My Studio

[Bruce Lee]

This thread will be a short virtual tour of my art studio. I thought that some of you guys might enjoy seeing where I work. Some of these are older photos taken during a remodeling that took place in 2008, so the studio looks pretty clean and tidy. It usually is well maintained, but it's never really as clean as it is in these photos. Heh. Hope you enjoy the pix.


WHERE I WORK

The hallway shelf outside of my studio. Here I keep some Essentials and Showcase volumes, some hardback books, trades, etc.



One of my favorite Marvel posters hangs outside the studio, John Buscema's great Marvel Comicon poster from '75:




I love me some EC Library volumes:


As you walk through the entranceway:



If you're wondering, the artwork on my art desk in this photo is the mountains step-by-step I did for the rock tutorial:



A look to the right side of the room:




Some original Buscema/Chan CONAN pages hang framed on the walls above my computer desk:





Other studio original art that I have framed include Jeremy Dale's awesome Storm, Nate Lovett's killer Dr. Girlfriend/Monarch art, Morganza's incredible X-MEN #137 cover recreation, and Kris Diaz's Harley Quinn. I'll try to take some pix of those pieces soon.

This framed poster hangs to the right of my art desk:


And now a glance to the left side of the room:



Display case:

























Guardians of the studio:



Hulk pulls guard duty:





Marx Dinosaurs on the march:



Beware of this guy walking around. He looks like trouble...



Every studio needs some inspiration, so I have some original art hanging on the walls, as well as this little lithograph. John Buscema was the Man (that Ross guy's okay too)!:



Superman, Man of Tomorrow tin sign:

[Eric Henson]

Nice set-up and great Hulk statues!

[Lonrott]

Really great set up. I have boxes and a mess of sorts.
Do you have alternative comics also?

[Bruce Lee]

Really great set up. I have boxes and a mess of sorts.
Do you have alternative comics also?

The bulk of my collection is main stream superhero comics, but I do have a large collection of non-superhero comics. These days I mostly collect vintage comics from the 1960s and 1970s. I have a large collection of '60s Lee/Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR, Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, early Trimpe-era INCREDIBLE HULK issues, Kirby-era MIGHTY THOR, and Neal Adams era BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS. I have a very large collection of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN and CONAN THE BARBARIAN comics too. I have all the Wein/Wrightson issues of SWAMP THING, and I have a growing horde of indy books from Warren Publishing-- magazine books like EERIE, CREEPY, and VAMPIRELLA. I have some Golden Age comics from the '50s--mostly EC Comics titles like WEIRD SCIENCE. I have some indy comics from the '80s like ROCKETEER, LOVE & ROCKETS, and a lot of things of that nature. I have some off the wall comics like MILK & CHEESE and a few issues of HATE lying around in a box someplace. I have everything from cartoon books like CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, BETTY & VERONICA, SPEED BUGGY and a lot of Charlton horror comics, etc.

[Eldeeff]

Wow. I wish I had such an inviting environment.

[Bruce Lee]

Wow. I wish I had such an inviting environment.

Thank for the compliment, Luke. I'm glad you think it's inviting. I've spent years trying to make it so. My studio was once consisted of a tiny little art desk, one very cheap desk lamp, a padded folding chair, and two plastic milk crates that served as a make-shift shelf--all tucked into the corner of an apartment bedroom. In the early days of my professional career, I had no money for anything, and I struggled some early on, but for the last decade I've been doing okay for myself. It's taken me 15 years to build up such a fun place to work. With every pro gig I did, I made sure to invest some of the money back into my studio. A reference book here, some art equipment there, and occasionally some toys and other junk for the hell of it. Heh. It's a real morale boost to work in an environment of your own making, and it's a good thing to love what you do for a living. I never take my studio for granted because I worked hard to get it, and I couldn't be more proud of it.

[fusciart]

Those EC volumes make my mouth water. I have a couple of the Crypt ones. I have an imac also and they are sweet. Saving up for a 27". Like the Rick Baker Frank desktop too.

[Bruce Lee]

Those EC volumes make my mouth water. I have a couple of the Crypt ones. I have an imac also and they are sweet. Saving up for a 27". Like the Rick Baker Frank desktop too.

I love the EC Library editions, Rich, and I'd love to have the 27" Imac. For now though, I'm very happy with the 24" model. It's proven to be one of my best investments for the studio.

[fusciart]

Those Buscema/Chan pieces are amazing also. I've got a framed Byrne page from Namor on the wall by my drafting table along with a Gene Colan Dracula sketch. I just got to signed prints from Jack Davis and Burne Hogarth I need to frame.

[Bruce Lee]

Those Buscema/Chan pieces are amazing also. I've got a framed Byrne page from Namor on the wall by my drafting table along with a Gene Colan Dracula sketch. I just got to signed prints from Jack Davis and Burne Hogarth I need to frame.

I wish I owned some Gene Colan art--even a sketch would be great! I'd love to see a scan of the Dracula sketch, man! I have many pieces of original art that I still need to frame. After that, I'd have to figure out where I could hang them. heh.