The Art and Life of Andrew Siegel

Thor Review & My Best to Worst of Marvel Movies.

2011-05-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

3 words…Thor. Was. Awesome!!! That’s the short of it right there no more need to be said but I will anyway. Now I wouldn’t say it was 5 out of 5 stars (maybe 4) nor would I give it 2 thumbs way up or any of that jazz (but pretty close), but as the Marvel movies go, Iron Man being the top of the top and Ghost Rider being the one to forget I’d say Thor would be right there between Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2.

To give a bit of perspective here is my list of Marvel movies (that I’ve seen at least and as of right now). From Best to worst and not including any of the animated features, other Marvel imprints and made for T.V. movies.

Iron Man (2008)
Thor (2011)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
X-Men (2000)
X-Men 2 (2003)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Blade (1998)
Punisher: War Zone (2008)
X-Men 3 (2006)
Howard the Duck (1998)
The Punisher (1986)
Blade 2 (2002)
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Punisher (2004)
Fantastic 4 (2005)
Hulk (2003)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Daredevil (2003)
Ghost Rider (2007)

Aaaaand there you have it my thoughts on Thor and my list of Marvel films from my favorite to my very least favorite…at least till Captain America: the First Avenger (which looks AMAZING!!!) which opens this year in July I think and the Avengers film which is supposed to be out in 20012 will change the top 10 I‘m sure maybe even the top 5.

My Problems With Brightest Day.

2011-05-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

No matter what you do, unless you didn’t read it, you will be comparing the Brightest Day event in the DC comics Universe to Blackest Night, another event that happened just before…and that comparison will never be favorable for Brightest Day. Blackest Night, in my opinion, had some of the most compelling story telling to come out of the DCU in years. I can honestly say I got very sick of the multiple crisis that have been going on for the last few years & I just couldn’t care about 52 and all the whatever’s that surrounded that. Then there comes Blackest Night, characters back from the grave for a reason not just to inhabit the body of Jean Gray (sorry Marvel joke in a DCU rant), but actually having a reason to live again, some as Zombies that steal hearts…SWEEEEET!

But then, almost in an instant, to push aside all of this to the wayside in Brightest Day was almost a slight slap in the face. Now I’m not saying there wasn’t some wonderful gems here and there and some fun stuff going on in the DCU, I mean JLI Generation Lost was awesome, and I didn’t want it to end luckily we get an on going series out of this, but the rest of just kind of felt like a let down.

I’m telling you go back and reread Blackest Night and compare it to Brightest Day and see how very different they are in style, tone and pace and it just dose not compare. In Blackest Night I seriously anticipated each issue with fevered boyish glee . I found myself excited to see who lived and who died and who came back, I cared for characters I hadn’t felt anything for in years (cough cough Flash cough cough). I ended up though, not caring anymore for those same characters in Brightest Day, except for the redemption of Dead Man, Boston Brand. In Boston I found a well rounded character fulfilling a grand arch starting from his creation in 1967 and completely redeeming himself as a person on multiple levels and even finding love in the arms of Dove. In the end being put back right where he started from making his arch and redemption almost meaningless. Talk about a raw deal, I actually found myself getting really mad about that part., I mean here was this character who besides his appearance in Kingdom Come I really didn’t know too much about and in Blackest Night I started to wonder who this guy was and I did some research…turns out this guy was a real dick back in the day, much like a real person and then Brightest Day comes around and BAMM!!! See yeah later Boston Brand welcome back Dead Man…LAME!!!!

I kind of wax and wane on Green Arrow most of the time I could give a damn about him but in Brightest Day I didn’t care for Green Arrow at all. He seems compelling when surrounded by his “family”, Black Canary especially…to be honest I really didn’t care about anyone other then Dead Man, and maybe a little bit about Martian Manhunter, but then to suddenly introduce, seemingly out of nowhere, Swamp Thing? Really? Really? Why? I mean I get that Swamp Thing is connected to the Earth and supposedly the Earth is really important in the universe and all but isn’t the White Light of Life supposed to be important to all life in the universe and beyond, not just the Earth? It has to do with all of creation right? Which is a point I think was sorely missed here, and kind of glossed over in the Green Lantern titles (but there not done with that yet so maybe that’ll change).

I am looking forward to what’s on the horizon for the DCU and as I usually do I sort of teeter totter back & forth from Marvel to DC and in the last few years I’ve moved more and more into the DCU but with the end of Brightest Day, they have a lot to make up for if they want to keep me around. Who am I kidding I’m in for all of the Green Lantern titles, and JLI will be coming out soon…but John Constantine in the regular DCU? What is that all about?

Christmas Gifts & a Happy New Year.

2011-01-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year and a joyous Non-Denominational Non-Religion Specific Gift Giving Holiday of your choice.

Now I'd like to show off some artwork I made for some family and friends.

This first one I did for my friend Susan. It's a print of the 10th Doctor (her favorite) from the BBC Television show Doctor Who, played by David Tenant from 2005 - 2010.

Next up is of the 4th doctor from 1974 - 1981 played by Tom Baker. I made this one for my Brother and Sister-in -law. The text is because this was my first Doctor Who that my brother introduced me to.

This print I did for my mom. She’s very much into angels so I made this one especially for her. It started out from a photo by Marcus J. Ranum and I just went from there.

2010-11-10T11:04:00.001-08:00

Been a while...have some new art.

I've been working on a series of pieces based on some of my ideas and some of the classic Universal Horror Movie Monsters. I'm thinking of turning them into paintings once they're done.

These where all hand drawn then inked and colored in Illustrator and Photoshop.

I call this one Doctor Mysterious.
He's a character I created for a comic idea I had a while back

This one is called Portrait of a Count

This one is titled Portrait of a Monster

As an extra added bonus here are 2 more pieces I've been working on unrelated to the earlier series of images but I thought you might like them.

This one is called There's That Smile

And last but not least I call this one 'Lill Joker.
This one is based on art by Lee Bremejo

Other then the new art and working on some other projects I'm sad to report that I am no longer in the band Silent Noise. All I'm going to say is that the singer/guitarist and I had a...difference of opinion on a few subjects pertaining to the band and so I stepped out to pursue my own endeavors. Other then that things have been going quite well and when I have more to report or more art to post I shall.

Talk to you soon.

making some changes here

2010-03-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

If you look to your right you'll notice I've added my twitter feed into my blog so I can update here all the time. My plan is to update at the moment on my iPhone from Comic Con in July. My dad also pointed out that I said I was going to post more with my new computer but I haven't so this will help that out a bit. On the art front I have a few new projects in the works and I will be posting pics soon I promise. I've been working on a comic book with my friend Nick and it's really coming along nicely, I have the cover and pages 1-4 penciled and will post them up here to get them "published" so I can have pros at Con look over them.

GOT THE NEW BASS!!!

2010-01-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

So about a month ago I put a brand new Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling 4 string Bass on layaway at Guitar Center in Pasadena, this is probably one of the most perfect basses you can get for the price I paid (I'm not saying how much but I couldn't beet the price anywhere and lucked out cus it went back up a few hundred bucks after I got it). I finally have a piece of pro gear I can be truly proud of, and the sound is awesome I can't wait to hear it with the rest of the band. I only wish I hadn't laid out the bass tracks on the new album (which is almost done), but next time.

Any who I hope to have some art up soon...I've kinda been procrastinating a bit (a lot) and have been real lazy...no other excuse. But yeah soon I swear.

SILENT NOISE Free show Friday Dec 4th @ LaBries (formerly the scene) in Glendale 21 & over

2009-11-22T01:16:00.000-08:00

months gone by

2009-10-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

So...where do I even start with this? Ummmmmmm...what was the last thing I said? Oh ummmmm...so the band is almost done with the album. Just a few finishing touches and it's done. I'm doing all the artwork for the cd cover, it's looking pretty sweet if I do say so myself. We hope to have it out by Christmas.

Lets see...what else. I moved into a new apartment. My new situation is a million times better. I'm way closer to work, like a 15 minute walk close, my new roommate is awesome...though I only really ever see her on the weekends or when shes comming home from work and I'm leaving for work (I work the graveyard shift now) our schedules are so different.

I just bought a new laptop it's pretty pimp, it's an Acer Aspire AMD Athalon x2 Dual-Core 2.1GHz processor, with 3GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW and a 15.6" WXGA monitor (not that you care but I like geeking out about it). This means I will be posting a hell of a lot more in the future and it also means I may actually start doing some things of a more productive nature. I'll be posting new art up here soon as well and more frequently (for those of you who give a shit).

OK so that's it for now. oh wait I wanted to share this with you before I go.
Jhonen Vasquez's blog I laughed my ass off when I found this and I hope you will too.

Hope your day sucks less then yesterday,

Andrew.

Ladies & Gentalmen...Boys & Girls!!!

2009-10-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

I'm back online!!! I just got a new laptop and am ready and able to go forward with this thing!! This means more frequent updates, more art and more stuff in general. You're so lucky.

Been a while

2009-05-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there, sorry I haven't been around in a while (not having a computer will do that to you). Everything is going well here, the band has another show coming up pretty soon...

Speaking of the band, we played the House of Blues show back in March and I would have to say it was quite a success. See for your self...

Some Photos

We also played a show at the Roxxy in April. And that was pretty cool to. We'll be in the studio in the comming months, I plan on doing a lot of in studio photos and post them as we go. If all things go according to plan I'll be posting new music before the end of the year.

No art to show yet but I'm working on a few new fancy things. I'll have some of that up soon I hope. I switched to the graveyard shift here at work, it's a bit of a transition but I hope it'll give me a bit more time to get some of my stuff done.

Talk to you all soon,
Andrew

SILENT NOISE @ HOUSE OF BLUES HOLLYWOOD!!!

2009-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

My Band Silent Noise is playing at the House of Blues in Hollywood!!! How freakin awsome is that!!!

P.S. I did the layout and design for the flyer too.

2009-02-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is another Mike Mingola style drawing I did, but of Death and his son arguing (I thought it was funny).

This one is titled "Even Death Has Family Issues."

Big Ass Tombstone.

2009-02-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

So I haven’t been posting much lately…mostly because I don’t have a computer I can use for scanning and posting and doing things on. Yeah…anyway that doesn’t mean I haven’t been drawing, in fact I’ve been drawing a whole hell of a lot lately. A little story now. Last year at Comic Con I bought 2 art portfolios with 44 pages in it. I told myself I had 1 year (till next Comic Con) to fill all of the pages with my best work ever so as to get a job illustrating. Well Comic Con is fast approaching, and I have 21 pages left to fill. July 23…that’s when Comic Con is, so I have approximately 5 months to complete my task.
If you look at some of my earlier posts you’ll see some of the work that’s going into the portfolio. I hope to have more of it scanned and posted soon but a lack of free time and the lack of a computer with a scanner that I can use on a regular bases and not get yelled at by my boss has made that very difficult.

Oh well, now on to me showing off a little.

I’ve been on a big Mike Mignola kick lately (he’s the creator of Hellboy for those of you who don’t know) and so I decided to draw a nice pic of Hellboy in his style. I think it came out quite nice. Tell me what you think.

I call this one “Big Ass Tombstone.”
For obvious reasons.

More comming very soon.

More Art for your eyes

2008-12-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

So to keep things moving along here, I'm just going to post images as I get them scanned and cleaned up and such...I'm always kind of picky about my own art so I play with them in Photoshop quite a bit till I think they are as good as I can make them.

More Robots & Monsters!!!

(only monsters so far)

This fun little guy I call 7 eye...'cuz he has 7 eyes and I'm not that clever.

My roommate loves this one. He might be tweaked a little bit to become the lead character in a comic idea he and I are working on.

Right now his name is Mean Lil' Monkey.

This is a friendly looking guy I did in the style of one of my favorite comic artists, ERIC POWELL
This one is called Swam Monster.

Some Wearwolfy goodness.

Titled: Big Bad

And last but not least this is one of my favorites right now. It's my interpretation of H.P. Lovecrafts Cathulu. He's so cute. This was one of my first attempts at full rendering with markers insted of my usual colored penciles or digital color...though I did add some to the background. I think he came out quite well.

This one is called Nigthmare.

In other news The band played a show at the world famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood on Friday. Man was that a blast. Lots of people showed and we had a good time, thats what I call a successful show.

We're playing again on the 10th at the Derby, I'll have more on that one later.

In the Begining...

2008-11-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

So this is going to be my first of many blogs here about my art. I have a deviant art site up but it's not really what I want, or how I want to showcase my art, plus I'm kind of sick of the way deviant art is set up and how many adds there are all over the place (yuck).

This is also going to be a place for me to rant and yell and scream about things in general but I'll try to keep that to a dull roar.

I also want to throw in bits here and there about the comics I'm reading, the art I'm loving, the music I'm listening...to, movies I'm watching and things about my band www.myspace.com/silentnoiseband, like upcoming shows and recordings maybe video clips or in studio stuff. Just the things I find fun and love to do and talk about.

So first up here are a few drawings I've been working on for a series in my portfolio I call...

Robots & Monsters!!!

This is my original pencil drawing for my interpretation Frankenstein’s monster.

And here is the final inked version...ready for color (coming soon)