Imperials by Kevenn T. Smith

This is a commission that I did for a friend.  When I was a small child, I drew pictures of characters from Star Wars a lot.  I don't think I drew Darth Vader very often, or at all.  I always liked the good guys better as a kid.

Earlier this year, I drew several Star Wars trading cards for a charity event to take place later this year, but I still hadn't drawn Darth Vader (or any Stormtroopers).  This piece gave me the opportunity to tackle those characters and find my own take on them.  At first, I got a little intimidated by the limited motion their armor would allow, but eventually, I figured out the way I needed to approach it that would work.



8.25 x 11.5 Bristol board.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2011

Darth Vader & Stormtroopers ©Lucasfilm 2011

Hop, Throttle, Soar: Adam's Picture

This illustration is a very special piece that I was honored to be asked to do because it's for a four year old boy named Adam Grover.  Adam's two favorite things in the world are frogs and the Blue Thunder Monster Truck.  Adam was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy Complexes I & IV on June 4th 2008.  This mitochondrial disease affects the mitochondria of the cells, which harness energy for the body.  The disease leaves him very tired, among other symptoms, that get in the way of living life as four year old boy who wants to play and go to school.  It ultimately leads to fatality, and there is no cure.  There are certain kinds of vitamins that can possibly help to treat this disease, but insurance does not cover them.  Here's a picture of Adam and his Blue Thunder toy:

This piece is going to be presented to Adam at his Make A Wish party this spring, where Blue Thunder and its driver will be present.  I am beyond touched and grateful at being able to participate in this celebration of Adam.  To find out more about Adam and/or to find out how donate to his fund to help contribute to medical costs, please click here.

The challenge for this picture was to come up with a way to integrate the frogs and the Blue Thunder Monster Truck into an image together so that it made sense.  I wanted to draw tree frogs because I think they are simultaneously beautiful and odd looking animals.  I love their bright green color and their contrasting bright red eyes.  Their bodies are a lot like rubber humans, which make them fun to draw.  I thought the best way to overcome the size difference between small frogs and a huge truck was to show the frogs in the foreground, and Blue Thunder behind them.  Because these frogs live in the rain forest, I thought it would be great to showcase the truck ramping off of the rain forest mountainside.  This gave me an excuse to be able to illustrate a lush rain forest aerial landscape shot.  I like these kinds of views because they let me to create the kind of picture where you want to go inside it and explore all the different places in it.  Click on the pictures below to access larger versions.


Blue Thunder Detail:


Frogs on the left detail:


Frogs on the right detail:


11.5 x 7.75 Bristol board.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2011

Cold Hands, Warm Heart: An Ice Valentine by Kevenn T. Smith

This is a Valentine artcard featuring Justice League international character, Ice, whose real name is Tora Olafsdotter.  Ice is a princess of a tribe of magic people hidden in Norway.  Her powers allow her to create and manipulate ice.  And while her powers are very cold, Ice is known for her warm and sweet personality.

Because February is such a cold month where I live, and because Ice is such a caring person, I thought she'd be perfect for a Valentine's Day card.  Ice was stupidly killed off at one point, but has been thankfully resurrected by Gail Simone during her first run of the Birds of Prey title.  I am very glad Tora was brought back, because there aren't enough loving characters like her in the comics.  Not every character needs be be tough and hard or sarcastic and bitter.  She even charmed the heart of a hardened character like Green Lantern, Guy Gardner.  Ice brings personality diversity to the characters in comic books, and I like to give her features a more diverse look as well.  While I was doing this card, I really liked the idea of making her eyelashes white as well.  I think they give her a very fantastical quality.

This artcard and all the other artcards I’ve done are all original hand-made works and can be purchased or $15 plus shipping ($4.95 USPS Priority Shipping – international shipping will be calculated upon an individual order).



4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

Ice, Tora Olafsdotter ©DC Comics 2010

Now also available as cards and postcards at RedBubble.com!

Singular Sensation: Yurgod the Gryphon

This Singular Sensation entry showcases my illustration of Yurgod the Gryphon that I did for the wrap-around cover of issue #37 of Oziana Magazine.  Yurgod the Gryphon is a character from the Russian Oz series of books.  When The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was translated into Russian, it seems that it took on a life of its own, and several follow-up books were written in Russian, completely separate from the Oz books that L. Frank Baum continued to write.

I was completely unfamiliar with Yurgod, but the challenge for the cover was to showcase characters that appeared in stories inside the issue.  Some characters I knew, but others, like Yurgod, I only had was a couple of images of him provided by my editor.  However, he was a visually appealing character, and I was eager to try my own take on him.  How could I resist the chance to draw a fantastical creature like this?  The drawings I had were very stylized, and I wanted to inject a sense of realism in anatomy to my version.  In order to depict him in a way that he would fit in even better with other Oz characters more firmly established in the canon, I wanted to add the bow to the end of his tail to echo the bows on the ends of the tails of the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger.  I think the bow makes him look decidedly "Ozzy."


Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011

Now available on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!

A Boy And His Dog: Superboy & Krypto the Superdog

This is a commission piece that I did of Superboy, Conner (Kon-El) Kent, and Krypto the Superdog.  Superboy is a clone using DNA of both Superman and Lex Luthor.  The current DC Comics stories have Conner living with Martha Kent on the Kent Farm and going to school in Smallville, much like Clark Kent did when he was growing up.

For me, this piece was also an opportunity to go back to the rural small towns and farm areas that were nearby where I went to college.  I had the opportunity to go back there earlier this year for a wedding, and I think it really helped me in depicting the small town/rural setting.

This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.

8" x 10.5" on Bristol Board
Prismacolor Color Pencils

Superboy & Krypto © DC Comics 2011