Marvel Masterpiece III Sketch Cards

Here are the first of my approved cards of the Marvel Masterpiece III set put out by Upper Deck. Or as I like to say, the Mighty Marvel Mugshots, as I have chosen to to some pretty straight forward face shots. This is one goofy assignment, I tell ya. The first batch that I submitted for approval were all rejected and looking back at them some were questionable, but I did have a few that I was extremely happy with and they didn't make the cut. So, the next two batches that I sent in were much smaller in number and more were approved than not, so I was happy. But again, I had some pretty good ones that were rejected, so I don't really know what's going to work and what isn't. I just have to do what I think is best and cross my fingers.

For those of you not in the know of who's who in the Marvel universe, these are the names of the characters:

1. Jack O'Lantern 2. Juggernaut 3. Dreadnaught 4. Ego 5. Elektra 6. The Thing 7. Eternity 8.Galctus 9. Karkas

Bruce Gerlach Sketch Cards on ebay

For those of you into collecting sketch cards, my Lord Of The Rings Masterpiece II return cards are now up on ebay for your bidding pleasure. Go ahead and make me happy, I dare you.

Here are the links:

Berserker Orc

Gollum SOLD

Urak-Hai SOLD

Dead King

Gandalf SOLD

Balrog

Eliphont SOLD

Jack Kirby line study

This is a line study that I did a couple months back for an assignment in my figure class. We had to do a copy of a pen and ink drawing (comics seemed to be the popular choice) by someone well know in the arts. I chose this image from the cover of The Eternals #9 by Jack Kirby. This particular issue was one of my faves as a kid. It had this cool blocky monster with jagged teeth and plenty of mayhem and action. Everything a growing boy needs. And it has those remarkable flat and large fingers that I always found to be appealing. Maybe that's why I like Rodin's sculptures so much. But anyways, the purpose of this exercise was to understand  the artist's use of line weight. Thick and thin lines. The lettering is weak, but I enjoyed the rest very much so. I did the whole thing with a brush to...ahem...brushen up on my skills in that department.

Jack Kirby Line Study

15x20

india ink

Here is the original cover to The Eternals #9 by Jack Kirby
And here is an update of my returned cards from Topps. I didn't select the first two, so I'm guessing that the ones that I wanted back went out into circulation. Oh well, this happens from what I hear. I've also included two of the three that I received for doing some extra cards. They will all be for sale (eventually on ebay, I guess), except for the Gandalf at the Gates of Moiria. I'm keeping that one.

The Oceanic Six ...soon to be nine

These are the 6 cards that I will have returned (hopefully) to me as part of my payment for doing the Sketch cards for Topps. There will be 3 more, but I have to wait for approval to show them. As far as the returned cards go,I can do as I wish with them, put them up on ebay, fling them into a hat, etc. The first six were for the first 650 cards that I did and the last three were for doing an extra 50 cards at the end there. I have the last three in my possession as they arrived blank and I did them at my leisure, but I'm still waiting for the original six to come home and my worries, as with some of the other artists, is that they may have been accidently put into cases and shipped out with the rest of the lot. That's why I say hopefully.

Hogsnot Logo Sketches

Below are the prelim sketches that I did for the Hogsnot logo from my last post. I think that I pretty much nailed it with the very first sketch that I did and so did the client happily. Of course, there were some changes, but the hog remained as I first saw him. That's a good piggie.

Back in February, the Lord Of The Rings sketch cards that I did hit the shelves and soon after the buyers began putting them up on ebay. So, I've been enjoying tracking my cards and seeing just how many bids and how much they are going for, but what I have really been getting a kick out of is reading what the sellers have to say about my artwork. This was my favorite from a seller in Australia:

"You are bidding on a one of a kind [1/1] original Lord of the Rings: Masterpieces II sketch card created by famous artist Bruce Gerlach. This card features an amazing image of Gandalf, one of the main characters from the movies. Card is in MINT condition and has been stored in a protective soft card sleeve, inside a rigid hard plastic toploader."

I love Australia.

My wife's personal favorite is of one seller describing one of my cards as a "super sweet sketch." She now calls me Super Sweet. So, thanks to that guy. 

Lord Of The Rings Sketchcards, Part Seven

The first wave of the Lord Of The Rings Sketch cards have hit the market, cases are being cracked open and collectors are fast and furiously putting their finds up on ebay. So, in honor of this momentous occasion, I will put some more of my cards up. It's kind of a thrill (being the newb that I am) to see my cards up and being bid upon. Some of the sellers have yet to know who I am, so my name isn't on some of them, but a few have recognized which cards are mine. I'm just glad that there is some appreciation of my work and hopefully some collectors will be happy with them. So, go shop.

Blindness

The reasons that inspired this drawing are somewhat personal and doesn't need to be aired out here, but I felt that it had to be done and thought it to be an interesting (if I may say so myself) image. There will be three in this series, so stay tuned.

The Allegory Of Figurative Blindness Before Literal Blindness

12x18

colored pencil on tinted paper

Hopefully soon, I will have some goodies to post. The logo that I've been working on is just about finished, so if I get approval I will show that and some other things that I've been working on. I've been hired to help out a Chicago artist with some of her workload and I just agreed to do 50 more of the Lord Of The Rings sketch cards for Topps. Throw in some homework for the class that I'm taking, and I should have plenty to show soon.

The Experts #3 and a few commissioned pieces

There's this wacky French guy who keeps coming here and telling me all sorts of crazy stuff, like how terrible of an artist I am and how I could be less of a terrible artist, so I warned him that he would be up for portrayal as one of "The Experts," and he dared me, so I did it. This is Dad  and he always has something to say about something, and yes, he packs a luger.

Dad is a very good artist when he is not "experting," and has a great sense of humor, so I would recommend visiting his blog when you get the chance. Just tell him "that Yankee" sent you.

And here are a few sketch cards that I did for a collector (and he said to say that he was very happy with them) in Wisconsin after he saw some of what I did for the Topps Lord Of The Rings set. They each measure 2.5x3.5 with the top two done in pencil and the bottom one in ink.

Yes, Even More Sketch Cards!

As I'm working on the logo design that I mentioned earlier and doing some commissions and don't have anything new to show, I will share even more of Lord Of The Rings goodness with you. I finally got approval to show the last 100 cards that I did and these are some of those. I was very happy with my inkwork on some of these last ones. I hope that it shows.

Also, I began a figure drawing course last week with my friend Matt Busch  as the instructor, so I hope to post some of my progress from that. 

More Lord Of The Rings and The Dirty Show

Bad news first, I guess. My inclusions into this year's Dirty Show held in Detroit apparently weren't dirty enough as I didn't get a single piece into the show. I liked the piece shown above, so I included it in this post. It was done in colored pencil on paper and was done with the same kind of intention as "the experts," so I guess that makes this a "sexpert."  *sigh* Time to move on...

Here's some more of the LOTR sketch cards done for Topps. More goodies soon.

Lord Of The Rings Sketchcards, Part Four

So far I've just been picking through my favorites of the 550 cards that have been approved to show, but I may just show them in the blocks that I originally scanned them. We'll see. 

And some good news to report. From this set I've been commissioned to do two cards for a collector and I have also been working on a logo for a local company. I'll show more if and when I can.

Lord Of The Rings Sketchcards, Part Two

Here are some more of the Lord Of The Rings sketch cards. I found that as I went along and I became more confident with my line work that I enjoyed doing them in ink. Of course, this makes perfect sense since I prefer to sketch in ink anyways. Some of the later cards that I did, and even the last few that I'm working on now are all done in ink. And I'm very happy with how some of these later ones turned out as you will see soon. Out of all the characters, I think that I enjoyed drawing Gandalf the most, so there are quite a few of the old geezer in this series.

Lord Of The Rings Sketchcards

Today, I received approval to show some of the sketch cards that I've been doing for Topps, so I will be posting my favorites of the first batch over the next week or so. I recently sent back 550 cards and I am doing another 100 that will be due next week. The cards measure 2.5 x 3.5 and will be randomly inserted into the movie card packs, so you get a chance to own an original piece of art. I believe that there are about 100 artists working on this series and I do know that some of them are damn fine.