Cold Hands, Warm Heart: An Ice Valentine by Kevenn T. Smith
This is a Valentine artcard featuring Justice League international character, Ice, whose real name is Tora Olafsdotter. Ice is a princess of a tribe of magic people hidden in Norway. Her powers allow her to create and manipulate ice. And while her powers are very cold, Ice is known for her warm and sweet personality.
Because February is such a cold month where I live, and because Ice is such a caring person, I thought she'd be perfect for a Valentine's Day card. Ice was stupidly killed off at one point, but has been thankfully resurrected by Gail Simone during her first run of the Birds of Prey title. I am very glad Tora was brought back, because there aren't enough loving characters like her in the comics. Not every character needs be be tough and hard or sarcastic and bitter. She even charmed the heart of a hardened character like Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. Ice brings personality diversity to the characters in comic books, and I like to give her features a more diverse look as well. While I was doing this card, I really liked the idea of making her eyelashes white as well. I think they give her a very fantastical quality.
This artcard and all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.
Ice, Tora Olafsdotter ©DC Comics 2010
Now also available as cards and postcards at RedBubble.com!
A Boy And His Dog: Superboy & Krypto the Superdog
This is a commission piece that I did of Superboy, Conner (Kon-El) Kent, and Krypto the Superdog. Superboy is a clone using DNA of both Superman and Lex Luthor. The current DC Comics stories have Conner living with Martha Kent on the Kent Farm and going to school in Smallville, much like Clark Kent did when he was growing up.
For me, this piece was also an opportunity to go back to the rural small towns and farm areas that were nearby where I went to college. I had the opportunity to go back there earlier this year for a wedding, and I think it really helped me in depicting the small town/rural setting.
This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
8" x 10.5" on Bristol Board
Prismacolor Color Pencils
Superboy & Krypto © DC Comics 2011
Built Like An Amazon: Artemis of Bana Mighdall Artcard by Kevenn T. Smith
This artcard showcases Artemis of Bana Mighdall in her Requiem costume that seems to have made a comeback in DC Comics' recent publications. Artemis is from the Middle Eastern tribe of Amazons from the hidden city of Bana Mighdall. At one point, Artemis ended up beating Princess Diana of Themiscyra for the title of Wonder Woman. Artemis served as Wonder Woman for a short time. The Amazon sorceress, Magala, had put a spell on Diana on the behest of Queen Hippolyta that would transfer half of Diana's strength and speed when they were near each other. Artemis' stint as Wonder Woman was short-lived, and she was killed by the villain, The White Magician. However, death cant keep a tough Amazon down, and Artemis ended up clawing her way out of hell and her own grave.
Artemis has proven to be a popular character in the Wonder Woman franchise. She's more headstrong and less compassionate than Diana, but her heart is in the right place. She ended up becoming the leader of the Bana Mighdall Amazons on Themiscyra. Aretmis has just returned to Themiscyra in the Wonder Woman title, and her future roll remains to be seen.
For this piece, I went back to Ed Benes' original drawings of Artemis in the Requiem miniseries, as well as Nicola Scott's take on the costume in the recent Secret Six storyline. In some of Benes' early drawings, he had the green lining at the decolletage make a "w" shape. I like that element to help visually tie Artemis into the Wonder Woman family, and as a former Wonder Woman, I believe she's entitled to wear a "w" symbol - even a simplified one. I left of the skull on her headband because I thought that element was excessively 90's. Instead, I opted to repeat the tripple-arrow "A" symbol that the Requiem costume has on the sternum area. I really liked the seams and the side-lacing that Nicola Scott added to the costume in the Secret Six issues, as well as the kneecap armor she gave the boots. The sword is the special demon killer sword that Artemis ended up having in the Byrne run of Wonder Woman that was also included as an accessory to the Artemis action figure that DC Direct made.
This artcard is available as cards, postcards, and a small matted print at RedBubble.com!
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, and Prismacolor pencil.
Artemis ©DC Comics 2011
Ready...Aim...Equality!: Green Arrow Artcard
This artcard was done in support of Marriage Equality issues, especially at the time of this posting when voters this Tuesday in Maine will hopefully be voting No on Issue #1 to protect Marriage Equality. At the same time, I hope voters in Washington state will be voting against Referendum #71 to preserve the rights of all couples in registered Domestic Partnerships.
I don't often put political pieces and views on this website, but Green Arrow has been established throughout his years of comic book publication as a hero who takes up liberal political causes, and has even performed same-sex weddings in his comic book title. Because the character has already come out in support of this issue, I didn't feel like it was inappropriate or trying to make the character into something that he wasn't. My visual inspirations for my depiction of the character come from his costume from the 1970's-80's era with coloring influences from his appearances in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. I really like the Robin Hood inspired lace up vest that the character had in the 70's and 80's, but I also like the "G" belt buckle that the character has been sporting in the past few years.
This artcard is available as cards, postcards, and a small matted print at RedBubble.com!
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.
Green Arrow ©DC Comics 2011
Emerald Satellite: Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, Artcard
With DC's Blackest Night event going on right now, Green Lantern is one of DC Comics' hottest properties at the moment. So of course, there couldn't be a better time to showcase my Green Lantern artcard here on this site. Hal Jordan is DC's premiere Green Lantern at the moment, so he won out when it came to choosing which Green Lantern to depict.
I've always enjoyed the few times I've drawn "spacescapes" in illustrations, and this piece was no exception. I wanted to use photographs of some of the planets and moons in our solar system for inspiration when coloring the ones depicted in this artcard, but I wanted to make it clear that this was not our solar system. As photographs from the Hubble Telescope has shown us, space can be quite colorful, and I definitely wanted to incorporate that into this piece.
For Green Lantern, I used Ray Caspio as a model for the pose. I also took visual cues from the updated costume in the comics. For example, I had the Green Lantern symbol on his chest actually project itself as a lazer light projection hovering over his chest. I always liked Hal Jordan visually because green has always been one of my favorite colors, and also because he was one of the few superheroes who had brown hair. Most superheroes when I was growing up had blond or black hair, and I liked that he was different in that respect.
This artcard is available as cards, posters, and prints at RedBubble.com!
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.
Green Lantern ©DC Comics 2011
Amazing Amazon - A Wonder Woman Art Event
My piece for Wonder Woman Day #4, "Here, Kitty! Kitty!" is being exhibited in the Amazing Amazon exhibit at the Lara Sydney Framing Gallery in Portland, Oregon. It will be available for viewing between October 1 and October 24. On the 25th, it will be available for bidding at the charity auction for Wonder Woman Day #4.
A Not-Too-Dark Knight - Batman Artcard
This next artcard that I'm spotlighting is of the Caped Crusader, Batman. Everyone knows Batman. For this artcard, I wanted to do an homage to the logo for Bruce Timm's Batman: The Animated Series, yet rendered in my own style. Batman is pretty hardcore, so I wanted to give him stubble to show that sometimes he spends a lot of hours on the job. At the same time, he's also Bruce Wayne underneath that cowl, so there needs to be an element of "handsomeness" to the face. Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a charming millionaire playboy. When I started reading Batman comics in the early 90's, one of my favorites things about many of them, was how they depicted the night sky using colors other than black. My favorite was this teal green sort of color. That was where I pulled the inspiration from when it came to coloring the night sky for this piece.
This artcard is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.
Batman ©DC Comics 2011
Hello, Bluebird - Supergirl Artcard
This artcard is an all original work and can be purchased for $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping - international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order). This artcard of Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, was one that I made for the Mid-Ohio Con for 2008. It has since received a coloring job by hand. My goal with it was to depict the feeling of the aerial ballet in the Supergirl movie starring Helen Slater.
4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.
Supergirl ©DC Comics 2011
"Here, Kitty, Kitty!" for Wonder Woman Day #4
I'm participating in the Wonder Woman Day IV Charity Auction this year. The auction benefits these Domestic Violence Shelters and hot-lines: Raphael House of Portland, Bradley-Angle House, and Portland Women's Crisis Line. I am very proud to participate in this auction because these are very important causes to me. Please bid, and bid high!
I wanted to do a picture of Wonder Woman being happy and having fun - something that I don't think happens nearly enough in the comic books. I also really wanted to draw She-Ra and Catra, as well as Wonder Woman's enemy, Cheetah. Most pictures I've seen that have Wonder Woman and She-Ra together have them fighting each other. I really don't care for that, because I believe that Wonder Woman and She-Ra would get along really well and enjoy a tremendous sense of camaraderie, and I wanted to show them being friendly and having fun together. I also wanted to play on the fact that they both have well-known enemies with a cat theme.
While I take a lot of my cues for Wonder Woman and Cheetah from the way that Terry Dodson depicted them when he drew the Wonder Woman comic book, I also take a couple of Lynda Carter elements that I sneak in here and there with Wonder Woman. Cheetah also has a few George Perez elements in her design, especially when it comes to her facial markings, which Dodson mostly abandoned.
She-Ra and Catra were really fun to draw. I'm a big fan of Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics action figure line. It's a melding of various canons of their franchises into one cohesive line. My approach to She-Ra and Catra was along that lines. I wanted to depict them with the familiarity of the Filmation designs of the cartoon that everyone knows and loves these characters from, but also bring in some of the details that the action figures had, whose designs were very different from the cartoon designs. The result give detailed and interesting looks that easily stand up well alongside Wonder Woman and Cheetah.
The background is inspired by the Whispering Woods background paintings that were featured in the She-Ra: Princess of Power cartoon. They are lush, flamboyant and magical looking. As I was planning out the background, I thought it would be fun to have Lookie in it. Lookie was always hiding in the background of the cartoons, and at the end of the episodes, he would reveal his hiding place and explain the episode's moral. Once I decided that Lookie was going to be in it, I wanted to balance the picture, and tried to think of a character in Wonder Woman's lore that could serve as an analogue to Lookie. The two franchises are pretty rife with analogues: Ares/Hordak, Circe/Shadow Weaver, Giganta/Scorpia, Steve Trevor/Bow, Nemesis/Sea Hawk. When it came down to it, I settled on the whimsical and fun Wonder Tot, who is Wonder Woman as a small child in the Silver Age comic book stories. Wonder Tot often had "impossible adventures" right alongside Wonder Woman as an adult and Wonder Woman as a teenager (Wonder Girl), and I thought that the magical nature of the Whispering Woods, and the fact that She-Ra's planet of Etheria was likely in another dimension, would provide a narrative that would allow Wonder Tot.
This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
Here, Kitty, Kitty!
8.5″ x 11″ on Bristol Board
Pencils, Inks and Prismacolor Color Pencils
Wonder Woman, Cheetah and Wonder Tot ©DC Comics 2010
She-Ra, Catra and Lookie ©Mattel 2010
Marla Bea Benefit Comic Book Auction: Wonder Woman & Power Girl
This piece was penciled by Ray Caspio, and I was the inker and colorist. We made this piece for the Marla Bea Benefit Comic Book Auction that begins on Monday, October 12, 2009. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. I lost a very good and dear friend several years ago to breast cancer, so this is a cause that I feel very strongly about and is very close to me. I was very happy and proud to be able to participate in this auction, and I hope that our piece will raise a lot of money to contribute in the fight against breast cancer. Please consider bidding in the auction to support this worthy cause.
Wonder Woman & Power Girl for Marla Bea Benefit8.75″ x 12″ on Bristol Board
Ray Caspio: Pencils
Kevenn T. Smith: Inks, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Prismacolor Markers
Wonder Woman and Power Girl ©DC Comics 2011
Earth-2 Huntress: Helena Wayne
This is a commission that I did for my friend and writer, J.H. Moffat who runs the online urban fiction magazine, Drops of Crimson. This piece is of the Earth-2 Huntress, Helena Wayne. Earth-2 was a parallel earth where Batman and Catwoman had their career in the 1940's and ended up marrying and having a daughter, Helena. Catwoman was eventually killed, and Batman died, and Helena carried on their legacy as the Huntress.
The newer version of this illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Earth-2 Huntress ©DC Comics 2011
One More For Wonder Woman Day III
Not only did I create my own piece of art for Wonder Woman Day III this year (see below), but Ray Caspio and I collaborated together on another piece like we did last year for Wonder Woman Day II.
This one, based on the ABC TV series starring Lynda Carter, has Private Etta Candy (played by Beatrice Colen) and Yeoman Diana Prince (Lynda Carter, of course), who we wanted to make sure were represented in the auction this year.
This illustration is available as 8 by 10 inch prints for $20 + $8 shipping on regular photo paper or $25 + $8 shipping on metallic photo paper, which I highly recommend for vastly superior quality. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the left to request one and inquire further about other pricing and size options.
Etta Figures it Out?
8.5″ x 11″ on Bristol Board
Ray Caspio: Pencils
Kevenn T. Smith: Inks and Colors (Prismacolor)
Wonder Woman, Diana Prince and Etta Candy ©DC Comics 2011
Art For Mid-Ohio-Con Part 2
Here are more of the artcards that I will be selling at Mid-Ohio-Con this weekend, along with prints of some of the work in my Illustration Gallery:
Superman:
Wonder Woman:
Donna Troy as Wonder Girl:
Supergirl (I wanted to capture the feeling of the aerial ballet in the Supergirl movie starring Helen Slater.):
Green Lantern:
Batgirl:
Nightwing:
Flamebird (based on International Supermodel and D-Listed.com's Hot Slut of the Year 2007, Phoebe Price):
Wonder Clubbing For Wonder Woman Day III
This piece, entitled "Wonder Clubbing," is one that I did for the silent auction for Wonder Woman Day III to benefit two domestic violence shelters and a women's crisis line. I wanted to do a piece that showed Wonder Woman and her closest friends having fun and enjoying themselves, so I depicted them dancing at a club with a couple of admirers. One of my goals for this piece was to also include characters close to the hearts of Wonder Woman comic book fans like Artemis, Etta Candy, Donna Troy, and in a way, Circe.
This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Etta Candy, Artemis, and Circe ©DC Comics 2011
Stephanie Brown: Spoiler/Robin IV
I was a fan of the DC Comics character Spoiler from the first time I read a comic with her in it. I believe it was Robin #3. Since then, I tracked all three of her previous appearances in Detective Comics #647-649, where her first outing as a costumed vigilante was told. Spoiler is pretty much the only non-powered teenage vigilante that wasn't a derivative of anyone; especially not a male hero. I created this visual Costume History of Spoiler as my own entry in the grassroots online support to bring the character back from her apparent death in the War Games storyline. This piece shows the evolution of her costume through the 90's and into the present decade, including many of the looks that artist Pete Woods gave her during his lengthy and classic tenure on the Robin title.
Spoiler was always a favorite character of mine. She is determined, headstrong, fun, and comes from a blue collar background. She doesn't have millions of dollars and isn't one of the privileged rich kids living off of Bruce Wayne's money. Her dad was a supervillain, the Cluemaster. Her tenure as Robin was brief, but memorable. I am happy that DC Comics has brought her back from "the dead" under the pen of her creator, Chuck Dixon, and I hope her character continues to shine in comics for years to come.
Spoiler and Robin ©DC Comics 2011
DC Comics Villainesses 2007
After completing the DC Comics Heroines 2007 piece, my goal was to create a companion piece for it that would contrast it with a showcase of DC Comics' various villainesses.
Once again, my goal was to depict iconic representations of the characters that would give an idea of who these characters were, just from looking at them, as well as rendering them in the styles of my favorite artists who have depicted them. Some of those artists include Terry Dodson, Jim Balent, Nicola Scott, Matthew Clark, Lee Moder, Dustin Nguyen, George Perez, Joe Bennet, J.G. Jones, Dale Eaglesham, Jesus Saiz, Patrick Olliffe, H.G. Peter, Mark Buckingham, Ed Benes, Adam Kubert, Drew Johnson, Ethan Van Sciver, Joe Benitez, Phil Jimenez, Gary Frank, Tom Raney, Graham Nolan, John Byrne, and Don Kramer. Some of the characters have only appeared in animated DC projects, but I did not feel that the animated style would work well with the others styles present in this piece, so I rendered them in my own style instead.
What follows is a numbered version of the piece, and below that is the key to the names of the numbered characters, as well as the superhero/heroine or group they are the most common adversary to or affiliated with:
01. Silver Banshee (Superman/Supergirl); 02. Ursa (Superman);
03. Phobia (Teen Titans/Manhunter); 04. Mercy Graves (Superman);
05. Livewire (Superman); 06. Rampage (Superman/Supergirl);
07. Magenta (Flash); 08. Terra (Teen Titans);
09. Shimmer (Teen Titans/Outsiders);
10. The New Ventriloquist & Scarface (Batman);
11. Siren (Titans/Tempest); 12. Knockout (Secret Six);
13. Jinx (Teen Titans/Wonder Woman); 14. Scandal Savage (Secret Six);
15. Gundra the Valkyrie (Wonder Woman); 16. Silver Swan (Wonder Woman);
17. Medusa (Wonder Woman); 18. Dr. Veronica Cale (Wonder Woman/52);
19. Giganta (Wonder Woman); 20. Dark Angel (Donna Troy/Wonder Woman);
21. Queen Clea (Wonder Woman); 22. Dr. Poison (Wonder Woman);
23. Osira (Wonder Woman); 24. Dr. Cyber (Wonder Woman);
25. Devastation (Wonder Girl/Wonder Woman); 26. Circe (Wonder Woman);
27. Cheshire Jade (Titans; Secret Six); 28. Superwoman (JLA);
29. Catwoman (Batman); 30. Blue Lama (Sargon the Sorcerer);
31. Volcana (Superman); 32. Scorch (Martian Manhunter);
33. Blackfire (Starfire/Titans); 34. Morella (Catwoman);
35. Golden Age Catwoman (Batman); 36. Cyber Cat (Catwoman);
37. Golden Age Cheetah, Priscilla Rich (Wonder Woman);
38. Baroness Paula Von Gunther (Wonder Woman);
39. Cheetah, Dr. Barbara Minerva (Wonder Woman);
40. Granny Goodness (Female Furies); 41. Tala (Phantom Stranger);
42. Lashina (Female Furies); 43. Morgana LeFay (Demon Etrigan);
44. Bernadeath (Female Furies); 45. Fatality (Green Lantern);
46. Star Sapphire (Green Lantern); 47. Lady Styx (Capt. Comet);
48. Roulette (JSA); 49. Chain Lightning (Mary Marvel);
50. Eclipso, Jean Loring (Mary Marvel, JLA); 51. Shiv (Stargirl/JSA);
52. Hummingbird (Hawkman/Hawkgirl); 53. Mad Harriet (Female Furies);
54. Satanna (Hawkman/Hawkgirl); 55. Killer Frost (Firestorm);
56. Stompa (Female Furies); 57. Plastique (Suicide Squad);
58. Queen Bee (JLA); 59. Tigress (JSA/Hawkgirl); 60. New Wave (Outsiders);
61. Lady Lunar (Superman); 62. Jewelee (Suicide Squad); 63. Linx (Robin);
64. Amanda Waller (Suicide Squad); 65. Lady Vic (Nightwing);
66. Alley Cat (Catwoman); 67. Sickle (Teen Titans/Catwoman);
68. Harley Quinn (Batman); 69. Lady Shiva (Batman);
70. Roxy Rocket (Batman); 71. Poison Ivy (Batman);
72. Spy Smasher (Birds of Prey); 73. Velvet Tiger (Batgirl); 74. Orca (Batman);
75. Spellbinder III (Batman); 76. Talia al Ghul (Batman)
©DC Comics 2011
DC Villainesses 2007 ©Kevenn T. Smith 201116" x 20"
Pencil, Ink, Prismacolor Pencil, Photoshop
This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.
DC Comics Heroines 2007
I thought the best way to get the ball rolling here on my portfolio was to write about one of my favorite pieces I did.
The goal of this piece was to portray my favorite versions of my favorite DC Comics Heroines, including the costume details and artist depictions of them. I also wanted to try to depict as many characters as I could in a way that was iconic to the character; to try to communicate something about who that character was.
Some of the artist whose styles I worked to emulate for these characters were: Terry Dodson, Amanda Conner, Nicola Scott, Adam Hughes, Ed Benes, Joe Bennet, Joe Staton, Dale Eaglesham, Brian Bolland, Tony Daniel, Pete Woods, Mike McKone, Michael Turner, Jamal Igle, George Perez, Kevin Maguire, Chris Batista, Phil Jimenez, J.G. Jones, Al Barrionuevo, Daniel Acuna, Matthew Clark, Todd Nauck, Tom Grummet, Bill Willingham, Adriana Melo, and Jesus Saiz.
What follows is a numbered version of the piece, and below that is the key to the names of the numbered characters:
01. Jade; 02. Raven; 03. Isis; 04. Supergirl (Kara Zor-El);
05. Supergirl (Linda Danvers); 06. Aquagirl; 07. Ravager;
08. Batgirl (Barbara Gordon); 09. Speedy; 10. Misfit; 11. Black Canary;
12. Oracle; 13. Huntress; 14. Big Barda; 15. Lady Blackhawk; 16. Thorn;
17. Manhunter; 18. Gypsy; 19. The Question (Renee Montoya);
20. Batwoman; 21. Batgirl (Cassandra Caine); 22. Queen Hippolyta;
23. Flamebird; 24. Starfire; 25. Power Girl; 26. Sasha Bourdeaux;
27. Catwoman (Holly Robinson); 28. Catwoman (Selina Kyle); 29. Spoiler;
30. Bumblebee; 31. Ice; 32. Miss Martian; 33. Wonder Girl;
34. Earth-2 Wonder Woman; 35. Wonder Woman; 36. Miss America;
37. Donna Troy; 38. Fury I; 39. Artemis; 40. Vixen; 41. Firehawk;
42. Hawkgirl; 43. Cyclone; 44. Stargirl; 45. Liberty Belle;
46. Earth-2 Huntress (Helena Wayne); 47. Phantom Lady; 48. Red Bee;
49. Empress; 50. Dr. Light II; 51. Skyrocket; 52. Mera; 53. Katana;
54. Mary Marvel; 55. Crimson Fox; 56. Nightshade; 57. Thunder;
58. Fire; 59. Natasha Irons; 60. Madame Xanadu; 61. Zatanna;
62. Enchantress; 63. Grace
©DC Comics 2011
DC Heroines 2007 ©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
16" x 20"
Pencil, Ink, Prismacolor Pencil, Tempera, Photoshop
This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.