New Swaggernauts, & Improvements

Hey everyone, it’s time for another week of artwork and of course, THE SWAGGERNAUTS! Be sure to go over and check out the new page that is up right now! Click the link below to check it out. You will also see a nice homage to something really cool this week as well. Hope you movie buffs pick up on it. 

Page 3 teaser of The Swaggernauts by Ian D.Walker
Live now at: http://www.theswaggernauts.com

I have been pretty inspired as of late to get my art going as well. Making money is really essential right now, and so the best way to do that is to show off more of my artwork, and do pics and get them sold.

I talked with a friend who saw my art sales site, and gave me some advice that I think I’m going to start following. Initially the work I had up there is for the collectors, and the ones able to shell out the cash to collect the artwork I draw. But I am finding that I do need to realize where we are in the economy and that original fan art is a luxury and not a necessity. But if I make it affordable, I will not have to feel like I’m making someone choose between feeding their kids or picking up my awesome Teen Titans Robin piece. So over the next few days, if you go to my site, you will notice subtle changes. I will be integrating the Facebook page with my blog site, making it easy to view my art work and easier to purchase it as well. Commission products will be available as well. So look for that really soon as well.

One thing I’m going to be making sure I do, is put up more of my sketches and artwork on a regular basis. I need to make sure I stay in you guys faces, and build up a presence! My first con will be in July, over in San Jose, and that gives me plenty of time to make sort of a name for myself, and become that professional that I know that I can become. You’re not going to see me take on lists of commissions on DA sites or any other site like that. I will just do everything through my blog here, the art store blog, or the Facebook page. I’m talkin streamlining it up!

Well with that said, I’m going to take off for now. I’m sure you guys all see my Instagram feed, so be sure to take the time to check out my pics, and follow my Instagram account. Make sure you follow @theswaggernauts as well. They need some love. They are on a strange planet after all. See you guys later!

Power Girl in Watercolor

Hey guys, I just wanted to share something that I finished up tonight. For the first time, I have finished and completed a watercolor painting piece. I am very proud of it. I decided to go with a very simple style, that being my cartoon style for this one, because I wasn't confident enough to do anything that would be too crazy. I promised myself that I would expand in my art, and one of the mediums that I had been busting in my head back and forth was the medium of watercolor.

Granted, I don't have the space, and that was one of my excuses for a really long time. But today I went to the art store, bought some Pentel Watercolors, and got out my watercolor paper and put it to use. I just decided to jump in instead of examining and preparing like I normally do. And I think that this piece ended up looking really good! Let me know what you guys think of it will you!?

This is up for sale in my Blogspot art store. You can click the link at the top of the page!

Talk to you soon!
Ian W.

Movie Review: CHRONICLE

So I took some time this weekend to go and see this movie, and I have to say, with a few exceptions, those being the Batman series, this was a real breath of fresh air to me. Now we all know that superheroes and supervillains are nothing new. The origins of such are not new either. But the way they went about the telling of the story, the style the film was shot in, and the development of the characters was really fun. This movie had an excellent mix of everything that makes a movie entertaining. It had drama, it had love, it had comedy, and more importantly it was rife with angst. The moral subplot of the film was done very well. I feel like it took every question in our minds as to what WE would do if we had superpowers, and made them come to fruition in this film. I can't count how many times I said to myself, 'I would TOTALLY do that!'

The main plot of the film focused on one character in particular... Andrew. That recurring theme was, "What's wrong with Andrew?" and by golly this movie told us what's WRONG with Andrew. The character though very cliche in origin was told and built up very well. I feel the approach that was taken made him very appealing. He made a few mistakes but was the quickest to harness and control his power. All of this played into the role he would play as a character. For all comic fans out there who have their favorite villains, this film succeeded in making you have a ton of feelings for the character who later becomes the villain. You understand him, you feel for him, you love him, and you also hate him. That's all I'm gonna say on that, or else I'm gonna end up telling you parts of the film, and I don't want to spoil that for anyone.

Just like any story, the film has a few plot holes in it. The biggest one is the moment after they received their powers. I feel like they simply just decided to forget about it, and move forward. You will figure out what I am talking about when you see this movie for yourself. But it's something that made what could have been an AMAZING story, only a good one. There are many more throughout the film that will admittedly have you scratching your head wondering what ever happened to...? The most amazing thing about the film that I can say is what all huge superhero fans look at, and that is the POWERS! There was not one single time where I didn't feel that I was with those guys each and every step of their journey. The special effects were so amazing, and clean, it's really hard to nitpick at certain things, though it does have very few things you will notice, but they aren't really important. 

All in all, Chronicle was a very well done film, with a cohesive cast that definitely had chemistry and worked well together making the whole movie believable. And for the type of film this was, I think believebility is very important. And for every second I was watching, I thought there were 3 dudes out there somewhere with superpowers. This is a GREAT date movie, because there's not so much bang bang beat em up, and there is just enough drama and romance to keep your girl entertained. And it even passes the muster as a superhero film, as it met all the criteria we see in the comics translated very well onto film. If I have to give this movie a rating, I give it a 4/5. I will be seeing this movie at least one more time and then buying this piece on DVD.

Talk to you guys later,

Ian W.

eBay Art Auction for the Week of 2/6

Humbled this week I must say. I did some new pieces, and was a bit on a Star Wars vibe as well and managed to sprinkle in a Black Cat as well. The prices on the auctions were adjusted. A lot of the same items from last week are up again this week on eBay due to an extremely unsuccessful week of selling. The new catalog is almost finished and will be mailed out by the end of the day today. Again the same items will be up with these three items as well. At the end of the month, the catalog will have some of the new pieces in my primary art store, which you can go to the link at the top of the page. Hope you folks enjoy, and I will talk with you all soon!

Black Canary and Black Cat

Here are some new drawings that I did to put up on eBay really soon for auction on my personal site for selling my original artwork pieces. These will be on sale soon. They are 11 x 17 pinups of both Black Canary from DC Comics, and Black Cat from Marvel Comics. Sexy aren't they!?