- Jin Lee Sper chbookNY eons to my sketchbook. Within these pages you will find an assortment of my work, ranging from quick con sketches to watercolor studies to inked illustrations. Most of these were done over the past two years and represent my attempts to get back into “fighting form” after a too- long absence from a regular pencilling aig, | hesitated to even show some of the pieces since they are so rough, but sometimes sketches can capture an energy that a final piece often lacks so | include them in here — warts and all. 1 hope you enjoy them as much as | had fun drawing them! ~Jim LeeeS eereger ie he top two sken° are some examples of \ layouts | do for cover approvals, etc. The Batman ones were for the latest cover of Wizard. The final approved layout was in fact a modified version of a design Wizard shot back to me in the brainstorming process. Layouts are a lot of fun ~ because they are all about the * concept and the composition, usually devoid of the ~ background clutter and + rendering | add to my final pieces. Sometimes they capture an energy all of their own that can be hard to recapture in the _ final illustration. The cartoony baseball figure is something | did to liven up an announcement in the office for a weekend softball game. It’'sa style | don’t use too much but it is more easily ‘read’ from a distance because of its bolder lines and more dynamic shapes. \he pencil sketches are ones | did for some who happen to rt. The jungle girl holding the spear was actually drawn in a hotel room during the S: ere are some more quick” Tpliseshssticr aati! peed cognizable characters, The Fairchild in the cowboy hat: was done in half'an hour using a tech pen and wat ing for some colors. | have been st ready bo go out. experimenting more with watercolors and acrylics lately just because | feel more confident ‘if giving it a go. It’s a confidence 1“ lacked when | was much younger but now, 'm seeing colors and light in different ways than before. The trick is in getting to know the materials and how to get them to do what you see in your head Trickier than it sounda). he Batman piece is a very quick study | di to try different ‘rain techniques. | use whiteout: sticks and rollerpens to draw in the lights on the black buildings and lay down the rain, The steam at the bottom is me playing around with whiteout using my fingers. In a more finished piece, | would normally have played around with the fingerprint patterns more so they would look more like smoke or fog and less like actual fingerprints. he Christie Blaze watercolor was another very early watercolor piece | did again just to see what would happen if | did X, Y, and Z. As is unfinished but 1 the rubbed off 1 got on her Fatigues. The bottom is a quick cover layout | did before | painted my very first color cover for DC. It’s for an upcoming title called FIGHT FOR TOMORROW, written by Brian Wood and illustrated by Denys Cowan. | had a lot of fun getting inspired by reading the first two issues and trying to come up with an image that captured the approach they were going for while still adding my ‘style’ into the mix.lack Canary is one of ‘the more — striking characters in the DC Universe for good reason. This particular sketch was done for an art collector. This watercolor of Deathblow was an experiment for a painted project | hope to get to some day. He is one of my favorite characters of the many | co-created with Brandon Choi. Some day.. (Bottom left) Another very quick Batman study. Abways looking for new ways of spotting blacks ‘on faces and bodies to create more drama and mood,= Gil es ~-— J00he diptych seen on the inside covers was a studio project we did for grins. Basically, [aid out the Sl eeerrcaton and different WildStorm artists here in the studio pencilled and inked different characters as we passed around the board. Even with the stylistic differences, | think the pieces hold together remarkably well and moreover, we had a blast working together. Figure credits: Jim Lee--Batman, Batgirl. Carlos D’Anda~Azracl, Huntress. Ale Garza-~-Robin, Harley. Lee Bermejo--Nightwing, Catwoman and the background buildings. We all inked our work but had to have some ringers (Scott Williams, Sendra Hope, Rich Friend — all inkers supreme!) come in and fix some of the hagigard lines we threw down.JENETTE KAHN President & Editor in Chief PAUL LEVITZ Executive Vice President & Publisher pen Cum ae ker eee eed Teme ech peer a eee et INST ee nr aria ego en a eee Ao PRCA LU eh ea IRLICH Senior VP — Advertising & Promotions ALISON GILL VP — Manufacturing LILLIAN LASERSON VP & General Counsl DAVID McKILLIPS VP Agverising Cr ST eer NZ a eee aim Lee has been one of the true artistic phenomena of modern comics — a record-setting, award-winning, fan- favorite artist whose popularity has spanned more than a decade, carrying across multiple characters, titles and publishers. More than just an artist, Jim is a successful businessman, whose WildStorm Productions became the third largest comic-book publisher in the business before being acquired by industry giant DC Comics. But it's as an artist that Jim Lee first made his mark, and as an artist that he continues to attract attention and devoted fans today. Inside this exclusive sketchbook, fans can see for themselves the creative mind at work. All the pencil sketches, thumbnails, and color treatments that artists usually leave in their private sketchbooks or on the edges of their drawing table are revealed in their pure state, accompanied by convention sketches for fans and personal art created purely for Jim's own enjoyment. As such, it's a unique artifact, offered for only a brief period of time and certain to be prized by fans around the globe. wildstorm com