Here it is….my drawing of Vader’s Fist, the 501st Legion. I had stated this drawing this picture a few weeks ago. I took a week off from drawing it and finished it this weekend. I had a lot of fun with this drawing. I usually draw comic book stuff, but I felt like changing it up. I’ve never really drawn a Stormtrooper from Star Wars before, so I decided to draw a bunch. I choose the 501 because they aren’t just any legion of Stromtroopers. They are the Elite in the Empire and Darth Vader’s personal legion and later Grand Admiral Thrawns too. Check out this article at Wookipedia to learn more about them.

This pencil drawing was done on 11″x17″ Bristol board paper. Comic book art paper to be exact. I used an HB woodless pencil to sketch it out, then used an HB mechanical pencil to darken the lines I liked. I used little x’s to show where the solid black area would be. When I finished with the darkening of the final lines,  I used a 4B woodless pencil to fill in the black ares. To see the beginning stages of this drawing check out my blog post ” Star Wars – Vader’s Fist – Beginning Drawing”

I’m planning on digitally inking this pencil drawing in illustrator. I like inking digitally with Illustrator because vector images are alwats perfect no mater how you resize them. I haven’t decided if I’m going to color it in Photoshop or in Illustator though.

This last weekend I drove down to Albuquerque for the Annual Collectors Con. It showcases comic books, anime and toys. I went last year after moving back to New Mexico from Las Vegas, NV and I had a blast. This year I was excited to see what other cool and fun stuff would be there. The con is sponsored by Lobo comics, a local comic book shop in Albuquerque, NM.

I found a personal treasure this year at one of the booths. The Mighty Avengers issue #242! When I was a kid this was the very first comic book I read. A few years back when I opened my own comic book store, “Modern Age comics” in Las Cruces, NM. I used my personal collection as the starting inventory. I had comics from 17 years of collecting, about 8,500 comics and Avengers 242 was among them. I  remember selling my copy during the first few weeks. I was happy it was sold to a kid who was starting to buy comics for the first time. That was actually really cool. So it was very cool for me to find a copy this weekend. This one will stay in my new collection.

There were a good amount of booths this year, with comics ranging from the Silver Age to current issues. Of course there was those hard to find issues like the Amazing Spider-Man with President Obama in it. There were rows and rows of great comics, toys and models. There was also a good variety of movie merchandise and collaborates. It was really fun to see a Kryptonian crystal from the newest Superman movie and lifesize green Kryptonite. My favorite collectible I saw at the con was a set of Star War Return of the Jedi glasses from Burger King. I remember having the full set when I was a kid until our dishwasher ate them.

There were some booths with super hard to find toys from G.I.Joe, Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and Dc Direct. Some of the older figures were out of print originals from the 80’s and 90’s. I’ve never been the biggest toy collector, but I was impressed with all the cool toys  at this con. The sculpts on the more modern toys were  so good, they look like they could be models and statues. I think the McFarlane Toy line that started out in the 90’s  really brought up the bar in toy manufacturing. I found myself wanting to buy every figure there,  so I could take them out of the packaging to play with….I mean put on display. :p

If I hadn’t given myself a $20 limit I think I could have spent my whole paycheck easily. I think I actually spent around $30 bucks though. I was close to my budget. It’s fun to just browse the cool back stock of comics. You never know when you’ll find that issue you’ve been looking for. It’s even more fun to find comics you’ve never heard about. I was able to find some great comics. The Mighty Avengers 242 was the most exciting for me personally, but I also found a whole set of Superman: the Dark Side (an awesome Elsworlds comic where Kal-El lands on Apokolips instead of Earth, he’s not a nice guy in it),  I also bought Ka-Zar #16 for a buck. It’s a fun issue where he fights Klaw.

Comic books and toys weren’t the only thing to see at this con, there was an “artist alley” of sorts too. It was really cool to meet people that not only like comics, but like them so much they create them too. Andy Kuhn who draws Firebreather from Image comics was there. He lives and works out of Albuquerque, NM. His stuff is fun and very dynamic. Next to him were the guys from 7000 BC, a locally run comic book organization for independent comics in New Mexico. These guys are very cool,  Paul Ziomek and his brother Peter Ziomek who were both at the con representing 7,000 BC. The groups also teaches classes to kids showing them that anyone can have fun with creating comics. Their booth at the Collectors Con showcased the great work of different styles the group puts out.

I had a blast at this years Albuquerque Collectors Con. I will be planning on going again next year. Maybe I’ll take some of the comics I still have from my closed shop or maybe I’ll try to get into the “artist alley” with my own comic book.  Right on to everyone that was there and to all my fellow comic nerds! SHAZAM!!

I’ve been working on a drawing of Vader’s Fist. Also known as the 501 Legion for the past few days. They are an elite legion of Clone Troopers and later Stormtroopers from Star Wars.  They became Darth Vader’s personal legion of Stormtroopers because they were the best around.

Today is Star Wars day, originating from “May the 4th be with you”.  So I’ve decided to upload a few images of my creative process on this drawing. The photos were taken as a way for me to see my progress from a blank page to the finished drawing. I will ink it using Adobe Illustrator when I am completely done.

Here is my drawing table set up with various photos of clone troopers and storm troops for reference. I’ve taped down my 11″x17″ bristol board paper to keep it secure. This is actually comic book paper, the kind used by comic artists.

This first image is my sketch of the troopers. I usually draw super heroes, but being a huge Star Wars fan I wanted to do something different. So I decided to have some fun and draw a group of Stormtroopers. I did this initial sketch with an HB Ebony woodless pencil. I had used this pencil with my previous quick drawing of Thor the God of Thunder from Marvel comics. I found that I really enjoyed working with the softer pencil. I have struggled with what type of pencil I feel comfortable working with. Usually using a very hard lead to start off with. Like an H2 to an H6.

After my first initial sketch I went ahead and focused on the first figure. A clone trooper in the uniform worn during the later half of the Clone Wars. This armor was first seen in Episode III Revenge of the Sith. It’s very memorable because it shows a bridge between the Stormtroopers from the original trilogy to the Clone Troopers from Episode II. As you can tell I’ve started the beginning sketches of the Stormtrooper to the left of the Clone Trooper.

This as far as I’ve gotten with my drawing of the 501 Legion. I took a break today to celebrate Star Wars Day by watching Episode IV and posting this blog. I’ve had a lot of fun with this drawing. I’ve never really drawn a Stormtrooper before and I think Ive done pretty well. I need to finish the back trooper, then I will move on the the one on the far right, then the one on the bottom. When I’m done with the drawing I’m going to digitally ink it using Illustrator. I’m very excited because I plan on using my wacom tablet and the brush tool. I’ve spoken with several cool people on Twitter who have given me some great tips. My next blog post regarding this drawing should be the final stages and the final pencil drawing.