Built Like An Amazon: Artemis of Bana Mighdall Artcard by Kevenn T. Smith

This artcard showcases Artemis of Bana Mighdall in her Requiem costume that seems to have made a comeback in DC Comics' recent publications.  Artemis is from the Middle Eastern tribe of Amazons from the hidden city of Bana Mighdall.  At one point, Artemis ended up beating Princess Diana of Themiscyra for the title of Wonder Woman.  Artemis served as Wonder Woman for a short time.  The Amazon sorceress, Magala, had put a spell on Diana on the behest of Queen Hippolyta that would transfer half of Diana's strength and speed when they were near each other.  Artemis' stint as Wonder Woman was short-lived, and she was killed by the villain, The White Magician.  However, death cant keep a tough Amazon down, and Artemis ended up clawing her way out of hell and her own grave.

Artemis has proven to be a popular character in the Wonder Woman franchise.  She's more headstrong and less compassionate than Diana, but her heart is in the right place.  She ended up becoming the leader of the Bana Mighdall Amazons on Themiscyra.  Aretmis has just returned to Themiscyra in the Wonder Woman title, and her future roll remains to be seen.

For this piece, I went back to Ed Benes' original drawings of Artemis in the Requiem miniseries, as well as Nicola Scott's take on the costume in the recent Secret Six storyline.  In some of Benes' early drawings, he had the green lining at the decolletage make a "w" shape.  I like that element to help visually tie Artemis into the Wonder Woman family, and as a former Wonder Woman, I believe she's entitled to wear a "w" symbol - even a simplified one.  I left of the skull on her headband because I thought that element was excessively 90's.  Instead, I opted to repeat the tripple-arrow "A" symbol that the Requiem costume has on the sternum area.  I really liked the seams and the side-lacing that Nicola Scott added to the costume in the Secret Six issues, as well as the kneecap armor she gave the boots.  The sword is the special demon killer sword that Artemis ended up having in the Byrne run of Wonder Woman that was also included as an accessory to the Artemis action figure that DC Direct made.

This artcard is available as cards, postcards, and a small matted print at RedBubble.com!


4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink,  and Prismacolor pencil.

Artemis ©DC Comics 2011

Ready...Aim...Equality!: Green Arrow Artcard

This artcard was done in support of Marriage Equality issues, especially at the time of this posting when voters this Tuesday in Maine will hopefully be voting No on Issue #1 to protect Marriage Equality.  At the same time, I hope voters in Washington state will be voting against Referendum #71 to preserve the rights of all couples in registered Domestic Partnerships.

I don't often put political pieces and views on this website, but Green Arrow has been established throughout his years of comic book publication as a hero who takes up liberal political causes, and has even performed same-sex weddings in his comic book title.  Because the character has already come out in support of this issue, I didn't feel like it was inappropriate or trying to make the character into something that he wasn't.  My visual inspirations for my depiction of the character come from his costume from the 1970's-80's era with coloring influences from his appearances in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.  I really like the Robin Hood inspired lace up vest that the character had in the 70's and 80's, but I also like the "G" belt buckle that the character has been sporting in the past few years.

This artcard is available as cards, postcards, and a small matted print at RedBubble.com!

4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil, Prismacolor marker.

Green Arrow ©DC Comics 2011

Emerald Satellite: Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, Artcard

With DC's Blackest Night event going on right now, Green Lantern is one of DC Comics' hottest properties at the moment.  So of course, there couldn't be a better time to showcase my Green Lantern artcard here on this site.  Hal Jordan is DC's premiere Green Lantern at the moment, so he won out when it came to choosing which Green Lantern to depict.

I've always enjoyed the few times I've drawn "spacescapes" in illustrations, and this piece was no exception.  I wanted to use photographs of some of the planets and moons in our solar system for inspiration when coloring the ones depicted in this artcard, but I wanted to make it clear that this was not our solar system.  As photographs from the Hubble Telescope has shown us, space can be quite colorful, and I definitely wanted to incorporate that into this piece.

For Green Lantern, I used Ray Caspio as a model for the pose.  I also took visual cues from the updated costume in the comics.  For example, I had the Green Lantern symbol on his chest actually project itself as a lazer light projection hovering over his chest.  I always liked Hal Jordan visually because green has always been one of my favorite colors, and also because he was one of the few superheroes who had brown hair.  Most superheroes when I was growing up had blond or black hair, and I liked that he was different in that respect.

This artcard is available as cards, posters, and prints at RedBubble.com!


4.25 x 5.5 inches cardstock.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

Green Lantern ©DC Comics 2011

Singular Sensation: Dorothy & Ozma - Princesses of Oz

You knew it was coming - the Singular Sensation entry that features the last part of the website header illustration.  If you know The Wizard of Oz, you know who Dorothy is, however most people aren't used to seeing her portrayed as a blond.  They expect to see a brunette with braided pigtails, ala Judy Garland.  While Dorothy did look like that in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with Dorothy's return in the third book of the Oz series, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy was portrayed as a blond with a fashionable haircut by John R. Neill.  Neill continued to portray Dorothy with this look throughout the books that he illustrated, which equaled to many more appearances than brunette portrayal in the first book.

Princess Ozma of Oz came on the scene in the second book of the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz.  Ozma, who was a fairy and the rightful ruler of Oz, was restored to the throne.  When Ozma and Dorothy met, the two got along famously and became best friends.  Ozma ended up making Dorothy a Princess of Oz.  In the sixth book of the series (which Baum intended to be the last, but was besieged with requests of "More Oz, Mr. Baum!"), The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy, along with Toto, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Em (and Eureka the kitten whom we met in the fourth book, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz) all moved to Oz permanently.

In portraying Dorothy, I like to stick to Neill's blond take on her.  I also draw her with visual cues like silver shoes and in modernizing her, I give her a gingham-like print on her t-shirt.  In Oz, you never grow older unless you want to, and Oz creators like Eric Shanower have Dorothy changing with the time, while remaining a child.  Even Neill drew Dorothy's hair cut changing trhough the years that he illustrated the Oz books, through the early 1900's to the 30's.

I like that approach.  Ozma is usually depicted as being a little bit older than Dorothy.  Her pendant is a representation of the different areas of Oz:  Green in the middle for the Emerald City, yellow Winkie Country to the west, the purple Quadling Country to the north, the blue Munchkin Country to the east, and the red Quadling Country in the south.  Ozma was usually drawn wearing two large poppies on either side of her tiara, which I followed, but I left off some of the ornamental ribbons that were usually included on there as a way of showing that in some ways, Ozma is keeping up with the times too.  Who wears ribbons in their hair any more?  Like Dorothy, Ozma was also drawn differently as the Oz series progressed, even getting a little older.  I also thought it'd be nice to break the background tradition for the Singular Sensation entries and include a more detailed background.  It better contrasts with the rainbow magic and sparkles.



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

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

Amazing Amazon - A Wonder Woman Art Event

My piece for Wonder Woman Day #4, "Here, Kitty!  Kitty!" is being exhibited in the Amazing Amazon exhibit at the Lara Sydney Framing Gallery in Portland, Oregon.  It will be available for viewing between October 1 and October 24.  On the 25th, it will be available for bidding at the charity auction for Wonder Woman Day #4.