This last week Marvel Comics has been promoting their new event called The Heroic Age. It was hinted last year with a teaser showing Thor, Captain America and Iron Man in shadow. the last few years in the Marvel Universe have been very dark. There was Avengers Disassemble, Civil War, Secret Invasion and the Dark Reign. But in May Marvel will bring in the Heroic Age, There’s going to be a new spirit of hope, courage, and the selflessness at the heart of heroism will rise up. Marvel’s most elite characters will be at the center of The Heroic Age, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and more.

I’m personally excited about the new direction Marvel plans on taking. I grew up reading Marvel Comics and think this new story line will be awesome and full of great adventures. I’ve decided to use my blogging skills and create a fan blog site dedicated to The Heroic Age. I’ll be putting any and all new info up on the site including news, promo art and future Solicitations.

So if you want the latest info about Marvel Comics The Heroic Age check out my Fan site: www.TheHeroicAge.com

-Shazam!

Disney/Marvel will be casting for principal roles and extras to appear in new Thor feature film when it begins filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico this March.

Open Casting Call Details:
Ages 18 and over may attend. You are welcome to bring non-returnable photos of kids interested in being extras in the film. Please bring a pen. Photos will be taken at no charge.

Where:
224 E. Palace Avenue
Marion Hall 1st Floor
Santa Fe, NM 87501

When:
Friday, February 19 2010
2:00pm – 7:00pm

Saturday, February 20, 2010
9:00 – 4:00pm

You may be able to submit your information to:
Thor Casting
1698 Galisteo Street
Santa Fe, NM 87505

For more information click here:

Thor - digital inks of my pencils

Here are my digital inks of Thor, the God of Thunder. He’s one of  Marvel Comics main characters. A founding member of the Avengers and actually in the very first comic book I ever read. This is his new costume he’s wearing in his new monthly title.

This was a pencil drawing of Thor I did last week. It was a quick drawing using an HB wood-less Ebony pencil.  I traditionally use an H6 pencil for light tight penciling. For this I actually was able to achieve good detail with the softer lead. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone and try different drawing tools.

I inked this drawing digitally using Adobe Illustrator. I didn’t do it in one sitting. I took my time and did it in small spurts during the week. (Usually watching a Netflix movie on the side). I’ve only just recently started inking my drawings on the computer, which is ironic because being a Graphic Designer for over 10 years you’d think I would have done it years ago.

I like using Adobe Illustrator for inking, I know a lot of people use photoshop which is a great software too. The reason I use illustrator is because I like saving my inks as a vector image. Vector images are great because there’s no worries about pixelation. They are always super high resolution even if it’s reduced or enlarged.

For this inking I only used the pen tool with my mouse or Wacom tablet. It helps to give me the look I want to achieve. I like the sharp edges and thick to thin lines I get with it. There’s an amount of control I feel I have with the pen tool. I think in my next digital inking I will use only the bush tool. Like I said earlier it’s always good to try different tool. I plan on coloring this inks in the near future using Photoshop.

Thor - pencil drawing by Ralph Contreras

Here’s a pencil drawing I did of Thor the God of Thunder from Marvel Comics. It’s his new costume he’s been wearing since his return to his own monthly title.  Which by the way is a very excellent read.

This drawing started off as me just sketching while watching a movie, but became more detailed as I got into the drawing. I totally lost interest in the movie. I have recently been drawing mainly with an H6 Staedtler wood pencil, but for this drawing I decided to try a different lead. I actually used a much softer pencil, an HB wood-less Ebony.

I tried not to sharpen the pencil or use an eraser much. I started off with a very light sketch and build on top of it adding details and shadows. The lines on this drawing are much thicker then I usually do. Using a softer lead was a challenge for me, but I really like the results. I’m excited to digitally ink this in Illustrator. I will make sure to post the inked version when I’m done.