Artist for Marvel Super Heroes merchandise & Hasbro toys. GI Joe, Transformers, Power Rangers. Ennie Nominated cover artist. Always a smart-ass, never a hater.
10 years ago this was a common occurrence. I'd be walking around Target or WalMart and be surprised by an endcap full of my artwork. It never got old. 🙂
Three variations of the same Spider-Man pose. Nighttime, daylight, and symbiote.
The nighttime and symbiote weren't used very much, but I have found a few products that did.
RIP John Romita Sr. He drew the definitive Spider-Man of my generation, setting the model for countless artists after him. Including me. His influence on Spider-Man, Marvel comics, and my childhood cannot be overstated.
Who remembers this one? It's one of my earlier Marvel posters, and I wish they had let me do more like this. Later on, the push to do "universal" character renderings that could have multi-purpose use cases for licensing really took the fun out of it.
Possibly the most iconic Spider-Man image I worked on, this art was used on every clothing tag, merchandise label, and retail store display during the mid 2000s. This was the face of the Spider-Man Spider Sense marketing campaign.
#SpiderMan
In 2005 I made this movie-style poster after going exclusive with Marvel. This was before the creation of the MCU. Since then people have told me that I did a great job capturing
@ChrisEvans
likeness. 😆 He wasn't my reference. Evans was still the Human Torch at this point.
Amazing Spider-Man 2 promo art. I was given photos of a stunt man in costume. I removed the background & wires, digitally painted over the entire costume, removed any ugly details, applied digital textures, and added lighting & shadows to achieve this "idealized photo" look.
If I remember correctly, this is the first job I ever did for Marvel in 2004. Drawn by Steve Epting, digital color render by me. The first of many, many Spider-Man images I would do in my career.
This Spider-Man was an experiment to try and replicate the old Marvel merchandise digital art style on paper. All my Marvel work was done in Photoshop, so there are very few physical art pieces from that era. I’m not sure if there’s a market for something like this.
Here's another of my early Spider-Man work from 2004. Steve Epting's drawing on the left. My color render on the right. I was very unaccustomed to working from other artist's pencils. Before Marvel I only worked from my own drawings.
#SpiderMan
Around 2003-2004 I made these two portfolio pieces - Spider-Man and Batman- and sent them to every comic editor's email address I could find. DC's Talent Coordinator told me to stop spamming them. Marvel's Creative Director bought the Spider-Man and hired me for the next 15 years
The first 20 issues of Amazing Spider-Man introduced the Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, Green Goblin, Kraven, and Scorpion. I don't know that this is mentioned enough. That was an epic opening Rogue's Gallery by Lee and Ditko.
I’ve noticed that every decade has a pop culture trend that influenced movies, comics and games.
1970s- Kung Fu!
1980s- Ninjas!
1990s- Vampires!
2000s- Zombies!
2010s- Super Heroes!
2020s- ?
I’m not sure what the new thing is yet.
The characters in these posters were assembled from many different sources, done by different artists. The Spider-Man in front is mine, and I have a few others in there.
Unfortunately this image is 20 years old and I no longer have the digital file. Several images have been lost over the years as I upgraded computer systems and transferred files from older drives.
@ScottJohnsonArt
sorry to bother you but I'm wondering if you might have this piece around? It comes from a Spider-Man poster book and I noticed it has your signature on it
Mid 2000s licensing Punisher alongside the comic reference that Marvel told me to swipe. Jim Lee did it better.
I think this is the one that Walmart requested a "no guns" version, so I removed the guns and closed his fists.
New Art! My take on Miles Morales. This original piece will be available at my artist alley table this weekend (starting tomorrow!) at
@fanexpochicago
. I will be at table A226. Swing by and say hi!
@ScottJohnsonArt
Hey Scott
A bit off-topic here but I just wanted to say all of your Marvel Heroes work from the 2000s is really awesome and nostalgic, and shaped how I still view the characters to this day.
And by any chance is there a database or archive of all your designs?
Every "How to Draw Spider-Man" tutorial on the internet:
Step 1: Start with a figure gesture!
Step 2: Establish volume!
Step 3: Detail muscle anatomy!
Step 5: Lie to your audience about Steps 1-4 and just trace from a Google image search!
My Power Rangers Beast Morphers art, from 2019. The figures were created individually (full body poses). When I assembled them like this I thought it would make a good comic book cover, if that were ever a thing.
This is a private commission that I did a few years ago. The mother of the bride was a high school friend, and she wanted to surprise her daughter and groom with this wedding gift artwork featuring their favorite TV, movie and video game properties.
The first Marvel movie related art that I worked on was the original Fantastic Four movie licensing art. This would have been in 2004, since we worked several months to a year ahead of the film release.
NEW ART! Where are my Venom fans at? This is a new portfolio piece that I did in my spare time, not commissioned by Marvel. I really need to do this more often.
I repainted Spider-Man. Since original publication in 2006, I've revised the Hulk, Cap, Daredevil, and Spider-Man, and made minor tweaks to Wolverine and the FF. I think this might be it's Final Form. Maybe after 16 years I can let go and move on.
My son was a baby when I first started working for Marvel. His birthdays were often decorated with my artwork. Plates, napkins, balloons, etc. It was always fun for me when he chose a Marvel birthday theme.
In 2005, Marvel commissioned this “movie style” poster from me. This was before Marvel started making their own films. I wasn’t happy with the original version that Marvel approved, so I later made changes to improve it. Don’t ask me to post the one I don’t like. 😀
#marvel
Maybe when a video game studio specializes in making great single player stories, the execs should let them focus on making great single player story-driven games rather than forcing them to make “live service” multiplayer microtransaction bullshit. I know. I’m a genius.
I had a blast drawing this cover commission of six time Sport Karate World Champion and Batman fan, Jadi Tention. I actually sparred against Jadi once at one of his seminars. I got kicked in the head a lot.
Since Deadpool is in the news, here's the only two times I got to draw the character. Once for Hasbro and once for Mattel. In all the years that I worked directly with Marvel, we never used him.
More
#SpiderMan
from the archives. This 2-sided cardboard cutout was a serious challenge. The physical contour for front & back had to be identical. THAT'S NOT HOW FORESHORTENING WORKS. Creating a pose with the same silhouette on the flip side gave me fits. But I made it work.
I suggest working on what I call “edge control”. Right now the edges of the Spider-Man figure is too hard and crisp. While his interior muscle rendering is too soft and blurry. Use more medium-softness brushes to create a consistent look. Not too crisp, and not too soft.
2 years ago we were shopping for a new house, and during a walk-through I came across this toy collection which included a 6 ft. Hulk standup of my Hulk movie art. That other stand-up is not my Spider-Man, but there were a couple other toys on display with my Spider-Man art.
Since I had a request to post this here on Twitter:
Sue Storm, 2004, promotional art for the Fantastic Four movie. Brian Haberlin worked on the faces while I created the bodies, then I combined the two in Photoshop.