Commission Artwork Price List, Fall 2023

Update: For the time being, I am only entertaining commission assignments from collectors wanting to own a piece of original comic art. I am NOT doing pinups, covers or variant covers, collaborations, freelance assignments, or renderings other people's IP for publication at the present time, including creator-owned IP, small press, big press, crowdfunders, etc. It is true that I have done such work in the past and may still have one or two pieces coming out from various third parties in the months ahead, but I have been turning down all such work for several months now. This is because of a very poor batting average I've had in recent years with various schnooks and some particularly terrible experiences in 2023 (I intend to blog about some of these soon). Nothing personal to all you creator-publishers out there; best of luck to you and stick with it! -- August 23, 2023.

Scream Queen Studies and Pulp Pencil Sketches

Here is a slew of studies from recent weeks since the semester came to an end. First are several studies of Viola Conley, model and wife of pulp cover artist Hugh Joseph Ward, who collaborated with Viola on countless covers for Spicy Mystery and similar titles. Viola's features are reminiscent of Joan Cusack, and greatly expressive--largely grimacing in terror, and has a great body language. Ward's style is brushy and impressionistic--sketchy, almost watercolor, although he probably used oils. My studies--they would be "swipes" in another context--are attempts to capture some of those ephemeral qualities and, more importantly, to have those overtones seep into my natural drawing style and hopefully come out when I'm drawing from my imagination.

Viola Conley could rank as arguably the most prolifically-depicted pulp character in the history of magazines, and one of the more frequently portrayed American of the twentieth century, at least in paint by a single artist (Doc Savage and men's adventure magazine model Steve Holland might have more appearances, not only by James Bama but other artists). Mostly she's menaced by thugs, bad guys, space pirates, etc., but I thought it might be fun--for purposes of a few collector commissions--to have her play the role of Ann Darrow (immortalized by Fay Wray--the original scream queen). I don't quite get Viola's inimitable features, but I enjoy drawing her body language.

In a totally unrelated lark, I drew this pencil sketch of Veronica Hamel (Hill Street Blues), who was a longtime model for Virginia Slims cigarettes. One of her early ads have her in a female superhero getup, which suggested further adventures. I've tried to be true to the costume, and naturally I had to conflate the persona with her Hill Street co-star, Daniel J. Travanti.

Finally, I've been reading a good deal of Philip José Farmer, who virtually created a different fantastic world with almost each novel he wrote (as did many of his generation of sci-fi and fantasy scribes). One of his mid-sixties works, Dare, is a pretty uneven outing, but introduces a tantalizing character named R'li. Too bad further stories were never written--I think it would have been amazing. I'm not often inspired to draw renditions of literary characters, but I didn't like any of the various interpretations of R'li  that I've seen on various paperback editions--so I drew my own. Farmer doesn't describe her ears as pointy, but details such as body hair patterns are faithful, I think.

These interpretations are pretty earthy, but that's my sensibility. I've been reading a good deal of pulp prose lately--Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lester Dent (the principal author of Doc Savage as "Kenneth Robeson"), and James Blish (most famous for adapting Star Trek TV episodes into short-story anthologies in the 60s and 70s. There is something extremely regressive about most pulp adventure--characterization of females is mostly sparse--but there is also something terribly important about what it says of the American century in which it was created as a mere distraction--now we are distracted by entertainment that is far less substantive and in many ways even more socially regressive.

I have said elsewhere that the bankrupt discipline of art history has missed the boat on American illustration, opting instead to genuflect before the one-percent investor-friendly art world (replete with MeToo contemporary theorists in academia). Literary studies also has missed the boat on popular American fiction. These overlapping entertainments are more than "visual culture studies" and "popular culture"--they are important products of an era now vanished forever, as Philip José Farmer himself pointed out. If your object is to study the American psyche, this material deserves our scrutiny.

Read the Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series every week! New chapter every Friday!

Princess Diana and Mary Jane: Some Recent Commissioned Drawings

Wonder Woman and Spidey's Girl Friend are among the subjects of several recent commissions (a couple below are older and may have been posted before, but well worth revisiting).

For some reason I never warmed up to Harry G. Peter's original version of Wonder Woman; like Steve Ditko on Spider-Man, I grew up on a different, later version of the character, and it is only in maturity that I recognize the originality in their respective versions. I also have come to appreciate that Peter was attempting to do a kind of classical antiquity thing with the drawing, aping Greek figure vases by way of early twentieth century pulp illustration. I also like the early Wonder Woman's mid-thigh-length pants, which have recently come back into style as biker shorts or yoga tights (I never cared for the Linda Carter high-cut thigh look, personally).

Anyway, below are a few recent drawings along those lines, along with some other characters that are obviously not owned by me.

Wonder Woman repels the Cheetah, in a homage to an early H. G. Peter splash page.

Princess Diana takes a jog in the high-heel boots that become more or less standard early in her career.

Wonder Woman in her Art Deco hairstyle and Neo Grec ribboned sandals.

Apropos of nothing, a topless Mary Jane Watson and Spidey (pencil rough).

Spidey defends (pointlessly) Mary Jane's modesty; inked on vellum.

Wonder Woman in the more classic panty bottoms, but losing her fine featherd bustier, which chooses to fly the coop. Wonder Woman is the property of whatever corporate interests own Hollywood at the moment, but Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Inked version in pen and ink on Strathmore. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Watercolor version. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Megaton Man as the sidekick and Stella Starlight as the Captain in a sketchbook commission. Megaton Man™ and Stella Starlight™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

For more racy (or at least weird) convention sketches from the past, proceed to the previous blog post.

Please consult my Commission Price List and contact me if you are interested in acquiring an original custom drawing for your private gallery!

Three Rivers Comic Con Sketches

The third Three Rivers Comic Con was a great time, with a critical mass of guest artists and a lot of fans looking for original art and sketches. This is most of my output for the two-day show (May 19-20).The sketches on 3RCC sketch paper (carefully selected by New Dimension Coimcs' Jon Engel) and the Wasteland covers were created for the charity auction; the others were for collectors, except the 11" x 14" Megaton Man pencil, which is unclaimed. (Sketch and commission price information can be gleaned elsewhere on this blog! Email me.) More convention sketches and other pieces of original comic art collected by fans at Comic Art Fans!

Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

The Slick™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Ms. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Ms. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Ms. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

The Black Fury for the Old Guys Who Like Old Comic Books. © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

The Slick™ and Ms. Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Wireless Man™  and Wireless Woman™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Megaton Man™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Wendy Whitebread™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink Too! A New Commissioned Piece

Here is a pen-and-ink and watercolor commission on 14" x 17" Strathmore 400 Drawing for Los Angelino Greg Reed, showing Megaton Man, Stella Starlight, and their love child Simon Phloog at home in Ann Arbor (around the era of Return of Megaton Man #3, 1988).

Megaton Man struggles with a jar of mayonnaise in this domestic genre scene!

If you are interested in an original Don Simpson work of art, please check out the Commission Price List!

Two Orphaned Drawings from Personal Appearances

Update 12/12/14: Watch videos of me drawing this Spidey! See final colored Spidey drawing below.

Ms. Megaton Man, from Genghis Con, Cleveland, Nov. 30, 2014.

I will part with no drawing before its time! Here are a couple of drawings I began at recent personal appearances (Ms. Megaton Man at Genghis Con in Cleveland, Nov 30, 2014 and Spidey at the Frank L. Melaga Art Museum in Brownsville PA, Dec 8, 2014), but ran out of time to complete them on-site. I later finished inking them, including making minor corrections, at home.

There is nothing more tragic than a homeless cartoon drawing, especially during the holidays! If you can provide safe, warm shelter for works of art like these, please contact me. Or, if you would like to commission a completely new, custom made drawing of your favorite character, please visit my commission rate page. Thanks, and have a happy holiday season!

Spider-Man colored in Photoshop.

Ms. Megaton Man is ™ and  © Don Simpson 2014, all rights reserved. Other characters are ™ and  © their respective creators/owners.

Adventures of Nick and Megs: Two Recent Commissions!

Here are a couple recent commissions I did for fans at Lawn Con 5 in Youngstown, Ohio on October 5, 2014. The first I did in advance of the show for Bill Lait, the second I drew on site for Mark Sweetwood. The first is a parody of Neal Adams' "Kryptonite Nevermore!" cover for Superman #233 (January 1971); the second is my interpretation of Nick Fury in his black rubber latex suit. I was a bit worried that doing all that Neal Adams feathering would affect my work for the next sixth months, but the cool outdoor temperatures of a rust-belt Indian Summer had me reverting to a rather straightforward Kirby-Romiat roundhouse style in no time! Great fun and good times.

Pen and India Ink, watercolor and colored pencil on Strathmore 400 Drawing, 11" x 14". Collection of Bill Lait.

Pen and India Ink on Strathmore 400 Drawing, 11" x 14". Collection of Mark M. Sweetwood.

I've been very lucky to have received numerous commissions and freelance assignments in 2014, and I am humbled and grateful for every one! If you would like to own an original piece of my art and would like me to draw something for you, please look over my commission price list and contact me with your request! Thanks -- Don Simpson.

Ed "Big Dandy" Don: Megastang Man!

Here is a recent commission idea that got completely out of control: a request for a Megaton Man pin-up in the manner of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (Ed being my middle name anyway). Takes me back to second grade when all boys draw cars, whether they had any interest in drawing or were into cars or not (I drew, but despite my dad being an auto mechanic, had no interest in cars per se). It doesn't take a practiced eye to note that all the chrome and engine parts are faked (although the basic underlying phallic symbolism couldn't be more obvious)!

If you would like a Dandy Don sketch, drawing, pin-up, whatchamacallit, please peruse the handy Dandy Don Commission Price List.

Original blue and graphite pencil layout on bond. "Schwing," indeed, as The Man of Molecules goes bonkers over the curvaceous See-Thru Girl.

Pen (Hunt #102 Crowquill) and India ink on Clearprint Design Vellum, approximately 11" x 14".

Wooverine: Megalogan Man!

Blue and graphite pencil on blank comic book cover.

Pen and brush with India ink on blank comic book cover.

Captain Amegatonman and Bucky Barrage: A Recent Commission

A recent commission request from Mark Martin's personal art dealer and consigliore Michael Beaver, who informs me that he collects sketches of old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles artists who had work published by Mirage Studios back in the 1980s (which I somehow qualify as, although it was so long ago I forget exactly how!). His theme: Captain America! So Michael has compiled a sketchbook of various turtle artists drawing the red, white and blue Avenger. No problem! So the sketchbook arrived last week by armored car, and this is what I drew:

Here is the double-paged extravaganza I produced, with Stella Starlight (The See-Thru Girl as Cap) and Megaton Man as Bucky. I thought the white leggings on Stella balanced the arms (I never understood why Cap had white arms), and she is blond like Steve Rogers, so it made a certain amount of sense. Changing Megaton Man's cowl to white is a choice I'm less certain about, but I thought it would get lost in all that blue otherwise. I should have made Bucky's buttons more like those on Meg's cape!

I suppose Captain America is one of my favorite characters (although he is so iconic I tend to think of him more like Santa Claus or Uncle Sam, and hence, not a "character" at all in that sense), if only because three of his more important artists - Jack Kirby, John Romita, and Jim Steranko - were so utterly influential for me.

Mike also enclosed a couple of items to be autographed: the first collection of Megaton Man #1-4 from Kitchen Sink Press (1990), and Shell Shock, an anthology of TMNT by Mirage (1989), which features the first appearance of Bizarre Hero Pteranoman (the entire story appears here). So I had to add appropriate sketches.

Here is the pencil sketch of Stella I drew on the largely-blank dedication page of the Megaton Man Kitchen Sink collection. In the past such things would escape (as far as I was concerned), never to be seen again, but today it is easy to snap a photo as documentation, so why not? Now, instead of a personal experience for Michael, I can ruin it by posting it on the Internet!

Here is the ballpoint pen sketch of Pteranoman that I drew on the Shell Shock table of contents page (the title page was already filled with autographs from contributors to the anthology). My contribution, "Teen Techno Turtle Trio," was the first appearance of what Michael aptly describes as "the Paleo Dark Knight."

My thanks to Michael Beaver for letting me a part of his personal Sentinel of Liberty on a Half-Shell menagerie, and for allowing me to reproduce the above images!

Please note: I have done a number of commissions in bound sketchbooks as comic book conventions over the years, where fans will leave their treasured books with me in artist's alley and pick them up later (this is fraught enough, if only because in the melee of conventions it is sometime difficult to locate these fans later, especially in the closing hours of an event). When working remotely, at home, as I do in the case of Internet requests, I prefer to draw commissions on loose, quality paper stock of my choice, not bound sketchbooks that already have numerous and irreplaceable masterpieces by famous artists already contained therein, if only because of the enormous emotional strain of drawing under such nerve-wracking conditions! I only undertook this commission because Michael had armed guards standing over me the whole time to make sure I did not drip ink on any of the other sketchbook pages!

Please note further that if your commission request involves a bound sketchbook, it will entail additional surcharges just for insurance and catering the armed guards!! Thanks for understanding.

A Couple of Recent Commissions

Here are a couple recent commissions I completed for fans and collectors. I will post more here as time allows. (Please see my commission price list posted on this blog if you would like to own an original, custom made piece of Don Simpson art!)

Here is a recent commission, 11" x 14", pen and ink and Dr. Martin's dyes and watercolor on Strathmore 400 Drawing (a very slightly creme colored paper that is somewhat thinner than Bristol). In this case the request was for a nude Wonder Woman, but there are limits to how far I will go with commissions involving my own "PG" characters, and especially characters that I do not own (please see my commission price list posted on this blog). I think the final result is funny and hopefully tasteful.

This is the inked version, before coloring. Generally, I will send a jpeg of the commission at this stage to the client for approval.

Here is the initial light blue Col-Erase pencil and graphite pencil version. Again, I send a jpeg for approval at this stage.

Every commission is different. This one is for Steve Hager's Dutchy Digest, a self-published comic set in rural eastern Pennsylvania, featuring two of the recurring characters. Steve plans to use this piece as a "pin-up" in a future issue. Artwork for publication, strictly speaking, goes beyond a traditional "commission," and is negotiable. (I should have charged Steve much more, come to think of it!!)