Mat Nastos's Blog, page 18

WIP Defenders #1 Sketch Cover, featuring Iron Fist

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Since I was a kid, one of my all-time favorite Marvel Comics characters has been Iron Fist. I discovered him during the Power Man & Iron Fist series and quickly devoured every comic I could find with him. The highlight of my collection is still the run of Iron Fist appearances in the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine (by the amazing Rudy Nebres).

So, when I picked up a Defenders #1 blank sketch cover and saw that Iron Fist was one of the heroes in the book, I KNEW I had to do something with him. What you see above is my rough pencils for the cover. I go from this stage directly into ink (with my trusty Windsor-Newton Series 7 #4 brush), figuring out all of the shading, black placement and rendering as I work. Although, in this case, now that I see a smaller scan of the piece, I may still go in and add a couple of more heads of Iron Fist's history. It looks like I've got room. Hmmm…who to add? The Wrecking Crew? Captain America? I'll post the finished piece in the next couple of days so you can see who I finally decided to add!

-Mat Nastos, Super Genius

www.MatNastos.net

WIP Defenders #1 Sketch Cover, featuring Iron Fist is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

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Avenging Spider-man #1 Sketch Cover Spidey vs Venom

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For some reason, this Avenging Spider-man #1 sketch cover sat on my desk for a couple of weeks before I got around to finishing it. Spidey is one of my all-time favorite Marvel heroes and I think I just froze up a bit whenever I went back to inking it. Done in brush and ink and a whole lot of live.

This sketch cover original art is up on ebay, so get over there and check it out!!

-Mat Nastos, Super Genius

www.MatNastos.net

Avenging Spider-man #1 Sketch Cover Spidey vs Venom is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

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Wolverine vs the Brood sketch cover

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I kept busy over the holidays with this X-men: Schism #1 sketch cover. This time around, I went old school, with Wolverine fighting the alien Brood. I loved the Brood back when they first appeared, as designed and drawn by Dave Cockrum (and, later, Paul Smith). Those were some fun stories and I tried to capture that with this doodle. As with all my other sketch covers, it started with an ultra rough pencil sketch before I went in with my trusty #4 Windsor Newton Series 7 brush. Drawing monsters and aliens is the easiest thing in the world because you really can't go wrong with anything you do.

This piece is up on eBay right now for those interested! Check it out!

-Mat Nastos, Super Genius

www.MatNastos.net

Wolverine vs the Brood sketch cover is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

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Work In Progress: Wolverine vs the Brood Sketchcover

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I am a huge Dave Cockrum fan – monster fan – and even as a kid I was absolutely blown away by his design work. The alien menace he created with the Brood was great and I loved the early appearances by them – first by Cockrum and later by Paul Smith. Unfortunately, their later appearances have all been pretty much crap and retreads of those early issues, and no one has drawn them as well as Dave C. This is my attempt to try and channel the master on a quick sketch cover piece.

With the sketch covers, I generally do a very quick and loose pencil drawing and then go directly in ink to finish things off. The style is quite a bit more raw than what I'd do for finished comic or illustration pieces, but I still think these sketch covers are a lot of fun to look at.  I'll post the final piece once I get it done in the next day or so.

-Mat N., Super Genius

http://www.MatNastos.net

Work In Progress: Wolverine vs the Brood Sketchcover is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

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Hulk vs Thing sketch cover by Mat Nastos

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My blank sketchcover addiction continues, once more on a copy of the Incredible Hulk #1 and this time featuring one of the most classic battles in all of comics, the Hulk versus the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing!

So far, all of the sketchcovers I've done have been almost exclusively inked with a #4 brush. For me, there is nothing faster than whipping out the old brush to slap down some black in and it seems to work well with most of the sketchcover stock…some of which is pretty crappy and will cause markers to bleed like crazy.

This piece is also up on eBay for those who are interested. It's a great piece for fans of the Thing or the Incredible Hulk!

-Mat N., Super Genius

http://www.matnastos.net

Hulk vs Thing sketch cover by Mat Nastos is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

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Captain America #1 Sketch Cover Commission

Captain America has long been one of my favorite Marvel characters and when my buddy, David Zuzelo, asked me to do a Cap sketch cover for a new commission, I jumped at the chance.
I also wanted to say that I am currently open for commissions – sketch covers, pinups, cover recreations or cover quality work, [...]

Captain America #1 Sketch Cover Commission is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

Hulk #1 Sketch Cover by Mat Nastos

Yes, I do admit that these blank sketch cover variants are all kinds of addictive for me. They give me the excuse to draw characters I might not otherwise do. In this case, I've doodled up the Incredible Hulk and 20 characters from his past! This one was a whole lot of fun to do!
Click [...]

Hulk #1 Sketch Cover by Mat Nastos is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

Avenging Spider-man #1 Sketch Cover by Mat Nastos

My latest sketch cover original piece by me, this time featuring Venom on a copy of Avenging Spider-man #1. Seeing the new issue by Joe Mad got me excited enough to put ink to paper and draw up one of my favorite Spidey villains.
The sketch cover is up on eBay right now for anyone interested. [...]

Avenging Spider-man #1 Sketch Cover by Mat Nastos is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

Avengers #1 Sketch Cover – Thanos

Avengers #1 Sketch Cover original art by Mat Nastos
(click for high-res version)
Having spent most of the past couple of years focused on writing (films, TV, comics, novels), I decided to sit down and try to knock the cobwebs off of the artistic side of my brain. Grabbing a blank sketch cover edition of the most [...]

Avengers #1 Sketch Cover – Thanos is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website

4 Marketing Tips for Publishers – The Super Bowl of Sales

For some bizarre reason, I have a lot of people coming to me for advice on sales, distribution and Internet marketing for publishing – generally in regards to prose or comic book publishing. I say "for some bizarre reason" because I've been told I come across as a bit of an arrogant grump (although, my [...]

4 Marketing Tips for Publishers – The Super Bowl of Sales is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website