotional pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger's CONAN.
[Lobo created by Keith Giffen and Roger Slifer]

FALLEN ANGEL

2010-12-31T00:54:00.000-08:00

For this year's last post I chose a Liandra pin-up I just finished two days ago.
Peter David is one of my favorite writers, and FALLEN ANGEL is, without a doubt, one of my favorite comics of all time. Only an imaginative mind as David's could take an overused concept (Good vs Evil, Heaven vs Hell, etc) and use it to create such a collection of original characters, places and situations.
The comic has so much subtext and there's so much depth in its characters that, in my opinion, describing FALLEN ANGEL only as a superhero book is like, you know, saying 2001 and STAR WARS are the same just because both movies are science-fiction.
[Fallen Angel created by Peter David and David López]

FRESH PRINCE OF KRYPTON

2010-12-02T00:57:00.001-08:00

Five months ago I made this illustration portraying Mr. T as Wolverine. There were some people then that suggested me to continue drawing black versions of white superheroes. I found it kind of a funny idea, so I decided to try the most iconic superhero of all: Superman.
As you may have already realized, I used both actors Will Smith and Brandon Routh as the base for this illustration.
[Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster]

BENCHES

2010-11-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much free time to draw, lately, so I decided to post here a very simple one-page story I made three months ago. I tried a plain style that a friend of mine defined as a mixture of American an European. I don't know.
Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

VIKING

2010-09-17T02:05:00.000-07:00

I posted some months ago an illustration about NORTHLANDERS, but if you are a fan of vikings you may know that's not the only book out there about the subject. Another one, by Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein is VIKING. I recently discovered it and I'm enjoying it a lot. The only reason why some comic related websites keep comparing it to Brian Wood's book is that there are very few comics about the viking era, but to me it's like comparing Superman and Wolverine just because both characters are superheroes. VIKING has its own style, kind of a Coppola meets Tarantino touch (THE GODFATHER's Coppola, I mean). I have only read a few issues so far but I'm definitely reading the rest of the series.
The base for this illustration was another one of Caterina Barjau's photos. It was done all digitally.
[Viking created by Ivan Brandon. The Image logo is a property of Image Comics]

AMERICAN VAMPIRE

2010-08-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

Retelling America's history with vampires. That is, more or less, what I understood Vertigo's new monthly series would be when AMERICAN VAMPIRE came out, and I thought it was an awesome idea. Even before reading the first story-arc of the book (writen by Stephen King) I started wondering which episodes of the history of the United States would look cool with vampires on them... and what about the foundation of Hells Angels in Fontana, California, in 1948? That's how I decided to make this fake comic cover.
I took the model for the main character here from mixing-up the portraits (taken by photographer Caterina Barjau) of two actual members of Hells Angels Barcelona. In fact, when finishing that bearded face, I remembered that Hells Angels guy did a small role (playing himself) in a music video I edited many years ago.
[American Vampire created by Scott Snyder. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics.]

KEVIN

2010-07-14T02:25:00.001-07:00

Although I must confess I'm not a big SIN CITY fan, I really like the way Miller handles blacks and whites to create his unique and distinctive noir look. A similar use of shadows and lights is what I tried here. Maybe that's why I decided to draw Kevin and his white glasses.
[The Dark Horse and Legend logos are property of Dark Horse Comics. Sin City and Kevin created by Frank Miller]

I PITY THE FOOL... BECAUSE I'M THE BEST IN WHAT I DO

2010-07-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago actor Donald Glover started a campaign to get the role of Peter Parker in an upcoming Spider-Man movie. There's been a lot of debate in the internet about whether having a black guy portraying Marvel's famous wallcrawler is a bad or a good idea, and even Stan Lee gave his two cents about it.
I myself have been a bit torn. I don't think it's necessary to have a black guy playing Peter Parker, as if the only way to create interesting black characters was to change white character's race. On the other hand, Spider-Man is a very well known character, and iconic characters end up beeing modified and versioned all along time. After all, if Shakespeare's plays have been set in WWII, in modern fictional Florida cities and even in the future, why can't Marvel have a black version of Spider-Man?
With that in mind, I decided to create a black version of one of Marvel's most famous characters. A lot of actors came to my mind, but none of them was more charismatic than Mr. T.
[Wolverine is a property of Marvel Comics]

TECHNO MUSIC

2010-06-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling like creating a collage-style image since last month. Some days ago I was watching one of the videos I edited during my work at Sónar Festival when the idea popped up in my head. The final result is this colorful illustration where I tried to capture the variety of sounds, styles and textures techno music offers.

THE CROW

2010-06-21T00:00:00.001-07:00

Some days ago I made this illustration for El Pique Del Mes blog, where every month a character or topic is chosen and different artists post their illustrations about it. This June the character was The Crow, and I decided to go with this cadaverous portrait. After all, The Crow is a guy who came back from the death.
[The Crow created by James O'Barr]

JASON AARON'S BEARD

2010-05-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

Some months ago I made this all-digital illustration based on a picture of himself that writer Jason Aaron posted on his message board. Aaron liked the picture and has been using it as his profile picture in the Internet since the last two weeks (which honors me, of course).
The origin of this illustration was a thread about beards. When Aaron posted a picture of him, someone joked about the fact that he could be a character in Scalped (the awesome Vertigo book Aaron writes) and I tried to imagine how would Aaron look if he was indeed a character in his book.

NORTHLANDERS

2010-05-18T00:50:00.001-07:00

This illustration combines digital drawing and a mix of digital and watercolor painting for the background. I wanted to oppose the warm colors of the character (his skin, his hair) with a cold palette of blues in the background, symbolizing the wild temper of Norse warriors against the weather of those regions.
Brian Wood is a great writer, and that, combined with the fact that I love history books/comics, made me want to read NORTHLANDERS since the moment I knew this comic existed. I also love the idea that every story-arc is a different tale with different characters, moving from a time and place to another.
[Northlanders created by Brian Wood]

LINCOLN RED CROW

2010-03-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

This illustration is a mix of hand-drawing and photoshop. I used pencil to render Red Crow's wrinkles to make them look more natural. One of my main problems was where to put the name of the character.

Lincoln Red Crow in one of the most complex and interesting characters in SCALPED, and I can easily say he has become my favorite one of the book.
[Lincoln Red Crow created by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guéra]

WOLVERINE

2010-03-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is an all-digital illustration. My first idea was to keep Wolverine's drawing in black and white with a red background, but the character looked too lifeless to me and I ended up coloring it too. I also wanted to give the line of the drawing a rough, wild feeling, which is a style that I keep loving more and more.

Some months ago I showed this Wolverine illustration to a comic editor, who didn't quite like it because found it not to be very Wolverine-ish (oddly enough, it wasn't a Marvel editor). Sometimes I feel kind of tired of all those badass pin-ups where we always see him furious, and that's why I wanted to draw a hieratical Logan. Anyway, I guess that editor was right and that illustration (which I just realized I drew about a year ago) isn't the typical Wolverine we are all used to, so I decided to try a similar pin-up portraying an angrier Logan this time.

The model for this illustration was pal Juan Carlos Fernández.
[Wolverine is a property of Marvel Comics]

THE GUY FROM HAWAII

2010-01-28T00:32:00.001-08:00

I mixed photography and digital drawing here. My challenge was to give the character a colorful touch (that the hawaiian shirt gave me) while keeping a noir feeling on the whole cover, and that's why I only used two colors (black a read are very noir colors for me) on the backgound.

For a long time now I've had in my mind that character who I used to call The Guy From Hawaii. Some days ago I filmed a short with actor Santi Gimeno-Bayón. Looking at how he was dressed, I realized that I had created a character for that short that was unintentionally inspired in The Guy From Hawaii character, so I decided to use him as the model for this illustration.

CHOSEN

2010-01-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

This is an all-digital illustration. I love the combination of Jesus' tilted head and sad expression (a typical Catholic depiction of the character) with the pink-red tracksuit. I wanted to incorporate the book's title in the whole image, and decided to use it as a metaphor for Jesus' crown of thorns.

I guess nobody can deny Jesus Christ is one of the most iconic figures in Western popular culture. That's why I find it kind of surprising that there are not many comics out there about the character.
I used a picture of pal Javi Gimeno as the basis for this illustration.
[Chosen created by Mark Millar and Peter Gross. The Dark Horse logo is a property of Dark Horse Comics]

THE WRITER

2009-12-30T10:58:00.000-08:00

I had that idea for a very sad, melancholic illustration about a writer living in a house that was actually a cemetary. In my mind it was a dark, sinister, somehow Mignola-ish illustration that I really wanted to do... but I postponed it for a while, and when I took it up again some weeks later I found that I had changed my mine. Now I wanted to try how the same idea would look like if rendered with a bright and colorful style. I also decided to use flat colors to make it even naïver than the original idea. The result is, of course, something totally different from what it should have been, but I enjoyed a lot doing it.

The model for the writer was actress Mónica López, after some pictures of her I took during the filming of a music video she starred.

355

2009-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

For some reason female characters seem to me more interesting than male ones. If there is a book with plenty of female characters that is Y The Last Man, and my favorite one there has always been Agent 355. When I thought of doing a 355 illustration I wanted to capture the dual essence of the character: the agressive side and the delicate one. Just as J. G. Jones' covers for the book, I also wanted to create a "Y" shaped composition here.

I think it's time to re-read Y The Last Man.

[Y The Last Man and Agent 355 created by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra]

THE WILD BUNCH

2009-09-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

This illustration began as a drawing for a tattoo a friend of mine wanted me to design for him. The tattoo was meant to show one of Sam Peckinpah's most famous frames from his film The Wild Bunch. But then the graphic designer inside me (ah, that little annoying bastard!) started messing with it, and that's the final result of it. I tried coloring this illustration, but I finally decided to keep it black-and-white to give it a more serious look.
[The Wild Bunch is a Warner Brothers film directed by Sam Peckinpah]

SCOTT PILGRIM

2009-09-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

For this illustration I used photoreference, as I wanted Scott to look like Michael Cera (who's portraying the character in the upcoming Edgar Wright movie). Apart from that, the illustration is all digital. Even though it's a black-and-white book, I always imagine the Scott Pilgrim universe as a colorful place, and that's what I wanted to show here. The use of crazy elements in the image (like pink letters or shinning orange stars) contribute to create that surrealistically pop atmosphere too.

I've been a fan of Scott Pilgrim since I bought Volume 2 at Jim Hanley's Universe in 2004, during my first trip to New York City. I had read some reviews and had seen some preview pages from Volume 1, and although I didn't know who Brian Lee O'Malley was and didn't know anyone who was reading the book, I just got the feeling that I was going to like it.

[Scott Pilgrim created by Brian Lee O'Malley]

100 BULLETS - MONEY FOR NOTHING

2009-09-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

This 100 Bullets illustration (kind of a fake cover, too) is a strange mix between photos and digital drawing. I liked the idea of composing the image the way you can either understand the girl is a potential victim of the gunman or his superior. When coloring it I decided to avoid using greens on the bills and turn them red, to have a more limited palette and also to symbolize the relation between money and crime (red is the color of blood).

My wife and my father were the models here.

[100 Bullets created by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

CLOSE UP

2009-07-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when I want to switch off from work for a while, I draw extreme close-ups. It's something that comes very easy to me and I love drawing them. I already posted another one some months ago, but this one here is not from any known character, but just some anonymus guy.
I also used this casual drawing to try some coloring techniques. It didn't take me much time to finish this illustration but, while simple, I liked the final result and thus I posted it here. Some details are more noticeable in full size, though, so I encourage you to clik on the image and see it in a bigger size.

DMZEE

2009-07-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's not a secret that I'm a big DMZ fan. Zee Hernandez has been my favorite character since the first volume, and even more after I read DMZ #11. In fact, the reading of that issue made me think that it would be nice to have a limited series about Zee's first days alone in New York, making enemies and allies and finding out how to survive in the middle of a war. That's how I came up with the idea for that illustration.
[DMZ and Zee created by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

CAT THIEF

2009-07-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

I made this drawing many years ago, around 1996 or 1997. It was just pencil and ink, with no color or background. I found it last month and scanned it. Looking at it it's easy to realize how much I was influenced by Alan Davis (who is one of my favorite artists in the comics industry).
I've always enjoyed drawing catpeople, and that's why last year I came up with an idea to write all those characters into a comic-book or a graphic novel. Yeah, maybe one day I'll send it to an editor. You never know.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

2009-07-06T12:42:00.001-07:00

I tried a different process of drawing and coloring for this illustration. I'm not a hundred per cent happy with the final result, but it's got some things that I like.
Captain America is one of my favorite Marvel characters, maybe because The Avengers was my first superhero comic-book ever and he was the leader of that awesome group back then. I was thinking about drawing some fake Captain America cover, and then it ocurred to me that Cap could be holding Red Skull's skull as in the famous Hamlet scene.
[Captain America, Red Skull and the Marvel logo are a property of Marvel Comics]

SCALPED TAXI DRIVER

2009-07-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

While Taxi Driver is not my favorite Scorsese movie, it may be his most iconic one. Dashiell Bad Horse, Scalped's main character, kind of reminds me of Travis Bickle sometimes, so the image for this illustration just popped up in my mind.
This is a fake Scalped cover for a fake story-arc. Things have gone so wrong for Dash that he's starting to feel out of reality. He can't fight so many wars anymore.
[Scalped and Dash Bad Horse created by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guéra. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

GOLDENSWORD

2009-06-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

This illustration is connected to an idea for a comic-book story I wrote some time ago. A girl finds herself suddenly obsessed about seeking a mysterious golden sword that keeps appearing in her dreams. Where does that obsession come from? And why is the sword so important?
I love the trick of putting evil, menacing faces behind the main character in an illustration (I more or less used it here too).

SPOCK

2009-06-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

I guess you can tell the differences between Star Wars and Star Trek just noticing who's the most charismatic character in any of them. While Star Wars would go for people like Han Solo or Bobba Fett (scoundrels, adventurers, action heroes) in the case of Star Trek it has to be a cold-minded scientist like Spock.
This one here is another unfinished illustration that I just completed today. It's a simple portrait, but the reason I did it is I challenged myself to draw a Spock close-up mixing both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto's features.
[Spock created by Gene Roddenberry]

NFL CAT

2009-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

These days I'm taking some time at nights or early in the morning to finish old unfinished illustrations I started months ago. This one here is the first one I made with my new graphic tablet. I tried to draw one of those catpeople characters, but I did it quickly and it ended up looking more like a wolf (mainly because of the nose and the color of the fur). I thought the final result was kind of funny and decided not to change it, anyway, so here it is.
The character is dressed up as an NFL player just to give him something to justify his defiant attitude, but I have to admit I don't even know the rules of the sport.

JOHN LOCKE

2009-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

I like two-faced characters. Like Severus Snape in Harry Potter. Like Don Draper in Mad Men. Or like John Locke in Lost. I didn't like him at the beginning, but as the series has gone on, he's become my favorite character. Sometimes it's even pathetic to see how he clings to the Island, but I can understand his obsession about it, as there he can be an adventurer, a hero, a leader... while outside it he's just a loser.
[Lost created by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber]

NO FEAR

2009-06-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Furious guys are always fun to draw (maybe that's why a lot of portfolios are full of Wolverine pin-ups) but for once I wanted to draw someone defying a more real and immediate menace than some evil supervillain, and I thought about the most scary thing I've ever been in front of: a gun.
This illustration has also been the perfect excuse to experiment with different drawing and coloring techniques. I had never used this speed-line manga-ish style of background, either.
The model for this illustration was Alberto Blanco, a short-film and music-video director who I've worked many times with.

THE DOUBT

2009-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

What would you do if you had superpowers? Help people altruistically? Use your abilities to get money, houses, cars and girls/boys? I guess many of us would sit in front of a beer and take our time to think about the pros and cons. Mmm... hero or villain?
The model for this illustration was my internet pal Joey P.

POWERS - BAD GUYS / BAD IDEAS

2009-05-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Powers is one of my favorite superhero books. This is a fake cover inspired in a short story I once wrote. Imagine you had to catch a bad guy who has the power to turn you a bad guy too.
The model for this illustration was my cousin Hugo. He's not that bad, by the way.
[Powers created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming]

SHOOT THE MONSTER

2009-05-21T02:33:00.000-07:00

Fake cover for a fake comic-book. Wendy Johnson's books of monsters and weird creatures are famous around the world, but those monsters in her books are not hyperrealistic computer-generated illustrations (as she has made everybody believe) but real animals she takes photographs of. Where's that secret place those amazing creatures live at, and how did Wendy find out about it?
The model for this illustration was my beautiful wife.
[The Dark Horse logo is property of Dark Horse Comics]

OLD THOR

2009-05-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

I was trying to created sort of a classic-style cover, and came up with this one for a fake Thor mini-series. One morning Thor wakes up and finds that his powers are gone and he's fifty years older than last night. It's hard to be a helpless sick homeless lost in the streets of New York when you have been a heroe and a god, have travelled around worlds and have died and resurrected. Who and how did that to him? Will the God of Thunder manage to get his powers and life back?
[Thor and the Marvel logo are a property of Marvel Comics]

YORICK AND AMPERSAND

2009-05-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Fake Y The Last Man cover. It's funny that every time I think about Y The Last Man, the first thing that comes to my mind is that dialog with Yorick and Agent 355 when Yorick says that the only Beatles song he doesn't like is "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey". I loved that moment.
The model for this illustration was a certain guy called Bill.
[Y The Last Man, Yorick Brown and Ampersand created by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

SAD GIRLS - WOMAN O' WAR

2009-05-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I had that idea for a Y The Last Man spin-off titled Sad Girls, about a group of five women and their lives during the first year after the plague strikes. That's a fake cover for a fake story-arc for this fake Vertigo comic-book.
The girl on the illustration is based on a photo I saw on Flickr.
[Y The Last Man created by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

ANGRY HULK

2009-05-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Although I have enjoyed Peter David's run on the character, I have to admit Hulk is not one of my favorite Marvel guys. However, the other day I was in front of a blank sheet of paper wanting to draw something fast, and suddenly came up with this Hulk close-up. It's simple but I kind of like it.
[Hulk is a property of Marvel Comics]

WONDER WOMAN IN PARIS

2009-04-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Some days ago I realized that I've got very few Wonder Woman comics in my collection, so I decided to try an illustration of the character. I wanted to mix such an American icon with an equally well known European icon, and that's why Wonder Woman ended up jumping from the Eiffel Tower. Why she went to France and what got her to jump from the tower... that's a pretty awesome story.
[Wonder Woman is a property of DC Comics]

CAT GIRLS

2009-04-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Another pin-up for that catpeople idea I talked about here. When, as a kid, I started drawing with a realistic style, female bodies were the most difficult thing to draw for me. I know plenty of artists whose women look just like guys with breasts (giant breasts, by the way). I was one of them, so for years copying supermodel pictures and (specially) Alan Davis' female characters were my way to learn about the natural differences between men and women's bodies.

NICO MINORU

2009-04-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Nico is, easily, my favorite character from the Runaways. As Cyclops in the X-Men, Nico seems to have resigned to carry the burden of being the leader of the team, even when she has doubts about her capacities. Also, I like how she can't fully control her magical powers. Uncontrolled power is always an interesting topic to deal with.
[Nico Minoru and the Runaways logo are a property of Marvel Comics]

SCALPED

2009-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Fake Scalped cover. I enjoy drawing a real bad-ass character every now and then, and Dash Bad Horse is definitely one of them.
[Scalped and Dash Bad Horse created by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra. The Vertigo logo is a property of DC Comics]

XANDER'S ANGELS

2009-04-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

Xander Harris evolved from being a comic relief to becoming a heroic, and sometimes even epic, character. I wanted to play with that mixture of humor and drama that Xander is, and came up with that illustration (yes, I know it ended up being more comic than serious). I like the fact that Buffy is the only one who is not smiling here.
[Xander, Buffy, Willow and Dawn created by Joss Whedon]

RED DEMON

2009-04-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

I was watching TV series Angel when I had the idea for this demon portrait. The look in his eyes and that evil smile makes me wonder what's going through his mind.
The model for this illustration was my friend Israel.

SUPERMAN HIPERCUBE

2009-04-02T01:46:00.000-07:00

This Superman illustration is based on a Salvador Dali's picture of Jesus Christ. I guess I've always been attracted by the messiah-ish side of the character.
[Superman is a property of DC Comics]

SCOTT SUMMERS

2009-03-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

Cyclops is one of my favorite X-Men characters, maybe because his supossed lack of charisma. He has to carry a responsibility that sometimes he doesn't want, but he can't refuse because of his sense of duty. It's like the organizer of a party: he's in the middle of all those lights, music, drinks and dancing people, but can't fully enjoy of it all because he has to make sure everything's OK.
[Scott Summers and the X-Men are a property of Marvel Comics]

MANHATTAN CAT

2009-03-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Another one of those catlike characters I talked about in the previous post. I love Manhattan, and I love drawing jumping people (even catpeople).

A CAT'S PET

2009-03-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of 2008 I came up with an idea for a comic-book about catlike people. Yeah, I know that's not be the most original idea, as catpeople have been around in fantasy, science-fiction and comics for a long time, but I had a great time developing that story (mystery, thriller, some magic...) and every now and then I fancy drawing some of those characters just for fun.

FREE STATES SOLDIERS

2009-03-19T02:49:00.000-07:00

Another fake DMZ cover. A bunch of soldiers from the Free States of America organize an improvised attempt to invade Manhattan without their superiors' permission. That's going to end up in something very bad, of course.
[DMZ created by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli]

MATTY

2009-03-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

Fake DMZ cover. Maybe the drawing is a little bit simplistic, but I like the composition of the image.
I started reading DMZ just three or four months ago, and got instantly in love with the book. I'm not a big fan of war stories, but this one is heavily centered in the characters and the place instead of just the action, which makes it way more interesting. Also, it's Manhattan!
[Matthew Roth and DMZ created by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli]

THE JOKER'S SMILE

2009-03-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Joker is the perfect villain. We don't need to understand what his motivation is, because he's crazy and that's just all. That makes him terribly interesting but, far from making him and easy-to-write character, I think it also makes him more difficult to write. Why should I care about a villain if I'm never explained why he does what he does?. I guess insane characters are a double-edged sword.
The model for this illustration was my internet pal Michael.
[The Joker is a property of DC Comics]

BONE CLAWS

2009-02-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

I was a teenager when Wolverine's bone claws were revealed in comics. I remember it was quite a shock, back then.
[Wolverine is a property of Marvel comics]

JUBILEE, AGENT OF SHIELD

2009-02-24T03:44:00.000-08:00

Being depowered after the events in House of M, Jubilee is offered a job at S.H.I.E.L.D. She can't use her mutant abilities anymore, but all those years being member of the X-Men have made an expert about the superhero world out of her. As you can see on the cover, this fake Jubilee mini-series is written by me and drawn by John Cassady (now, do you need any more hints to see this is fake?).
[Jubilee, S.H.I.E.L.D and the Marvel logo are a property of Marvel Comics]

TRAVIS CONNOR

2009-02-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Travis is a character I created for a comic project which was sent to some American comic companys. I wrote a whole background story for him, and although the comic never got published, hopefully I'll be using this character again in some other stories to come.

RA'S AL GUL

2009-02-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

Ra's Al Gul is my favorite Batman villain. I guess it's because the Spanish edition of Batman #232 is one of the first Batman comics I ever read. I remember that the Lazarus Pits Ra's Al Gul uses to slow down his aging process amazed me so much. More than the Joker or other villains, I always thought Ra's Al Gul is the real dark version of Batman: he's rich, smart and has no superpowers.
As you may have noticed, Vincent Prize was my inspiration for this Ra's Al Gul illustration.
[Ra's Al Gul is a property of DC Comics]

BIG MAN KINGPIN

2009-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

There's that Ron Mueck's sculpture (the one that is known as the Big Man) that always makes me think about a sad, defeated Kingpin. That's why I decided to base this illustration on Mueck's sculpture.
One may think Wilson Fisk has been caught and has surrended, but you can see his eyes are still swearing vengeance.
[Kingpin is a property of Marvel Comics]

MAGNETO - IRON WILL

2008-12-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

Magneto is, in my opinion, kind of an ambiguos character. Is he a fighter for the mutant cause because he really believes in it, or is it just a way of externalizing a need of vengeance he carries from his youth in Auschwitz? Thinking about that I came up with the idea of a mini-series where Magneto deals with his own ghosts.
Faces are one of the most interesting things to draw, so when I wanted to make a fake cover for this fake Magneto mini-series, I decided to go for a simple portrait. Just the expression of an old, tormented man.
[Magneto and the Marvel logo are a property of Marvel Comics]

SUBWAY SUPERMAN

2008-11-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

How would Superman feel if he lost his flying powers and had to take the subway to move around Metropolis? I was thinking about that (yeah, that's the kind of things that come to my mind when I read comics) and had the idea for this fake pin-up Superman cover. Of course wearing a cape in a crowded train can be a little bit impractical, so that's why Superman chose a T-shirt instead.
The station portrayed here is actually drawn based on Barcelona subway stations (I haven't been to Metropolis yet).
[Supermand and the DC logo are a property of DC Comics]

HEAVY METAL VAMPIRE

2008-11-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

The model for this illustration was my friend Rubén. He's not a heavy metal guy, though. Not a vampire either (as long as I know...).