Tim Bradstreet is one of the quintessential noir styled illustrators who has lent his creative talents to creating book covers, movie storyboards and animation, roleplaying games, trading cards and posters. His versatility has garnered him much exposure over the years, a far cry from his early days when he struggled to be noticed. Click here to continue…

This month’s Artist Spotlight focuses on Mike Mignola, an American comic book artist and writer known mainly for his creation – Hellboy. Mignola started as an illustrator for the Comics Reader, drawing spots and covers Click here to continue…

Last week I gave you a series of webcomics to check out. This week I have something a bit different to put in front of your eyeballs. If you’re in the mood for some more reading material, check out these 10 artists and their blogs / portfolios. You may have heard of some of them, but they are not your average household names, that’s for sure. With sneak previews, upcoming projects, production images and inside looks at their processes, these blogs will definintely give you a different outlook on the lives of the everyday comic artists like you and me. Take my word for it – they’re great resource material. Click here to continue…

As a followup to my webcomics roundup for 2010, here is a list of comics bloggers that you should definitely follow this year. Some of these blogs contain valuable insights and commentary, some provide you with the latest and greatest in the world of comics, and others offer you straight up eye-candy and popular webcomic magic of their own.

Take a look and get acquainted with these blogs! They’ll definitely leave you inspired… Click here to continue…

When I was growing up, I recall taking one look at Jim Lee’s style, and aspired to become a comic book artist with his level of efficiency and precision in his artwork. His runs on Marvel Comics X-Men, Image Comics Wild C.A.T.s and DC Comics Batman: Hush are some of his best known works. Have a look at this gallery of Jim Lee’s work throughout his career.

Lee created an instant chemistry between the young and naive Jubilee and the gruff, overprotective Wolverine during his run as the lead penciller in his own XMen title with Chris Claremont.

The famous pull-out cover of X-Men #1. This image is one of Lee’s most iconic works.

Aboveare some samples of Jim Lee’s DC comics works – note the level of precision and how dynamic his characters look. Below are some samples from his Image comics days.

It’s hard to believe that an artist of this caliber almost took a career path in psychology. Jim Lee started off as a fill-in artist for Marc Silvestri on the Uncanny X-Men title, and it became permanent after Silvestri left in 1989. By 1991, fans were so taken by his work, that Marvel launched a new line simply titled X-Men which featured Lee’s work and the writing of Chris Claremont. After Claremont left due to a working disagreement, Lee continued on until 1992 until he left Marvel with a group of artists to form Image Comics.

While under the Image Comics umbrella, Lee formed a series of titles called Wildstorm Productions, featuring his flagship title – WildC.A.T.s. For years, Image was criticized for its lacklustre story telling and its style over substance approach during the 90s. Lee managed to concentrate on publishing a number of critically acclaimed series such as The Authority (Ellis/Hitch) and Planetary (Ellis/Cassaday).

Lee finally sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in 1998 and returned to his role of illustrator on titles such as Batman – where he was involved in the 12 issue storyline entitled Batman: Hush.

After the Batman run, he worked on Superman for awhile on the ‘For Tomorrow’ story arc, and also teamed up with Frank Miller in 2005 for the oft-interrupted All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder series.

He was currently commissioned to oversee the art for DC Comics online RPG game as the creative director.

You can check out his work at some of these links:

Jim Lee Cover Gallery
Gelatometti – a blog with numerous artists including Lee
DeviantART gallery

I personally encourage you to pick up anything Jim Lee has worked on in the last 20 years. You wont be disappointed.
I’ll leave you with a video of Jim sketching Wolverine in his trademark style at the NYC comic con this year.

I don’t usually use idrawdigital as a platform for self-reflection or life-based posts, seeing as this is a resource site. But I do want to share some background history on why I decided to follow the illustration career path. If I was ever asked the question: What made you decide on becoming an artist/illustrator/designer, I’d emphatically answer – Heavy Metal magazine made me do it.

When I was a a kid, I loved comics. I’m sure there are a number of readers out there who felt the same way – I would grab all of my favorites and trace the panels over and over again until I was able to mimic the artwork by myself without tracing. I used to have stacks of 8.5 x 11 ruled paper in binders with comics that I replicated on my own. Honestly, I think this is how I ‘trained’ myself how to draw. The problem was, the subject matter was always the same – costumed superheroes duking it out, or Star Wars characters or GI Joe, He-Man or whatever the popular toys for boys were at the time.

I grew up and gave up the toys, but I still doodled and drew – eventually making skateboard graphics (DOG TOWN!) and developing detailed backgrounds and buildings. My cousin was studying to be an architect, so I would pore over all of his books and university work to get ideas on improving my own renderings. One day, while looking over his work, I noticed a magazine on the coffee table in his apartment. It belonged to his roommate, and I found myself drawn by the cover illustration of a scantily clad amazonian (I was 13… its natural.) Curiously, I picked it up and thumbed through it, half-expecting it to be some kind of smutty rag – but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was indeed a magazine with mature comic stories in it.

I was hooked – I recall reading a story called Attila by Antonio Segura and Jose Ortiz, a Spanish artist/writer duo who had created this post-apocalyptic world. The story itself was a bit thin, and pretty sexist and had everything that appealed to a teenage boy – the art style was different, the story was darker, and the idea that there was so much out there in the world of comics that stretched beyond the small circle of mainstream comics I was accustomed to. I was led to believe comics were what you found in the Sunday paper and on the news stand beside the Archie comics and the Disney crap for kids. If you wanted something more powerful, you made the huge stride to super hero comics.

Picking up Heavy Metal magazine and reading the stories was as powerful as waking up from a coma – or even being born. I realized that I wanted to step up my game and tell better stories. Ones that were darker, ones that were more cinematic and mature than the corner store pulp I was used to seeing. Yes, Heavy Metal changed my perception of how I wanted to draw and how I wanted to tell the stories bouncing around in my head.

I quickly found myself trying to get my hands on more of these magazines. Since they were classified as ‘mature’ due to their content, I had to basically beg, borrow or steal them in order to stay up to date. Eventually, I was able to bravely and boldly walk into a comic store, grab the latest issue off the shelf and purchase it. I think the conversation went something like this:

Clerk: Aha! Heavy Metal, eh? You like the adult comics, huh?

Me: Ermm…. uhmmm…. nooo. I… uhh… I like the stories…..

Clerk: I’ll bet. The ones that have the big boobs in ‘em, eh?

Me: Uhmmm… no…. seriously… I like the stories…..

Clerk: Sure, you do. They say the same thing about guys who buy Playboy magazines.

Me (mortified): ….

Clerk: It’s ok kid. I won’t tell your mom. The next issue won’t be out for three months. I’ll remind you when its around – and I’m just joking with you.

Me: O-ok.

Here’s the issue from that conversation:

I don’t think I bought another copy from the comics store again. The next time would be at a corner store, and when I was questioned by the old lady behind the counter who thought it was a nudie mag due to the racy cover, I quickly opened it up and showed her it was a comic book. She then thought it was like Conan or something. Yeah… or something! Funny thing is, when I’d see her while I was out side doing what kids did at thirteen, she would always call me over and give me an ‘advance’ copy before she put it on the shelf the next day. Good times.

I did that until I moved out of the neighbourhood. I remember starting high school in the fall, and I used to bike across 3-4 neighbourhoods to get there, and every season (the magazine came out seasonally) I would leave immediately after class and visit the old lady at the store. I’d buy the Heavy Metal, chat for a few minutes, then bike home. I think it took me less time to bike home uphill on those days than it did to bike to school downhill all the way.

I decided I was going to become an artist. I wanted to draw comics, and draw powerful illustrations and tell fantastic stories. So I wrote scripts and drew characters and made comics with the dream of getting my story printed and published in Heavy Metal magazine. I eventually grew older and the dream faded a bit, I decided that I needed to have a career that paid well and allowed me to live comfortably. I put the skills I had to good use and became a graphic designer and now I’m a creative director.

But I still love comics, and whenever I see a Heavy Metal magazine lying around, I ALWAYS pick it up and I remember that feeling I got at thirteen – and NO it wasn’t the ‘funny feeling’ you get in your pants. It was a feeling of enlightenment – like a door had been opened which would lead me down a path to fulfillment. So why am I telling you this? Well, I’ve been at a crossroads with my artistic career for a little while now. I like my day job, I really like blogging, but its difficult to have your voice heard amongst the screaming throngs of Twitter-ers, Bloggers and Net-o-philes, so I end up sabotaging my own projects for fears that I’ll never have any success. Its pretty strange, since I’m extremely confident with my design and direction while I’m at work, but I’m pretty introverted and lack self-esteem with my comics.

I was cleaning out some old books and came across an old Heavy Metal magazine. I sat down on the couch, opened it up and started reading, and a flood of memories and daydreams filled my head. Before you know it, an hour or two had passed – and I felt this sense of purpose again. Now I’ve gone full boar into producing comics again, and once again, I have Heavy Metal magazine to thank for opening my eyes.

If you want to learn more about the publication, check out the Wikipedia entry or the official site. Kevin Eastman (of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame) is currently the editor and has managed to keep this independent magazine alive and kicking with its blend of sci-fi, fantasy and dark graphic storytelling for the past two decades. A lot of the featured content comes from European artists who have established themselves as bonafide talent, but there are a number of North American entries, and a wide variety of short stories ranging from extremely humorous to downright horrific to completely strange and abstract.

If you’ve never read through any of these issues, check them out. You may recognize work from some of the greatest non-mainstream talents out there. I will warn you – some of the material is a bit on the racy side, so you may want to exercise some caution – its not a comic for kids, that’s for sure. The stories are campy and cater more to a male audience, but pause for a moment and just look at the craft of the artists (and in some cases) the skill of the writers. I highly recommend it.

If you’ve been abreast of things in the comic book-turned movie world, you’ve already come across a number of Frank Miller’s works in recent years. He is best known for his dark, film noir-style graphic novels such as 300, Sin City, Ronin and more familiar names with Daredevil: Born Again (during his run at Marvel) and Batman : The Dark Knight Returns (with DC).

His gritty, loose style gives his characters more of a darker, mysterious edge. Miller is well known for his use of contrast and deep shadows to create some dramatic looking imagery:

Miller refined his style with the issues he developed for Daredevil in the 80s during his time at Marvel, and collaborated with Chris Claremont on a Wolverine miniseries. Miller was able to expand Wolverine’s character through the new storyline, and introduced more of an Eastern flair with his artwork featuring some manga-like undertones.

From there, he moved on to produce his own ‘creator-owned’ title for DC – ‘Ronin.’ The story is about a reincarnated Ronin samurai who ends up in an alternate version of a future New York.

In the mid 80s, Frank Miller produced one of his greatest pieces of work, which still remains as one of DC’s best selling series of all time: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Set in the future after Batman retires from crimefighting following the death of the 2nd Robin, the story develops with Batman returning to action as a meaner, grumpier version of the vigilante in future Gotham which is overrun by punks. The political and moral aspects of the stories bring Batman to face one of DC’s greatest champions in a duel to death for the fate of society.

After a contract dispute with DC over ratings and censorship, Miller produced the first of a series of stories for independent publisher Dark Horse. This series, entitled Sin City proved to be the pinnacle of Miller’s work and his calling card for future work to come. Set in seedy Basin City, the stories revolve around a number of darker anti-heroes forced into noble roles in order to complete their tasks. All of the stories intertwine in some manner, creating a rich, yet pulpy film-noir world of booze, broads, and bullets.

Some of the books were transformed into live-action sequences for the Sin City movie. With Miller on the production team, the director, Robert Rodriguez was able to follow the pacing and use the books as the official shot storyboard. It was one of the few graphic novels that stayed true to the story and appearance, and followed the books frame by frame. Here are some examples:

Miller went on to write for a series of different stories – Hard Boiled with Geof Darrow, a new Daredevil series with John Romita, the scripts for RoboCop 2 and 3, and numerous others. In 1998, he hammered out his version of the ill-fated battle of Thermopylae, simply entitled 300. Using his trademark shadowy style, Miller illustrates the battle between the vast Persian army and their defeat at the hands of 300 Spartans told from the perspective of King Leonidas of Sparta.

300 was also brought to life on the big screen and followed many of the same techniques used in Sin City, under the direction of Zack Snyder. Here are some of the stills from the movie, and you can see how they mimic the style of the graphic novel:

Setting aside his differences with DC, Miller returned to produce a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns entitled the Dark Knight strikes again. The story continues on where DK left off, but this time the story revolves around the criminal activity of Lex Luthor and a band of superheroes forced to work for him.

Miller also produced a pet project of his own, another silver screen adaptation of one of his favorite comic book icons, penned by the immortal Will Eisner – The Spirit. Panned by critics and fans for its lack of substance, you can still feel the noir edginess Eisner developed in his books from the 40s-50s. Miller extended that edgy, pulpy feel to the movie – unfortunately, the dialogue was out of date and out of context for today’s viewers, and it remains only as a piece for die-hard fans and eye-candy for the rest of us.

Will Eisner's 'Spirit'

Miller's homage to Eisner's Spirit

Currently, Frank Miller has been busy working on the sequel to the Sin City movie, and rumors were reported to have him create a series of new stories for the film which would also be available in print. Miller has also completed work on the first draft of a followup graphic novel for 300 which has yet to be titled. His work has influenced many, and he has been awarded for his revolutionary edginess in writing for classic comic book characters as well as for his artistic works done on his own terms. Frank Miller is an icon and a pioneer in the comics world, due to his unwavering attitude towards the display of the darker, violent side of reality.

You know him from the fantastic illustrations he’s done for Rockstar Games for games like Grand Theft Auto, The Warriors and Bully. His name is Stephen Bliss, and his signature style is like a gritty, urban still life that captures the mood of the darker side of the city and its people.

If you’re not familiar with his work, here’s a few samples to refresh your memory.

Look familiar? A lot of his work has been plastered all over New York City buildings, as full page spreads in magazines, and as stills in TV commercials. His style is distinct, edgy and top quality.

Before Stephen began his sweet gig with Rockstar Games in New York, he was an in-house designer and artist for Hysteric Glamour in Tokyo during the mid-80s. In 1989, he returned to London to work as a freelance illustrator. His work has been featured in such high-profile publications as GQ, Time, Arena, and Vogue. As the years passed, his client list expanded to include Burton Snowboards, BMG Music, The Cartoon Network, Sony, Nintendo, MTV, Pepsi and trip-hop mainstays Massive Attack.

In 1998 with the help of his brother, he formed Steroid – a T-Shirt company which sold merchandise throughout the UK and Japan. In 2001, he landed in North America and became Rockstar Games senior artist, and has been cranking out work for their game titles. His moody, urban illustrations helped define and brand each game in the Grand Theft Auto series, but had enough distinctive changes in the artwork to make each individual game unique.

Stephen Bliss’ art has been a great influence on my own style of work, and each time a new Rockstar product is released with his artistic vision, I am amazed and inspired at the skill and quality he puts into each piece. Sometimes its merely the use of colour, or definition in a silhouette – either way, he puts interesting spins on his subject matter, yet still manages to retain a signature style that is distinct and instantly recognizeable.

You can check out his site and portfolio online – www.stephenbliss.com