Daily Sketch: BATGIRL

An overdue daily warmup sketch, this time featuring the newest Batgirl, former Spoiler, Stephanie Brown.

WHO-rkin' for a living 2

A new piece of art is up on eBay for your perusal, and perhaps, perchance, purchase.

From the auction descritpion;

"I work mostly digitally, however I do work things out in pencil from time to time if I think it's quicker or easier for the piece/page. This particular page came about like so; on page 21 of issue #12, it was was suggested to me by my editor to turn around the Doctor in the first panel, as I had originally drawn him facing away from the reader. I roughed out in pencil a few alternate poses, and when I was satisfied with one (the cleaner penciled one in the lower-left), I finalized the pencils. I then scanned that figure, shrunk it to the proper size in Photoshop, and digitally inked the final patched panel.

Also on this sheet you can see some other Doctor Who-related sketches, including the TARDIS (upper-right) and a cartoony K-9 (lower-left).

So what you have here is a somewhat rare piece of actual production artwork from me. Most of these I keep, and I only have a few fully-penciled pages. The rest are headshots like these - and everything else is 100% digital. So headshots and bodyshots sketched in pencil are rare from me, and I won't be selling many of them.

My auctions can be found by clicking --> HERE.

Thanks for looking!

Daily Sketch 2: OMEGA

Today I asked on Twitter;

If I were to do a pencil sketch of a DW character or alien and put it up on eBay, who would you want to see?

There were a good handful of replies, and I may draw a few of those suggestions as warmups over the next few days, but the one that caught my eye immediately was Omega.

I'll let you Google who Omega is to the Whoniverse (and be careful, there may be spoilers, but me being specific about what you might be spoiling remains to be seen. Sorry for the riddle-speak, but I dunno of spoilers are spoilers or just me trying to save it for new fans of the old. Oy. I can really gab on with no one knowing about what the Hee Haw I'm speaking about).

To me, Omega was one of the first Doctor Who aliens I saw, long before I saw the episodes "The Three Doctors" and "The Arc of Infinity." An image of him appeared in ex-Doctor Who producer's book "Doctor Who: The TARDIS Inside Out." There was just this painting of him (in his Arc of Infinity gear, shown here), and no explanation of who he was or even his name. It'd be years before I found out.

Anyway, here's the sketch, and I may do another Omega really soon. His headpiece was the focus of this drawing, me, trying to get a handle on it. Might go for something slightly more dynamic, while still being a sketch and not an perfectly-finished drawing.

If you're interested in purchasing this on eBay, click --> HERE.

Thanks!

Daily Sketch: BATMAN

Gonna start posting more of my daily warmup sketches. Some may be more elaborate (and cool) than others.

Been working on Timelords and zombies for so long, I've missed a bit of the spandex. So here's Batman doing just that.

I've been told I draw a very McGuinness Batman, which is funny, as I was drawing him this a bit before I ever picked up the first Batman/Superman trade.

WHO-rkin' for a living (groan, I know).

Pardon the attempt at a bad pun.

Couple of pieces of art are up on eBay for your perusal, and both come with some signed Doctor Who comics.

The top one is special in one sense - it's "published." From the auction descritpion;

"I work mostly digitally, however I do work things out in pencil from time to time if I think it's quicker or easier for the piece/page. In this case, on page 22 of issue #12, I was told by my editor I needed to change the Doctor's expression in one panel. I roughed out in pencil the face as I had already drawn it, roughed out a few ideas for the replacement mouth and expression (hence the cartoony Tenth Doctor in the upper left), and then finalized that on the original face rough with stronger lines. I then scanned this face, shrunk it to the proper size in Photoshop, and digitally inked the final patched panel. So what you have here is a somewhat rare piece of actual production artwork from me. Most of these I keep, and I only have a few fully-penciled pages. The rest are headshots like these - and everything else is 100% digital. So headshots and bodyshots sketched in pencil are rare from me, and I won't be selling many of them."

The other one is a piece drawn at Granite State Comic Con, Manchester (2010);

"I drew this sketch during the Granite State Comic Convention in Manchester, NH, May 2010. While many see my interior work on Doctor Who as cartoony, this lil' sketch proves I can be even cartoonier (is that a word?)."

The auctions can be found by clicking --> HERE.

Thanks for looking!

Doctor Who #12 "Trailer"

"Don't Step On the Grass," Part Four (of Four).
Written by Tony Lee
Illustrated by Blair D. Shedd
Colors by Charlie Kirchoff
Cover by Paul Grist

Click above to embiggen.

Doctor Who #12 from IDW Publishing is out today, June 23rd 2010, in US and Canadian comic book shops everywhere (check ahead for availability - I can't guarantee who carries what).

Here's a teaser of sorts of bits of issue #12. These panels are grabbed from all over the comic in no particular order. Some aren't even full panels but details of such.

If you pick up the issue, let me know what you think!

And remember, if you want to see me illustrating Doctor Who again, let them know at letters@idwpublishing.com ! Thanks!

Images are ©2010 IDW Publishing
Doctor Who and all appearing related characters and images are ©2010 BBC Worldwide

Doctor Who #12 Preview: The End

"It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for..."

The official preview of Doctor Who #12 is online. The issue itself is out this Wednesday (the 23rd)!

Click here for the previews!

Doctor Who #12 - IDW Publishing

Written by Tony Lee, art by Blair Shedd, colors by Charlie Kirchoff, cover by Paul Grist.

“Don't Step On The Grass” Part 4 (of 4): With London fallen, it's up to UNIT and their unlikely ally, the Advocate, to save the world-but will she destroy it in doing so? Can the Doctor save Mister Crane from his destiny? Who will Matthew believe in? And who will leave at the end?

Like with #10 and #11, I did not draw a cover for this issue, so there's no need to search around for that specific cover. Just grab the one they have in your local comic shop.

BIG SPECIAL THANKS TO: I'd like to say thanks to...

...Tony Lee for writing an incredibly fun story.

...Charlie Kirchoff for taking my linework to the next level.

...Paul Grist for the great covers.

...Matthew Dow Smith (returning Doctor Who artist) for all the advice and encouragement.

...Editor Denton Tipton for giving me this opportunity and schooling me on how the real comic book world works for a freelancer.

...Publisher and editor-in-chief Chris Ryall for giving my work the thumbs up initially.

...IDW Publishing for putting out a Doctor Who comic for all the wonderful Stateside Doctor Who fans.

...David Tennant for knowingly-or-not letting his likeness be used all around (and for being a great Doctor).

...The BBC for Doctor Who.

...And last but certainly not least, my wife and family for putting up with a husband and father that rarely came out of his studio-cave.

This has been a dream job, and I hope to do more Who comics in the future, but until then --

Cheers!

Nerd Caliber Interview

Nerd Caliber interviews me on camera about Doctor Who, breaking into comics, and who my favorite Doctor is. Filmed at GraniteCon 2010.

WARNING: Contains video of ME.

The interview can be found here --> CLICK

Many thanks to the guys at www.nerdcaliber.com!

The Next Project

Above is a sneak-peek at a character design for my next project. If you've been paying attention on Twitter or Facebook (or this very blog post), you might have an idea of what it is.

I will say it's a short story, and not based on any existing property.

More info as it's available.

GraniteCon Manchester 2010

Me and helper-buddy Savannah at the table. Photo by Sarah Shedd


Hey, all. Time for the long overdue con report on Granite State Comic Convention, Manchester, NH, 2010 (that's GraniteCon to you)!

If you Google around, you can find a couple of con reports - some more general than others, some focusing on cosplayers and costumers. This report will focus mostly on me (cos it's my blog, yo) and touch on the other things as they come up.

On to our story;

A look over the table at the full-sized, sound-and-lights, remote controlled R2D2 (and some familiar comics in the fore...) Photo by Sarah Shedd

There's a whole story about a rental car here. I'll leave most of it out, but suffice to say it was mostly a debacle; we needed a car, I reserved a car, we got the WRONG car, and no one but us seemed put out by it. Anyway. Sarah (dressed as the Eleventh Doctor's companion Amy Pond) and I got there, were shown to a table, ran in to our friend Savannah (dressed as a gender-swapped Captain Jack Harkness - and wearing an actual WWII great coat), and we began the setup.

For those wondering, I was dressed as... uh... me. The hat is a thing that I'll be wearing at most cons from now on. Doctor Who Ongoing writer Tony Lee mentioned he always wears what he wears (a waistcoat and tie) so he becomes nearly-instantly identifiable at cons by fans and pros alike. It'll take a while before this catches on, but I figure a large Flilipino wearing a cowboy hat will stick out in some minds.

Anyway.

Just after setup, one of the first visitors to my table stared at me for a moment, looked through my portfolio briefly, looked at me, looked at the giant sign behind me, then asked me "are you an artist?"

He brought all his Magic Cards but left the grey matter at home.

Compared to other cons, he seemed to be the only clueless shuttlecock, and while there were borderline rude or "hey, I can hear you talking, you fatty cosplayer you, accusing me of being a hack or copycat because I have a very-intentionally Bruce Timm-style Supergirl in my portfolio so why don't you say something to me and not your friend under your breath" visitors, for the most part, congoers were wonderful.

And on the point of cosplayers, there were a couple of organized groups on hand, such as the 501st Legion, Vader's Fist and Ghostbusters of New Hampshire.

The Ghostbusters of NH with their AWESOME light-up proton packs (and Cruella de Vil girlfriend?) and a big-ass Vigo print. Photo by Sarah Shedd

Boba Fett and the rest at the 501st Legion table. Photo by Sarah Shedd

There were also plenty of independent fans dressed up as their favorite characters. My friend Pia found that out;

(Left to right)Captain Mal(?)/Browncoat, Pia, Kaylee, and definitely a Captain Mal - I mean, LOOK AT HIM. Photo courtesy Pia Towle-Kimball

Speaking of cosplayers, a small band of them came around, the lead dressed like Guy Gardner (Green Lantern). He asked for me to sketch a pic of Jay Garrick (Silver Age Flash) to start off his brand new sketch book. I was happy to oblige, and he seemed thrilled. Found out via FaceBook later that it was actually his birthday, and he was psyched to go to the con.

As shown above, R2D2 was in attendance again (I saw him last year at the con). He was remote controlled by a chap dressed up as Indiana Jones. His son (who sometimes rode R2) was dressed as Short Round from Temple of Doom. I forget what (if anything) his wife was dressed as - and their tiny (3 or 4?) daughter was in a bright red "oriental style" dress and looked adorable.

I don't have any pics myself, but there was a cute/hot Poison Ivy hanging out with an impressive Joker and Harley Quinn. Couldn't take her home. Apparently not for sale. Go figure. Stupid con security.

My friend Jen stopping by to say hi and look at stuff. Photo by Sarah Shedd

A bit on me and the Doctor (Who); thanks to my sign and the info that I was offering a very limited (20 count) prints of the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond (with all proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation of New Hampshire), I got a lot of stop by traffic. Many didn't know there even was a Doctor Who comic, but were excited to see it. Others did know and were super excited about the book. Many others wanted to know when Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor) stories would begin. And best of all (to me, anyway) many wanted to know when I'd be working on the book again.

Got that, IDW? Fans want me back. ;)

Best off all was the fan who brought in his own copy of Doctor Who #10 to have me sign and personalize. That's someone who actually cares about the book. Thanks.

Thanks to all the fans who stopped by for comics and sketches, friends who made the trek (Peter, Beth, Pia, Jen), Sarah and Savannah, and the crew of Double Midnight Comics (who put on the show). Thanks!

G'bye. Photo by Sarah Shedd

Who Reviews 3

Time again for reviews from around the web, this time on Doctor Who #11. I'll restate how I go about picking these; I usually go for known comic book journalism sites, and stay away from personal reader reviews -- many are complimentary, and I appreciate that. Many of you have your heads up your asses, and that's what makes me stay away.

Let's jump into it;

Last time, ComixTreme.com gave Doctor Who #10 a 3.5 out of 5 review. The number stays there, but on my art, they have this to say;

Blair Shedd's artwork is very nice, clean, and effective.

The whole review can be found here (scroll down a little) - CLICK.



Somewhat heavy-duty comic book reporting site Major Spoilers did a review this time out, and we got a very nice 4.5 out of 5. They had tons of complimentary things to say, such as;

A panel wherein the Doctor is poleaxed at the mention of Adric pulls way back to illustrate the character’s isolation... a wonderful use of the comic panel and form.

For the full (very spoiler-filled) review, follow this right here - CLICK.



And finally, over at ComicsBulletin.com, we've scored a 5 out of 5 rating with this issue. Among other things, they say;

[Writer Tony] Lee's dialogue and Shedd's animated artwork drives this story at a lightning pace, and while you read the words you'll be caught up in the adventure, sympathize with the Doctor and marvel at [main villain] the Advocate's sheer lunacy.

The full review can be read here - CLICK.



A couple of final notes. Doctor Who writer Tony Lee gave an interview to ComicBookResources.com about the future of the Doctor Who comic book. Plus, there's preview artwork from #11 to be seen there as well - CLICK.

I know I still have a GraniteCon report to make, and that'll most likely happen this weekend. Some other fun/possibly exciting comic related things happened this past Thursday, and I'll make a mention of that in an upcoming blog.

Until then, lets keep our fingers crossed for more 5 star reviews on Doctor Who #12, out next month. That'll be the final part in the "Don't Step On the Grass" arc, and while cliché, this one really does end with a bang (both literally and figuratively).

Cheers!