Artist Brandon Mendoza: Marvel Snap, Character Design, and Creating Comic Books

Brandon Mendoza joins Nerdy Mewzings, going from a viewer and supporter, to featured guest! He is a Marvel Snap artist, character designer, cover artist, and teacher who is currently finishing his first sequential comic work on an upcoming, soon to be announced, project.

Brandon talks about chasing his sports dream while pursuing a basketball career, how a knee injury changed his trajectory and helped him in rediscovering his love of art. He reflects on the comic book that pulled him back into the art world, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s New 52 Flash.

He talks about his regimen of nightly practice, YouTube and magazine drills, landing production work on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur during the pandemic, and getting a Marvel Snap assignment after an art director reacted to his art on an Instagram story!

We also talk about digital pencils versus traditional ink, influences from Brett Bean, Eric Canete, Kim Jacinto, Humberto Ramos, and Carlos Meglia, and the impact Daniel Warren Johnson’s livestreams have had on both of us.

Keep an eye out, as a preview of his new comic project is aimed at New York Comic Con this coming weekend!

Leave a 5 STAR review, share with a friend, & Keep it Nerdy!

Follow Brandon:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bmendoza_art

X - https://x.com/bmendozart

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brandon.mendoza.art

Patreon members get episodes early, a shoutout on the show, and can submit questions for upcoming guests! Join here: https://patreon.com/nerdymewzings

Timestamps

0:00 - Welcome & basketball before comics

4:00 - Jordan, Derrick Rose & drawing on cards

7:00 - Digital tools vs the feel of watercolor

10:00 - Cartoons, an uncle’s Spawn stack & the Flash rack

15:00 - Meniscus injury & leaving engineering

21:00 - Graphic design, practice sheets & homework after midnight

27:00 - Character design & Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

34:00 - Pandemic silver linings

37:00 - Marvel Snap from an Instagram story

41:00 - Style: Bean, Canete, Ramos, Meglia

45:00 - DWJ, erasing & the mental side of drawing

51:00 - First sequential job with Juan Castro & Garrett Gunn

56:00 - Dream books: Flash, Batman Beyond, Daredevil

1:02:00 - Where to follow Brandon & outro