Sketchbook: Jason Hoagland, artist on Battle Team Omega

This week, I'm going to post eight pieces from each artist's portfolio to help showcase his individual style and considerable skills. Getting us off to a hot start is Jason Hoagland. Check it out! (Click on the image to enlarge.)

What I like about Jason’s rendering technique is that every line has meaning. He’s creating a sense of form and substance, as opposed to adding extraneous lines to make a piece look artificially busy. It’s almost from the classical school of cross-hatching, and it displays his excellent fundamental skills.


You can really see Jason's ability to portray textures in this image. Denim, cotton, metal, leather, and even fur all given a different feel that helps make the drawing more realistic and, in turn, makes the character more convincing.
Note: all of these illustrations are original characters from the upcoming Hypersmash Studios book, Battle Team Omega.


I like this sketch because I think it shows that Jason’s art looks great in a clean, open style as well. Jason doesn’t use cross-hatching to cover up a flawed understanding of anatomy, but rather as another aspect of his art that he can use to great effect.


In might not be immediately obvious, but images 1, 5, 6, and 8 are all of the same character (Battle Team Omega member, Devil of Destruction.) The reason that the four drawings don't look all that similar to each other is that Jason loves to constantly tinker and re-design each character until he feels that they're perfect. It's one of his defining characteristics.
The next time we visit Jason's art a couple of posts from now, we'll take a look at his meticulous design process in the creation of an original character, Velocity Hawk. But more immediately, our next post will feature the sweet indy-punk art of Scott Arnold. We'll see you then!