RiqArt

I'm BAAAACK.

2011-07-17T16:45:00.000-04:00

Okay.. Two months since I posted..

Another case of too little time.. I haven't stopped drawing- just haven't had loads of time to scan.

Well to start things off: here's a pinup I did for James Mason, creator of Urban Shogun..

89: Bats...

2011-05-17T03:35:00.003-04:00

88: The Meet

2011-05-17T03:35:00.000-04:00

Kinda like that first day at college, and that first girl that catches your eye.

Battle Tech

2011-04-27T03:46:00.000-04:00

General Baxter: House of Liao


Xenephobia

Drop Ship

Here are some pieces that I completed for a Battletech RPG recently.

87: Dragon Punch

2011-04-22T00:45:00.000-04:00

86: Herc Ullyssess, Ninja Redneck.

2011-04-20T03:40:00.000-04:00

85: more Wilson Fisk

2011-04-19T03:47:00.000-04:00

84: Kingpin sketches.

2011-04-18T09:17:00.000-04:00

Just felt like doing my own rendition of the Big Guy.

I was in the Gutters recently

2011-04-15T01:54:00.002-04:00

Really. Literally in the gutters.. I've included a sample of the comic, but go to the Gutters website to see the full entry.

Sketch a Day 83: Street Fighter

2011-04-15T01:09:00.000-04:00


Ryo Making Fireball


Chun Li

I actually did these over the Christmas Holiday.. well.. it was a sketch on THAT day..

Daredevil Doodles

2011-04-13T03:00:00.000-04:00

Am I back on the wagon? I really can't say, but I do have a stack of sketches I've been wanting to scan..

Here's the first.

Daredevil.. no explanation needed I hope..

Hey- I'm in Layers..

2011-04-12T20:54:00.000-04:00

Not "layered" in a deep kind of way.. I was just one of the featured artists in a layered article by Paul Hebron.

I had the awesome opportunity to work with Paul years ago when he was the Art Director over the Star Wars Miniatures line for Wizards of The Coast/Hasbro. He did an awesome job on that line, not only with the figures, but he used his graphic design skills to really improve the packaging.

When he asked me to write some words on the art of networking, I didn't know it was for such a widely read design publication, but you can see my words below.. Thanks again to Paul for including me in a gallery of much better artists than myself.

Unfortunately the issue this is featured in is the LAST issue for the Layers Magazine.. But I think it will continue as an online magazine if you're interested.

Snake Eyes and Helix

2011-03-17T02:58:00.000-04:00

I bought an issue of IDW's GiJoe a while back, and the leading characters in that issue were Snake Eyes and Helix( the woman). I did a quick sketch of a composition I liked and then went forward for the final image.

It took me several passes and reworking the composition to get something I liked.
I have to thank Bernard Shepard for taking on the inks( especially since my pencils were heavy, complex and sometimes not totally plannd out) He did a great job- you can check out more of his work over at StudioRevolver.com.

After the inks were finished I also struggled with the colors as well, but in the last leg everything came together.

Bezerker Cap

2011-02-17T15:01:00.000-05:00

Okay,.. I haven't been around for a while, but I've been working on a lot of freelance work lately. When I can I'll post up that stuff just as well.

Inception Comic Cover contest over at Deviant Art

2011-01-08T15:39:00.002-05:00

DA recently had an inception inspire contest.. They provided a script that explained the run up to the Inception movie.. Basically the end scene of the script is the beginning of the movie- it details how they figured out how to get into Saito's head.

I had to pretty much do the whole thing in around 5 hours, so I didn't have time to make things really pretty, buyt I like the overall composition.

Do me a favor and click on this link to DA, and help me bump up my view count for this..

Thanks,

riq.

Inception Cover B by *riq on deviant ART

Eclipse Phase: Gate Crashing

2010-12-25T02:48:00.001-05:00

I got the opportunity to work with Rob Boyle on Eclipse Phase again.. I did three images for their first book, but only one chapter opening this time around.

It was a fun assignment, an I tried a new approach this time around.. One of my first commissions when I did everything digitally.. I got to spend some time on a friend's Cintiq, so I went from concept to final all in Photoshop.

Here's a quick overview of the plot of this RPG,

Gatecrashing takes you through the mysterious Pandora Gates:
* The 5 solar system gates and the factions that control them
* 30 extrasolar locations of interest to Firewall
* Exploration operations and hazards
* New morphs, new gear, and rules for gate use

Learn more here on the Eclipse Phase blog

here are some of my steps thru the process:


Here are the thumb nails that I sent out to the Art Director. I had more, but I felt these two were the strongest. And unless I got direction to do something different, I wanted to go with these.

After the initial concepts were approved with some small notes on compotion, I started with a BW tonal painting.. I pushed and pulled the forms and toyed with the composition until I came to a final image that I liked.

This is on the way to the final image.. I played with the "Pandora's Gate" ( depicted at the bottom of the composition) I had it on a separate layer, so I could push pull and stretch it until I got a composition that I liked.

D&D Gamma World

2010-12-24T14:13:00.000-05:00

I did this assignment early 2010 for Jon Schindehette at Wizards of the Coast. When I first got the commission, I thought I was going to have a chance to create some really awesome and crazy looking weapons..

But as I got further into the assignment I realized that I was just going to draw pretty straightforward guns, and that's it..

But it was still fun, and my first assignment with Jon Schindehette.

I've included the rough step of the process I used for this assignment.. I started everything on paper, scanned it, and then added color and clean up with photoshop.. It was time consuming, but it gave me the level of polish that I was looking for.

Sinestro.

2010-12-03T14:33:00.001-05:00

I've been working on this painting for sometime now.. Not everyday, just a little here and there. Everytime I tried to make an end rally to finish it, I never liked it, so I ended up repainting quite a few time.. And then it just became too much time spent. so I scanned it and did a paint over in photoshop..

I plan to repaint the original based on this photoshop image. The model for this was Chris Burns

Cancelled Project: Animated Music Video

2010-11-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

I did this with Nathan Massengil, inker extraordinaire. But on this project he was the art director and animator.. This would have eventually turned into an exciting music video but the project was cut short at some point..

The BG colors we're done by Dominike Stanton, soon to come out with a Marvel book with his credits on it.. He did an amazing job, and the colors he did for the cars were superb.

enjoy this project from my dead file.

Blast from the Past. Gen 13 Submission

2010-11-19T14:04:00.000-05:00

I did this 4 page sample around 91 or 92 when I was living in Japan.. I lost the originals when a crap load of my stuff was stolen when I was moving out of my apt back in Osaka.

Luckily a friend of mine had already put these on the web( I knew almost nothing of how to do webpages at the time) Of course a few months later I put together my own website in Go Live- so I wasn't that far behind the curve..

I still like these pages, but I think their biggest short coming is story.. Not only story telling, but the actual story is pretty boring.. I'm driven to draw better stories now-a-days.. Even if I do samples I feel compelled to do an entertaining story,,

Another Kerebos Sneaky-Sneak.

2010-11-03T18:43:00.001-04:00

I liked this page a lot too.

Sneak Peek to Keberos

2010-11-03T15:08:00.001-04:00

Here's one of my favorite panels from the story I'm currently working on with Director/Actor Kely McClung.. It's a prequel to his independent movie Kerberos..

Check out the movie page here.

82: Babe Monday... on a Tuesday.

2010-11-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

Worked on this last night.. Naga the Serpent from Slayers.. Never seen the animation, but she fit in the babe category.

81: Pop Wednesdays: The Bieber Guy..

2010-10-27T14:01:00.001-04:00

I cannot fathom the fame of this guy.. I don't hate or begrudge his "success"( he seems nice enough), but he honestly can't sing.. And he looks like a cherub.. But anyway,, He's a pop phenom,, and that's why I drew him..

80: Thursday on a Tuesday.. Gritty

2010-10-26T14:24:00.003-04:00

Kerberos comic

2010-10-25T14:23:00.001-04:00

I'm currently working on the comic prequel to the movie Kerberos.. It's directed by Kely McClung, and he's also the starring actor.. It's been picking up awards at film festivals across the country, so take a look at the website

Here's a sample page.

Okay. I've been a wayward blogger

2010-10-25T14:16:00.001-04:00

October came and deadlines hit from every side.. Work work, freelance work, life stuff. I just had tons to do , and little time to do it.. To keep my sanity, I had to walk away from my blog for a time..

I love doing my sketches a day, but I have a looming deadline that I have to dedicate myself to in order to be be on-time. So for the meanwhile I'm just going to post tidbits of things I'm working on.

RiqArt is in the gutter.. okay "The Gutters"

2010-10-08T14:05:00.002-04:00

See the complete image on The Gutters website

Yep.. I'll be in the Gutters Friday, Oct 8th. Okay.. no, obviously nothing is wrong. In Fact everything is right..
"The Gutters" is a comic centered online parody series. Created by Blind Ferret Entertainment, they feature three artists every week, mon, tues and fri, to illustrate a funny/sarcastic viewpoint comics and the comic industry.
And I illustrated tomorrow's strip.. so stop by The Gutters and take a look.

79: Babe Mondays: Pin-up girl

2010-09-28T11:34:00.001-04:00

Okee dokee.. today a quick pin-up.. I tried to knock this one out quickly yesterday but I didn't like the result enough to post..

I wen't back at it again today, found a way to simplify things, and I'm happier with it now.

Here's the inspiration for this image: click here.

Bad Kids Go To Hell- Get's sexy

2010-09-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

I did the cover for the Trade Paper Back- The creators shot me these photos at a recent convention they attended.. Can you be jealous of a cover?

Babe Monday: Misty Knight

2010-09-21T21:22:00.000-04:00

I've been jonesing to do a Misty Knight Since her redesign some years ago.. Why did I wait so long.. I think she came back with a bang, and then fizzled a bit toward the end.. But I finally did it..

Blast from the Past..

2010-09-20T16:17:00.000-04:00

I have a deskful of work, and when I'm not doing stuff that was due yesterday, I'm hopping on stuff that's due in 5 minutes.

so to keep the blog rolling foward,, I'm going to post up older work that I still like..

This blast from the past is from a comic proposal I did with a friend around 2002 or 2003.

Dragon Con Commission

2010-09-16T14:20:00.002-04:00

80: Pop Wednesdays : Lady GaGa

2010-09-15T17:33:00.000-04:00

Okay.. I only know her name.. Until I did this pic I didn't really know who or what she was.. But she gives a lot of fodder for a visual treatment. I've probably heard her music and didn't know who to attribute it to.

79: Pulp Tuesdays: Dejah Thoris

2010-09-14T14:46:00.000-04:00

I'm leaning more toward the pulp side today, going for a color image of the classic Dejah Thoris..

I'm listening to "The cat who Walks Through Walls" by Heinlein, and he just mention a character named "Dee-jah" Thoris, so the bug was placed in my head, and this was the only way to get it out.

It's an interesting color composition.. Might make a good painting..

78: homage to babe monday: sketch

2010-09-14T12:24:00.001-04:00

I didn't like yesterday's post and I saw some inspiring image from Anna Fischer's flikr account. Here is a sketch I did based on one of her pics..

77: Babe Monday: Quick Sketch

2010-09-13T08:55:00.002-04:00

Skipping around..

2010-09-13T08:52:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of Updates for wed, thurs, and friday..

I have work that beckons me somedays, and I'd rather wait than crap out just anything.. But I'll try to be as consistent as possible in the future..

76: Noir Tuesdays: Sam Freeman.. again.

2010-09-09T16:04:00.002-04:00

75: Babe Mondays: Red Sonja

2010-09-09T16:03:00.002-04:00

Guess I'm sticking to a theme right now.

74 Free for all Friday: Akira

2010-09-07T17:44:00.003-04:00

Not Quite a sketch, but I did spend the whole of Friday working on it.

I did this piece for the Akira exhibition that's touring the US and Europe. It's available as a print.. If you're interested, give me a buzz.

BTW.. It's either Free For All Friday, or Word of the day Friday depending on what's cooking in the kitchen.. I think I'll be back to a Word of the day Friday this week.. I have something brewin' in my head that needs to get out.

73 Gritty Thursdays: SuperGirl

2010-09-07T17:40:00.000-04:00

Okay. I'm playing catch-up from last thursday, but I didthe grawin's.. I just didn't have time to post the. Wuz at Dragon Con over the weekend.

72: Pop Wednesday: Black Eye Peas

2010-09-01T15:14:00.000-04:00

71: Noir Tuesdays

2010-09-01T05:25:00.000-04:00

Had car trouble yesterday morning, so I'm a little late on today's post. More Sam Freeman..

70: Babe Monday: Atom Eve

2010-08-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

69: Word of the Day Friday: Courage

2010-08-27T15:04:00.002-04:00

Okay.. I did two Friday Pieces..

68: Free For All Fridays

2010-08-27T11:30:00.001-04:00

Okay I've deviated from Word of the Day Fridays.. But I do have a Word of the Day Pic too, coming later.

I think this is how Red Sonja would really look like if she's as badd a$$ as she's portrayed. She'd have to have a lot of upper body mass to weild a sword as well as the dudes.. and well the skimpy coverage of the ta-ta's would distract even the most focused of men.

That's my two cents and I'm sticking with it.

riq.

67: Gritty Thursdays

2010-08-27T03:53:00.000-04:00

66: Pop Wednesday: Gnarls Barkely

2010-08-27T02:17:00.000-04:00

65: Pulp Tuesday: Damsel of Distress

2010-08-26T06:10:00.004-04:00

64: Red

2010-08-26T05:04:00.001-04:00

space grrl premlim..

2010-08-21T18:25:00.001-04:00

my first skech for this one.. I kinda like it.

63: Pulp Tuesdays.. Space Gurrrrl.

2010-08-20T18:01:00.001-04:00

Okay.. I decided Tuesdays would be Noir/Pulp.. Oh.. I do realize it's not Tuesday, but I'm making up for the post that I didn't do earlier this week.

Okay.. I think I've got it.

2010-08-17T17:43:00.000-04:00

I've been working at keeping the blog updated a bit more regularly. But at the same time, I didn't just want to do a quick pics that I'm bored with.. So as you've seen, I'm mixing it up, and I think I have a game plan that fits with something I've wanted to do for some time now anyway..

Along with comic, I'm an illustrator. I like to interpret themes, ideas, situations, etc.. So I'm going to do sketches based on themes, Comics, Music, and sexy.. yep I said sexy.. Who doesn't like sexy? Even women like sexy.. cmon.. you gotta like sexy.

So that's That.. I'm going to steal a cue fom Jimmy Palmiotti, who does sexy Mondays, when he presents a collection of sexy pics on his blog every, you guessed it, Monday.

Mine is not "Sexy Mondays" like Mr.Palmiotti, but I'll say Mondays will be sexy.

Noir Tuesdays. Heavy shadows, square jawed guys, and sultry women.

Wednedays will be Music/pop culture themed: What every person or band that I fancy at the time.. Done with a Flat Design-y approach. Like my Black Keys Pic before this post.

Thursday Grit.. The current style that I'm using, lot's of hatching and linework..

Word of the day Fridays. I choose a word and interpret it. Style is a wild card here.

Okay.. Lets get to it!!

I'm a little early for Music Wednesday- so I switch it up and do noir tomorrow.

riq.

62: The Black Keys

2010-08-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

61

2010-08-16T14:56:00.001-04:00

60

2010-08-16T10:58:00.000-04:00

58

2010-08-16T10:57:00.007-04:00

59

2010-08-16T10:57:00.006-04:00

57

2010-08-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

56

2010-08-13T01:08:00.000-04:00

55

2010-08-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

John Constantine

54

2010-08-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

53

2010-08-06T19:10:00.002-04:00

Sketch 52: going batty

2010-07-15T02:41:00.001-04:00

Bad Kids Go To Hell- Cover pencils

2010-07-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

I really liked the pencils( before the final inks and colors) of this cover.. If the client had been open to it, I might have colored it from the pencils and used some tones.

51: Cap and his mighty Sheild

2010-07-13T04:21:00.001-04:00

50: Hulk Smash

2010-07-08T06:02:00.000-04:00

nuff said.

49: Cap'n Pos'n

2010-07-08T06:01:00.000-04:00

48: Feather in my Cap

2010-07-07T05:02:00.000-04:00

Or Cap in my feather

47

2010-07-06T09:13:00.001-04:00

46

2010-07-06T09:10:00.002-04:00

45

2010-07-06T02:40:00.001-04:00

Sketch 44: The really Mighty.. Or Hammer Time (thanks Craig)

2010-07-01T00:21:00.003-04:00

Sketch 43: The Mighty...

2010-06-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

Sketch 42 : Capping things off..

2010-06-30T23:24:00.000-04:00

Oh what a pun..

Bad Kids Go To Hell. TPB Cover.

2010-06-28T16:51:00.000-04:00

I recently got the opportunity to do the cover for the TPB of Bad Kids Go To Hell. It was a pleasure to do, and part of it is because these guys know what they're doing and were very clear and organized about what they wanted..

This cleared me up to really jump into the artwork and try a few different things.

Storyboarding My Super Psycho Sweet 16 Sequel

2010-06-28T16:39:00.001-04:00

I'm working on the sequel to My Super Psycho Sweet 16. If you look in my storyboards section, you'll see that I storyboarded the first movie done by MTV Films.
I'm fortunate to work with the same great creative team for the sequel, with Jacob Gentry directing , and Alex Motlaugh producing..
The original aired on MTV the right before Halloween, and you can view it online several places; one being I-tunes. Keep an eye out for the next one- it's going to be just as fun as the original.

My Next Painting

2010-06-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Here is the sketch layout of the painting I'm currently working on.. Chris Burns posed for this, and I'm definitely trying to get a likeness with this one.

Sketch 41 : Misc Soups.

2010-06-24T03:38:00.001-04:00

Or Misc Supes.. Anyway, it's the guy that sports the big "S".

Sketch 40: Hawkeye and Mockingbird

2010-06-23T04:27:00.005-04:00

I used to like these characters when I was a kid.. I like the new revamp too! Great covers, great interiors.. I guess I should try reading it sometime..

Here's my take.

Madhouze

2010-06-21T10:48:00.002-04:00

Here's a project I finished some time ago. This one was very intensive, and it was more than an illustration for looks; it was the practical layout for the client's concepts, so more work was done working on practical details that the actual "coolnes" of the illustration.

Much of the rendering was done by Dominike Stanton, who was instrumental getting this project completed.

The ole' college try..

2010-06-21T10:37:00.000-04:00

Project I tried out for.. But didn't make it.. No worries- I'm up to my eyeballs with work right now.. I won't miss the all-nighters.

Sketch 39

2010-06-21T10:18:00.000-04:00

I won't talk about how I've posted Jack in the past few week. I'll just say that I"m still drawing but with hard deadlines, I haven't had the time to scan stuff.

Here is a sketch a day practice piece.. Sam and Twitch

Is this a dream, or is this fantasy..

2010-05-28T00:55:00.000-04:00

Could the collection of pixels dancing( okay I know they don't move) be a real image, posted by a real person.. namely, the person named.... me?

Well tell me what you think.. Perception or reality?

Sketch 38

2010-05-03T09:38:00.001-04:00

sketch 37

2010-04-30T02:31:00.002-04:00

Sketch 36

2010-04-28T00:18:00.000-04:00

I'm going to go ahead and count these as sketches, because well.. they are sketches..

More doodles in some ways, but a sketch it shall be.

Back to the doodles

2010-04-27T01:14:00.002-04:00

Here is some stuff that is actually very old.. I really never stopped doodling.. I just haven't had lot's of time to scan my stuff.

so here's a nod to my sketch a day, which I'm trying to get back to asap.

GL Remix

2010-04-26T01:43:00.000-04:00

Took the Recent GL painting into photoshop. A few filter, textures, and a brushstroke here and there.. and voila. I'm a old fashioned analog guy, but you can't beat the digital msg of photoshop.

New GL Painting

2010-04-20T00:57:00.000-04:00

I still have a little post work to do in photoshop.. I'm not loving the BG, but I put a lot of sweat and tears into this one.. I wanted to do as much as possible on the paper..

I got to my limit one I put down colored pencil- one a thic coating of Prismacolor, the painting won't take many other mediums.. except I guess, oils.

I'll post some of the thumbnails and comps I did for this.. I didn't take any WIP's, because I didn't have much time, and I was bent on finishin ASAP.

RiqArt.com is newly launched

2010-04-18T22:21:00.002-04:00

Hi.. I know I've been terribly absent of late.. I even have stuff to post, but I've honestly been too busy to scan.. I had some big projects to get done, and I've been working on a Green Lantern Painting too.. I'll unveil it tomorrow.

Also, I've been revamping my new website.. and it's ready.. I think I have a few places that need some touch ups, but the new RiqArt.com is up and running.. Stop by and take a look.

Y'know what?!?

2010-03-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

I just realized that I may have been approaching my sketch-a-days wrongly..

Years ago I started doing paintings at conventions for the main reason of, I can paint faster than I can ink, and it looks WAY better too. I'm a painter at heart- I block the shapes in mentally, and ink really slows down my natural process..

Recently, I've found an inking style that favors my approach, but it's really slow.

So.. I think I'll be doing my sketch-a-days using an ink wash approach.. Faster, Better, and Cooler I think!

So who's next.. I'll get to it ASAP.

Sketch 35

2010-03-23T23:59:00.001-04:00

Sketch 34

2010-03-23T23:58:00.000-04:00

Commissions from Emerald City.

2010-03-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Two BW ink commissions I did at Emerald City two weekends ago.. Blackhand( Blackest Night) and Lady Bullseye(Daredevil). Both were suprisingly fun to do.

Hisashiburi. it's been a while.

2010-03-22T19:22:00.000-04:00

Okay.. It's been a while- although for me it seems like only a moment..

I feel like I've been on a big adventure this past month- I've had so much work and life to deal with, I did really have a chance to breathe until this weekend.

I had been pulling all nighters to get projects out: a website, an application interface, environmental rendering, brochure layout, spot illos for WOTC, and preparing and going to the Seattle Emerald City Con.

whew it's over, and I can finally find some time to post on the ole' blog. Oh I forgot, I redesigned my own website too. It up, but I'm still tweaking it. Stop over at riqart.com if you want to take it for a test run.

Okay I have some stuff that I did during the con to post and definitely more to come.

Headless horseman

2010-02-26T10:36:00.002-05:00

Sketch card commision

BUSY BUSY BUSY

2010-02-25T09:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately..

The feces has hit the proverbial fan work-wise.. I'm have a lot of exciting projects, but the un-fun part is getting several hot projects out of the door with little time..

I'm also working fulltime working on the FX network show Archer. As well as updating my website.. RiqArt 2.0 will be ready and running by next week. I'm also gearing up for the Emerald City Con, March 14th and 15th.

I'll be back on the wagon by next week, and hopefully I can catch up with my sketch a days too..

Sketch 34

2010-02-18T14:49:00.000-05:00

Quick color study today. Guess Who