I started using this garish image as my user icon around the web this week. But I'm not exactly sure how to explain what's going on here.

If I were to describe it based upon my original drawing, I guess I'd say "a squid getting stabbed through the head by a very liberal interpretation Aquaman's freakish hook hand."

But I'm not really sure that description properly captures the effect of this cropped image, one which eliminates both Aquaman and the tentacles of the squid. Not to mention that the squid is orange and the background is pink, thus altering the meaning of both the creature and the setting.

So I dunno what to say about this cartoon other than "I like it." If you can think of a better way to describe it, lemme know!

Originally drawn for Sequential Underground's Strip Club v1.

I drew this back in 2006, when I first started dating Justique. She dug the Harry Potter books, and I wanted to sketch something that'd be familiar to her.

So I fused my love of antiquated, macho, gun-toting action heroes with her love of magical, modern, sensitive teen heroes... and voila! Arnold meets Radcliffe to birth a "Badass Bloodbath."

Justique unearthed this gem the other day when she was flipping through one of her old journals. And, as you can see, the ink from my Paper Mate Flair pen has bled a little bit, giving the drawing a nice extra sloppy effect in places.

Share this on: Facebook -- Tumblr -- deviantART -- Flickr -- Google+

Anyway, in early 2005, I decided to print out a portfolio. So I went to Kinko's and scanned eight of my favorite drawings. And this Havok sketch made the cut:

Havok is one of my favorite comic book characters. I love the themes at work with him, especially how he tends to struggle with unwanted power and responsibility. I'm a bit of a Havok fanatic, having followed the character from Uncanny X-Men to X-Factor to Mutant X back to Uncanny X-Men, and, soon, back to X-Factor!

Visually, few characters can hold a candle to his original design by Neal Adams. It's gorgeous in its simplicity and complexity, especially under the pencil of Jim Lee. I also like his 90s redesigns by Joe Quesada, Jeff Matsuda, and Tom Raney.

My visual rendition is a mix between Havok's classic look and Sunspot's silhouette form. Also, I decided to try out a more tactile representation of Havok's concentric circle plasma blasts (which, if you notice here, appear to be made of the same material as the bands on his head).

I wish I was the type of artist that could eloquently capture the negative image effect of his powers and the perfect overlapping circles of his blasts. But neither of those effects are in my bag of tricks, so instead you get this version!

Regardless, to this day I have a special place in my heart for this sketch, and that's why I've dredged it up... FROM THE VAULTS!!!

Also: Tumblr

See, Lisa-Marie Wilson (@upsetapplecart) had expressed regret that she was already following me because she wanted a combination animal sketch too. So who better than to make my honorary 500th follower?

She requested an echidna tortoise, which is a brilliantly crazy combination. Her request was the first time I'd ever heard of an echidna, and it took me several tries to get this sketch right.

Anyway, suffice to say that I was all sketched out after this. So when I gained my 600th follower a week ago, I offered them a non-art related prize. However, I'm sure I'll be back to sketching by the time I hit 700. Stay tuned for the results!!!

ALSO:
Echidna Tortoise on Twitter
Echidna Tortoise on Tumblr
Echidna Tortoise on deviantART
Echidna Tortoise on Flickr

There isn't too much of a story behind this sketch -- when I thought my first 500th follower didn't reply to my sketch offer, I contacted a second person (who had literally become my new 500th follower... I assume someone unfollowed me).

And just like my previous 500th follower, Stafford Huyler sent me his request for a Duck Cat Horse as a direct message. And by the time I realized that, I'd already sent a tweet to a third person.

I found Stafford's request to be unique in that I was comfortable drawing all of the animals he wanted, but creating the combination was tricky!

FRIDAY: My third and final combination animal sketch!!!

ALSO:
Duck Cat Horse on Twitter
Duck Cat Horse on Tumblr
Duck Cat Horse on deviantART
Duck Cat Horse on Flickr

Author David Corbet was my original 500th follower. So I tweeted him and asked him what he wanted for his sketch. And I waited. And waited.

I never saw a reply from him even though he was tweeting other stuff. So I figured he was ignoring me. And I decided to select another 500th follower for the prize.

But I failed to cover all my bases! See, I never expected David to send me a DM. However that's exactly what he did and I found it days later after I'd already offered the sketch to two other people.

So I decided to do the honorable thing and draw all three of the requests. Hence David's Monkey Bear that you see here.

WEDNESDAY: The combination animal requested by my 2nd 500th follower!!!

ALSO:
Monkey Bear on Twitter
Monkey Bear on Tumblr
Monkey Bear on deviantART
Monkey Bear on Flickr

Nearly a month ago, I completed this piece for my 400th Twitter follower, Chris K of Zany Comics (@zanycomics). I offered to draw a personalized mythical creature for the 400th person to follow Super Haters on Twitter, and Chris chose a dragon. And when I asked him if he wanted to kick it up a notch, he suggested a machine gun arm and an eye patch. BRILLIANT!

If you dig this sketch, then git yerself back here next Monday when I'll be sharing the first of three Combination Animals that I drew for my three 500th followers on Twitter. (Yes, "three 500th followers." It's a long story.)

ALSO:
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on Tumblr
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on deviantART
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on Flickr

My Nik Furious song Essential* was included in the new promotional video for the upcoming Pittsburgh Zine Fair. This event is happening on the evening of Sept 1st at AIR in Pittsburgh.

Also watch the video to check out some of my art! You can see my fishbowl collabo with Justique Wooldridge @ 0:22, and @ 0:27 you can see me flipping through an old copy of my zine, NoPants.

*From my album, Brilliant Shower. You can listen to the full song using the Flash player here.

By now, I'm already well past 333 followers, and I'll be doing another crazy sketch for the 400th Super Haters follower, so hurry up and start following Super Haters before it's too late! (And, yes, I follow back.)

Three on deviantART
Three on Tumblr
Three on Flickr

This Stick Cats pin up was originally drawn (and I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, so bear with me) as a mural for the indie book store experiment, Fleeting Pages.

See, the book store was occupying the space of a closed down Borders. And the former Borders was so big that Fleeting Pages could only fill up the second floor with books. That meant there was a giant first floor that was sitting around empty!

Jodi, the creator and manager of Fleeting Pages, put out a request for black and white art that could be printed out on a large scale and turned into an installation sort of thing. Not a mural exactly, but I don't really know a better word for it.

To be more specific, it wasn't as simple as being printed out and taped up -- Jodi wanted the image to be something with multiple planes because she has a unique process for turning a single image into a three-dimensional display. So I took an hour or so and dreamed up this Stick Cats scene with a foreground, midground, and background (obviously there's no background here in this pin up... that's because I think the action looks better without it!).

Honestly, I never quite understood the process she was planning to use. I'm a cartoonist that makes 2D digital images. Jodi knows all about about mixing art and spaces, but explaining the technical aspects of preparing my digital art for her 3D display was tough. So the mural/installation/3D display was never printed.

But that's all good because I'm psyched to share this moody Stick Cats action scene with you, mural or not!

When I asked Charlie what he wanted to see on it, he said:

It needs wings. And robotic legs. And missile launchers. And sabertooth fangs.

And when I asked him what "rating" the unicorn should have, he said:

NC-17, R18 - the highest in every country.

So I also made him this extremely NSFW variant version of the unicorn (since it's rather adult, you have to click the link to see it).

Thx Charlie!!! And make sure you're following @super_haters because I'll be doing more fun stuff like this in the future.

More:
- Hi-res regular version on deviantART
- Hi-res NSFW version on deviantART
- NSFW rainbow version on Tumblr
- Regular rainbow version on Flickr

It's the eight-headed menace! The cutest, evilest stick figure of all time!

It's... the Octo-Kitty!!! (You can also check out the Octo-Kitty on deviantART.)

Also, I'm happy to say that I've added a navigation system to Stick Cats so you can read the all the SC comics with ease. It looks like this:

Followers of Super Haters and Time Log will already be familiar with this little doodad. But even if you've never seen it before, I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

My A Deadpool A Day stick figure sketch series set to the Nik Furious song Purple Suite from the album Brilliant Shower.

This post is by no means a declaration of intent. I'm not gonna say that I'll be posting another stick figure member of the Fantastic Four next Friday. It's possible that you'll see another Fantastic Fridays post in the future, but I make no guarantees.

I drew Thing way (WAY!) back in 2010 when I was trying to sort out my next series of stick figure sketches. That series ended up being Green Thursdays, and not Thing Thursdays. I mean, that woulda been kinda boring, right?

stick figure Thing on deviantART
stick figure Thing on Tumblr

It's the end of the Monster Guy artistic process series!!

I showed you the line art, explained why I decided to use color holds, and shared my interior colors. The only differences between this final version and the interior colors are that I decided the final needed a background color to properly pop, and I also added some raw color edges to the monster.

Those raw color edges may look familiar to you if you've been following this series. I showed them to you back in my blog post about the color line art. The raw edge is actually the messy color I painted beneath the white line art shell to create my knockouts in the first place. I clicked them on by mistake when I was editing the layers of this piece, and I decided I liked how they looked. Accidental awesome!

Thx for checking out the artistic process of this sketch. If you dig Monster Guy, you can buy a print of it on deviantART.

Monster Guy around the web:
...on deviantART
...on Flickr
...on Tumblr

THAT'S A WRAP! Goodbye, Green Thursdays. I won't miss you. And I mean that in the most affectionate way.

Don't get me wrong. I loved drawing and posting these Green Lantern sketches. I especially loved dreaming up the things I'd do with a Power Ring (I'm gonna let you guess which ones are my own personal fantasies!!!). But I'm sick of these doodles. They've been drawn for nearly five months now and it's time for me to move on.

Thx for following along! If you want more stick figure art from moi, don't worry -- there's my weekly Stick Cats webcomic and I'm always posting random stick figures when the mood strikes me.

- Schlurp Lantern on Tumblr
- Schlurp Lantern on deviantART
- Schlurp Lantern on Flickr

This Green Thursdays is inspired by two different things.

First up is Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. It's a boogie blues song by the masters of funky, sloppy electric blues. Great stuff.

Second up is an experience from my teenage years. Back in the 90s, wig companies used to offer free "wig previews" -- you send them a photo of your face, and they'd use whatever old school image editing program they used back then to make a digital print out of you "trying on" four of the wigs. My friend Josiah sent away for one of those freebies, and I'll tell you what...

He looked damn good in those wigs. My favorite was the curly blonde.

- Wig Lantern on Tumblr
- Wig Lantern on deviantART
- Wig Lantern on Flickr

Last time, I described the decision making process that led me to using color holds on the Monster Guy line art. This time, I'm sharing my interior colors!

Not a ton to explain here -- I'd already done most of my color selections during the knockouts stage, and I knew I wanted to go with slightly lighter or more muted tones to fill in the guts.

Well, for the most part, that is. A few areas received more vibrant tones for the interiors (the drool, the undersides of the tentacles, the eyes).

And, overall, I liked the result. But I didn't love it... which leads me to the next and final installment of the Monster Guy process, coming soon!!! See you then.

Green Thursdays gets messy!! I mean, seriously, wouldn't you do the same?

You're in some remote corner of space... there's no baddie to battle and you've really gotta drop one. It's tough pooping in space without the comforts of home (Earth, that is). So you make yourself a little green energy toilet and relax your bowels.

AHHHHHHHHHH. Yes.

Now that's the Green Lantern way.

- Poop Lantern on deviantART
- Poop Lantern on Tumblr
- Poop Lantern on Flickr

Okay so last week I shared the plain old black and white line art. And this week I'm back with the color line art!!!

When I first started coloring Monster Guy I wasn't sure how I wanted to tackle it. I certainly don't have anything against color holds, but at the same time, I don't choose to use them that often.

For some reason, I went nuts with the knockouts on this one. I just got really into it. And the process I used for the color holds was a little unconventional for me.

Anyone who knows my working process knows that I have a quirk -- I hate working with my line art layer set to multiply. I prefer to scan in my work as a 1200 DPI bitmap file, and then I separate the blacks from the whites.

And that's what I did for Monster Guy. But in the process of that, I realized that I was left with a white shell:

I decided to create my color holds by working underneath that white layer and using it as a mask. So, for example, if you were to hide that white shell layer, this is what the colors look like:

Because the white mask layer was originally made from a bitmap and it was composed of rigid pixels, I was able to merge the white layer with the colors underneath, and then easily delete away the white, leaving me with the color line art you see at the top of this post. VOILA!!!

Next time, I'll dig deeper into my interior coloring decisions for the penultimate installment of the Monster Guy artistic process!

Not only is this the sickest (in as many meanings of the word as possible) of my Green Thursdays sketches... it's also animated!!! And if you like still images, don't worry -- I've got one of those as well.

And what's that you say? You prefer little animated gifs? I gotcha covered:

I mean, look, let's be honest -- if you had a Power Ring and you could do whatever you wanted with it, you can't tell me you wouldn't at least TRY to give yourself a big glowing green penis. Just for a second. Behind closed doors. While staring in the mirror. Recording yourself with a webcam.

- NSFW Lantern (animated) on deviantART
- NSFW Lantern (not animated) on deviantART
- NSFW Lantern on Flickr

As I mentioned last weekend, I'm going to be sharing a step-by-step look at the creation process of my Monster Guy illustration. I did a similar behind-the-scenes series of blog posts for last year's Explorers of the Unknown pinup, and you can expect the Monster Guy series to be similar.

I mean, that's not to say the process for this cartoon was exactly the same as my Explorers piece... because there are some decided differences that'll become apparent when I post next weekend. But this first step -- the line art -- isn't going to hold any surprises. SORRY!

Mainly, there's one thing that's unique about Monster Guy's line art: zero mistakes! About 99% of the time, I draw in pen or marker, and that means my original line art typically contains some flaws that I smooth over after I scan. This time around, I didn't have to worry about that because the sketch came out solid on the first try.

Next weekend I'll share my color line art and that's when things'll get interesting

This work is a culmination of sorts, taking my recent obsession with stick figures to a visual and thematic climax. If you're interested in my description of this piece that will accompany it at the show, check out this PDF.

The image you see above is a scanned and cleaned up version of the original. While they're almost identical, they're not exactly the same. I flattened the colors for the web because the original was done in marker. Here's a photo of the original. And here's the digital version on deviantART.

YEEAAHHH! And now the fun Green Thursdays begin!!! First up, is this, uhhh... romantic sketch depicting Green Lantern with his imaginary lover.

The boob'd stick figure is something I first drew for my girlfriend a few years back and she got a kick out of it. I kept drawing them, and eventually they worked their way into my gallery piece that's on display tomorrow night at the Sugar Factory art show. And I'm going to post my scan of said gallery piece tomorrow here on the blog.

MORE STICK FIGURES + MORE BOOBS = MORE FUN.

- Babe Lantern on deviantART
- Babe Lantern on Flickr

Starting next week, I'm going to launch a step-by-step look at the making of this cartoon (I call it "Monster Guy")! From the line art through to the finished product, I'll show you each stop along the way and explain why I made the choices I made.

In the meantime, check out this NSFW piece (I call it "Hollywood") that I contributed to an upcoming fundraiser for Pittsburgh's Future Tenant art gallery.

I'm baaaaack! I took a brief hiatus to go to SPACE and give a talk and make a video and then to catch up on Super Haters. And thusly Green Thursdays has returned.

Not much to say this week except that it's the last week of Green Lantern where I feel like I'm dealing with conceptually tame or potentially uninteresting material. But... this sketch makes me think of this: "ROWR! ROWR! Like a Dungeon Dragon!"

- Sharp Teeth Lantern on deviantART
- Sharp Teeth Lantern on Flickr

A completely nonsensical Green Thursdays entry considering Green Lantern flies everywhere.

On the flip, there's only one more boring sketch (next week) and then shit starts to get really weird!!!!!1111111

- Parachute Lantern on deviantART
- Parachute Lantern on Flickr

Green Thursdays RETURNS! I know I skipped last week... I wasn't really feeling it, so I took the week off. BUT I'M BACK -- GET TO THA CHOPPA!!!

- Muscle Lantern on deviantART
- Muscle Lantern on Flickr
- Muscle Lantern on Tumblr

AHHHH it's so clever I can barely stand it!!! He's creating his own logo with the power ring!! OMG! WTF! FTW! LOLCATS!!!

Anyway, I'm feeling a bit uninspired today, so that's why you're getting Logo Lantern. Don't get me wrong -- I think Logo Lantern is sweet. In fact, it's one of my favorites of the Green Thursdays series. It just requires minimum work on my part, so that makes it easy on me.

BTW, this was the first Green Lantern stick figure sketch I did, and I think it best captures the emotions I'm trying to encapsulate with this series -- clueless idiocy and indifferent sarcasm.

- Logo Lantern on deviantART
- Logo Lantern on Flickr
- Logo Lantern on Tumblr

Awwww yeah! $240 worth of pudding! Awww yeah!! Waitaminute... wrong topic. This is more like $240,000 worth of solid emerald and jade jewelry.

And while I'm diverging... why did Chuck Norris stop making martial arts movies? I mean, I know war is almost always a part of his flicks, but I prefer the ones that are street fighting / martial arts as opposed to the ones in a war (and it's almost always Vietnam-esque) setting. WHAT'S THE DEAL, CHUCK? He was on a tear for a few years there, putting out some awesome martial arts b-movies in the late 70s / early 80s.

Oh well. Sometimes I get my Green Thursdays confused with other stuff. My bad. ("You got Chuck Norris film commentary in my Green Thursdays! You got Green Lantern stick figure in my Chuck Norris movie rant!")

- Bling Lantern on deviantART
- Bling Lantern on Flickr

Yeah, I guess this doodle would have made more sense in purple... BUT GODDAMN IT HE'S GREEN LANTERN NOT STAR SAPPHIRE (*cough* Star Sapphires have sexist costumes *cough*) and that's why it's a green king latern!!!

Look, I have a confession -- I'm not a big Green Lantern fan. You'd think I am with this Green Thursdays sketch series and all, but nope.

I mean, I think GL's got one of the sweetest powers around and I like playing as him in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe... but I've never been a voracious Green Lantern comics reader.

Look, this has nothing do with the sketch. I know. But I wanted to add some text to this post and I don't have anything else to say. Soooo... I'll see you next week.

- King Lantern on deviantART
- King Lantern on Flickr

NO! This sketch is NOT a thinly veiled weed reference! It's just a picture of Green Lantern saying hi. THAT'S IT.

Anyway, this is one of my most "accessible" Green Thursdays sketches. Things are gonna start to get weirder as the sketches progress. That's for sure.

But for now, savor the cuteness while you can.

- Hi Lantern on deviantART
- Hi Lantern on Flickr

Welcome to my new sketch series, Green Thursdays! I really enjoyed posting A Deadpool A Day in December, but DAAAAAMN it's a lot of work maintaining a daily sketch series. I think weekly is much more my speed.

As you can see, the current subject is none other than Green Lantern. Don't worry if it's Hal or John or Kyle or Guy... just know that it's a wiseass stick figure who somehow managed to score a green power ring and now said stick figure is living it up, Lantern style!

I mean, Green Lantern's powers are all about wish fulfillment, right? So expect to see both hilarious and serious wish fulfillment scenarios here on Green Thursdays.

In fact, today's Skate Lantern is a wish fulfillment of my own -- many of you may not know it, but I've always wanted to be badass skateboarder! But I didn't enjoy practicing tricks, and instead I focused on cartooning and music (which I did enjoy practicing). That's why NickMarino.net is full of sketches and songs, and not pics of me tearing up a half-pipe.

Anyhoo, Green Lantern will be the focus of Green Thursdays for the foreseeable future, so be back here next week for more power ring shenannigans!!!

- Skate Lantern on deviantART
- Skate Lantern on Flickr

NICKMARINO SELF-PORTRAIT? Cryptic much? YES!

EDIT: The code has been cracked!!! (A little too quickly, if you ask me...)

As the image says, Tabitha wins a portrait done in a similar style (if she wants one, that is!). And you know if I draw her one, it'll get posted here!!! Well, not here in this blog post... but here on my blog.

A sketch of Justique FOR Justique!

#20 - Tudepool

And that's a wrap! See what DP's doing up there? That's his way of saying thx for checking out the sketches and GOODBYE!

And, though I'm done blogging my Deadpool doodles, that doesn't mean my stick figure sketches are over and done with. In fact, I'm proud to announce...

Green Thursdays!!!

Posting A Deadpool A Day was tough cause, ya know, it was daily. But I loved doing it. So I'm going weekly starting Thursday, January 6th 13th with a series of Green Lantern stick figure sketches. SEE YOU THEN!

EDIT (01/06/2011): I really wanted to have my new Green Thursdays sketch feature up and running today, but it'll have to wait until next week. In the meantime, I'll have some more awesome stick figure news! Keep your peepers peeled for updates.

- A Deadpool A Day - #20 Tudepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #20 Tudepool on deviantART

#19 - Sadpool

Wade Wilson is grieving the end of a A Deadpool A Day!!! There's only one more day to go (and it's a doozy).

Now that we're in the homestretch, I want to send out a HUGE thx to Rob Liefeld for creating Deadpool. I've really enjoyed drawing these stick figure sketches and sharing them, and without Rob it never would have happened.

- A Deadpool A Day - #19 Sadpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #19 Sadpool on deviantART

#18 - Chefpool

A Deadpool A Day + flapjacks = good times!

- A Deadpool A Day - #18 Chefpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #18 Chefpool on deviantART

#17 - Loungepool

A Deadpool A Day relaxes with this stupendous sketch. Justique sayz: "He's wearing a fez. Nuff said. I think it's funny in its own right!" Thx, Justique!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #17 Loungepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #17 Loungepool on deviantART

#16 - Conepool

I'm surprised I didn't draw more food-focused A Deadpool A Day sketches... there's only this one and tomorrow's post.

It's because stick figure Deadpool doesn't look right with a mouth. In fact, Gunpool and Swordpool both had mouths in their original forms, but I took them out when I scanned the sketches in. And that's why Conepool is having a tough time getting a lick of his melting ice cream!

- A Deadpool A Day - #16 Conepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #16 Conepool on deviantART

#15 - Pootpool

After all those holiday parties, A Deadpool A Day is feeling a little gassy!!! Oh, and big ups to Shawn Atkins, who suggested this pose for the the 'Pool.

- A Deadpool A Day - #15 Pootpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #15 Pootpool on deviantART

#14 - Hitchpool

It's unlikely that I'm going to top yesterday's A Deadpool A Day offerings... so I figure I'll just give up and deliver this sketch, my most mediocre of the series.

This was supposed to be Deadpool giving a thumbs up, but I drew his leg like that and now it looks like he's hitchhiking. So the question is -- if you saw stick figure Deadpool on the side of the road trying to hitch a ride, would you pick him up???

- A Deadpool A Day - #14 Hitchpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #14 Hitchpool on deviantART

#13 - Vomitpool

This is the second half of my double shot of Xmas gifts for you! Here's the first half: Sickpool!!!

Personally, I regard this sketch as the crown jewel of my A Deadpool A Day series. It's also my tribute to Rod Stewart.

- A Deadpool A Day - #13 Vomitpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #13 Vomitpool on deviantART

#12 - Sickpool

MERRY XMAS!!! My gift to you is a double shot of A Deadpool A Day sketches, starting with this one and continuing on to the logical conclusion.

This is what happens when Deadpool stresses too much about his holiday shopping chopping and doesn't get enough sleep and/or proper nutrition. [WAIT... come to think about it, he's a near-unkillable mercenary that can regenerate from almost any wound, so he probably can't get sick....]

- A Deadpool A Day - #12 Sickpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #12 Sickpool on deviantART

#11 - Pantspool

A Deadpool A Day stays fashion forward with the final installment of the "Deadpool wears stuff" series of sketches.

TOMORROW: An Xmas double shot of Deadpool!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #11 Pantspool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #11 Pantspool on deviantART

#10 - Shirtpool

I was traveling yesterday and didn't get to post my A Deadpool A Day! Normally, that would mean I'd double-up today, but I think I'll let it wait till Xmas and give you a double Deadpool gift!!!

Anyway, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Deadpool wearing a shirt. A Hawaiian shirt. Pretty awesome, no?

- A Deadpool A Day - #10 Shirtpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #10 Shirtpool on deviantART

#9 - Coldpool

It's officially first day of winter, and Deadpool's ready to rock!!! This is just the first A Deadpool A Day to feature stick figure Wade Wilson wearing clothes. Yeah, I know, not revolutionary. But fun!

This is one of my favorite sketches from this series. I like little snuggly Deadpool in his winter gear. It follows a progression from yesterday's Mousepool, contrasting the cute appearance of the drawing to the deadly nature of the character.

- A Deadpool A Day - #9 Coldpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #9 Coldpool on deviantART

#8 - Mousepool

As a kid, I never would have dreamed that a former psychotic murderer / black ops assassin would have become the lead in an all-ages billion dollar movie franchise and have his face plastered on stuffed animals and children's clothing across the world. But that's exactly what Marvel's done with Wolverine.

So I figure it's not that far of a stretch to imagine that -- in another 20 years -- Deadpool will be a plush kiddie toy and an international superhero icon. Thus A Deadpool A Day brings you a vision from the future... a future wherein Marvel (and their parent company, Disney) have decided to promote Deadpool IV: Cable's Gambit all over Disneyworld with a Mickey Mouse / Merc with a Mouth mashup.

- A Deadpool A Day - #8 Mousepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #8 Mousepool on deviantART

#7 - Superpool

Faster than a speeding bullet wound! More powerful than a runaway hobo train! Able to eat huge hoagies in a single bite! A Deadpool A Day brings you... SUPERPOOL!

Wade Wilson is the last son of the planet Crapton. His parents sent him hurtling towards Earth in a broke-down jalopy rocketship to save his life. He crash-landed in Detroit and was discovered by the Wilsons, who raised him as their own. Now he fights for lying, murder, and the Machiavellian way!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #7 Superpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #7 Superpool on deviantART

#6 - Batpool

BANHA-BAHNA-BAHNA-BAHNA BATPOOL!!! Deadpool, being the master assassin that he is, must sometimes don a disguise, right? Thus A Deadpool A Day gets down with the Distinguished Competition and slips on the ol' cape and cowl!

Personally, I love the iconic (and easy to draw!) quality of Batman's cowl. The shape is so simple, and it's instantly recognizable. And that's why I just couldn't resist mixing that style with the core elements of my stick figure Deadpool formula.

- A Deadpool A Day - #6 Batpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #6 Batpool on deviantART

#5 - Starepool

I never guaranteed that A Deadpool A Day would be exciting every single time!!! In all seriousness, I couldn't avoid drawing this pose. Those simple little puppy dog eyes just begged to be the sole focus of at least one of my sketches.

I like this one because, to me, it tells a story -- I envision 'Pool walking somewhere, feeling a watchful gaze on him, and turning slowly to the side to confront the viewer. Plus, Deadpool is breaking the 4th wall by staring directly at you, which any Deadpool fan will recognize as a hallmark of the character.

- A Deadpool A Day - #5 Starepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #5 Starepool on deviantART

#4 - Flamepool

After doing a few of these A Deadpool A Day sketches, I found myself... umm, how could I say? At a loss for ideas. I imagined Deadpool in a bunch of action poses, but that was about it.

It took my friend and fellow artist Dan Greenwald to help me break out of the box. I asked for a suggestion and he said, "draw him with his arm on fire." LET IT BE DONE!

- A Deadpool A Day - #4 Flamepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #4 Flamepool on deviantART

#3 - Swingpool

This was one of the first poses that came to my mind when I started doing A Deadpool A Day sketches. I guess it's because I was reared on old school heroes, like the Super Friends and the Batman 60s show and the corny live-action Spider-Man show and Claremont's swashbuckling Nightcrawler.

So when I think of superheroes, I often think of them swinging in on ropes to save the day or kick some butt. Kinda silly of me in today's tech-heavy hero atmosphere. But I figure Wade Wilson would swing in on a rope just for dramatic effect!

- A Deadpool A Day - #3 Swingpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #3 Swingpool on deviantART

#2 - Gunpool

This was my first successful A Deadpool A Day sketch. To me, it's very much in the Deadpool tradition... and, as you'll see soon, not all of my daily DP sketches are quite as traditional.

When I think of Wade Wilson, I think of his Merc with a Mouth reputation -- I think of him being hired to shoot people. So this pic here, one could say, is my most subconscious conceptualization of Liefeld's enigmatic anti-hero.

- A Deadpool A Day - #2 Gunpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #2 Gunpool on deviantART

#1 - Swordpool

Backstory: I was at Pittsburgh's Steel City Con a couple weeks ago. I was without accessible electricity or Internet. Forced to use pen and paper *gasp*, I inadvertently stumbled onto a formula for drawing a simple stick figure Deadpool.

I went nuts on the concept and busted out 20 of them from Friday thru Sunday. So for the rest of 2010, I'll be posting one-a-day until you're screaming "Make it stop, Nick! No more Deadpool!!!"

- A Deadpool A Day - #1 Swordpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #1 Swordpool on deviantART

- A lumpy, heavily photo-ref'd self portrait:

- Warning to all podcasters out there using podPress on their WordPress blogs: don't update to podPress 8.8.8! It's got some weird flaw that kills your podcast RSS feed. Stick with 8.8.6.3. I had to find that out the hard way.

- I'm launching a daily sketch series next Monday called A Deadpool A Day in December. I was at the Steel City Con over the weekend, and the stupid Monroeville Convention Center doesn't have wifi or openly accessible electricity for vendors, so I was forced to use pen and paper. My Deadpool sketches will run daily though the end of the month.

- Ongoing: Time Log, AudioShocker Podcast, A Podcast with Ross and Nick (and EXTREME), Sequential Underground, Soulboxer, Pepper Jones, and CENSORED (hehe).

I'm officially accepting cartoon commissions for the holiday season! Now you can begin 2011 as the proud owner of some original Nick Marino art!!!

But what kind of art, you ask?
- Custom greeting cards
- Personalized party invitations
- Original designs for t-shirts
- Caricatures of family and friends
- Facebook profile pictures
- And much much more...

If you can think of it, I can do it!

Email nickmarino at gmail dot com for a price quote on your commission request. Plus, you can pay me through PayPal, so I accept all major credit cards.

And, of course, no need to worry -- I'm versed in all holiday classics, so I can draw whatever you need. That includes Robot Moses, the Jewish Santa...

When you're an artist, a lot of work never sees the light of day. Take, for example, these cartoon sketches of wunderkind sibling scratchers, DJ Sara and Ryusei.

A friend of mine from high school landed a sweet job with a major record label and contacted me out-of-the-blue one day in 2008. This friend (who will remain anonymous unless they decide to out themselves in the comments!) asked if I'd be interested in creating some cartoons of these Japanese turntable prodigies.

My style at the time was VERY raw, and I don't think it clicked with the material. My friend was super nice about my sub-par product, but I had to regretfully bow out of the project because it just wasn't working for me creatively.

But I loved learning about these two awesome kids and listening to their turntablism! So there you have it -- one of my secret past projects... FROM THE VAULTS!!!

A very Hellfire Club-ish Jean Grey, penciled by Armeleia (here and here) and inked by me.

I'm petrified, terrified
At the thought you could verify
The secret I've striven to keep.

Katherine Heigl on trial
I'm suing for libel
If you discover my failure to launch.

Confused? Good. You should be. Find out more at Pittsburgh's Small Press Festival this Sat-Sun (25-26) from 12-5 PM.

I also dig the subject. I've been wanting to work with a personified cactus character for some time now, and I guess this is the culmination of my previous efforts.

I've made some earlier attempts here and there, but nothing quite so solid. Anyway, I'm thinking that this guy will be the subject of my 24 Hour Comics Day effort this year.

- the upcoming Time Log webcomic (only one more week to go!)

- the most recent (and final, for the time being) story arc on Super Haters

- a new opening theme for the Comic Book Pitt podcast (the song itself will be available on my next album, 7 Star Sky Flash Kick, due out whenever I have 13 original tracks mixed and mastered for release)

- Project Basement, a fan art collection of raw, energetic pieces

- coordinating the comics end of SPF 2010 (SPF as in Pittsburgh's Small Press Festival)

- contributing to the Sequential Underground Strip Club vol 1 (a rotating series of fast and fun comic strips)

- getting the Time Log one-shot into a ton of stores (shout outs to Dragon's Lair in San Antonio and Austin, Tribe in Austin, Atomic Comics in San Antonio, Alien Worlds in San Antonio, St. Mark's Comics in Manhattan NYC, Comicazi in Somerville MA, Hub Comics in Somerville, New England Comics in Cambridge, Copacetic Comics in Pittsburgh, and Phantom of the Attic Comics in Oakland/Pittsburgh -- all these shops picked up copies of Time Log to sell in their stores)

- and doing this Sleepwalker sketch for Ross because he took my Henry Poole is Here challenge:

Sir Log-a-Lot is definitely Burger King inspired, while The Living Bling is someone that my followers will be seeing again in the very near future!

First up is... well, the title says it all. Goat Boy was a very spontaneous sort of thing, while Mecha Ram was a bit more intentional.

Let's end things with my simple Batman sketch. I tried to capture the basic iconics of the character -- costume, setting, and mood. It's probably a bit overly simple, but that's what I dig about it.

Up next is robot Moses, a request from my friend and frequent collaborator, Shawn Atkins. "Let my robots go!"

First up is an alligator taking a shower. Believe it or not, this is not even close to the first time I've drawn an alligator taking a shower. Seriously.

No, this isn't THE best of Dr. Sketchy's for Feb 2010... it's MY best piece from the Pittsburgh Dr. Sketchy's in Feb 2010. The theme was Sketchily Clad, a lingerie series of bizarre burlesque poses.