BIZARROHey everyone! Concluding this week's Superman villain theme is Bizarro, Superman's imperfect duplicate! And even though he's saying that he wants everyone to have a great weekend, in "Bizarro speak" that actually means he hopes you have a terrible weekend. Bizarro is a dick. I, on the other hand, really do hope you all have a great weekend. Take care!

DARKSEIDThe Superman villain theme continues! This handsome fella is Darkseid, the evil ruler of the planet Apokolips. You can't see it but he's smiling because he's watching his favorite TV program, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". See? He's pure evil.

Mr. MxyzptlkAnother Superman villain! This little fella here is Mr. Mxyzptlk, the near-omnipotent imp from the 5th dimension. Some of Mxy's amazing powers include the abilty to alter reality on a whim and, more importantly, keeping that tiny hat from falling off his gigantic head.

PARASITE!
Pencil sketch of Rudy Jones aka the Parasite. The only thing he hates more than Superman is clothing. Get some pants, buddy!

"We are very close to the end..."

Here are a couple of "Lost" sketches I did today as my wife and I gear up for the big finale of the series.

LOOK OUT!

Brush & ink and digital color

... here comes the Spider-Man! Hey everyone; I know it's been a little while since my last post so here's a new Spidey illustration to help me get back into the swing of things, no pun intended. Actually, that's a lie; pun completely intended. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
Lately, aside from freelance gigs, I haven't had a lot of time or motivation to really work on much after my dad passed away. Slowly but surely, though, I'm getting back on track and regaining focus. And part of that focus will involve staying on top of the blog a lot more. In fact, I'll be posting some "Lost" related drawings later in the day to gear up for the finale. Stay tuned!

FOR MY DAD

"Dumbo" by Richard Valente
pen, ink & acrylic on felt

I have a general rule for myself to keep this blog about my professional work and not get into the dramas of personal life or opinions and such. Cause, frankly, who cares? I just want a place to showcase some of the work I do and talk a little about it. However, some things are too monumental to ignore and to just continue posting freelance work and random sketches as if nothing has happened would seem wrong. So here goes:

Today would have been my father's 66th birthday. He passed away a little over a month ago and I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss him. In addition to being a really great guy who instilled in me his love of New York Yankees baseball and Superman cartoons, my dad was definitely a "Jack-of-All-Trades". He was a New York City Firefighter for 24 years and a NYC Transit Cop before that. He was an electrician, a carpenter, and a nutritionist. And he was also an artist.

The above image is a painting he made for me, 30 years ago, when I was born. My mom had kept it in her home all these years but when he passed away she gave it to me to keep (I'm hoping to come across more of his work over the next few months. If/when I do, I will definitely be posting more of it on here).

I still have very vivid memories of when I saw his sketchbook for the first time and how much it made me want to draw too. I also remember when my sister and I would spend weekend afternoons drawing with him and hoping, someday, I would be as good as he was. He never really gave himself enough credit when it came to his artistic abilities but I always thought he was amazing. In fact, I would even say he is my biggest influence because seeing his work made me want to pick up a pencil in the first place. I hope he knew that.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Richard Valente
March 29, 1944-February 24th, 2010

RAINY DAY IN GOTHAM

ink, acrylic & digital

Been raining here in New York City pretty much all day. Here's a sketch of Batman to fit the mood.

NEH JABBA NO BOTHA...I posted the pencil sketch of this guy, Bib Fortuna, a little while back and decided to throw some ink and Copic Marker on him just for fun.

SUPER-HEROES of the FUTURE!

Some warm up sketches of Batman Beyond and Spider-Man 2099, respectively. Enjoy!