Not Enough T-n-A...!!!

Commissions of People, for People...

2010-08-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Somewhere along the line I got pegged with a reputation of drawing comic book style likenesses of regular folk for commissions (hell, I only tell you how to do it in my new book). This probably goes back to my pre-comics career when I drew caricatures at the local theme park back in high school. Most requests are of drawing people as superheroes. Not only is this a fun idea, but it also allows them to add extra inside jokes/themes that's personal only to them. It takes longer to do and involves a little more effort (that's why I generally charge a little more for these) than a typical drawing of a superhero character, but the end result is very satisfying if the customer is pleased.

Here are a few recent commissions I've done of just your everyday folk dressed up (I chose not to put up the actual photos of the people depicted for privacy reasons):

Jeremy as Green Lantern holding a kettle bell (he's an instructor)

Gift for Camille and Hans as Robin and Batman on their new house

A commission of Inga as Mary Marvel

Camel Toes

Later, dudes...

Random Stuff...

2010-07-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

I know it's been over a month after I vowed to update this blog more often....but work has been unbelievably crazy (what else is new??). Unfortunately, with time at a premium--sometimes I just have to catch some sleep over writing blogs. I hope you understand.

That said, there's so many things since last blog that I could write about, but I don't know where to start. So I'll just randomly surf through my hard drive and upload random things as I type...

Drawing-wise, I am currently balls-deep into issue #1 (of 2) for Undertaker for the WWE Heroes comic (Titan Publishing). Written by some dude named Keith Champagne. Since I don't believe I am yet allowed to show anything yet, I'll take this opportunity to plug the current series written by Keith and drawn by a good ol' chap named Andy Smith.

After I wrap up issue #1, I will do a very detailed step-by-step painting of one of the hottest Vietnamese chicks I've ever seen, Ngan Khanh, for Airbrush Step-By-Step magazine:

Basically, I'm gonna teach you how to "frankenstein" different reference photos combined with some good ol' freehand drawing skills to create a cohesive painting. PS--I'm still "casting" for the perfect Asian girl to be my reference photo (and be in the magazine) for Ngan Khanh's body double. Sound fun? Oh, it will be...

Speaking of step-by-step paintings, some of you airheads may or may not realize that there is actually a full step-by-step airbrush (traditional, not digital) demo of a painting of Megan in my new book "Incredible Comic Book Women With Tom Nguyen" (plug plug). So it's not just comics and cartoony stuff!

Oh yeah, guess what? For you Kindle/iPad owners, the new book is now available to download onto Kindle!!! At $10, it's a steal!

A couple random sketches:

The Unknown Soldier

A zombie

Camel Toes:

A Piece of Shit Tattoo:

Later dudes (a month later? Who knows haha).

My First iPad Sketch

2010-06-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

During mid-May, we had the annual SpringCon here in Minnesota. It was at this show where a gentleman showed me his iPad (I don't own one--YET--but I am intrigued by them). The thing is, he didn't just show me his iPad, but he actually wanted to commission me to do a sketch in it using the Sketchbook Pro app and a stylus. I took him up on the condition that he send me the file as a keepsake--my very first iPad sketch!

Camel Toe:

Stupid Tattoo:

Where do I start?

2010-06-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, I know it's been a while since my last blog post. I remember last blog I hinted at my televised appearance at WrestleMania 26 to promote WWE Heroes comics. Well that was a total lie--a weak attempt at an April Fool's joke (if you noticed the date of the blog). So there! Ha ha.

Hmm, where do i begin? Oh! Guess what? My new instructional book is out!!! Go order at my publisher's site or at Amazon:

North Light Shop <---click to purchase

Amazon <---click to purchase

Here's a funny "director's cut" bit: one of my intended double-page spreads for the book didn't make it in the final edit. So here it is for you guys (colored by the excellent Jon Alderink):

New Painting

Seems like I barely have time to paint anymore these days. Which is a shame as I love to work with the ladies. Here is the most recent one that was done for Mrs. Minnesota-America 2007 Bessie Giannakakis. Now you might wonder, "Friggin' 2007?? Aren't you a little late, buddy??!" Well, yes of course I'm slow; there were also a couple minor bumps that delayed this particular piece, but I finally got enough of a break to finish it. Needless to say, I'm thrilled that it's done and am very satisfied that Bessie is able to finally receive it. What a wonderful, patient, and beautiful lady!

Sketch Card

Here's a Wolvie sketch card that I was able to hawk. Ink and marker.

Camel Toe

I promise I won't take as long for the next blog entry ;)

More Sketches and My Appearance at Wrestlemania 26

2010-04-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

Even though I pimped this last week on my website, Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, I neglected to mention the FREE iPhone/iPod touch WWE Heroes #0 comic app here. So here is the link to get it!

Story by Keith Champagne
Pencils by me
Inks by Champagne and me
Colors by Hi-Fi

Also, I should be getting video back soon from my pre-taped appearance during Wrestlemania 26 week in Phoenix to help promote the app. I'll have it up next blog.

SKETCHES!!!!

These are commissions I did during this past December. Click to see bigger:

Camel Toes

HORRIBLE TATTOO of the WEEK:

Later, dudes...

TOM

Girls and Doggies

2010-03-24T04:01:00.000-07:00

I just did a drawing (some of you may have seen the in-progress peek on my Twitter and/or my Facebook) to be auctioned off this week at the Humane Society's Puppy Mills awareness gala in Dallas, TX. Here it is (click to see bigger):

By the way, this drawing was done in pen/ink/brush on 11" X 17" bristol board. This is in a similar theme to an illustration of a girl/dog that I did for my upcoming instructional book (plug-plug again) Incredible Comic Book Women With Tom Nguyen--out in June! :p In fact, I demonstrate a full step-by-step of it in the book:

People seem to like the simple, cute pin-up-girl-with-dog theme. Perhaps I'll do more of these in the future.

Camel Toes:

Horrible Tattoo:

Later, dudes...
TOM

A Little Bit of This and That...

2010-03-21T04:22:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have some time (not really, but I'm actually making time) to update this poor blog. First, a quick follow up on the last blog regarding my black & white drawings of the Vietnamese Ao Dai dress chicks. A website called AoDai.com (featuring--what else?--Ao Dais!) contacted me and asked if I would like to be featured. I told them that I only had the 2 drawings of Ao Dai from my last blog entry (for the time being), but that they are free to use them if they wanted. So for the time being, they are being used on the home page of AoDai.com. Cool, huh?

Next we have a commission that I did a while ago, but only now shall it be seen. Every once in a long while I'll be commissioned to ink over someone else's pencil sketch. Because I dislike plain inking by nature, I normally won't do this unless the penciller is a professional (re: not an amateur wannabe trying to break in) and that the customer is willing to pay a ridiculous price. In this case, we have a request for me to ink over a Dan Jurgens drawing of Green Lantern. Here is the before and after:

If you have a keen eye, you might spot some minor liberties I've taken during the inking stage to help strengthen the overall figure. The most notable adjustments are the arms, his left leg (our right), and adding a bit of a butt visible in this angle. Other than that, I just slickened the rest up and remained fairly faithful. I don't recommend beginning inkers to putz around with the structure of another penciller's art too much unless you know what you're doing.

Another Commish

Here's another 3-head-themed commission by the same gentleman who's been steadily commissioning me since Wizard World Chicago '09, this time of Captain America, Thor, and Daredevil:

Don't Forget to PreOrder...!

Learn how to draw hot babes the right way! :) If you preorder now at Amazon, you get a discount. The book is to be released in June!

Camel Toes

Horrible Tattoo:

Ladies, just stop it.

The Alluring Ao Dai (Traditional Vietnamese Dress)

2010-02-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

We Vietnamese have a traditional dress for girls/women (guys can also wear it, I guess, but that's another thing altogether) called the Ao Dai, which means "long dress." It is one of the symbols of Vietnamese culture. They are worn for both formal occasions and for school.

I never used to be into it, and even thought that it was silly looking back in my younger days. Nowadays, I can't think of anything hotter on a Vietnamese woman! :D The dress is so elegant, flowy, and custom made to flatter every figure. Younger females wear the traditional white color up through their high school years (it is still being used as the official school "uniform" in many areas--HOT!!), and after high school it is worn with bolder colors and designs. I prefer the simplicity of the white design--which symbolizes innocence and purity.

Enough jabber; just so you know I'm not making this up, here are some pics followed by my drawings of the dress:

Even Miss Universe 2008, which took place in Vietnam, had all their contestants don the dress:

And here are my drawings of them; they were going to be used in my upcoming instructional book, but at the last minute I decided against it as it wasn't "action-y and superhero-y" enough:

I will probably finish/color these for upcoming prints (probably scam my pal Jon Alderink into messing with them).

Camel Toe:

Horrible Tattoo of the Week (new feature!):

Soranik Natu Sketch Video

2010-02-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the video of me sketching Natu. This is from the same signing at Hot Comics (from my last posting) in New Hope, MN a couple of weeks ago. I actually posted this video up on YouTube a couple nights ago, but haven't blogged about it/told many people because I'm just too lazy:

And here is the decent picture of the finished sketch:

New Store Appearance 2/17/10

So I have another signing coming up at Limited Edition Comics in Cedar Falls, IA on Wednesday, February 17th. I did a signing for these guys back in November, and the turnout was great! I signed and sketched for hours! Great people...thanks to Rob the owner for inviting me back out!

Limited Edition Comics

2225 College St.

Cedar Falls, IA 50613

You can contact them at 319-273-8969 or 319-268-4094 for more info.

Camel Toes:

Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) Sketch Video

2010-01-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a video clip of me wrapping up a Kyle Rayner sketch for a fan at a signing this week. The signing took place on Wednesday, January 27th at Hot Comics & Collectibles in New Hope, MN to help celebrate the release of Green Lantern #50. Artists Doug Mahnke and Pat Gleason were also guests.

I wish I had a clear photo of the finished piece to post up, but alas, I wasn't thinking. Next blog I'll have a sketch video of Soranik Natu that I also did at the signing.

Miss America 2010

The 89th Miss America pageant will be broadcast live on TLC this Saturday, January 30th at 8pm ET. Of course I'll be rooting for the representative of my state, Miss MN Brooke Kilgarriff. I briefly met her and her mother once, although I'm not sure they'd remember me. She's a great singer, which I'm sure you'll see tomorrow... Go Brooke!

Moose Knuckle

Later dudes,
TOM

Adolescent RadioActive Black Belt Hamsters Cover Step-By-Step

2010-01-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a good one from the Vault...

A while back when I was working on Don Chin/Dynamite Ent.'s Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, I would take scans of certain steps just for shits and giggles. Fortunately, I scanned the entire process of the cover to Issue #4, portraying the hamster Clint in a cool poster shot wielding a Magnum. Writer extraordinaire Keith Champagne asked that I add a simple but dramatic "Dark Knight Returns" flare to the piece.

So without further adieu, here are the progressive stages (click on each pic to make bigger):

Roughing it out very lightly. Just a normal pencil; the drawing area is 11 X 17 inches. Here I'm just trying to get the pose down and properly fitting it within the frame.

Some refining of Clint's figure; I've ruled in the perspective lines of the gun with the vanishing point being around Clint's chin.

The helmet and shirt is added. Always rough out the understructure before you add accessories so that the drawing is stronger and is "held together" better.

I've tightened the drawing with some detail and rendering in preparation for inking.

Using the straight-edge and french curves, I begin inking the parts that require a clean line (gun, whiskers).

Taking my #2 Windsor & Newton sable brush with my waterproof india ink, I begin inking the the big, broader areas on the drawing. I'm a little looser with the background lightning as the the area behind it will be all black.

More ink added...now you see some feathering and detail going on....

Finishing up with all the linework and details...I believe moving down to a #1 size brush.

Here all the black areas are filled in and the contrast adjusted. Just adding in the blacks makes a huge difference in the art!

And here is the final print version of the cover all colored. On the inside cover, the interior colorist is listed as "Inlight Studio," so I will assume they did this cover piece as well.

Camel Toes

Some random chick and a UFC chick....

Later, dudes...

TOM

Iron Man Sketch Cards Video

2010-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year. Here's a hi-def vid of me frantically working to wrap up my 200 sketch cards I did for the upcoming Iron Man 2 card set from Upper Deck Entertainment (you may have to double-click on it to see the whole screen, I think):

See those Micron pens in the vid? Julia over at Sakura is so cool that she sent them to me for free :D

Camel Toe

2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood

One of Tiger's mistresses.

Later, dudes...

TOM

Little Miss Perfect Logo

2009-12-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

So earlier this year I was commissioned to draw up a logo for the second season of "Little Miss Perfect" tv show. The man behind the show, Mr. Michael Galanes, contacted me himself back in June about this idea. Funny thing is that during that time, he was a guest judge at the annual Mrs. Minnesota-America pageant in St. Paul while I was in his home state of Florida (Miami) as a guest of the Florida SuperCon convention. He's a very nice and funny guy--making me instantly comfortable just chatting with him on the phone--and is very passionate about pageants as he runs a few.

Anyway, he wanted a logo to go on various items for the contestants in Season 2 of the show (which will begin airing Wednesdays starting January 13th on WeTV), things like shirts and bags and such. I'm sure the illustration will be seen on TV, and supposedly I'll be given a credit somewhere--that would be cool!

Anyway, it was a tight, tight deadline (but what project isn't??), and he and I went back and forth over some of my sketches until we got what he wanted. Other than some last minute stress with the shirt printing (I was already headed out the door for my brother's wedding in Toronto) I was very happy with the outcome and very excited to see it on television as well as on various items that Mr. Galanes may want to put it on. I want to personally thank my buddy Robb Miller--who really helped bail me out at the last minute with some file compatibility issues after I'd sent the final version off. He really saved me on this one. Please check out this cartoonist's awesome blog. Without further ado, here are a few concept sketches as well as the final version:

Final version:

I also found this logo already floating around on the internet...my apologies for not jotting down the source when I ripped these off :( But it shows that the logo has indeed been seen and used:

Later dudes...
TOM

Rejected Art

2009-12-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hey, it happens. This spread was supposed to be one of my chapter openers for my new book, "Incredible Comic Book Women With Tom Nguyen," but I was asked to replace it with something more colorful and superhero-oriented. I wanted to show an evolution of the female figure to kind of play off the idea of constructing a hot chick.

I know, it's kind of abrupt to go from the bikini-monkey to the younger girl, but I had only so much room to show the progression, and I was already pushing the size limit with the four stages here.

Camel Awesome

Miss Teen/MN USA Weekend Round-Up

2009-11-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

So once again, my favorite time of the year is here--Thanksgiving weekend! Not for the holiday--I don't care for it, quite frankly, for the same reason I don't care for most holidays: everything is closed, the mail doesn't come, and it's yet another excuse to hang around the folks' house (which I already go to somewhat regularly). You can't hang out with friends because of the aforementioned closings of things public, unless you want to hang out with their families.

But I digress...it's still my favorite time of the year because 1) it's my birthday weekend (not that I really do anything because I'm a loser who works all the time), and 2) it's super pageant weekend in Minnesota! That's right, Future Productions' Miss MN USA and Miss MN Teen USA will be held at a new venue in Burnsville (where I grew up) this weekend. Yes, I still maintain that I'm the only straight guy who gets into pageants as much as I do. So what? I'll be toting around my original Wendi Russo (Mrs. MN America 2008) original painting to give to her when I see her this weekend. Catch me before I see her and I'll let you see the original up close--I don't bite :) Hell, or just find her if I've already given it to her.

The contestant photos went up this week. Numbers are down from what I'm guessing is a tough economy. Competing ain't cheap, yo. Anyhoo, here are my Top 10s for both the Miss an Teen division:

Miss
I will right off the bat say that one of the competitors is my friend/model RaeAnne Gleason. That said, this is a no-win situation for me: if I pick her as the winner, I am accused of bias; if I don't, I look like an unsupportive ass. In fact, as I get to know more and more competitors every year (whether in person or online), it's gonna get harder to be objective with my lists. That said, I do think she has a shot and of course I will root for her. I worked with her recently and WOW she's in the best shape I've ever seen her! And she looks like Brooke Kilgarriff--Miss MN 2009, if that's going to be any kind of push.

So for this division I will do a Top 5--with the girls listed in alphabetical order to show that any of their placings could be interchangeable. Then I will do a 6-10 prediction based on the headshots posted on the Future Productions site. Remember, anything can happen with gown/swimsuit choosing and presentation.

Brianne Anderson-annual competitor, places fairly well every year. Last year she placed 3rd, a drop down from the previous year where she was 1st-runner up. It's been documented that I think she's a snot.

Danielle Epps- she got 1st runner-up last year! She was also 1st runner-up at the 07 MN USA pageant, while capturing the Miss MN International 2007 title. She's also a local radio personality!

RaeAnne Gleason- a veteran to pageants, she's been a Top 10 placer at the MN USA pageant as well as the 2005 MN Co-Ed winner (was it '05? I forget now).

Casandra Moore - I remember her competing before and she looked great. Good to see her back.

Arielle Peterson-- It's been a while since I last saw her compete as a Teen at the MN USA pageant...but I do remember that she was a contender, and looked stunning! Now she's back as a Miss, so this will be interesting to see.

6. Ava Bielke --I remember her from last year's pageant. She looked nice.

7. Kristina Ferdig - Perennial competitor that usually places well. Last year was the best I've seen her, although she didn't crack Top 5. In fact, I don't any of the 3 Vikings cheerleaders did last year.

8. Chrissy Zamora - I do like her headshot!

9. Ali Schulz- All I remember is that she had crazy awesome abs. Nice!

10. Courtney Agar- I have to say I think she looks better than this headshot.

Teen
There always seems to be more Teens than Misses competing. Regardless, they always seem to have crappier headshots as a whole compared to Miss. Ha. Not many standouts, but I'll do what I can:

1. I think it could go either way with Ashley Johnson and Danielle Joiner (shown in respective order). Perhaps I'm leaning slightly in favor of Ashley Johnson, who got 1st runner-up last year and looked great!

3. Which brings us right to 3rd place, and I have Tyler Bramwell--as long she covers up what seems to be hideous star tattoos on her back. She better cover them up really well, or watch the placing drop. Girls, why do you do this to yourselves???????

4. Amanda Mathes - she got the 2007 MN National American Miss Spirit Award for Junior Division.

5. -Kelsi Schuelke

6. Rebecca Reller

7. Elizabeth Lindemann

7. Tatum Miller - I could see Tatum interchanging with Elizabeth for 7th.

9. Alexandra Meuwissen

10. Vanessa Davidson --as long as her hair is pizzazzed up better than what we see here, I can see her placing.

So there it is. Let the hate begin, BIZNATCHES!!!! >:P Inevetibly, I get secret emails from contestants telling me either "Thank you!", or "Nyah nyah, I showed you up!!!" I also get a flood of Friend Requests after the pageant, but I'm sure it's 'cause I have a ton of pics.

I'm so exhausted writing that I'm too lazy to post anything else. Ok, fine, here some quick doodles of my Vietnamese celeb (only in the sense that she's a celeb only in Vietnam and nowhere else in the world) crush, Ngan Khanh:

Oh yes, she shall be mine...

PS-- I hate the Blogger's way of formatting the blogs I write...(especially the way they handle photo uploads).

Another Sketch Vid From My Signing...

2009-11-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

Boy, am I on a roll....here's a Joker sketch for a fan that I did at my signing earlier this week at Limited Edition Comics:

Herd of Moose(knuckle):

Kilowog Sketch Video...

2009-11-20T19:56:00.001-08:00

This week I got back from my store signing at Limited Edition Comics in Cedar Falls, Iowa. What a fun time! Rob, the owner, made sure my time there was comfortable and very enjoyable. I highly recommend stopping by his store--which is also a hair salon, if you can believe that!--if you are in this nice little college town area. It is one-of-a-kind, and I have never seen a store owner treat his customers like his own friends the way Rob does. I can see why they keep coming back.

Here is a video from the signing...it's of me doing a sketch of Kilowog for a fan:

Green Lantern-related sketch requests have gone through the roof since I started helping out Doug and Pat earlier this year. This coming Wednesday will see Green Lantern #48 hit the stands by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, and myself.

I'll post more stuff up from this signing in the next blog.

Camel Toe (courtesy of my friend Thomas):

Store Signing on Wed., November 18....

2009-11-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

I'll be signing autographs next week on Wednesday, November 18 at Limited Edition Comics store in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The session is from 1:00-6:00 pm. Please come by and say hi, and don't forget to bring your Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps to have signed--they've been selling like hotcakes! Of course, the store will have plenty of Nguyen-related merchandise for you guys to get if you don't already have any.

Store info:
Limited Edition Comics
2225 College Street
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Ph: 319-268-4094

Camel Toe:

Caricature Video, Bat-Commission, and Pageant Time!

2009-11-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a new video of me messing around in Photoshop drawing some random chick I found on Model Mayhem (yes, she actually thinks she can model):

Admittedly I think I kind of missed her here; there's a couple things I would have done slightly differently if I had to redraw it to help me nail her likeness a bit better. I was so overwhelmed by her features that I just wanted to rip on them. Kind of mean, I know. Oh well.

Art

In the last blog I showed you the 3-head commission for a gentlemen I met at Wizard World Chicago this past summer. This week I finished another one, this time of Bat-Villains:

Pageant Time

Later this month will be ever so fun as it's my favorite time of the year: the annual Miss MN/Teen USA pageant during Thanksgiving weekend! It's also my birthday weekend, which makes it extra sweet. :) My friend/model RaeAnne (shown below in my painting) will be competing, so I will support her. There's some more repeats from last year as well. I'll probably go through the annual rundown right before showtime.

Professional Sports Camel Toe:

Better Late Than Never...

2009-10-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

So I never put up convention sketches I did at Chicago Con back in August. Well, here they are:

The gentleman who commissioned the above sketch with the three heads also privately commissioned me to do another set:

Then I colored it for the "exclusive" print for AdventureCon that I attended, but I handed it in too late for them to make prints in time. Oh well, they said they'll use it for the upcoming show in May:

Camel Toes

Here's pics of some model chick I don't even know who's on my Friends list on stupid MySpace. I came across these pics when I was bored and browsing, and decided to "borrow" them for my blog :P

AdventureCon 2009 in Pigeon Forge

2009-10-26T14:53:00.001-07:00

So I just got back late last night from a fun trip to AdventureCon in the tourist-y Pigeon Forge, TN. A fun little show! And now here are some of the sketches I did for fans there:

...and here's another camel toe:

How to Airbrush Pin-Ups book now available!!

2009-10-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

It's finally here! I and 6 other airbrush pin-up artists (including my pals Steve Driscoll, Edward Reed, and Steve Leahy) are now featured in a brand new book called "How to Airbrush Pin-Ups"!

Whether you're in to great looking babes, airbrushing, mixed media, or just some good ol' art, then this book is for you. Tons of step-by-steps in crazy detail. My section has 20 pages' worth of step-by-steps.

Long story short--you can pick these up at a store, order them direct from Wolfgang Publications, or get them from my personal stash.

To order directly from me:

--I'll charge the cover price ($28), but throw in shipping for free (Priority Mail--2-3 days domestic delivery). The book comes autographed by yours truly.
--For $35, I'll even remarque it on the inside cover with a sketch! Shipping is also included here.

PayPal the money to ArtistTom@gmail.com
Remember to leave your shipping addy (of course)!

Camel Toe

Post Fall Con 2009 Follow-Up...

2009-10-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

It was fun!

OMG new video...

2009-10-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

I know it's been like forever since I last blogged, but I've been busy...so busy, in fact, that I am happy to say that my second instructional book, "Incredible Comic Book Women With Tom Nguyen," is done and will finally be published!

Anyway, I will be back to blogging more often now. :)

Here is a video that my friend and fellow Mark McGwire fan, Paul Harrison, took of me during my weekend in Chicago this past September 19th for Windy City Con:

And one of these is a camel toe:

Sketch Video from Chicago Con 2009...

2009-09-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

Here's video taken of me sketching a gal from Chicago Comic Con last month. She was cute, so how could I pass this up?

Moose's Knuckle:

Just a doodle...

2009-08-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick doodle...I had a recent dream where I regressed back to my junior high days and was sitting in my World History class. One of my favorite teachers, Mr. Holton, went postal all of a sudden and whipped out a rifle and opened fire on the entire class! No worries, he let me live!

A strange and disturbing dream for sure, and Mr. Holton was actually one of the kindest teachers I've ever had, which made the dream stranger. I have no idea what this means.

Camel Toe:

Couple o' Commissions

2009-08-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy these cheap commissions that cost absolutely no less than $100....

Jean Grey

Atrocitus

...and Miss Thailand Universe's camel toe.

Quick sketch for today

2009-08-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

My buddy Robb Miller created a series of characters for his employer Salon Development. One of the more popular ones is this cool looking chick with the short, side-spike hair (art by Robb himself):

I thought it'd be fun to do my own quick comic book version of her using the features he created. Doing the interesting nose without making her ugly is a delicate and fun task:

I guess I originally envisioned her leaning her hands against something, that's why her arms are back and her shoulders are hunched up. I didn't bother trying to draw the entire figure (hey, I have other real work to do!). Total sketch time = 15 minutes.

OMG a Mooseknuckle:

Me Messing With a Jonas Brother....

2009-08-19T00:01:00.001-07:00

This was originally posted by my pal Walden Wong, and he tells the story better than I do. So I'll give him the credit for this post and link to his blog where it is posted. You should be following him anyway, he's a great pro in comics and blogs much more often than I do.

To make a long story short, I signed a couple kids' sketchbooks and didn't realize one of them was a Jonas brother. I had messed around and drew gibberish when they requested a sketch because I thought it'd be funny and I wanted to make Walden laugh.

The full scoop here.

Camel Toe:

San Diego Comic Con pics...

2009-08-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ugh, sorry for the late post. Things have been hectic and I just got back from Chicago this past week (pics from that show to come)...

Anyway, here are some of my favorite pics from Comic Con this year...another memorable one for the books!

Working at the Phoenix airport during layover on the way to San Diego...

Wonder Woman outside with poofy, saggy top?

Not a big fan of the whole Suicide Girls thing. Still, I took a pic of their banner for some reason.

My buddy Sean.

My buddies Sarah and Greg at the Impact booth. GO BUY MY BOOK!

I didn't know who this guy was until someone told me it was Ray Bradbury.

Phoenix sketch

Friends Pete and Sandy

People actually showed up to my Thursday panel! That contraption in the center is where I did my demo...

the other half of my panel audience.

Me with pro inkers Andy Owens (making questionable gesture) and Walden Wong

Me with buddy Jeff

Me with a very pale Supergirl

I kid you not, this innocent-looking girl dressed as Mary Marvel is a porn actress!

Me and my new girlfriend, Playmate Jessica Burciaga

My buddies Rhiannon and Kevin Clark at his table with his model Kneely.

Castle Grayskull!

Sketch I did of a guy's girlfriend as a pin-up!

Some promo chick at the G4 booth wearing a swimsuit--damn, I gotta get my models to do this at my tables....

Egon Spengler sketch. This is for you GB fans who hated the way I drew his spiked hair in the comic :P

Buffy as Supergirl sketch for a fan....

Close up

My new buddy Josh, who I met at the San Diego airport overnight, sketched this cool pic of me and my other new buddy Marshall drawing....

Here's the sketch I did for Marshall in return for him giving me a nice brush pen!

Sketch I did for Josh at the airport

Too many memories, not enough time to process them all....back to work!
TOM

Random Sunday Stuff...

2009-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a stupid video of me leg pressing the other night...

Another satisfied customer of Incredible Comics With Tom Nguyen :) Yes, everyone who buys my book gets a free sketch:

Subtle Camel Toe...

Later,
TOM

Cover Art for Seattle Weekly and Phoenix New Times

2009-08-01T10:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting in a while--the San Diego Comic Con trip (and the work/preparations leading up to it) took a lot of free time from me. Rest assured I'll get pictures up from that fabulous weekend.

A few weeks ago I was asked to illustrate two pieces to be used for the cover story that the Seattle Weekly paper (whom I have previously done work for) and the Phoenix New Times paper were doing together. They needed a very quick turnaround on both pieces of art--pencils, inks, AND colors in one weekend. The deadlines were already crushing as I had 5 Green Lantern Corps pages that I had to wrap up inking that very same weekend--NOT including my chipping away at wrapping up my instructional book! I suppose you can guess that I got no sleep at all. Thankfully, the two illustrations were fairly simple.

They depict the lead subject of the story, who is basically a girl gone horribly wrong. Here are the two pieces:

You can read the articles here and here.

Subtle Puffy Toe in the Background...

Later,
Tom

Get My Work On Your iPhone/iPod Touch!!!!

2009-07-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

Since I've recently gotten an iPhone (no small thanks to my friend Hina), I've been going nuts with playing with it and getting applications for it. I then remembered that earlier this year, the good folks at IDW Publishing had released all four issues of Ghostbusters: The Other Side as iPhone/iPod touch apps! The series was written by the mighty Keith Champagne with art by myself (with ink assists from Drew Geraci & Jon Alderink), and colors by Moose Baumann:

You can click here and scroll down to "G" to get all four issues on your device--each for only 99 cents! Back when I had a crappy phone, I might have mentioned this once on a past blog...but quite frankly I didn't care all that much because I didn't quite understand what all the "app" hype was all about. Now having experienced the power of the iPhone, I really think this is genius! And I can show my work to people on the spot if they inquire about it! What an inexpensive way to get your Ghostbusters comics on the go!

Super Capers

Back in February, I also inked a promo comic for the movie Super Capers by RG Entertainment. It was pencilled by MAD magazine artist extraordinaire Tom Richmond, and it was a whole lot of (stressed out) fun to do. The folks at RG Ent. have also put out a Super Capers application for your i-device, and let me tell you, folks--the features and interactive capabilities that is jam-packed in this application is amazing. It absolutely blows the Ghostbusters apps out of the water in terms of really engaging the viewer in a fun way with sound effects and even some minor animation. The Super Capers app even comes with a trailer for the movie. I highly recommend it.

Since I am a fairly lazy blogger/typer, you can click here, where Mr. Richmond tells you more about the project and application itself, along with more screen caps and a link on where to get the app.

And here is an unbelievable camel toe, practically nude! :

Later!
TOM

A Before and After...

2009-07-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates as work is killing me (once again). Today I have a few things:

Green Lantern #38 double page spread before and after inks:

Pencilled by the mighty Pat Gleason and inks by me. You see a red circle there because I wanted to check in with Pat to get a clear idea of what he's going for. A little communication never hurts. Also, Pat asked that I add a silhouetted debris around the white orb on the right side.

Playmate's New Boobs

Playmate of the Year 2007 Sara Jean Underwood apparently got a boob augmentation (when none was needed). This is my caricature of it:

Camel Toe

Happy 4th of July Blog

2009-07-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

A lot of artists on their blogs have done their own little drawing of Michael Jackson in tribute to the entertainer's death. So yeah I'm a little late on the bandwagon...whatcha gonna do? Anyway, I've seen some really great ones. So great, in fact, that I'm not even going to try to compete with them and do something too involved. Instead, I chose a much simpler and quicker way to do my part. In this exercise, I wanted to capture MJ's likeness in the simplest way that I could, with as few lines as I could. It's really a great way to hone your skills at capturing people in caricature: if you can get a likeness with as few lines as possible, that means that you have successfully picked the correct fewest features to play up. Here is my attempt:

Note that there is even an absence of the hair and facial contour--I've relied strictly on his striking internal features. Not that Michael is that hard to do in the first place. This took about 40 seconds to lay it down the rough, then I spent another few minutes refining the lines and cleaning it up.

Emo Kid Is My Bank Teller

There's this young dude at my bank who I often get as the teller when I'm standing in line there. He's been around a couple years, but in the time I've seen him, he went from a normal looking guy to an Emo kid. And I"m NOT a big fan of Emos. It's strange to see a guy in a suit with swoopie dyed black hair and black fingernails handling my money.

Camel Toe

Ah, Maria Sharapova cannot escape the toe.

Just stuff...

2009-06-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago I took a nice trip to Toronto for my brother's wedding. So that means I now have a new sister-in-law. Unfortunately, other than the wedding itself, I spent my entire time in Canada working in my hotel room due to work crunches. Thank goodness for technology, and that I am able to bring my work with me via laptop. So unfortunately I didn't get a chance to explore Toronto (my family went to Chinatown). Here is a pic of my working situation then:

Art

Some dude at my local grocery store today:

Some more concept art for my little cousin's school project (cheating, haha). Click for the full pic:

Camel Toe:

Later, dudes..
TOM

Florida SuperCon Pictures

2009-06-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have resized all of my photos from Florida SuperCon 2009. Over the last 3 weeks, I have been steadily showing video clips here and there from the show. I promise this is the last of SuperCon "evidence" if you're already sick of this stuff. Onward...

This was the view outside my hotel

Peter Venkman commission sketch

Christian Alamy, Doug Mahnke, Tony Moore, his wife Cara (or is it Kara?), myself

The Terminator holding up my art

Superman sketch card

Snake Eyes sketch

Artist buddy Sean Shaw walking out of the bathroom in my hotel

Sean workin' his table

Rorschach

Pretty rainbow

Artist Mitch Breitweiser and myself

Which one of our Micron pens will win? Me and my new pal Christian Alamy.

I try to throw a fireball at Balrog

Me with wife of Tony Moore, Cara (or spelled with a "K" again, I don't know...)

1st person perspective of our Inking panel. You gotta trust me when I say it eventually filled up...

Not sure what GL is doing with his other hand...fist pump?

Chicks at Sean's table

New buddies-artist Ozzy Fernandez and his fiancee Denise (who will be a new NUDE model hehe). My rep buddy JJ completes the picture.

You're looking at a future sexy Catwoman painting in the wings here....Denise again.

Denise taking the other chick to school. Underwear alert!

Christian signing at his table for his biggest fan...

Buttcrack...

...buttcrack... There were more than a few (par for the course at comic conventions), but these two were the only ones I could snap.

Actor Bruce Campbell. I stood far away and used my zoom to take a pic because I didn't want to stand in line. Plus, I didn't know if he was one of those dickhead celebs who charges for photos.

Bruce again. Actually, I heard he stormed off mad from the show. If anyone can confirm/deny with full story, that'd be great.

Actor Brian Thompson. I liked him from the old TV show "Werewolf." Remember that from the old days???

My breakfast on one of those days.

View outside the restaurant window during breakfast. Pretty!

Some chick with large cans getting body painted at the Saturday night masquerade party.

Black Widow (who gives a shit about Deadpool--I just had him in there because they were apparently together and I didn't want him left out)

The texture of her outfit intrigued me...so I zoomed in for a closer look.

I also really liked how she tied her belt-thingy in the back, so I zoomed in for a close up.

Batman Zombie sketch I did for the auction.

Batman sketch card

Batman commission

Me and my new inker buddy Austin Janowsky

Too lazy/tired for a camel toe entry today. Next time, guys....even the king has to take a break...
-TOM

Why I Hate Bicyclists on the Road

2009-06-24T12:36:00.001-07:00

If there is one thing that annoys the shit out of me almost more than anything, it's bicycle riders who ride on the road. I don't care if it's the law (actually, I just heard--unconfirmed--from my buddy that at least in our local neighborhood, it's illegal to ride on the roads). To have bike riders use the road alongside cars is the most ridiculous traffic law other than the "No turn on red" signs. So who am I pissed at? The lawmakers or the bicycle riders? Well, both. Although I can understand people who want to obey the law, it doesn't mean they should follow it in certain cases. My friend Missy reminded me that she was hit by a car on the road while on her bike because she was simply obeying the law. Well, guess what obeying the law got her? A broken leg. Because the law makes absolutely no sense. To put it simply:

--Bikes sharing the road with heavy traffic (especially in downtown rush-hour areas) = hazard. To move around the bike riders means to potentially smash into the car in the next lane.
-- Cars a lot of times have no room to budge around these asshole bikers who are usually taking up too much road space
--There's no sidewalk too occupied to where bicycle riders can't easily maneuver around people
--It's easier for bike riders to move out of the way than it is for cars to (especially in heavy traffic)

Simply put (you dumbass bicycle riders), if the sidewalk is there, then use it. Use your goddamn head and some common sense and quit making a hazard for drivers--and yourselves. To the lawmakers--please change this ridiculous law. I'm pissed at you guys. I usually get pissed at bike riders, too. But I can't really fault those who are just wanting to obey the law. So I guess I'm encouraging bicycle riders to break this law. Thank you. And now here's a video of me road-raging on a bike rider (don't mind my dirty windshield):

Art

Some quick character designs I did for my little cousin's school project. Is it cheating if he has hook-ups? I dunno:

Camel Toe:

Busted Stealing Energy Drinks

2009-06-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Yet even more video of me from Florida SuperCon two weekends ago. This is a fun one. I tried to rip-off a whole case of energy drinks (hey, they were supposed to be "free"), and my new friend/model Denise tried to cover for me. Her fiance Ozzy was a trooper to film the whole thing. Here is the silly result (warning: some swears):

Airport Sketching

I just got back from Toronto, Ontario from my brother's wedding. At the Toronto airport I had some time to kill so I sketched out a dude sitting in front of me on my laptop:

I would have done more, but my battery was about to run out.

Super Camel Toe

Remember gold medalist Shawn Johnson? Well, here is an actual screen grab from television of her camel toe:

Later, dudes....
Tom

Yet Even More FL SuperCon Video.....

2009-06-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is a lame first-person view of me arriving purposely late to the Green Lantern panel at Miami's SuperCon 2009. Panelists were Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen (Boo! Hiss!), Tony Bedard, and Christian Alamy. Quick cameo appearance by actor Bruce Campbell at his table:

Camel Toe:

Searching For Food at Florida SuperCon...

2009-06-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

There were no snack vending machines at our hotel (The DoubleTree), and the lobby restaurant was closed after 11 pm. I was starving! So here is video of me searching for a nearby gas station to pick up food for the night:

I found another pic of Megan Fox with camel toe:

Another FL SuperCon video emerges...

2009-06-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

This time it's an interview with me:

Here's a sketch of my new buddy Christian Alamy (regular inker, Green Lantern) with his weekend pal:

Megan Fox camel toes:

New Painting of Mrs. MN-America 2008, Wendi Russo!

2009-06-12T12:07:00.001-07:00

Here is a new painting of the lovely Wendi Russo, who last week passed on her title of Mrs. Minnesota-America to Heather Hall. Wendi came over last August to do a quick shoot for this painting, and was very easy to work with! She was ever so kind and patient for this painting to be completed as it kept being delayed with setbacks in my other urgent projects.

Some close-ups:

I actually took like a million step-by-step hi-res photos of the entire process (as I usually do with my paintings), but I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them. I trying to get them published somewhere....

And as a bonus, I even have video that I took throughout the entire process:

Later,
TOM

Inking Panel from Florida Supercon

2009-06-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

I managed to video record most of the inking panel (in Hi-Def, nonetheless) from last Friday at Florida SuperCon. Here is the 5-part series featuring myself, Christian Alamy, Austin Janowsky, and Ralph Cabrera:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Camel Toe:

STUPID HAIRCUT LADY FUCKS UP MY HAIR FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW

2009-06-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how hard is it to understand my directions??!!! I want to grow my hair out (see my previous entry on how long my hair was), and told the bitch to blend really low and barely anything off the top!!!! >:( ps--don't ask why I'm not wearing a shirt. I usually don't at my computer.

So angry... >:(

Hayden Pannetiere's Camel Toe:

Making the Jump...

2009-06-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Me and my art rep, the great Jon Jesperson

First, welcome to my (soon to be) new blog home. For the last few years, I've been blogging on MySpace, but since it seems to be losing popularity (and ultimately users) to Facebook and Twitter (::gasp::), I am gearing up for its impending doom by setting up my neat little corner here. I'll just do simultaneous blogs there and here until MySpace completely dies. Then it will be here exclusively. :)

Even though this is a little more accessible to readers, I will most likely still be filthy and offensive as I really don't know any other way. Somehow, people seem to still read. And of course, I will still keep up my tradition of showing art and camel toes on every single blog (just like my loyal readers demand). I'm no sell-out.

Later this week:
-pics and video from my recent trip to Miami's SuperCon
-NEW painting of Mrs. MN 2008
-Appearance updates
-latest commissions

So subscribe, sit back, relax, and have fun with me :)

--Tom

Not Enough T-n-A...!!!

Commissions of People, for People...

Random Stuff...

My First iPad Sketch

Where do I start?

More Sketches and My Appearance at Wrestlemania 26

Girls and Doggies

A Little Bit of This and That...

The Alluring Ao Dai (Traditional Vietnamese Dress)

Soranik Natu Sketch Video

Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) Sketch Video

Adolescent RadioActive Black Belt Hamsters Cover Step-By-Step

Iron Man Sketch Cards Video

Little Miss Perfect Logo

Rejected Art

Miss Teen/MN USA Weekend Round-Up

Another Sketch Vid From My Signing...

Kilowog Sketch Video...

Store Signing on Wed., November 18....

Caricature Video, Bat-Commission, and Pageant Time!

Better Late Than Never...

AdventureCon 2009 in Pigeon Forge

How to Airbrush Pin-Ups book now available!!

Post Fall Con 2009 Follow-Up...

OMG new video...

Sketch Video from Chicago Con 2009...

Just a doodle...

Couple o' Commissions

Quick sketch for today

Me Messing With a Jonas Brother....

San Diego Comic Con pics...

Random Sunday Stuff...

Cover Art for Seattle Weekly and Phoenix New Times

Get My Work On Your iPhone/iPod Touch!!!!

A Before and After...

Happy 4th of July Blog

Just stuff...

Florida SuperCon Pictures

Why I Hate Bicyclists on the Road

Busted Stealing Energy Drinks

Yet Even More FL SuperCon Video.....

Searching For Food at Florida SuperCon...

More SuperCon video of us signing comics....

Another FL SuperCon video emerges...

New Painting of Mrs. MN-America 2008, Wendi Russo!

Inking Panel from Florida Supercon

STUPID HAIRCUT LADY FUCKS UP MY HAIR FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW

Making the Jump...