ARNIM ZOLA! Samurai! A.Shay Hahn, comic clown prince

ARNIM ZOLA! SAMURAI!

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas

Marvel Universe Series

You would think the good ol' Arnim would get tired of teleporting his consciousness all the place and learn to play some defence, teleporting your consciousness can't be cheap, so why not protect what you got?

Arnim is like MODOK, you just don't want to get rid of him and if you do, you know he'll be back anyways, so why fight it? Maybe I just like dudes with their heads in their stomachs but MODOK and Arnim rule, all the early MU villains do, expect to see more of them here.

I may be getting back to work next week and finishing the first Any How Town book, but rest assured I"ll be coming up with some sketches, brush up on your Marvel Universe history folks, you're going to need it.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



M.O.D.O.K meets the Celestials! Marvel series

M.O.D.O.K and Arishem of the Celestials

Yes George Tarleton is one of the best designs in the Marvel Universe, you gotta love that they kept those stubby arms and legs. MODOK was know for his lust for power and knowledge, so why limit himself to merely the Cosmic Cube and other tech when he could really go for it and join his intelligence with the great Arishem of the Celestials, whose real power is waving his right arm around.

This was fun as all get out to conceive and that's the approach I've taken with the Marvel paintings, if a concept seems good (and funny) give it a shot.

A little disappointed with most of the photos here, they don't show off the depth and shading at all.

happy saturday, one more coming your way tomorrow.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



The Thing! Physiognomy

The Thing!

10x12inches,acrylic on cnavas

Marvel Universe Series

Ah, Ben Grimm, the glue that holds the Marvel Universe together, kill whoever you like writers but you know you just can't touch the Thing or it will all come crashing down on top of you. No single character in the M.U (maybe Spiderman) embodies the good faith and grace under pressure that it takes to be a super hero.

I took the cues for this piece from the Fantastic Four Issue #310, "Things To Come" when Ben was yet again bombarded by rays, this time in the form of the Digital Saudi Satellite Man himself Farsaud! (seriously look it up) and was further mutated. The shape of the head was the best part of the design anyways that's where it started but also got me thinking about all those fights we've seen where Ben gets chunks of rock knocked off of him, well, what if he didn't ? Would he continue to grow rocky protuberances?

Also, here's one for the writers, what are those rocks made of ? And what happens to them after they get knocked off of Ben?

Have a great weekend with your Aunt Petunia,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Namor with Nunchuks! Marvel Series

NAMOR with Nunchuks!

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas

I was talking with a friend about how the Marvel Universe really feels like it did when I started reading comics at the age of seven or eight, so many heroes from that time have returned, Iron Fist, Ms.Marvel, Spider Woman even my man Shang Chi is back and that led to this image. Namor has always been a favourite character in the M.U. You never knew what he was going to do next and that imbalance has made him one of the most compelling characters in the M.U, he's even a mutant now!

So with the return of the martial arts to the M.U we should also had the return of popular weapons from our youth, yep every kid wanted a pair of nunchuks, or at least two dowels linked by a bit of chain to swing around, but Namor does everything larger than life and he has nunchuks made of anchors!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

The White Rabbit! Marvel Series

The White Rabbit

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas,framed

$140.00

I'm having a great time with this Marvel series, I'm not planning anything in advance I'm just thinking of characters that I like or I think are interesting and putting my own spin on them.

I personally think that the White Rabbit should probably have become A) more powerful by  now and B) Join the Avengers! This would drive Spiderman crazy, I know so little about this character she was ripe for a good remodel so I thought a more psychedelic approach to her look would be better, perhaps her new powers have something to do with hallucinogens ?

This series is my thanks to comic books, I love comics, everything about them so I hope you enjoy my

interpretations of the figures.

Who knows I may do 100 of them and have a Marvel based show.

cheers!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

follow on twitter @madcraftshoppe



Genesis or Kid A, Future Headmaster?

Genesis (AKA Kid A)

10x12 acrylic on canvas

So we've begun the huge Avengers vs. X-Men crossover and the battle lines are being drawn, our heroes are heading into space to confront the Phoenix force which is on it's way to either destroy the Earth or spend some quality time with Hope, who is part of Cyclops school.

Well, I read Wolverine and the X-Men and while Cyclops is having his chats with Hope I'm more concerned about Genesis (AKA Kid A) this is the guy who will be leading the X-Men in the future and I think should play a pretty pivotal role in the A vs X plotline, he might not, but he should.

Wolverine and the X-Men is a great series, fun to read and look at and has a great madcap approach that is of course (since this is the X-Men) about to get VERY serious.

Keep your eye on this kid, big things are coming his way.

In Any How Town news I had so much fun creating my own versions of the Avengers that are being featured in the upcoming film that I'm just going to keep on creating paintings based on some of the more intriguing characters in the Marvel Univers, so bear with me while I get this out of my system.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

THE AVENGERS!

And here's the whole fam damily, you can read my thoughts on the team on the posts below and to celebrate the upcoming film you can buy all six (unframed) for $700.00

hope you've enjoyed my week of Avengers, heading back into finishing the final edits on book one of Any How Town.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

HAWKEYE!

HAWKEYE!
10x12inches,acrylic on canvas,framed

$140.00

Everyone loves Clint Barton, the only Avenger to ever come to the game with full on attitude. When I started reading the Avengers way back in the Gyrich years, when the Grey Gargoyle and Red Ronin were wreaking havoc all over the place Hawkeye was the guy who wouldn't back down from a fight. Heck, he'd fight Captain America if he wanted to, Clint always had his finger pointed at someone's chest and was a very refreshing rebel to have around.

I know nothing of his past but what I believe may be true is that he is but one in a long line of Hawkeye's and we have to go back to the American West to find the last one and here he is, and like Clint he is also a total bad ass.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

The BLACK WIDOW!

The Black Widow

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas,framed

$140.00

Back in the day if you wanted to test a character's mettle in the Marvel Universe, you didn't send them into space (that's just a very repetitive X-Men gimic, like sending Kang after the Avengers) you send them to the Savage Land! That is where heroes truly learn to be heroes and how to suggestively tear their clothes and run around chasing Kazar and his sabretooth tiger Milly or whatever her name was.

Actually the first two issues of Marvel Fanfare had an amazing Savage Land- X-Men story if memory serves.

So here's the Black Widow in the savage land, she has always been the gold standard of cool in the Marvel Universe, she has been cool forever, you have probably taken her for granted until now. I'm not a huge fan of Scarlett Johanssen but I am thrilled that the Black Widow has made it into the Avengers film. From Nick Fury to Dardevil to now she has always kicked much ass.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Also having some trouble finishing Hawkeye so that may take a day or two.

THOR!

THOR!
10x12inches,acrylic on canvas, framed

$140.00

Me and Thor don't have alot of history together, I was never a fan of the comic and I was always bewildered by the fact he was a God, he should have kicked much ass in the Marvel Universe and yet when the character began I always felt like he was just another Bruce Banner. Thor was trapped inside Donald Blake and he had to sneak around and bang his little stick somewhere in order to release the God. Too similar to Shazam or Superman or the Hulk, etc.

I didn't mind the film, it had it's moments but really in my view of the Marvel Universe Thor is one of the upsetters, they always have to make things cosmic or bring in someone from Asgard to fight him because he's just too strong for the rest of the Marvel Universe. Give me Iron Fist any day over the Gods and that includes Hercules and Ares and whoever else is running around.

The Enchantress was always a bore and the Executioner had great design but still should have kicked major tail, of them all I liked Fandral (?) best, the blue guy with the horns on his hat, geez, it's Asgard who doesn't have horns on his hat?

Also Surtur and I think Ulik had great design too.

That being said there were some good battles on Asgard, the Art Adams illustrated X-Men, New Mutants crossover over is the best view of Asgard ever published and the issue where Thor fought the serpent (Ragnarok?) and each page was a full panel was incredibly good.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

A Wild Pack of Family Dogs II

Here are the wee buddies all painted up and ready to rampage. We meet these guys in Book Four and they really aren't as cute as they look. It was hard to reproduce the original pose (Scroll down) but this is close enough. On fb S.Miner commented that they looked like they were singing and it is a brilliant observation that I've added to these fellas repetoire.

In fact I can picture the whole scene right now.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

CAPTAIN AMERICA DEEP SEA DIVER!

Captain America

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas, framed

$140.00

I dig the Captain, always have, love the WW2 stories, the Red Skull is my favourite villain, John Byrne could draw him like nobodies business, heck he was even a comic artist for awhile himself so I figured I would give him the full Deep Sea Diver treatment, at one point I was thinking of giving him an anchor instead of a shield, but I figure I shouldn't molest the guy too much.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Stay tuned for THOR! and the BLACK WIDOW! ALL CAPS!

Building Popsicle Stick Docks!

Aw man, I'm running late to deliver a commission, a few days ago someone googled "Popsicle Stick Docks" and it led them to my site, if you're still out there looking here are some simple snaps of Popsicle stick docks that I've built.

thank me later,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

A Wild Pack of Family Dogs

Another short post today, but expect something else to come up later on this afternoon. I've been away from the final draft of Book One for about a week, I have some commissions to finish and those are taking up my time. But I think the break is a good thing, I'll come back at it with fresh eyes and finish kicking the dead wood out of the draft.

Any How Town at it's heart is about family, the family we have, and the family we build around this. This is also true of the animals in Any How Town and here's a family of secret beasts that I still have to finish painting.

Remember this photo, later on I'll reproduce this picture as a painted, installed dioarama and you'll be able to see the difference all that dry brushing and set building can make.

Have a great day, make something.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

IRON MAN! (w/Loki horns)

Never had much interest in the Iron Man comic but I love the old gold suit, I also have no interest in Loki as a villain, but if you put Loki's horns on the Old Gold suit...
There was never really a run of the comic that I followed, I do have to say I really liked the original Porcupine as a villain, that design was crazy. I did like that Stark was flawed and the movies are incredible and the best comic adaptations every made.
IRON MAN!
10x12inches, acrylic on canvas,
$120.00, $140.00 framed
A.Shay Hahn
madcraftshoppe@live.com

THE HULK!

The Hulk

10x12inches,acrylic on canvas

$140.00 framed.

So the Avengers film is coming and I thought I'd take a couple of days and paint the team. I've enjoyed several runs of the Hulk, the Byrne "Death of the Hulk" the Dale Keown "Brainy Hulk/I live in a mountain" run and some of the Todd MacFarlane run (#340 etc.).

I have spoken here of my love of the Red Hulk but the best hulk is the grey Hulk and here he is with a costume that would have been accessible at the time, wrestling tights!

share your favourite Hulk memories here.

next up IRON MAN!
A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

WHAT IF? Joe Dante Directs Batman B&W

Upon hearing of a fifth Batman film following the massive success of Batman & Robin, Joe Dante throws his hat in the ring introducing loveable Spike/Bat Mite.

Working like crazy on a last minute and complicated commission that I have to deliver on Thurs. eve so writing had to take a back seat to commerce this week, but I did manage to slip out yesterday for a couple of pints at Morgan's and craft up this very special gift for Joe Kilmartin at the Comic Book Lounge, I meant to do this ages ago for him. Pretty happy with how it turned out and I'll add some colour to it on Friday and maybe run it over to him then.

The only thing that may delay that plan is that "Monster Brawl" is playing at Projection Booth at 9pm so I may go to the instead and deliver the drawing next week.

What is Monster Brawl? Here's the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqGIAkd5tYw

It's Canadian AND amazing just like yours truly

stay tuned for the colour version

follow along on twitter "madcraftshoppe"

cheers! gotta run!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Staircases, Kickin' out the deadwood

So as you can see we have the popsicle stick bricks, and the odds and ends used as detritus on the ground to give it some depth, popsicle sticks also. make up the door frame and the edge of the balcony. There is a tongue depressor acting as the side of the staircase (what's that part called? I can't remember) and some small dowels for the post support for the balcony, the railing and the railing against the wall.

The trick to making the staircase is to lay the model on its back, lie it down and put the balcony and treads on first. I used mini-jenga pieces for the stairs in this build. Once that is dry you can return it to normal position and start adding stuff.

If there are any tutorials you'd like to see, let me know, maybe I can build one for you step by step here on the blog, but I have to hear from you first.

In AHT news I'd like to thank me dear sweat Ma for being a true hatchet man and knocking all the dead wood out of the first 25 pages of Book One. She was merciless and that's a good thing the book was really front heavy so I'll make the edits and see if it flows, we've got to get these kids moving, plenty of time for backstory later.
A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Writer's Block ? Make Pickles!

As I have no doubt blogged on and on about for the last six posts I am almost finished Book One and after two really good days at the end of last week I compleletly stalled out on Saturday/Sunday. There just wasn't anything good left in the tank, the ending is there it is great but it leads just a little more disciplining before it's ready to go out to agents.

So we took the day off and made pickles.

They'll be ready for consumption in about eight weeks, I wonder where my writing life will be ? Hopefully sitting in the back yard finishing Book Two and then cracking open a jar of these and barbecuing some dinner.

I could say that I thought buying all the stuff and making pickles would get me closer to some of the practices on the farm in AHT but I'd be lying, it's not research, I just really wanted to make some pickles and it was a great activity to do instead of lying around on a gloomy day.

"Always be creating." That's my motto.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Cages! Examples

Here are three variations on a popsicle stick cage, the top is a cage built to hold one person. The tip for building this is to build the base first and then when you know the figure can fit then you can build the standing supports that go around the bottom of the base which will hold the vertical pieces. Once the three sides are put in you can attach the door with one or two pieces of wire so you have a functional door.

The second is just a larger variation on the first for a cage that can either hold a group of people or some kind of crazy animal.
The Third is the most dangerous kind of cage, "the Barbecue Skewer" cage, yes they look really cool when painted but you do have to be careful, those points are sharp! Either trim them down or don't run around while you're carrying your cage. The corner pieces on this buils are the same as the pieces described in the "Popsicle Stick House" tutorial, which you can see if you scroll down on this blog. You can also see another cage that I've built that is more industrial "Jurassic Park Style".

Follow me on twitter "@madcraftshoppe" so you can find out when more tutorials have been posted.

Going through the last thirty pages of Book One today hope to have it finished in two days, I'm a little behind but I'll tell you why in the next post and don't forget to check out my other blog "the mad craft shoppe" (or follow on fb at Andrew Shay Hahn "the mad craft shoppe" page) to see my paintings and where they are hanging in Toronto.

Happy Monday,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com