Heroes Con 2012 Sketch Cards

As usual I had a great time at Heroes Con, my favorite convention of all time, but this year was my most successful yet! It's my fifth time in six years and it just keeps getting better and better. I swear they pump awesome into the convention hall air it's so wonderful. There were even people who wanted me, a colorist, to do sketches for them! I was more than happy to oblige and did lots of custom sketch card commissions too. This year "Mass Effect" characters were REALLY popular. All three games are my favorite ever (that is if I can find the time to finish the third one) so doing these was a personal treat.

I'm considering opening up commissions for sketch cards via this blog again. If you are interested leave a comment. The more interest the more likely I'll do so.

And here's the sketch card sheet from Heroes 2012 for collectors!

"Irredeemable" #37 cover A

Originally this was going to be the 'B' cover but ended up the 'A'! The line art is by Kalman Andrasofszky and he was great to work with and had good and appreciative input when I colored this. Pretty damn happy how this turned out. Not sure I knew it was going to be the last issue when I colored it so am really happy it turned out as well as it did.

Roll over for original line art by Kalman Andrasofszky!

"Irredeemable" #37 FINAL ISSUE

That's it. That's the end of 'Irredeemable'. Very sad to see it go but it's going out on a good note. It's been getting great reviews and even heard about some people saying it's the only comic out this week that matters. Considering how well crafted the ending is I won't give anything away. Who wins? Quibit? Plutonian? Modeus? But if you've ever considered yourself a comic book reader then it'll be you that wins because its ending is talking directly to you.

I have really enjoyed coloring this title over the last six months and pinch-coloring the months before that. It's been wonderful working on both this title and its sister-book 'Incorruptible'. I've got to tip my hat to editor Shannon Watters for being wonderful under-fire and making my run on this title go as smoothly as possible. She's great! I'll miss working with her and coloring 'Irredeemable' but I'm hoping to find new titles this summer to color though it'll be hard to get bigger and better than a Mark Waid book!

But if you've not had enough Mark Waid then you can find more of his writing along with Peter Krause, the original artist on 'Irredeemable', over at Thrillbent.com on 'Insufferable' which I'm coloring! While we may be losing two Waid books were gaining a bad ass, free digital comic. Check it out!

Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

"Irredeemable" #36

Only one more issue left of Mark Waid's masterpiece of psychology applied to the superhero genre. I'm currently coloring #37 and it's a little bittersweet.

For this issue I was actually mentioned by CBR with a glowing review! "The coloring from Nolan Woodard continues to astound as he switches between pages of character to pages of brilliant science and dastardly deeds." said reviewer Ryan Lindsay of CBR here. Talk about humbling. I've got to make sure #37 at the very least reaches this level. No pressure. No. None. Oh boy.

Anyway, here's a preview (which is late since I've been so incredibly busy) for 'Irredeemable' #36. Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

"Irredeemable" #35

For the first time ever I was at the comic shop and overheard a conversation about a book I work on. There was a customer asking about this very issue's release date and the employee informed him #34 had just come out. The customer talked about "Irredeemable" and how much they enjoy the title. It made me feel great knowing I at least had a little to do with that as the colorist. So for that mystery customer this week his wishes come true and "Irredeemable" #35 comes out! Dammit, I'm going to miss coloring this title. Only two more issues left.

Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

"Irredeemable" #34

Quibit, who might be my favorite character in 'Irredeemable', shows us what his plan is with Plutonian. Yup. Crazy. He best know what he's doing. It's out this week, written by the amazing Mark Waid, line art by Diego Barreto and Damian Couceiro, and colors by yours truly.

Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

Fake Cover for "Irredeemable"

One of the classes I'm teaching this quarter is a graduate level course on digital design and processes for comics. Their first job was to create a cover for a comic or comic anthology whether an original book or otherwise. It's primarily so I can gauge each student's skill level and start them out learning how to use Photoshop. I found myself with time in class while students worked and didn't need my guidance so created this fake cover for "Irredeemable", one of the titles I color monthly. This took about six hours all together. It's been far too long since I've drawn rather than just colored so this was primarily an exercise in brushing off a thick layer of rust. Overall, pretty happy with it even if it's not the most original of concepts.

"Irredeemable" #33

I couldn't find a preview for "Irredeemable" #33 on CBR or elsewhere so this might be the only one online! There's six pages instead of the normal four or five since these pages do recap previous events it doesn't give anything away. It's out this week and further dives into Plutonian's background and where he got the idea to become a superhero and the specific type of training it took. You think you know what I mean but you sooo don't. Again, it's almost enough to make you feel sorry for him. Almost. So get a copy as the "Redemption" cross-over continues!

EDIT: CBR just posted up their preview but only five pages. Enjoy the sixth one here!

Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

"Irredeemable" #32

The "Irredeemable/Incorruptible" crossover, "Redemption", begins in this issue. We finally see how intertwined Plutonian and Max really are. And I'm the lucky guy that gets to color the entire event for both titles! If you enjoy superhero books with great characters, action, psychology, theoretical psychics, and depth you need to be reading these titles. Mark Wait spins one hell of a story. Check out the preview below!

And it looks like I'm staying on to color "Irredeemable" full time! It'll be so good working on both titles at the same time each month. Stay tuned for more awesome.

Roll over for original line art by Diego Barreto!

"Irredeemable" #31

Continuing even more updates as I fell way behind I got so busy. I pinch-colored a few pages for "Irredeemable" #31 that is out now. Not that big of a deal so was happy to help. It is always a challenge though to match up with the other colorist so it has continuity and doesn't become a "Samuel L. Jackson". (My students know what I mean.) Hopefully I did well. However, I'll be coloring fulltime for #32 and 33 during the big Irredeemable/Incorruptible cross-over! I am crazy excited! I'm coloring #32 right now. It's tense and disturbing and wish I could share with everyone. You'll just have to make "Irredeemable" one of your regular books to pick up. #31 is out now and after that THE SHIT HITS THE FAN!

Roll over for original line art by Damian Couceiro!

"Incorruptible" #23

I've been so swamped I'm over a week behind updating. "Incorruptible" #23 came out last week. It's a pretty sharp looking issue and begins the battle between The Plutonian and Max Damage! The following issues of "Incorruptible" and "Irredeemable" will be a big cross-over as Mark Waid explores the history behind the two and their ultimate clash. Plus, I get to color the entire event! So look for my work in the next two months on both titles. It's going to be a great ride.

Roll over for original line art by Marcio Takara!

"Irredeemable" #28

If I'm able, I usually help out when asked and that's what happened on "Irredeemable" #28. The credits will tell you I colored pages 11-22 but I actually colored pages 5, 11-13, 15-21. Zac Atkinson did the rest and previous to me. When I pinch color to help with a deadline I try to make my own rendering and palette match the other colorist's so the difference in the pages is not jarring (so I must have done pretty well to fool whoever incorrectly credited us on who colored what pages). That is always a challenge to do!

And this issue is the last from Peter Krause whose work will be missed on the title. He has had a hell of a run on the entire series. (More from about his departure in an interview here.) It was an honor to color his work and help him, I hope, go out on a high note.

Normally I post up the entire preview but since only page five in the preview was mine that's all I'm showing so as not to give anything away I'm not supposed to or take credit for work not mine. You can see the rest of the preview here on CBR. "Irredeemable" #28 is out this week so go get one!

Rollover the image for the original inked page.

"Irredeemable" 26 cover colors

BOOM! Studios is really good to me. They are wonderful to work for. Recently, they've been throwing a ton of covers my way and I've eagerly colored all of them. I've done more than half a dozen now for three different titles and loving the opportunities. For "Irredeemable" #26 I did three different versions. The one below is cover A and I believe one of the other versions will be cover C. If you've not read "Irredeemable", which is the companion book to "Incorruptible" which I color monthly, you really need to pick it up. It's superhero but unlike anything you're familiar with. #26 comes out this week. Get you one!

"Incorruptible" #15

After getting to color the Paradigm in "Irredeemable" #21 I was really happy to have a few of their members (including my favorite, Qubit!) showing up in "Incorruptible". Once again Marcio Takara does his magic with the line art and keeps my job easy. This issue really looks solid and is a major turning point for two of the characters... or is it?! It'll be out this week at shops. Get you one!

"Irredeemable" #21

When you've got an opportunity to stretch some color muscle on a different title and it helps out the other artists and your editor, you go for it! So between coloring pages for "28 Days Later", I managed to pinch-color pages 8-17, 21, and 22 for "Irredeemable" #21. BOOM! had me use a style similar to Andrew Dalhouse (the regular colorist who did the rest of the book which can be previewed at CBR) so there was more continuity in the art. At first I wasn't so hot on the airbrush technique but I made it my own and ended up being very happy with the results! So here are a few of my pages from "Irredeemable" #21. I'm quite proud to have worked on another of Mark Waid's amazing titles at BOOM! Studios especially at such a moment in the title's story. It's at comic shops now so get you one!