Colin's Really Cool Usagi Yojimbo Fan Art Collection

[Steve Hubbell]

Cool Sketches! I really like the ones by Cameron Stewart and Whilce Portacio. (I am also glad that you provide background information on the differant artists since I would be totally clueless about who they are if you didn't) Rob Liefeld has also made a nice addition to your collection.

[john h.]

I love how Whilce remembered to put in the scar !!!

John H.

[Steve Hubbell]

Hey Colin, is Marc Silvestri talking about you?

SKETCHING WITH SILVESTRI
Top Cow founder sketches while giving art tips and discussing his new Marvel project with Brian Bendis (excerpt)
By Brian Warmoth (Posted August 13, 2006)

WARMOTH: Do you ever get any surprises any more? You've probably done everything that anyone could want you to draw over the years.

SILVESTRI: Yeah. I had to do that Usagi Yojimbo guy or whatever that is–someone had me do one of those. I was like, “That's cool, but why me? Why do you want me to do that version, which is not exactly my strength.”

WARMOTH: Did you have a reference when you did that?

SILVESTRI: He had it with him. Yeah. Even still I was going the whole time, “Why do you want me to do this?” I was tempted to draw it in my like Image style just to be kind of a jerk about it, just to be funny, but I thought, “You know what, this guy's sketchbook is full of serious versions of this.” I was like, “I have to respect that.”

WARMOTH: What did it end up looking like in the end?

SILVESTRI: [The sketch] actually looked like [Usagi Yojimbo], which was kind of weird to me. I didn't expect it to, and it was actually kind of fun. Usually, and this is funny because I was just talking to [City of Heroes and Witchblade writer] David Wohl, but the weird ones come at the end of the day after I've been drawing all day and I'm already tired and I'm just wanting something that I can be brain dead for and someone will come in and ask for something like that. It's like, “Oh, thanks.”

WARMOTH: That was here in Chicago?

SILVESTRI: Actually, it might've been here. It wasn't this year, but might've been last year.

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/ ... 347205.cfm

[MikeM]

I JUST read that this afternoon. Weird. I was going to ask as well, but didnt have time unfortunatly.

Was it me or did Marc Silvestri kind of come across as a bit of a jerk?

MikeM

[Steve Hubbell]

I think he was just being open and honest. He sounds like he is not used to being asked to do Usagi, that he isn't really familiar with the character personally, and surprised by being asked to do a sketch of the character and that the sketch turned out decently in his own opinion.
http://comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.as ... t=0&UCat=0

ARTWORK DETAILS:
Artist: Marc Silvestri; All
Media Type: Pen and Ink
Art Type: Convention Sketch
For Sale Status: NFS

DESCRIPTION:
Marc was the only one of the headlining guests at WW Boston who I hadn't met so I made sure to hit up his line. It was quite a wait since he was doing sketches for charity and spending time talking to everyone who came up. He and his wife Bridget were really cool and sociable.

He'd never done Usagi before but he said he's always up for a challenge. bridget really liked the sketch, she said it reminded her of the Grinch.

Wizard World
Boston, MA
Sept 30, 2005

[Stan Sakai]

I've had to draw my fair share of superheroes--Spider-Man, etc. A guy once came to me asking for a Wolverine drawing. I told him, "You know, I don't draw this character in the comics?" He said, "Yeah, but the guy who does, charges too much."

[Colin Solan]

Ha! It's very likely that he was talking about me.

I get that kind of "You want me to draw what??" reaction a lot just because very few people ask for "funny animal" drawings. I've spoken with many artists over the years about whether they'd like to draw something new or another Batman. Some are dying for something different, Ethan Van Sciver for example. He was very happy to draw Gen. Other artists hate it.

That being said I never look for someone to simply ape Stan's style, though that does happen. My favorite pieces are the ones that are clearly drawn asthat particular artist's interpretation. Look at Geoff Darrow's pin-up in the Art of UY for example. it looks nothing like Stan's Usagi but that what makes it awesome! If Silvestri had done it up in more an Image style I would have been over the moon.

Ah, well. His wife liked it.

[Colin Solan]

At this year's NYCC I got a sketch of Usagi from Eric Talbot to complement the one he did of Gen a few years back. He mentioned that someone else had commissioned a Gen in the intervening years and pulled out printout of mine for reference!

I asked Eric for this on Friday but he didn't get around to finishing it till Sunday which led Steve Lavigne to joke that they could have flown Stan out to finish it for him.

[Fanfan]

Amazing !

Usagi of the dead

Thanks to share !

[Colin Solan]

I got this piece at Emerald City Comicon this past weekend, in addition to one from Stan. This is by Elephantmen artist Justin "Moritat" Norman. Since his book is about with mutated elephants, hippos, and rhinos, I figured he'd be perfect for Gen. Clearly he did a great job and he picked up on the resemblance to Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo immediately.

[Colin Solan]

This is about two months old but I was most excited about the fact that Boston Comic Con got Sergio Aragones to come last April. It was nearing the end of the last day of the show and I had been helping Mark Chiarello conduct portfolio reviews all weekend so I hadn't had the chance to do more than introduce myself to Sergio and shake his hand. But I couldn't let him leave without getting a sketch from the maestro. While he was drawing he began humming and then singing out loud "Your Are My Sunshine." he also pointed out little details like the netsuke on Groo's belt. He was every bit as charming and engaging as I always imagined.

Now we haven't officially announced any guests for next year's show (April 30 - May 1) but I can say here that Stan Sakai has accepted our invitation to come to Boston Comic Con 2011!! Mark your calendars now!!

I'll make a more official announcement in the months to come but I figured anyone reading this thread would be interested.

[Jet_Jaguar]

Very nice. I always like Sergio's drawings of Usagi.

[JamesSimon]

very cool sketches! i do like the idea of a bit extreme side of the sketches, with the shades and eyes! really good!

[Colin Solan]

This is one I've been dying to get for years. Ever since I was introduced to the French series Blacksad and the amazing artwork of Juanjo Guarnido I've wanted to get a sketch of Usagi from him. Since Blacksad is all about anthropomorphic animals it's an obvious fit. I flew out the CTNX animation show in Burbank one year because he'd been scheduled to appear but he ended up not making it. Guarnido made his first US appearance earlier this year at Big Wow Comic Fest but I couldn't make the trip. So getting to meet him this past weekend at New York Comic Con was really the biggest reason I went. At first I was only going to get a bust but Guarnido suggested that it would come out much better as a full figure piece. And obviously he was absolutely right. He told me when I picked it up that this was his favorite piece to do this weekend.

[Maka]

That is awesome. I'm a fan of Blacksad after reading about it on this board. Great piece. Thanks for sharing.

Peace, maka