Late Valentine's

So, I'm sorry for the lack of updates BUT I can say with certainty I shall be back to a more frequent run of posting on here by next week.

I did a few drawings for valentine's day but was unable to take pics of them all. I'll post them (sans witty banter) as I can this week. I do have this one of Shawn Spencer and Juliet O'hara of "Psych" though. In all its rare and sketchy goodness. Enjoy.

Weekends and Updates

Hello everybody, I'm finally caught up on stuff and back to blogging! I will be sharing some thoughts and plenty of art a bit more frequently around these parts.

I started a new work schedule that is just producing some wonderful results, both with my output as well as allowing me to have something I've not been really able to enjoy for quite some time: the weekend. For probably the passed 5 years, my weekends haven't been a detached entity from the rest of the work week. They have basically been additional work days (of one form or another) in which I focus, prepare for, or actively spend time on paying work. While it has served me well on the end of getting projects done for clients and things like that, it has left me feeling pretty rundown and frustrated. In an attempt to change things and free up time for me, I changed the way I worked in the middle of this passed January. Now my weekends can be spent catching some TV or film, reading, and generally enjoying my mind being off the next paying gig until Monday morning. I've also been able to start back to work on some personal projects, stuff that in the past years has only gotten the very smallest amount of my time. I feel that it is healthy for me to be able to detach and I can already say that the benefits of having a weekend again are allowing me to come back to "work" with a fresh perspective and way better energy.

 While I can't YET share what cool personal projects I've got cooking up, I do have a few more looks at those "Thor: the Dark World" illustrations I have been slowly chipping away at (in-between client work.) Hopefully these will get done nice and soon, with my now having 2 days a week where I can choose to give them hours of attention. In the meanwhile, here's the work-in-progress:

- Conduct Lionhardt

Work-in-Progress

Busy, busy, busy! I have been trying to close the year out strong, finishing up cover work I look forward to everyone seeing. But fret not, faithful blog viewers, in-between the paying gigs, I've been working up some art (which shall be for sale) and, though it takes a bit longer due to having the paid stuff take priority, I decided to share some works-in-progress for you to see!

Check it out:

Thor (blue pencils and inks. Quite unfinished. haha)

Heimdall (as portrayed by Idris Elba. Blue pencils, awaiting more penciling and then inks)

 As you can see, I really enjoyed Thor: The Dark World, this year. I'll be adding...maybe 2 more pieces inspired by that film, to these.

More art coming. Stay tuned...

- Conduct Lionhardt

Holiday Specials!

Hello everyone, I have a special thing to share with you:

I'm having a sale of all the art below (and the stuff I'll be posting in the coming days) as well as a super discount on my commission rates. Its a HOLIDAY SPECIAL that I'll be doing from now all the way until the first of January!!

I know that its been a rough year for many people financially and good ole' Conduct has felt the blows as well. But cheer up, 2014 approaches! And with Holidays coming up super soon, I figured that doing some additional art for people would be a nice way to close things out and get a little coin to help me out with some extra costs that have popped up in my life.

Because I know how things have been with funds, all my art I'll be posting will be on sale for $30. If that's not a sweet deal, then maybe this will tickle your collective fancies: All my commission rates are gonna be 50% less until the first of January.

50% LESS UNTIL JANUARY 1st!!

Click the "Commissions" link and find the size/style that you want and half that bad boy! (shipping rates, though, remain. Dang the Man on that one.) Hit me up an email and we'll get you some fresh, as-you-requested-it art for your pretty coin.

Get me to make you some art. It is fun and challenging for me and you get something that you can tell friends staring at the piece, "Yeah...that was MY idea."

Peep the pieces for sale below!

 Trinity, from "The Matrix." Brush pens on Bristol board. $30

Peter Dinklage (as he'll appear in "Days of Future Past." Brush pens on Bristol board. $30

Oh, and for those who wanna see more of what my range of things I can do are, my Flickr link (in the "Contacts" page, has some of the "better" stuff I've done. Check it out!)

- Conduct Lionhardt

Sketches and whatnot

Look here, some art! Check it out and be on the lookout for more soon! (I know these look dark and for that I am sorry. Still working on my scanner situation.)

 This one I may have shared before but it was a fun doodle I did while watching something with my nephew. I should probably do something with it at some point...

 My nephew paid me $1 to paint the Question for him. Then I got busy with work and misplaced it for awhile. I'm actually not too keen on this BUT I shall finish it none-the-less. (I'll also re-paint it with a better selection of blue tones.)

 And here's something I'm planning to finish soon. Peter Dinklage, as he will appear in the upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past." He'll be playing Bolivar Trask, the creator of mutant hunting robots called Sentinels. This piece will be for sale. Any interested parties can contact me for this.

I'll be posting more art for sale (and some neat sketches) soon.

- Conduct Lionhardt

24 Hour Challenge

My hand is sore from drawing.

This is a good thing.

A few weeks back while attending a convention, I received a few suggestions from fellow artists to partake in a very challenging event that was coming up called, “24 Hour Comics Day.”

I’ve included the official website in the link below but 24 Hour Comic Day is basically a challenge to write, draw, and letter a 24 page comic in the span of 24 hours…with no prep time in advance. YES, an original, entire issue of a comic all in a single day’s time.

(To give perspective on the magnitude of the task, note this: An average comic is put together by a team, usually a writer, artist, inker, letterer, and editor, over the span of a month, to produce  22 pages.)

I had to contemplate whether or not to do this event. The longest I have spent in a single sitting on any piece of art was 4 ½ hours. It would certainly go beyond that x6 so, there was that to consider. I also found myself HEAVILY concerned about the fact the story had to be made on the spot. I’ve worked on a few things here and there sequentially (the largest being my 10 page grant proposal) but all of those I had done with at least a few weeks of concept work (staging, character design, etc.) This would be like going in creatively blind and having to sprint full out minus the stretching and practice.

When it came down to it, though, I didn’t really have any reasons to shy away giving it an attempt. At least if I tried and failed, I’d likely learn from it.

BOY was I right.

So, challenge accepted, I went to the link to see how I could go about doing it. My original intent was to go to one of the host locations and do it on a super official capacity…but, the closest one was a state over and I simply couldn’t make the trip due to a local obligation Sunday morning. I found out that you could do it from the comfort of your own studio so, off to the races I went…

…And failed miserably.

It was the greatest experience I’ve had with art this year.

I woke up around seven, showered and got on some clothes to work in and was at the boards from 8am till about 12:30am (breaks for bathroom and two meals) and managed to get 17 ½ pages penciled. (I planned to sleep for 4 hours and then get up and try for the rest but, in classic comedic form, my alarm never went off before my 8am deadline.)

I am glad I did it. It was the perfect challenge to test myself with and I learned so much about ME. Strengths were discovered, weaknesses exposed, and I found that instead succumbing to the feeling of it being difficult or challenging, I relished in the madness of developing a story from nothing, to words, to page.

I think that the take-away (as my friend Mike would say) is that I maybe have more skill and confidence than I rarely allow myself to see. It was nice to work long (and I do mean LONG) and hard, walking away with many things added to myself from the experience.

Including a hand that’s sore and which I’m using to type right now.

I Didn’t get the time to scan/pic the artwork but, as soon as I can this week, I’ll toss up a post with the goods.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to log off, rest my hand, and take this day of rest…and REST.

- Conduct Lionhardt

24 hour comics day

...Aaaand we're back!

It has been a long time…

I could go on about all the particulars of my long silence but, to make the story short, my computer stopped working and lost a large amount of files (thankfully I backed up MOST of them) but I wasn’t able to get on “the net” for awhile.

It was an interesting experience. I’ve heard stories from other creators about the same thing happening to them and, based on that, I lucked out quite a bit. All I had to do was re-scan some art (none of my projects were harmed.)

What I did get to do, however, is take some time to reflect on things and reassess where I’m at.

I try to take stock and question what I’m doing on a frequent basis. It is not that I’m fickle or anxious, though. I’m of the mind that, if more people took time to review their lives, then they could better conduct their decisions and actions with confidence. My mind often thinks of things in a graphic design/illustration sense so, it’s like being a writer and having friends (or an editor) give feedback. I make sure what the plan is, matches my work and output. So in a way, I allow myself to have distinct and solid checks and balances I run everything passed. (Maybe a good term for it is “self-editing?”)

So, what came from all this reflection and assessment? Well, I realized that as much as I enjoy designing/illustrating stuff for clients, there’s a part of me I haven’t been feeding: the desire to create personal projects. It always surprises me how some artists are able to work on paying gigs and find time in-between their work/life paradigm to fulfill personal works. I realized that I haven’t gone about creating space to do that and, I feel like it’s an accomplishment that means a great deal to me. Thus, I have some (ongoing) prayer and conversation with my mentors about how I can better arrange things to allow that to happen.

What does this mean to you? More art, some more music (I know, FINALLY, right?) and the return of interviews with interesting people.

The goal is to keep it weekly so, be expectant for some new stuff.

Now, I’m unsure if you’ve seen these ones before but, here are some of the few drawings I have re-scanned for you to peep with this post, in random order:

An unifinished Dr. Doom sketch. The pastor mentioned the word Doom and it was off to the races with inspiration. Ha!

I have some cool students at the youth group I help run. Delaney is one of them. This is one of the many cool expressions she has. I did this as a birthday present for her.

A few years ago there was a series that Marvel Comics did that had a secret cabal of heroes who secretly were running things. A friend of mine asked me to sketch up a DC Comics version so, choosing from the former continuity of their comics line, my line-up  would be (clockwise): Mr. Terrific, Aquaman, Oracle, A Guardian of the Universe, The Martian Manhunter, The Question, and Dr. Fate. unfinished pencil sketch.