"Here's your pan, here's your frog."

Tangled © Disney 2011
By Corey Breen
Pencil

Disney Time Line

Finally got around to see Tangled, bought it on Blu-Ray. I absolutely LOVED it. I definitely miss the old Disney hand drawn style, but this was their first movie that had that feel of those, and that cartoony look, just done in computer generated style too. I think it worked. I loved the Broadway feel to it, I hope they make a musical out of it. I loved the story too. Just a really great movie. So much like all the things I watch that I love, I did a drawing of Rapunzel! Hope you like it!

I also included a pin-up I got in I think EW, that is a time line of EVER Disney carton. Perfect for a record of all their films, and great reference of them and when they came out.

If you haven't seen it yet, rent, or better yet, BUY Tangled.

Until next time,

CjB

PS- Happy 4th Birthday, Finley! Hope it was a good one, and have fun in Disney World!

Go Go Gadget DO OVER!

Inspector Gadget © DIC Entertainment

By Corey Breen
Pen & Ink & Marker & Photoshop

Inspector Gadget © DIC Entertainment
By Corey Breen
Pencil

So this is more what I had in mind when I said I wanted to try to do a cool Noir Inspector Gadget. Still not as dark and moody as I was hoping for, but now you kind of get the picture.

At least you can see two different styles of mine, and some of my process. Let me know what you think, please.

Thanks,

CjB

I just had to share this!

Last night I was working on my Concept Art portfolio, coming up with new characters and costumes and the like, when I took a five minute break to look at some reference and to get some inspiration. What I read, I just HAD to share today. This one artist put into words my WHOLE philosophy of comic art and design.

I do a lot of photo realistic work for freelance and for different clients, but for my comic work and now video game experimentation, it's hard to explain my "style". Probably since college, I have been trying to put my philosophy into words. SO many times I would get critiqued, and not that I didn't appreciate it, but a lot of times, the reviewer just didn't understand my style, my exaggerations and my reasoning behind a lot of my art. I got a lot of, "oh, an arm wouldn't do that in real life", or "draw more 'realistic' comic book heroes". I finally found an artist that explains EVERYTHING I truly aspire to. He did it for me, and I have to THANK him for that.

The artist is Skottie Young, and this quote came from his OZ PRIMER book published by Marvel Comics. Please read this, and know that I am forever in his debt for putting into words what I could not. Much like Skottie, I am not saying this is how everyone should treat their art, but this is exactly what I do, and why my art is what it is.

Questionnaire: Do you think your style lends itself to the kind of evolution it has gone through, more so then it would for a more "realistic" artist?

Skottie Young: Well, I can't really compare because I've never been able to draw in that other way. I'm not a representational artist. I consider myself a cartoonist. Rather then draw what the world looks like, I prefer to draw want I want this other world to look like. The good news about that is it gives me a big playground to work in. I can stretch the mouth to look like an inner tube, or just make it a little line. SO in a way, it's not whether or not it's easier to evolve, it's just whether or not I can push a little further.

When I was younger, I heard the term "too cartoony" thrown around a lot. It made me nervous that I needed to tighten up and refine my work. The times I tried that I felt very limited. I mean, my hat's off to the guys that can do that. I'm not trying to say what I do is better. It's just that this is what I'm capable of doing. When I've tried to draw more realistically, it wasn't fun. Instead of imagining things, I felt I was trying to mimic things.

So within the frame work of what I do, it's about challenging myself to see what else I am capable of. And there are a lot of failures that people don't see. By no means does every new thing I try come out great.

Thank you Skottie Young, I could not have said it better myself. You were a HUGE inspiration to me before I read this article about you, but now, even more so.

Thank you for letting me share.

Now, back to work,

CjB

DO DO DO DO DO, Inspector Gadget...

Inspector Gadget © DIC Entertainment
By Corey Breen
Pencil

I intended to try and draw an Inspector Gadget that was a realistic, Noir re-imagining, but this is what came out. My style crept in and took over, and I was no where near the dark, Sin City-esq piece I wanted to do. Now that I have drawn the character, I may try again. But I do like how this piece came out, and it was a lot of fun, so not a total loss. And it was just a quick warm up piece, so can't really stress about it.

Hope you like it none-the-less!

CjB

Let me take another shot at this!

Superman © DC Comics
Redesign by Corey Breen
Photoshop

So after talking with Dezi and some other coworkers on my redesign, we started playing with the costume even further. Above is what we came up with. You see, I wanted to create more of a jump suit for superman, much like the Flash or Aquaman has. Superman should be like a swimmer. He is super fast, and should look like a red and blue blur that zips by. He has no need for boots, or freakin underwear. If what they say is true, much like the fast, he is so fast, that if he stood still, it would be hard to even focus on him. Superman should be sleek and regal.

I think he looks that hear. Although, if this suit was translated to live action, please don't make it "plastic-y", lol. Thinking about it more, maybe it's "too much blue" in hear as well, we all know now what that could look like.

Let me know what you think,

CjB

Swipe File? LOL

The Rocketeer © Dave Stevens
By Corey Breen (left) & Alex Ross (right)

Did Alex Ross SWIPE my Rocketeer drawing?! Well, no, I highly DOUBT it. But I saw this today, and had to do a side-by-side comparison just to see. It is kinda eerie, but in NO WAY do I think it's a swipe, at all. I mean, for one, there is probably no way in hell he's ever seen this piece of my work before, and two, it's not exactly the same anyway. It's not a direct copy at all.

This happens sometimes in our field, where one image is slightly like another. I mean, there are only so many positions to draw these heroes in anymore after 75 years, you know? I actually got accused once by a Top Cow editor of swiping a position. But honestly, I didn't. I was in college at the time, and I have never seen this promo image that circulated months after I drew mine. It was only similar anyway, no where near the exact same. You could totally tell both were drawn from our heads. Both done around the exact same time as well, so there was no way either me or the artist knew of the others' drawing. It happens sometimes. Nothing you can worry about.

REAL swipes are the blatant tracings of other people's drawings or photographs. Not something like the above, where it's a classic pose and the two pieces are just similar in nature.

Well, there you have it,

CjB

Video Games are Better then Movies!

Liara from Mass Effect 2 © Bioware
By Corey Breen
Pencil

They just are, sorry.

Just finished Mass Effect 2, and it was AMAZING! Star Wars slash Battlestar Galactica slash Final Fantasy! This game just blew my mind. No doubt I am late to the party on this one, since it was first Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 for the XBox, but I have a PS3 and it didn't come out for PS3 until about two months ago. I spent 70 hours on this game, and I wish it was even longer. One of the few games where I want to collect ALL the trophies, AND/OR play it ALL again. I don't usually have the time or effort to ever do that, but with this game, I REALLY want to. Even my favorite games (Zelda - Ocarina of Time was the only one I've ever played completely through twice, I think).

Mass Effect 2 was SO inspiring and SO motivating to me, it's beyond words. Can't say enough about this game. It has really elevated my brain as I go deeper into creating my own world, as I have discussed I am working on.

So enjoy my very quick (half hour) sketch of Liara from Mass Effect 2 or in other words, my VIDEO GAME GIRLFRIEND, lol. [My wife HATES that I have a video game girlfriend.]

Now it's off to working on my creation, and also begin playing Dragon Age 2, which is like Mass Effect 2, but with Dragons and Medieval Times! So psyched.

Until Next Time,

CjB

Superman Redesigned!

Superman © DC Comics
Redesign by Corey Breen
Photoshop Color

Superman © DC Comics
Redesign by Corey Breen
Pencil

As we usually do at work, my coworkers and I started arguing about comics and comic book movies. When the Superman Movie news came out the other week, we started arguing about how the new movie could be better then the Bryan Singer version. It spilled over into a conversation about comics and I mentioned that I hate Superman's costume, so the movie and the comics should start there. My coworkers said, no, no, you can't change Superman's costume because it's classic and that's what it is. I came back and said, fine, it really shouldn't be changed, but can we at LEAST just get rid of the underwear?! I HATE superheroes with the underwear on the outside of the costume. As Karl Pilkington would say, "get rid of it!".

I couldn't convinced my friend Dezi that I could make it better just by getting rid of the underwear. He said prove it. Draw it up, and color it (he didn't think the colors would work if you got rid of the red undies).

So here ya go, Dezi. In color!

I like it, I think it works. Makes him look regal, and still has all the elements of the classic Superman costume, just no belt and NO UNDERWEAR! He actually looks his age, not some silly boy scout, campy loser. I like the pointed shoulders too, like a military general's tunic. Makes him look government-ish, without losing the freedom of the classic look.

Let me know if you agree!

Until next time,

Corey Breen

Color Makes Old Things NEW Again!

St. Walker Blue Lantern © DC Comics

By Corey Breen
Photoshop

Finally got around to coloring this piece. It always looks so much more vibrant on my cintque and when I'm coloring it then it does when I finalize it andd post it. I gotta figure out why that is. Either way, I hope you like it.

Still working on the Tron piece, but kinda hit a low in motivation these past two weeks, so you'll have to wait a little longer for that. I am working on SaricH right now, so that's good news!

Doesn't look like I'll reach my goal of having a book out for it by the convention in October, but I should at least have a six page preview completely done. I did the thumbnails for that, and now I just have to draw it. It's a cool little introduction to SaricH and his world, so looking forward to jumping into that. After the six page preview, i will be doing working on the entire design of the characters and world before I go into making the book for it. I want to treat it as if it was going to be a video game, and design it all from the ground up. I want to get it to a point where you see everything like in the Art of Books of a video game, for example. It's gonna be fun.

Until then,

Corey OUT!

Vote Derezzed!

Tron: Legacy © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

The winner is... #5! And also #6. Wait... WHAT?! How can two images win? Well, I am changing the rules. I thank everyone for voting, and I will be inking AND coloring image #5 of Quorra. BUT, I am also going to ink and color image #6 of Sam Flynn as well. I decided to take the winner of the contest and the runner up image and combine them into one piece, and ink and color that. I most likely will be throwing in a light cycle and/or some kind of background to the finished piece as well!

I thank you all who voted, and I can't wait to get started on the finished piece. I will keep you updated! Thanks everyone!

CjB

PS- I am back on DCU Online. We all got the game at work, and I am playing on the PS3! I tweaked my character just a little bit, but his name is still Zaidin! You can find me on the servers "Birthright" and "The Killing Joke". If you play, befriend me! See you online!


DC Online Beta Character Zaidin
By Corey Breen
Pencil

The Masssive Tron Vote!

Tron: Legacy © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

Here they are! All 6 of my Tron pin-ups. To the right side of my Blog, you will see a poll where you can vote for the drawing you would like me to do as a Full Color finished piece. The number next to the image corresponds to the numbers in the poll.

The poll will end 12am on Wednesday, January 19th.

Can't wait to see which one wins out! They all look kinda cool together, no?

CjB

The Five Days of Quorra V

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil


So here it is, the LAST Quorra pin-up! This was actually my third attempt at Quorra, and probably my favorite. It's a more subdued, classic standing super hero pose, and yet a very elegant one. It's a little less stylized then the other ones, and more so then I usually draw, but I think that's why it works so well. Sometimes it best to just be a little more realistic in your anatomy to make a character stand out as a real person. A little bit more boring then the others, maybe, but I think the finished pencils really make her pop and give her an sense of weight.

Below is the initial line drawing. No changes on this one, I just went right to finished pencils.

So that's it! That's the last one. Later on today I will post them all side by side with numbers one through five, and post a poll right on the Blog to the right of my page, and you can decide which one you like best, and which ever one wins, I will do in full pen and ink and color!

The poll will end, let's say... Tuesday, January 18th at 10am!

Can't wait!

Hope you enjoyed this character study, and that if you haven't already, go check out Tron: Legacy movie!

One last note on these before I sign off. One of the best things I got from this, was that if you draw one character lots of times, you really get the feel for that character, and you can draw them in any pose or angle. That's REALLY important, especially when you need to be consistent on the look and mannerisms of who you are drawing. I know that's one thing animators do so well, like Disney artists and the like. I know that if you asked me, I can now draw Quorra at any time, without any reference! Cool beans.

CjB

PS- Is it me, or does Quorra (Olivia Wilde) look a LOT like Catherine Zeta Jones? Look it up, you'll see what I mean! LOL

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

The Five Days of Quorra IV

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

Day four of the Five Days of Quorra! Here is today's pin-up of Olivia Wilde as Quorra in Tron! More of a profile shot on this one. This piece was actually the second drawing I did of the five.

Below are the line work drawings I did for the piece, and much like the previous pin-up from yesterday, I redrew her arm. I couldn't decide if I wanted it down or up. For this one, it just worked much better going up to her head, both in composition and coolness factor.

I hope you like it. Only one more to go. Tune in tomorrow for the last of my five Quorra drawings. I will also post a poll where you can vote on which Quorra you would like me to do as a finished piece!

Until then,

CjB

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

The Five Days of Quorra III

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

For the third day of Quorra pin-ups, I have a little bit more of an action shot. This was actually the first one I sketched out, out of all five of the Quorra pieces this week. I remember I had started drawing this one, but it wasn't sexy enough, or so I thought. That's how the ball started rolling on having so many pin-ups of this one chatacter. I was trying to draw a REALLY red hot image of her ala J Scott Campbell. NOT as easy as he makes it look, let me freakin' TELL ya! But, I wound up going back to this one and finishing it, because I actually like the pose and twist of her body a lot.

Below is two different versions of the sketch that I did for this one, because I originally had her left am up in the air, holding her disc. I went back in before the finished drawing and changed her arm to be down by her side more. I just think it worked better as a composition.

Again, let me know what you think, and I hope you like yet another Quorra pic! Two more to go, then you can vote on which one you want me to do up in inks and colors! Maybe I'll even add in a light cycle behind her and a sweet Tron-like background!

CjB

PS- Mass Effect 2 for PS3 doesn't come out until Tuesday, January 18th! Ugh, got all excited for nothing yesterday. Now I need the 18th to hurry on up and get here already!

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

Quorra From Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

The Five Days of Quorra II

Quorra from Tron © Walt Disney Pictures
By Corey Breen
Pencil

This is day two of the five day Quorra pin-up week, image number two! Tune in tomorrow for image number three!

Very similar to the first one, just kinda zoomed out a bit on her. I think with these first two, I made her lean a little too much. With the female figure, I always want to capture that nice curve in their spine, give them a J Scott Campbell kind of look. Sometimes I wind up over-exaggerating that too much, though, so I have to be careful. It's a fine line between being dynamic with a pose, and just breaking the characters back, losing all sense of reality of a character. One thing I do love about the character is her hair. Had a TON of fun drawing her hair in each of these.

They get better as the week goes on, by-the-way! Saved the best ones for later in the week. Although, I want you to decide in the poll on Friday, which one of the five you want me to do in ink and color!

See you tomorrow with more Quorra! TRON RULES!

CjB

PS- MASS EFFECT 2 for PS3 comes out TODAY! Oh YEAH! Thank God for left over Christmas Gift Cards, LOL!