Kharuptblog

Update

2010-11-22T09:48:00.003-05:00

First off, my apologies for the lack of updates, y'all. It's not because I don't love y'all. I have been supremely busy lately working on a ton of stuff and it's been kicking my butt. I will do my best to update this blog more often, though. Promise. And look for a much needed website update early next year. It's been far too long.

So, that said -- what have I been up to you ask? Well.

Starborn - Monthly series coming out in December 2010 from BOOM! Studios. Created by Stan Lee, written by Chris Roberson, drawn by Khary Randolph and colored by Mitch Gerard.

Charismagic - Mini-series written by Vince Hernandez, drawn by Khary Randolph and colored by Emilio Lopez. Out in February. Published by Aspen MLT.

And if you've followed me for any amount of time, you know by now that that's not all I've been working on. But c'mon, I can't show my full hand yet right? Talk to you soon.

Swimsuit Edition

2010-08-15T20:46:00.004-05:00

Two illustrations for two different companies, but for similar subject matter.

First one is Sleeping Beauty, done for Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales: Swimsuit Edition 2010, which came out on July 21st. Color by Sanjune Nivangune.

Second one is Rose from Aspen's Dellec, for the Aspen Swimsuit Issue 2010. Color by Emilio Lopez. Also out now.

Announcements

2010-07-26T13:54:00.003-05:00

What's up all. Just came back from a whirlwind trip to California, split up between stays in Los Angeles and San Diego. While there I got to see some good friends, hung out at some animation studios, and most importantly, attended San Diego Comic Con. I didn't work the show in any official capacity, but it still was a big one for me because I had two future projects of mine announced.

The first one is Starborn, coming out through Boom Studios. This is a project created by Stan Lee himself, so it should be getting a lot of attention. Very excited for it. You can read more information about it here:

The second project is Charismagic, coming out through Aspen Comics. I actually sat on the panel at Comicon where this one was announced. Also quite excited about this book. Promo art by myself and Emilio Lopez.

And lastly, let's not forget that Spawn #198 comes out this Wednesday! Drawn by yours truly, inked and written by THE Todd McFarlane. I just recieved my copies and it looks great. I've very happy with the way it came out. Please support!

Spawn #198, Pimpjooze Vol. 5 & SDCC

2010-07-07T13:19:00.002-05:00

Okay, so big news on the horizon. One, Spawn #198, drawn by yours truly (and inked by Todd McFarlane) will finally be on sale on July 28th. Go cop a bunch of copies!!

Also, the fifth volume in my line of sketchbooks, Pimpjooze Vol. 5 is officially available for sale online. All 4 previous volumes have sold out and product for this one is extremely limited as well so get them while you can! You can buy them off of my Ebay store.

Lastly, I will be at San Diego Comicon. Not in an official behind the table capacity, but just enjoying the show as a fan this year and just walking around. But I will be a part of a panel for an upcoming series I am working on, so stay tuned for that news. And if you see me walking around, please feel free to say what's up!

Kobe-Gate 2010

2010-06-17T14:48:00.002-05:00

I suppose I should speak on this as it's gotten more attention than I would have ever guessed it would. So yesterday I get an email from Digitalgravel.com. Digital Gravel is a dope online hip-hop clothing store I frequent from time to time, and as such I'm on their mailing list. To my surprise, there is a promotion for a brand new True Theory Kobe Bryant shirt featuring art by yours truly:

You may recognize this art, because I posted it on my DeviantArt page over a year ago:

It was a toy design I did for Upper Deck a while ago. The thing is, I had nothing to do with the t-shirt! It was a straight up swipe (and honestly, a badly done one). You can imagine my surprise, opening up an email and being pitched artwork done by ME! And it was selling pretty well, as well! WTF?!

So yeah, I was a bit pissed for sure. I contacted Digital Gravel, Upper Deck and True Theory, and thanx to a bunch of awesome friends and supporters, there wound up being quite an uproar on Twitter directed at True Theory. I was really shocked at all the people that had my back, I was quite flattered really. It even turned into a Swipe File story on Bleeding Cool.

Regardless to say, Digital Gravel was quick to pull the item once I contacted them. We talked it out and they were very cool and even offered compensation (which I denied). I have nothing but respect for how they handled the situation.

As far as True Theory, they contacted me and apologized as well later on that night. They also offered compensation (which I also denied). So in the end it all turned out okay. I have no hard feelings for anyone involved. But it should serve as a warning to anyone that wants to try and take the easy road out and steal from artists -- that time you spend taking from someone else could just as easily be spent creating something new. It'll turn out much better for you in the long run.

And oh yeah -- go Celtics.

k.

Heroes Con

2010-06-02T12:56:00.001-05:00

June 4th-6th, kiddies! I'm finishing up things right now for Heroes Con this weekend in Charlotte, NC. I'm excited as I've never been to this particular show but I've been hearing all types of good things about for quite a while now. Anyways, I'll be sitting in Artist Alley, # AA-710. As far as I can tell I'll be sitting in an island amongst such artistic heavyweights as , , , and. . .?! Whuuuut. Yeah, excited. See you all there.

The VS Project LIVE > the Bracket!

2010-04-29T10:38:00.002-05:00

Hello All our Creatives, Friends & Fans!

Its that time again, The Ukre8 Community brings you the next installment of The VS Project LIVE!

Saturday May 8th
@ LOCAL 269, NYC

In January we had 2 artists compete in a Japanese Art style.

This time we are mixing it up! We will have four artists in this creative challenge & We are using a bracket system to determine this events' champion! The audience will be more involved and help with deciding the direction of our theme.

Art, Friends, Fans & Creativity!

Even though we are featuring 4 artists, that doesn't mean you can't bring your sketch book and show off you skills too!

Please pass this info around. This event is open to everyone. Can't wait to see you there!

ukre8.theVSproject
a division of
The UKRE8 Community

**** Update 4/28/10 ****
The 4 Artist for this LIVE event are:

Khary
http://www.kharupt.com/

Emilio
http://e-mann.deviantart.com/

Nikki
http://nikkicook.com/

Paigey
http://theartofpaigey.blogspot.com/

Joker

2010-04-27T02:30:00.002-05:00

Done for a friend.

Con Season

2010-04-06T19:30:00.004-05:00

So hells yeah, con season is officially in full swing. I will be at MOCCA Art Festival here in NYC on April 10th and 11th, sitting at table A40. I will have my usual assortment of prints, sketchbooks, Black Books, and the BRAND NEW Pimpjooze 5 which just came in the mail this week. I'll be doing sketches and commissions of whatever your heart desires.

And then the very next weekend, I will be at C2E2 in Chicago, April 16-18th. Same drill, Artist Alley, table H6. Some please come through, show some love, and I promise I will show it right back. See you there.

More con announcements to come soon!

k.

Pimpjooze 5

2010-03-30T12:49:00.001-05:00

Cover to the 5th installment of my sketchbook series, Pimpjooze. Just sent it off to the printer. 48 pages, color cover, b&w interior. On sale soon!

Villainz::Two-Face

2010-03-26T11:57:00.002-05:00

Thebsarr & The Bødega

2010-03-23T21:37:00.004-05:00

Ok, two things. First, some Chaotic art. Theb-sarr, king of the Mipedians. Drawn by yours truly, colored by Emilio Lopez.

Second. Me and my good friend Brad Silverman have started another blog. Not one to replace this one by any means, but a totally different thing. It's just a collection of random odds and ends that we are fond of on the internet. Some of it fun, some quirky, some weird, and some naughty. But to us it's all beautiful so if we like it, we throw it up. Don't judge us. Just enjoy and tell your friends: http://thebodega.tumblr.com/
And if you're not down with our Twitter game yet, get on board. Mine is twitter.com/kidkalig, Brad's is twitter.com/therisk, and Bodega's is twitter.com/delabodega.

Mary Jane

2010-03-22T14:40:00.003-05:00

Bit of a story to this one. So, this was originally a gift for a friend's girlfriend's bday. But once I drew and inked the piece I decided I really didn't like it very much and trashed it. I then drew her another one which came out a little better.

So anyways, recently I've been going through some of my past files and I came upon this file again, and while I still had problems with, I was like, "I can fix this," so I went in and tweaked a number of different things to it. And now I kinda like it. So yeah, about 80% of the lineart is traditional, and maybe 20% of it is digital. Hopefully you guys can't tell what is what.

And then once I colored her, it occurred to me that homegirl has more than a passing resemblance to Spider-man's lady friend MJ, and hence the name. She's not REALLY Mary Jane Watson cuz I feel weird about drawing nudie versions of comic book characters (I dunno why, just feels like a violation of my childhood or something), she's just another hot redhead who happens to be named Mary Jane. That's the story I'm sticking to.

Sketch:: Stephy

2010-03-19T09:21:00.003-05:00

Today's warm up. Thanx to Ellen Stagg.

Sketch::Twitch

2010-03-10T12:16:00.003-05:00

You can't draw Sam and not draw Twitch. 15 minute warm up joint.

Sketch:: Sam

2010-03-09T11:17:00.000-05:00

Another warm up sketch, 15 minutes. Spawn's Sam (of Sam and Twitch).

Sketch::Magneto

2010-03-08T15:00:00.001-05:00

Monday morning warm up sketch.

Mass Effect 2:: Samara

2010-02-21T17:44:00.005-05:00

This game has been an obsession of mine since it came out late last month. I love Mass Effect and the universe created around it. And good lord, do I love this character design.

Holiday Sale

2009-12-03T09:41:00.002-05:00

It's December, which means it's holiday time! Tis the season and all that good stuff. That said, if you want some stocking stuffers for your loved ones (or for yourself), I've got what you need. My 2006 and 2009 Sketchbooks are on sale as is my color hardcover artbook, The Black Book. The 2009 sketchbook, Pimpjooze 4, has been a convention exclusive up until now so this is brand new to most people. And as for the Black Book, there are not many copies left, so once this batch goes, that's it. Forever, yo. So get em now! And make sure you order them so that I have time to send em off before Xmas!!

Buy em here.

Chaotic: Shadow Warriors out tomorrow!

2009-11-16T17:12:00.004-05:00

Chaotic: Shadow Warriors comes out tomorrow (11.17.09) for Xbox360, PS3, Wii and Nintendo DS. Box art by yours truly (with colors by Emilio Lopez.

Based on the popular trading card game and animated television series, Chaotic combines action, role playing and turn-based strategy gameplay elements for an epic adventure in Perim, the stunning Chaotic world. Players adventure through vibrant, fully-realized 3D environments and interact with various characters from the best-selling trading card game and hit animated series. Players will build and manage their own army of Chaotic creatures while fighting enemies, collecting battlegear and unlocking new mugic (magic) spells and attacks. The Chaotic videogame features dramatic tactical battles, a variety of captivating gameplay modes, as well as powerful upgrades and valuable unlockables.

Here's some behind the scenes footage from the game.

Some new Chaotic art from Set 3.2. Colors by Axer.

Twitter

2009-11-13T13:18:00.001-05:00

Yup, I'm on it now. Feel free to add me:

http://twitter.com/KidKalig

Wolverine & Big Apple Con

2009-10-07T10:26:00.003-05:00

I got product comin' out that I didn't even know I did! Peep for yourself!
So yeah, apparently there are Wolverine & the X-Men busts and statues on the way. This particular one will be coming out in early 2010. And as keen observers may or not be aware of, that particular design was done by yours truly way back in 2007. Pow!

Crazy how things work out like that huh? Now, if only I could get my hands on a comped version....

Oh, and if you're in the tri-state area October 16-18th, come see your boy at the newly revamped Big Apple Comic Con, now run by Wizard World. I will be there with studio mate Emilio Lopez doing the usual thing, sellin' stuff, drawin' stuff, kissing babies, hugging wifes, etc. Don't bother asking the table #, I'm a super last minute addition so even I don't know yet. But I will be there, better believe it.

DeviantArt Oddz 'N' Endz

2009-09-03T18:03:00.004-05:00

If you didn't know, I post a lot of art on my other home on the internet, DeviantArt. I don't update my website a lot because I like to keep the content limited and only my best stuff on there. But when I wanna post sketches, ideas for art, and behind the scenes stuff, you really should go there because that's where all of it goes. So that said, here's a few of my favorite pieces I've done within the past month or so.

Shatterstar vs. Deadpool commission. Color by Emilio Lopez.

Captain America. Some of you may remember I posted the lineart art for this quite a while ago. I just got around to coloring it.
Cherry Bomb commission. Cherry Bomb created by Randy Green and Will Caligan.

Disney x Marvel

2009-08-31T14:36:00.004-05:00

Disney bought Marvel today! Is that crazy or what??? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet, we'll have to wait and see. As of now it's just an "interesting thing."

To commemorate the occasion, I had to whip this up real quick.

Wizard World Chicago

2009-07-29T21:30:00.004-05:00

It's about that time of year again. While I unfortunately had to miss out on this year's San Diego Comicon, I will in fact be going to Wizard World Chicago. I'll have the usual, a few new prints, Black Books, Pimpjooze 4, and whatever last minute stuff I can scrounge up and fit into a suitcase. I will be sitting at table 4106 with a host of other artists, such as Angel Madina, Eric Jimenez, Rachelle Rosenberg, Greg Titus, Tim Seeley, Chris Burnham, Chris & Justin Copeland, Jenny Frison, Luke Smarto, Brian Crowley & Patrick Brower. Yes y'all, we rollin' DEEP this year. Fa sho. So come through and say what's up to your boy if you're in the Chitown area. And while I'm at it, I might as well pimp the cover I did for my boy Eric Jimenez' book Temporal, which you will be able to buy at WWC. You can also purchase the book directly off of Eric's website. BAM.

Oh, and did you know that there is a Chaotic video game coming out this fall? Well, if you didn't know, now you know.

Chaotically Chaotic

2009-07-05T19:38:00.003-05:00

A new Chaotic set is set to drop any day now (if it hasn't already) and so, you already know what time it is. Oh, and have I mentioned that I'm on DeviantArt now? That site will serve as a basic repository for artwork that I don't want to clutter up my website with. So if you are also on DA as well, swing by and add me, it's a great site with a lot of very talented peope on there. And all my news, as always, you can get it here first. :)

Simalin (color by Axer)
Magmon (color by Axer)
Vinnina & Aivenna (color by Emilio Lopez)

Air Kuta

2009-06-28T18:48:00.002-05:00

Done for the homeboy Sean Galloway. Awesome character, I had a lot of fun doing this. The backstory behind this illustration can be seen here.100% done in Photoshop.

Ode to Jessica Rabbit

2009-06-19T09:58:00.005-05:00

"I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way."

My life changed the day I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Apart from being one of my favorite movies of my childhood, it introduced me to Jessica Rabbit. Jessica Rabbit, the one woman who has single handedly influenced my art more than any other woman.

I saw Roger Rabbit when I was 9 years old. I think I was in North Carolina for the summer, my Grandmother took me and my cousin Byron. I loved the movie of course; the mix of beautifully done 2d animation and live action was masterfully done; the Alan Silvestri score; seeing Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny on screen at the same time. It was all so perfect and bigger than life to me. I knew this movie was special. I wanted to live in Toon Town. But the thing that put it over the edge, the thing that really, really stuck in mind. . . . .was Jessica Rabbit. Never had a line drawing created such a . . .stir in me. I was only 9 years years old, but I was in love. She just oozed sex appeal. The way she walked, the way she talked. I tried so hard to recreate her, and failed miserably every time. I didn't understand women and I couldn't capture what it was that made that figure so appealing, but I was determined to one day figure it out. And I've spent the next twenty years trying to do just that, haha.

I still don't think I have it down just yet.

But one day Jessica, one day. . .I'll figure it out. I promise.

P.S. Cool World gets an honorable mention. But I mean, let's face it: redheads are hotter than blondes.

Powergirl

2009-06-16T00:03:00.001-05:00

Warmup drawing/sketch, trying to get more comfortable with using my Cintiq tablet for lineart. Done entirely in CS3.

MOCCA!

2009-06-03T09:29:00.005-05:00

What's good all. Just wanted to put it out there that I will be doing a convention appearance this weekend (6/6-6/7) at NYC's MOCCA Art Festival 2009 I'll be set up at Table #203 and I will be selling Black Books and my new Pimpjooze 2009 Sketchbooks. And of coure I'll probably be doing some sketches and whatnot. So if you're in the NYC area you should most definitely come through and say what's up, MOCCA is one of my favorite cons and always a good time. Holla!

Also, yes I know I have been lacking on updates. Part of that is I haven't had much stuff that I can show you guys right now. And part of that is I've been busy ramping up my new DeviantArt page. But I've got some pretty cool stuff in the works, so as soon as I can post it all up I will. :)

Wolverine & The X-Men: Heroes Return DVD

2009-04-22T12:21:00.004-05:00

The DVD of the first 3 episodes is out today in stores. The description:

"Wolverine must reunite the X-Men to prevent a horrible vision of the future...In the late 20th century, mankind began to change. Suddenly, teenagers developed incredible abilities that science classified as the next stage in human evolution. In response, Professor Charles Xavier created The Institute for Gifted Youngsters so the young "mutants" could learn to control their uncanny abilities and live in harmony with the non-mutant members of society. From then on, Xavier's students -- the X-Men -- intervened to protect the peace until a mysterious explosion devastated Xavier's school. Leaderless and without direction, the X- Men disbanded and the man known as Wolverine struck out on his own. One year later, the once fiercely independent Wolverine must reunite the X-Men to prevent a horrible vision of the future where the X-Men have given up on Xavier's mission and the world has fallen into chaos. With great tragedy in their past and their future, Wolverine must lead Xavier's disillusioned heroes against the forces of fate and destiny. Only together can the X-Men steer the course of history away from catastrophe and save us all."

You can pick it up in stores now, on Amazon or Itunes. Enjoy.

Apocalypse

2009-04-21T00:33:00.004-05:00

Daaamn homey, the updates keep coming non-stop!!

Wolverine & The X-Men

2009-04-19T21:38:00.004-05:00

Here are some of my personal favorite designs from Wolverine & The X-Men. You can find even more designs on my brand new DeviantArt page. :)

Loki

2009-04-16T23:52:00.005-05:00

Keeping with the villains there, here's another Cintiq sketch.

Female Loki. Goddess of mischief.

Darkseid.

2009-04-15T23:15:00.003-05:00

MY BAD. Yeah, been a minute. But I'm back up in it. I'm sketching again. You'll see.

BOW TO DARKSEID.

All Star Vinyl:: Ali & Tiger

2009-03-02T01:58:00.003-05:00

"One is a king of the ring, while the other is a ruler of the green!" Sideshow Collectibles solicits a pre-order for Upper Deck's Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods 10 inch vinyl collectible figures from their All Star Vinyl Legends Series. Both figures have a SRP of US$22.99 with a 2nd quarter 2009-ship date. (No quantities were determined).

From ToysREvil

I won't lie, I'm not 100% crazy about how the sculpts came out. But whatevs.

*Sidebar - Peep the signatures. I did these joints in '07! Crazy how long it takes for things to come out sometimes, lol.

Anakin & Ahsoka

2009-02-05T03:40:00.003-05:00

From Clone Wars. Like you didn't know.

Colors by Emilio Lopez.

Guess who's working on Season 2?

2009-02-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

“Wolverine and the X-Men” was a ratings hit for Nicktoons, as the debut episode was the network’s highest-ever premiere with kids and boys. The premiere drew 436,000 viewers, up 808% from last year, according to a news release.

Nicktoons Network’s Wolverine and X-Men Carves Niche as Net’s Highest-Rated Premiere Ever with Kids and Boys

Nicktoons Network’s back-to-back premiere episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men (Jan. 23 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET), the new action-packed animated series based on Marvel’s popular super hero series, was the network’s highest rated original series premiere ever with kids and boys. Each episode posted triple-digit gains with all kid and boy demos.

The hour-long block, elevated the network’s ratings by +233% with kids 6-11 and +180% with boys 6-11; and averaged 1.0/123,000 K6-11 and a 1.4/91,000 B6-11.

Highlights of Wolverine and the X-Men 8 p.m. (ET) episode include:

* The 8 p.m. telecast scored triple digit gains of +133% with kids 6-11 and averaged a .7/92,000 K6-11, and +175% with boys 6-11 with a 1.1/72,000 B6-11.

* With tweens 9-14 the episode earned a .6/70,000, up +500%; with boys 9-14, it was up +350% and averaged a .9/60,000 B9-14.

* With kids 2-11 the episode earned a .7/135,000 K2-11, up +250%; with boys 2-11, it was up +233% averaging a 1.0/105,000 B2-11.

* The premiere also drew 436,000 total viewers (P2+), up +808% over last year.

Highlights of Wolverine and the X-Men 8:30 p.m. (ET) episode include:

* The 8:30 p.m. (ET) telecast scored triple and quadruple-digit gains for Nicktoons with all kid and tween demos and total viewers.

* The half-hour episode earned a 1.2/154,000 with kids 6-11, up +200% and a 1.7/110,000 with boys 6-11, up +183%.

* With tweens 9-14 the episode earned a 1.1/134,000, up +1000%; with boys 9-14 it was up +367% and averaged a 1.4/89,000 B9-14.

* With kids 2-11 the episode earned a 1.1/228,000; up +450%; and with boys 2-11, it earned gains of 275% and averaged a 1.5/154,000 B2-11.

* The second episode also drew 589,000 total viewers (P2+), up +1055% over last year.

From Nerdage

New York Comicon/Pimpjooze 4

2009-01-27T11:47:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is that time once again. The New York Comicon is upon us. Three gloriously days of comics, cartoons, sci-fi, and all around nerd-dom in the greatest city in the world. I'll be there of course, sharing a small press setup 2255 with my boy Brad Silverman. In the programming brochure it'll probably say "KaNO & Khary Randolph", but KaNO will be sitting with myplasticheart (*I think*) promoting some of his new toys and whatnot. Swing by, I'll have original art, artbooks, prints, watches, toys, and more.

Oh, and of course I'll be unveiling the newest installment in the Pimpjooze series of sketchbooks. Been a few years since the last one and there's all types of goodies in this one that no one's ever seen before. 48 pages of dopeness, color cover, b&w insides, holla atcha boy. The print run on this will be limited, so make sure you cop them quickly. Whatever I have left over I will be selling on the kharupt.com store.

See you there!

Wolverine & The X-Men Premiere

2009-01-23T11:36:00.004-05:00

http://nicktoonsnetwork.nick.com/shows/wolverine-and-the-x-men

Premieres tonite on Nicktoons at 8pm. Yeaaaaaah boy.

Kharupt.com 6.0 is LIVE

2009-01-19T00:27:00.003-05:00

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Stop whatever you are doing RIGHT NOW and go to Kharupt.com. Because it is new and improved and better than ever. Completely overhauled, leaner and meaner. New art, new design, new music. I've wanted to do this for a while now as I felt the old design, while I like it, was starting to feel very old and cumbersome. This new one is both more functional and I feel, more professional. I omitted some things that I know some people really liked, like the sketches page and the links page, but since both of those things can be found on the blog I felt having them on the main site was redundant and pulled the focus away from what was most important, which is the body of work itself.

And as a gift to those of you who have stuck with me over the years, here is a mixtape I put together of ALL the songs that have graced this website since it's inception in 2000. Twenty tracks from some of my favorite artists. If you are a fan of these guys, go out and buy their albums because you have my personal guarantee you will get some serious dopeness.

Yes, 9 long years of Kharupt.com and it's only getting better. I am so focused, you have no idea. Let's get it.

Download the mixtape here: http://drop.io/kharupt

Long Live Galvatron

2009-01-06T03:57:00.004-05:00

Aight, so here's the deal. I'm a HUGE Transformers fan. Always have been, since I was a wee child of the 80's. I cried when Optimus Prime died. It's like that. But somehow, I have never, ever, ever drawn a Transformer in my life. Never even crossed my mind. Crazy, right? Well, now I know why. BECAUSE THEY'RE A $#%^ING PAIN IN THE ASS TO DRAW. This sketch was an ordeal lemme tell you, and I can pretty much guarantee I won't be drawing any more Transformers anytime soon. I got the Transformers Generation 1 Complete Box Set for Christmas, so best believe I have been in Decepticon heaven over here. I've been into it so much I just had an itch to draw one of these guys, and Galvatron was always one of my favorites. The scene in the movie where he takes out Starscream at the coronation. . . . . .awww man. Doesn't get any better than that.

Anyways, enjoy this, cuz you probably won't see it again.

Shredhead

2008-12-31T12:45:00.003-05:00

These are a bunch of licensing shots of Shredder that I did for TMNT: Back to the Sewers. It's New Years Eve kids, tally-ho.

Adventures of Spawn Interview

2008-12-27T15:53:00.004-05:00

I totally forgot about this. Adventures of Spawn #2 came out about a month ago, and I never told anybody, lol. D'oh. Anyways, the cover was done by Greg Capullo and here is the interview I did on Spawn.com that went along with the release of it. I dunno what the print run for it was, but since it's a specialty one shot it was most likely kinda small. But I'm sure there's a few still floating around if you wanna cop one.

Tis' the Season

2008-12-22T19:13:00.006-05:00

Two pieces of artwork, two felines, given as Christmas gifts to two very cool ladies - Intress (of Chaotic) for my co-worker Lauren, and a little kitty cat I made up for my lil' sister Klaudia. Everyone likes cats, I guess.

Have a happy holidays and a great New Years everyone. :)

Chaotic

2008-12-16T10:58:00.006-05:00

Set 2.2 just came out. Here are some goodies from it. The first two are colored by Tony Washington, the second two by Etienne St. Laurent.

Sketchies

2008-12-14T19:40:00.003-05:00

Faith from Mirror's Edge and a random naked chick. Done over Thanksgiving weekend. I'd say it all speaks for itself, really.

Gobble gobble, y'all

2008-11-27T17:12:00.004-05:00

Yes, at this very moment I am posting this from my Macbook Pro in Boston, minutes away from an incredible Thanksgiving meal. It's smelling ridiculous so I'm gonna keep this post pretty short. God, I love this time of year. Anyways, Upper Deck has finally announced their line of MLB All Star Vinyl figures that will be hitting toy stores very soon. These figures are a little smaller than the regular ASV line, 10" instead of 12". Here is the list of figures coming out and the artists related to each figure:

Pujols - Scot Terry
Wright - Khary Randolph
Howard - Khary Randolph
Ichrio - Sean Galloway
Ortiz - Khary Randolph
Jeter - Scot Terry
Soriano - Bob Strang
Vladimir - Khary Randolph
Reyes - Bob Strang
Arod - Khary Randolph
Dice-K - Khary Randolph
Sizemore - Bernard Chang

Here is a better view of Guerrero.

Enjoy kids, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

COMnGRAF

2008-11-11T03:33:00.003-05:00

Pics from the COMnGRAF art show that I hyped up a while back. I'm so upset I missed this thing, but from all accounts it turned out pretty well. Thanx to everyone who came out to support. Pics courtesy of the big homey, Rob Stull.

Bodega

2008-10-31T11:42:00.008-05:00

And for a change of pace, let's pimp something that's not mine for once, shall we? If you're in the NYC area next Friday November 7th, you should definitely stop by the My Plastic Heart toy store/art gallery in the east village. They'll be hosting the launch party for my homeboy Danny Kimanyen's new vinyl figure, Bodega. The party should be pretty fly. My favorite part is the refreshments list, which will consist of such bodega classics as quarter waters, tropical fantasy's, lemon heads, ring pops, etc. Plus, the whole event will be sponsored by Bombin' magazine, so there will be plenties of goodies for everyone as well. Here is the flyer and some promo shots of the figure. Hope to see y'all there!

The Thang

2008-10-27T02:35:00.006-05:00

My take on Ben Grimm. Because I felt like it, that's why.

Man, why is the HTML so screwy on my page lately? Better put that on my thangs to do list. . .

Chaotic hits million mark

2008-10-23T12:14:00.006-05:00

Art by myself. Color by Etienne St. Laurent.

Taken from Kidscreen.com.

Chaotic hits million mark, moves into new territories

With multiplatform boys property Chaotic nearing its one millionth registered user on www.ChaoticGame.com and its one-year anniversary this Friday, owner 4Kids Entertainment is readying global expansion plans.

With distribution already sealed in the US, Australia, South Africa, and the Philippines, Carlin West, EVP of acquisitions and development, says that plans are in place to secure broadcast for the 2-D toon Chaotic in every major country in the world by the end of 2009, particularly in Euro nations France, Germany, Italy and Spain. By next March, the accompanying website will be launched in each language along with localized versions of the trading card game currently manufactured by 4Kids subsidiary TC Digital Games.

The triple-threat property, which targets boys eight to 15, spans trading cards, online and broadcast and is also making its retail debut in the UK this month at 73 Toys 'R' Us stores. And to complement its forthcoming international rollout, a small licensing program that mirrors current efforts in North America will also focus on the technology, fashion and gameplay aspects of the property. West is close to announcing global master toy and video game licensees, aiming to have product on shelf by fall 2009. In the meantime, she's on the hunt for international food & beverage partners.

With the economic situation putting a strain on everyday and holiday spending, West says Chaotic is well-timed, in that it offers affordable play with its entry level US$13.99 price point for a starter deck compared to expensive console systems, and believes it to be the next iteration of TCG gameplay.

Chaotic currently airs daily on Toon Disney's Jetix block, Fox's 4KidsTV block and TheCW4Kids Saturday morning block on The CW. More than 38 million trading cards have been uploaded to www.ChaoticGame.com by users in more than 190 countries.

Phoenix

2008-10-11T15:15:00.003-05:00

Quick sketch done in a Black Book.

Also, a very nice write up about me in T-Shirt Magazine.

Wildguard

2008-10-05T13:34:00.006-05:00

This one slipped through the cracks. This was a pinup I created for Todd Nauck a few months ago. It was for his creator owned book Wildguard: Insider #3, which came out back in July I believe. Oops. I had a lot of fun coloring the fire.

Kay

2008-09-23T17:24:00.003-05:00

Quick portrait I did in a Black Book for a friend. Hide your eyes, children.

Wolverine & The X-Men Main Title

2008-09-22T15:07:00.003-05:00

Still aways off from being premiered in the US, but the show is on the air in Canada and Latin America. I just finally saw the first 3 episodes their entirety, and to be honest I think it came out pretty good. The first ep starts off a lil' slow, but 2 picks up and by 3 I think it really starts gelling together. But hey, I could be biased. ;)

TMNT, Chaotic, COMnGRAF 2. . .

2008-09-17T11:19:00.003-05:00

Aight, aight. So I slipped up a lil', lil' bit. I should have mentioned previously that BOTH the new seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Chaotic launched last weekend. I should have. But I was out of town and it totally slipped my mind. You'd think that wouldn't happen considering these are the two biggest things I've worked on in the past year. . .but uh. . .oops? So yes. TMNT: Back to the Sewer is on The CW, Saturdays at 9:30am. Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion is on Fox, Saturdays at 10:00am. See that? A whole HOUR of Kharupt goodness for your Saturday morning, on TWO different channels. So I screwed up a lil'. Here's a peace offering:

A sampling of the pieces I did for the intro to TMNT. Drawn by me, painted by my homeboy Emilio Lopez.

There are downloads and wallpapers available of this stuff over at 4kids.tv.

More Chaotic. Kopond is colored by Tony Washington, and Arbeid is colored by Axer.
And to get a sampling of the new season of Chaotic, which looks dramatically different from the last season, also check out 4kids.tv.

Lastly, I had the honor of being asked to be a part of a gallery showing coming up in my hometown of Boston. My good friend (and mentor) Rob Stull is putting it all together and it should be pretty ill. It's called COMnGRAF, and basically it's a show that brings together the worlds of comics and graffiti all in one art exhibit. Some of the artists in the show are amazing, seriously. I was really flattered to be asked to be a part of it. There was one show back in July that went over pretty well and this one promises to be even bigger. It's on Saturday, September 27th and it'll be at Technical skate shop on Newbury St. I won't be able to be there personally (gotta wedding to hit that same weekend) but I'll have some art pieces in it and also there will be Black Books for sale. All the information can be found on the flyers below. If you happen to live in Boston, also pick up a copy of the local newspaper (I believe it's called the Daily Dig) the Wednesday before the show. I, along with a few other artists was interviewed for a piece about the show. Peace.

Random Shizz.

2008-09-04T10:35:00.003-05:00

Yeah, so it's been a while and I apologize for that. Kinda been a bit crazy lately, professionally and personal life-wise. Trying to get back on track though, so deal with me a bit as I get my life back in order. On the plus side, I have just accepted a full-time gig as Character Designer over at 4kids. Not much really changes from what I've been doing for the past year, except for a title and some of the benefits that come along with being an employee to a major company. It's good to have some stability for once.

My main priority there is, as it has been for the past year, Chaotic card illustration and character design. I'd love to show you some of the stuff we've been coming up lately, we've really been hitting our stride. I feel like I'm doing some of the best work of my career right now, and it feels good, even though there's a lot of it (and never enough time to do it, lol). I also helped out on the new season of TMNT, which will be coming out sometime this month. I worked on the style guide and also did some illustration work for the show intro. I'll post those when I get the go ahead, they came out pretty cool.

I also recently completed this cover to a TMNT Season 2 DVD. Colors by Emilio Lopez.

More Upper Deck for y'all! Papi! David Ortiz of the Red Sox here was actually the first design I did for Upper Deck, about a year ago. Still one of my favorites thus far. Maybe it's a Boston thing, I dunno.

David Wright of the Mets.

Finally, you guys can peep some of the stuff I did for Wolverine & The X-Men, coming out in 2009. These are pics I took from San Diego Comicon, where they had this big set up at the Marvel Booth promoting the new cartoon. The Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Cyclops were all drawn by yours truly. :)

I got plenty more stuff I'd like to show you guys, but I just have to wait until the right moment to do so. I promise to post more regularly tho, you have my word. Holla back!

k.

San Diego Comicon

2008-07-21T15:24:00.005-05:00

The Kharupt World Tour continues, this time in sunny Southern California. The San Diego Comicon is July 24-27th. I won't have a table but I will be at the Chaotic booth (booth #3351) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2:30, kissing babies, signing autographs and giving out my personal cell # to the groupies (ladies only, please). But for real, if you're gonna be there, definitely swing by and chop it up with me. San Diego is my favorite con and it's always a good time. But be on good behavior, because there will be lots of little kiddies (and my bosses) around.

And if you don't see me on the con floor, you can be damn sure you will see me at the hotel bar later on that nite. Holla atcha boy.

Melke is designed and drawn by yours truly, and colored by Tony Washington. And can I say, I've seen some stuff from Chaotic Season 2, and it is %$7;^ing AWESOME. Seriously, the show has changed up a lot from Season 1 to Season 2, and y'all are not ready.

Wizard World Chicago

2008-06-23T13:59:00.002-05:00

Well dear friends, it is that time once again. I will be attending Wizard World Chicago (June 26th-29th) for the 4th consecutive year. I always have a good time at WWC, and I'm looking forward to it as always. I'll have the usual goods (Black Books, prints, watches, original art, yadda yadda yadda), plus I'll be doing sketches and commissions and the like. I'll be sitting with my homeboys Greg Titus and Eric Jimenez. So holla atcha boy, y'all!

And some more art, of course. This is Ultradur, from a recently released set of Chaotic cards. Art and design by yours truly, colors by Emilio Lopez.

What I duz all day

2008-06-15T20:02:00.004-05:00

Aight. So every con I've done in the last year or two, I always get the same question: What the hell have you been up to? Because since I'm not actively involved in the comic book industry and people don't see my name in a lot of places, a lot of people seem to think that I'm not working, or that I'm struggling or something. Well guess what kids, that is soooo, so far from the truth. In all honesty, my career has never been this good and I count my blessings that I've been able to be a working professional for almost NINE years. Crazy, right? The thing about it is, specifically in the last 2-3 years most of my focus has been in the animation industry. And unlike comics, the turnaround on projects is a lot slower, and ya just can't talk about stuff, it's all non-disclosure. And by the time I get to show you guys art, it's old news to me. But hey, c'est la vie.

My current gig, the job that I spend most of my time on, is Chaotic. I know I've mentioned it before, but just to recap, it is a cartoon and a card game. It's currently on Fox Saturday mornings, but that will be changing to the CW very soon, maybe already. My role on the property is as head card art illustrator. I get the descriptions, and then I design the characters and then illustrate them. The animators then take the card art and translate for animation.

I started this gig in late '05/early '06, knocked out the first set of cards, then took time off to work on Wolverine. I then came back in September of '07 and I've been working inhouse every since. It's definitely the most fun I've had on a job, and I'm glad I have it. And when I'm not working on Chaotic, I spend my other waking hours doing stuff for the new season of Ninja Turtles. Or Upper Deck. Or the odd online Spawn comic. And when I'm not doing THAT stuff. . . I sleep.

So there, full disclosure. No more secrets. Okay, that's a lie. I mean, I can't show my whole hand, right? ;)

Here's some Chaotic stuff you. The first card, colored by Tony Washington, the second by Emilio Lopez.

Batman Convention Jampiece

2008-06-11T12:33:00.002-05:00

This piece was done a while ago, but I just got to see the finished version recently, and I figured it'd be fun to share. It's a bunch of artists, one to each character. From left to right, it's Batman by Dustin Nguyen, Man-Bat by Jim Calafiore, Batgirl #1 by Skottie Young, Nightwing by ???, Robin by Eric Canete, Alfred by Sean Chen, Commissioner Gordon by Chris Moreno, and Batgirl #2 by myself.

All Star Vinyl:: Alex Rodriguez

2008-06-01T20:02:00.002-05:00

Designed by yours truly for Upper Deck. I did this about a year ago to the day, and it's finally coming to light. Out July 2nd.

Oh, and best believe there are more of these on the way.

Wolverine & The X-Men - Spring '09

2008-05-06T23:17:00.002-05:00

Yup, that's the official word. The network is Nicktoons, the date is Spring 2009. And just to show an example of how slow things work sometimes, put this in perspective. I started work on the show Summer of 2006 and finished up my obligations Summer 07. Crazy, right?

Anyways, here's another trailer to whet your appetite till next Spring. Enjoy.

Hustlin', son.

2008-04-15T19:45:00.002-05:00

Aight, so know how I mentioned I'd be at New York Comicon (table #2355) this coming weekend? Well, I didn't really go into the specifics of what I'd have there. Well, here's some specifics. In conjunction with Flud watches, I will debuting the Black Watch. It's a limited edition joint, designed top to bottom by yours truly. Only about 50 of these were made, so when they're gone, they're gone. Still working out the price point, but it will be in the range of $60-70. They came out really tight, I must say. The quality is on point, very sturdy, and definitely eye catching (Ive been rocking mine since about Xmas on the low, and everywhere I go people ask me where I got it from, lol). The packaging came out quite nicely as well.

Next up: prints. So, every show I do, I try to do a new print to sell. And seeing as how NYCC is close to home, you know I had to represent. This time around TWO new prints, y'all. Ironman and Storm.

Lastly, I'll still be slanging Black Books for those of you that haven't gotten one yet. And I should have a nice little selection of Black Book T-shirts as well. So come thru, say what's up, politic with me, and we'll have a grand ol' time. See you on Friday.

Ironman. Again.

2008-04-02T07:56:00.002-05:00

Once again, the Adi Granov design really inspires me. It's one of the best comic book character designs I've seen in years. So sophisticated. Color coming soon.

ALSO. New York Comicon. April 18-20th. I WILL BE THERE. Booth #2355, Kano Kid/ LLC/Kharupt.com. Take notice, this is not an Artist Alley table, we're set up in the Small Press area this year, on the main floor. That's right bitches, steppin' it up.

Silver Samurai

2008-03-20T08:19:00.003-05:00

A long overdue commission. I took some liberties, obviously.

Spidey

2008-03-13T22:53:00.002-05:00

Having seen the new very awesome new Spider-Man cartoon (with character designs by my buddy Sean "Cheeks" Galloway), I was inspired to my take on the Web-Slinger. I really do love drawing this character. Except for all the damn webbing on his costume. That sh*t is annoying as hell.

Fairchild & some ol' random bullsh*t.

2008-03-09T09:21:00.002-05:00

One more 80's joint I forgot to post up, along with some more cintiq messin' around. This thing is incredible, I tell you what.

Fairchild (of Gen13)

Rita Rocket (original property -- more on that later)

Random nekkidness

Cable Animated.

2008-02-24T12:51:00.003-05:00

I gotta Cintiq this week. And ya know? It's pretty sweet. This is the second piece of artwork I've created on it. I won't show you the first cuz it kinda sucks, lol. But anyways, this was done incredibly quickly (roughly an hour), which is definitely one of the benefits of working digitally.

PS. Just as a side note, this has absolutely nothing to do with Wolverine and the X-Men. Not even the same style. This is nothing more than a slightly polished sketch.

Wolverine & The X-Men

2008-02-07T03:42:00.001-05:00

Well, the cat's out the bag. This project is the reason you probably haven't seen me drawing much in the way of comic books lately. I worked on it the majority of '06 and '07 as character designer. I've worked on a few other cartoons before, like Boondocks, Hellboy, TMNT, etc. But all of those projects were only to a limited degree. This is what I consider my first cartoon since I worked on it full time for over a year. So it's pretty cool to see your designs come to life.

Coming this fall.

Ellie Saves the World.

2008-02-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

Aight, so some people have inquired as to what the piece is in the title of this blog. This piece right here was created for PopGun #1 (available now), an anthology book published by Image Comics. This piece came about in an interesting way. I was slated to do an actual story for the book, something that I would completely write, draw and possibly color as well. This is something I've wanted to do for quite a while now. Unfortunately, life got in the way. A mix of way too much work, a bit of procrastination, mismanagement of time, a smidgen of fear, and a few other reasons led to me not getting my submission done. So I talked to the editor Mark Smith, and told him what was up, but that I still wanted to contribute something, anything. He suggested that I create a cover image for another story called Ellie Saves the World. So he sends me the in progress pages along with the story, and I thought it was ****ing awesome. Totally up my alley. I was happy just to get down with something so cool, to be honest. So I whipped this piece up pretty quickly, and hit up my man John Rauch to throw down some colors, to which he did an excellent job on such a quick turnaround. And I'm pretty happy with it. Sometimes that's how these things happen. And there you have it.

90's Week - Zealot & Grifter

2008-01-07T09:26:00.001-05:00

As far as dynamic duos go, there aren't many that can beat Zealot and Grifter from the WildC.A.T.S. Thanx to Jim Lee for creating two of the coolest characters from the 90's. And look -- my homage to the 90s goes as far as to include smoke, rocks and no feet. That's gangster.

90's Week - Ripclaw

2008-01-04T09:36:00.001-05:00

Next up on this list is a character near and dear to my heart, Marc Silvestri's Ripclaw (from Cyberforce). I've always thought this was such a great character design. I think he's gotten written off over the years for basically being a native american version of Wolverine, but in my mind at least he's always stood on his own two feet. I remember back in the days when Cyberforce crossed over with Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S., and him and Warblade faced off (in hindsight, these guys had such funny names, lol), and they were just ripping each other to shreds over that chick Misery. . .man, did I geek out to that. Those were the days.

90's Week - Chapel

2008-01-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

So, anyone that knows me well knows that I was a huge Rob Liefeld fan back in the day. His art really spoke to me. It was always full of energy, and even when it broke the rules (which admittedly, it did often), he still always made it interesting to look at, and most importantly, it was fun. That, to me, is the true essence of comics, and something I feel like a lot of current comics just lack. So, here's my homage to one of the baddest black men in comics, Chapel. The guy has gotta frickin' skull on his FACE. And guns the size of Lil' Bow Wow. Recognize.

90's Week - The Maxx

2008-01-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

Wassup y'all! Happy New Year. I had a great week off where I had a chance to reflect, relax, sleep, eat and draw. I did all of those a great deal, which in mind is the perfect vacation. I headed back home to Boston (my hometown) and got to look through my childhood comic book collection, which I haven't really done in quite a while. It's always a kick to look through some of the stuff that shaped my childhood and provided me with the inspiration to do what I do for a living. I always read comic books as a kid, but my real love and passion for the medium didn't really develop till 91' or 92', around the time of the formation of Image Comics. That whole movement really affected me. The art was so frenetic and colorful and just so . . .new to me, and for the first time in my life it made me say "wow, this is what I want do". That said, this next set of images is sort of my homage to all those great books from the 90's that I dug.

This first one is based on Sam Kieth's The Maxx.

The Cap'n.

2007-11-27T02:59:00.000-05:00

I dunno, I was just in the mood for some Cap.

Ironman.

2007-11-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to do my version of Adi Granov's Ironman for quite a while now. I did this as a warm up before working on a page of Spawn. I may try to do this more often, I dont sketch nearly enough these days.

Don't post nearly enough either, but you already know that.

Bowery Poetry Club

2007-10-22T23:07:00.000-05:00

Another week, another party! If you're in NYC this Friday, this is the spot you need to be at. There'll be poetry, dope music, and a projector slideshow featuring artwork by yours truly. So come thru, it'll be a good time. There will of course be copies of the Black Book and t-shirts for sale (yes, I am one hell of a self promoter). Props to my man Chuck for the hook-up.

Turtles of Future Past

2007-10-17T08:43:00.000-05:00

So, I was going through my archives, and noted that some of these TMNT: Fast Forward joints I've done a while ago have never really been shown. Let me rephrase that -- a few of these have been shown on toy shelves via packaging and what not, they just haven't ever been show by me. And, some of these are aborted character tryouts that for whatever reason didn't work or didn't fit character specs or whatever. Shokanobo himself (big guy w/ the tongue) as a drawing was fine, but the colors changed from this version to final. So here they are.

Kano VS. Kharupt: To the DEATH.

2007-10-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

This is straight up, 100% the last time I will mention this book in this blog. For realz. Honest.

That said, if you're in the NYC region and you wanna come thru by all means do so. It should be a good time.

Still alive.

2007-09-29T08:19:00.000-05:00

I swear, I will be updating this damn thing soon. I have a ton of stuff to put up here, but things have been so hectic I just haven't had the time to put it all up. That will change soon, promise. Within the week. Stay tuned.

THE BLACK BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE.

2007-08-29T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thas' right. The book is now available for purchase online from Kharupt.com. It's been a long time coming. So go get yerself a copy. You won't regret.

It's been a minute since I've had a chance to update my blog(s) because the month of August has been an extremely busy one. One weekend at the San Diego Comicon, the next in Boston, the next after that at Wizard World Chicago, and then a week later in Nassau, Bahamas. Yes, I racked up quite a bit of frequent flyer miles. I have plenty to talk about and many a picture to share, but all that can wait for a bit so I can reiterate the point of this blog entry -- *ahem* -- THE BLACK BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE. The book will get nationwide distribution later on in the year, but I'd like to get the book into the hands of the people that really, really want the book now. Plus, getting the books from me directly is the only way you're gonna get em signed. 48 pages of hard cover, full color femininity and curves by yours truly. Just click on the link. Holla back.

Oh, and one more thing -- the first 20 people that order will get a special little something extra from me. ;)

Wizard World Chicago

2007-08-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

So, San Diego was a blast. I had lots of fun, saw lots of friends I haven't seen in quite a while, and also made some good contacts which will hopefully pan out in the future. I'll have some pictures up soon, I'm just waiting for a few pics that other people took, and I'll post em up when I get those. That said, my summer convention tour continues as later on this week I will be in the Windy City for Wizard World Chicago August 9-12th. Unlike SDCC, I will actually have a table in Artist Alley. I'll be signing books, selling copies of the Black Book, pushing prints, and doing sketches for whoever wants em. A warning, however -- the sketchlist does get filled kinda quickly, so if you wanna get one I would suggest you get there early. Just sayin'. So swing by and holla atcha boy, it'll be all types of fun.

Also, here is a piece that I did right before the San Diego show. Literally. As in, it was completed a day before I left. It was done specifically for the show as a raffle giveaway at the 4kids/Chaotic booth.

SDCC

2007-07-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

What's good y'all. Just to let y'all know, I decided at a very late date that I WILL be attending the San Diego Comicon (July 26th-29). Because I made the decision at such a late date, I do not have a table there. BUT. . .The Black Book WILL be available for purchase at the Brandstudio Press table. It will retail at $25 and I promise you it will be worth it. I got a preview copy a few weeks ago and it looks ****ing sick. I will also be signing at a few different tables while I'm there. I'll be at the 4kids/Chaotic table from 5-6pm on Friday and 1-2/2:30 on Saturday. I'll also be at the McFarlane table from 3-4pm on Saturday. So swing by and holla atcha boy.

And while I'm here, a few commissions I've finished up recently, Gambit and Sleepwalker. They are for the same fellow but I wanted to do two slightly different style techniques since the characters are so different. Peace.

Black Book and more.

2007-06-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

Real quick, cuz I got a million things to do. . . let us go down the list, shall we?
The cover to The Black Book. It's gone to print, bitches.
TMNT Season 1. This is the cover to the DVD, sans type and all that.. It's out now, I believe.
Next up, a few commissions that I've owed the owners just about forever. Silver Surfer and Northstar. Sorry about the wait, guys.

Konichiwa, au revoir, and holla back!

The Black Book

2007-05-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

Okay. So, most people at this point know that I like to draw women. I really do. There is no big Freudian reason to why I like drawing them so much (well, I'm sure there probably is, but whatever), but pretty much since my hormones went into overdrive I've been drawing lots and lots of women. That said, recently my good friend (and artist extraordinaire) Alberto Ruiz asked me if I wanted to do an artbook that he would publish. Cue lightbulb above head. So for the past couple of months, I've been secretly working on an artbook. Of. . .you guessed it. I've been wanting to do one for the longest time but never had the resources, time, drive or balls to make it happen. Thanx to Mr. Ruiz, I at least have the balls part.

The name of my project is The Black Book. It will be a full color, 48 page hardcover artbook full of lovely ladies of all shapes, sizes and color. I'm maybe 85% done and super psyched about it. I hope to have it done and available for SDCC (hopefully) and Wizard World Chicago (definitely). After that, in stores and available thru Kharupt.com. I will share more info later, but until then, here are a few sneak peeks.

Process: Sheena

2007-04-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

No, not Shanna. Sheena. Queen of the Jungle. If you're old enough to remember the 80's, you might remember the movie that starred Tanya Roberts running around in the skimpy leopard bikini. Even as a little kid, I was like "yo. . . . . .that's hot." Anyways, that movie was based on the Sheena comic book that came out way back in the days. And now Devil's Due has the property, and they asked me to do a cover for the 1st issue. And me being me, I had absolutely no problem drawing a hot chick running around in a skimpy leopard bikini. I mean, c'mon. It's me. So this was the process.

Layout.

Whenever I do comic book stuff, the first step I do is do a layout on 8 1/2 x 11" paper. It looks like a comic book board only because I scanned in a board and placed it on 8 1/2" paper to get a better idea of how it will sit on the actual page. I sketch it out all rough type, trying to layout basic shapes, composition, making sure there is enough room for the title logo and indicia, and pass it off to the editor. I got approval (on the first sketch, woo hoo) with notes to make sure that the girl is blonde, but of a not too specific nationality. You know, sorta like Jessica Alba in the sense that you don't really know what the hell she is, she's just hot. Works for me.

Pencils.

Now that's it's approved, I blow up the small sketch to 11 x 17", place it under my bristol, and lightbox it to create the clean lineart. Similar to the Chaor piece, there are no inks to this lineart, it's just blue pencil to rough in, and then F pencil to create the clean line. There are no spotted blacks used, as I have a very specific look I want the finished art to have, which is to basically look like an animation cell. This is also the reason there is very little deviation to the line art thickness. The background is a flat, dead line weight on purpose, because I want it to recede. The foreground figure has slightly more variety to line but only enough to push it to push it forward some.

Color.

Once again, the marvelous and talented Tony Washington makes me look good with the colors. Tony is so good I really didn't have much direction for him. I only told him two things: 1 - cell shading on the figure with painted backgrounds, and 2 - NO BLUE SKIES. Any colorist that works with me knows I absolutely hate blue skies. Hate them. They're the most boring thing in the world to me. But that's just me. You'll notice between step 2 and 3 her skirt changed some. As I was doing this Sheena's design was still being finalized and it was decided that her skirt was going to change from being a regular skirt to more of a triangular loincloth. So I quickly patched that up via Photoshop.

Revision.

Like I said before, revisions are a part of life. Like death and taxes, know what I mean? So, everyone is like 99% happy with the product thus far. The one thing bugging everyone is, that somehow along the way from layout to pencil to color, she's just not all that cute anymore, lol. Like she's aged a couple years. This kinda stuff happens, where something looks cool in black and white but somehow once it gets to color it aint so cool anymore. So the editors asked me to go in and revise her face, making her a bit younger and cuter. I agreed. Deadline was approaching and I did what I could, but I'll be honest I'm still not 100% happy with her face. Oh well. You do the best you can with the time you have. The rest of it I really, really like however. And there you have it.

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #1 will be out in June.

Random Ish

2007-03-29T11:00:00.001-05:00

Can't speak too much at the moment, got a ton of stuff and no time to do it. So here you go y'all, a few con sketches and a few sketches just for the hell of it. Holla!

Process: Chaor.

2007-03-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

Since this is my sketchblog, I figure I should show you guys some actual artwork, right? Ok. So this is something I plan on showing from time to time, the process that goes into creating some of the artwork I do. This particular piece is card artwork done for Chaotic, the property seen in my very first post. The character is Chaor, who is basically the baddest sumbitch in all of Chaotic. Don't mess with Chaor. So I start off every card by submitting a few different sketches and letting the client pick which one they wanna roll with.
As you can see I try to stay very rough and loose with my sketches. One, because I'm really just trying to workout the composition and the design of the card. And two, I want the client to try and really feel the emotion and energy of what the final card will look like. If I went too clean and tight the lineart would start to stiffen up and would get even stiffer when I went to final cleanup.

After I did the quick pencil sketches I would go in and laydown some very quick greytones so that the sketches would be more legible to the client. It also helps me understand what kind of mood I would like to go for with the piece and it also helps the colorist as well so that we're both on the same page.

The client wound up preferring the second image because they felt that the first one was too busy and they wanted more of the focus to be on the character himself.

Next up is the clean lineart itself. I always have the most fun in this stage. Once the layout and composition is finalized, putting in all the details and crap is the easy part. You'll notice that I changed the character's body type significantly. I just didn't feel like he felt powerful enough with those tiny little legs of his, so I beefed him up and really tried to add some weight and mass to him. I specifically wanted his arms and his legs to look very "heavy," so if this dude hit you. . .well, you'd really feel it. It's stuff like that that really makes the character seem believable, even if it's completely made up. The background also changed some. The client wanted to highlite that this dude wasn't all brawn and had some magic capabilities so we decided to have him controlling the earth and raising lava geysers outta the ground. I didn't put any detail into the geysers themselves because I knew that they would be better represented by the color. One step I neglected to put in was the blue line stage of the lineart. When I do the clean line art, I start off with a blue pencil to rough in the lineart and get all the anatomy and and other stuff laid down. It's very messy. Once that is done I then go over the blue line with either an F or an HB pencil with a clean line. What this done is similar to inking, where I go for as clean and dark a line as possible. I use these specific pencils because the lead is still somewhat hard, but it's also a nice, crisp, dark line. After that is completed I then scan the lineart in and subtract the blue line via Photoshop and all that is left is the dark line. Voila.

And now, the coolest part of all: the color. I got one of my most favorite of colorists, Tony Washington, to lay down the hues, and once again he really added another dimension to this piece and really brought it to life. Before T begins, he and I discuss what story needs to be told with the color and how we need to accomplish it. There are always somethings I want to tell, some he wants to tell, and some things the client wants, so it's always a bit of compromise on everyone's end. I wanted the underlighting that I previously laid down in the sketch, and T nailed it. He also added some incredible atmosphere with the earth texturing and the lava and really added a nice depth to it by making the air behind Chaor very thick. It really gives you the feeling that this guy is 100% evil. I was really happy with the way the color came out.

And finally, corrections. There is almost always something that is asked for by the client to be changed. No matter how hard you try, it's a fact of life. The best you can hope for is that the corrections are minimal. Thankfully in this case they were. 4kids felt that his head, while dramatic, did not read clearly enough, especially since these images would be shrunk down to fit on a trading card. With stuff like this the operative word is "clarity," so if it doesnt read well at full size, it definitely will not read well on a card. So I redid his head. The only other real correction was that 4kids felt Chaor was a little too dark, so T went in and brightened him up a tad. Once that was done, it was a wrap. And there you have it.

Hellboy: Blood & Iron

2007-03-16T16:06:00.001-05:00

Whattup y'all. Just sending out a quick reminder to let everyone know that Hellboy: Blood and Stone will be airing tomorrow (saturday) on Cartoon Network at 7pm. I didn't do much on the show, but I DID get to design one of the two main villains. If you watch, check out Erszebet. . . . that's all me, brotha.

New York Comicon.

2007-03-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

So, I finally, finally did it. I made an "official" blog. Not that I didn't have them before. I mean, I've had one on kharupt.com for years. And I have one on myspace. But till now I haven't been a part of the blog "community". And I felt a lil' left out. So here I be. And this is my first post. So, this being my first post, for those who don't know who I am, let me give you the short version. I'm Khary Randolph. I live in New York. I draw stuff for a living. I've done lots of work for companies like Marvel, DC, Image, Sony, 4kids, blah blah blah. And I love what I do. Every once in a while I crawl out of my little upper east side apartment (affectionately called The Hatch by me and my girl because it's dark and red and kinda looks like The Hatch from Lost) and go to comic book conventions. I go to these things 1) because it's one of the only times when I get to vibe with other creators and get amped up on all the amazing art; 2) I like to meet the fans and get honest reactions to the art; 3) and I say this with no shame whatsoever -- I make good money there. So with all that in mind, I did the New York Comicon February 23-35th, 2007. This one was a big one for me because it was the first time I had ever done signings at tables other than my own. I spent time at both the 4kids/Chaotic booth and at the McFarlane/Spawn. It was a -- wait. Stop. Let's cut all the blogginess out. Just look at the pictures already.

The line. You can't really tell but this extended for blocks. And it was really, really cold outside.

That's my artwork for Chaotic. It was posted on every door of the Javitz Center. Not bad, right?

Me at my table. Notice the ashy hands of someone who washes his hands way too much.
And the bagel crumbs in my lap. Pimp.

The Chaotic booth.My art.

Yup. Mine too.

Oh look is that? Yup. Mine.

Signing autographs.

Preaching the truth to the youth.

Me and Spawn writer Jon Goff at the Mcfarlane booth.

Me, Lesean Thomas, and a Pop Culture Shock girl.
My good friend Lawrence Christmas. He's an angry black man.Andrew Bell, of Creatures in My Head. Yeah, he's gangsta like that.Me and my childhood homeboy Amit.
She will probably kill me the next con I see her, but I cannot remember this girl's name for the life of me. Nonetheless, she was very cool and you should all go buy the book she's promoting.The fruits of a hard day's work. Holla!

Much thanx to everyone who contributed pictures to this blog. You guys keep me lookin' oh so pretty!