CLOSE UP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.