Black Cat Pin-Up (Mike Deodato Jr)

That's pencils only?!?  I never would have guessed.  Such a beautiful depiction of the Black Cat -- congrats!

Many thanks, Paul. Yes, that's (heavy) pencils only. I couldn't believe it myself until I actually had it in my hands.

I had no inkling this was not embelleshed with liquid blackness ;)

Many thanks, Rick. There certainly wasn't any INKing!

Many thanks, James. This piece looks amazing in person, especially given that there are no inks whatsoever.

Love this!  I am rarely happier than when Deodato's leaning heavily into his Chiaroscuric, high-contrast work, and this is a superb example.  Sexy, shadowy, and sultry, it's more than clear here: this lady is TROUBLE.  Beautiful pencil (?!?) work with her hair and the -very- cool webbing background adding some outstanding visual texture to this awesome composition.  And just in time for Halloween, too! :)  Beautiful Deodato add, CAB!!

Many thanks, Jason, once again for such insightful comments. That Deodato was able to achieve all this with just pencils is simply amazing!

Master class in light and shadow.

Many thanks, Eric. And this is even more impressive given that it was done entirely in pencil.

Very striking piece CAB! As with others I cant believe theres no inks haha thats so awesome! Congrats on adding another fantastic piece to your collection.

Many thanks, Dave. I couldn't believe it myself but now that the artwork is in hand, I can confirm that there are no inks whatsoever. It's quite remarkable.

Deodato employed this style round 20 years ago. He wanted to use a high contrast approach and decidee he'd achieve the desired effect more easily by pencilling tightly and pressing down really hard with his pencil, so that it would be dark enough to not need to be inked, thereby saving himself a ton of time. Although you say that this scan does not do the work justice, I have to tell you that this is probably the best scan I've ever seen of one of his "pencils only" works, as it actually shows you how hard the pencil point carved into the paper. But yes, as nice as the scan may be, seeing art in person is STILL even nicer! A great looking piece, CAB!

Many thanks, Rubén, for the very informative and helpful background which I was not aware of. It's just amazing what he could do with just pencils and, yes, the scan does show how hard he pressed down with his pencil.

Wow!

Many thanks, Nick. It's a simple word but very aptly describes this piece!

Hot pin up!  It's done well beyond when he perfeced this look.  Deodato had emered as one of the hot bad girl artists of the 90's with Wonder Woman and Elektra.  The style change to all pencil was right at the time when he added the Jr. to his name was also when the prices jumped with Anthony as the rep.  So fans didn't know if this was a different person for a little while.

Many thanks, Marcus. And many thanks for the additional background information. I also hadn't realized that Anthony was his rep.

Not any more.

Thanks, Marcus, for the update.

Gorgeous piece, Deodato sure knows how to draw an alluring Black Cat (and strong female characters in general, love his Elektra work).

Many thanks, Kavi. I did also purchase an Elektra piece and hope to post it in the foreseeable future.

Mike owns the world's darkest pencil.  Love this!

Many thanks, Duke. I'm inclined to agree!

I LOVE this one. But I'm a bit bias. Such a stunning rendition of Felicia. Congrats on this Deodato masterpiece!

Many thanks, Eric. It is a really amazing piece of art!

Wow, what a spectacular piece!!! The pencils are amazing and look better than a lot of inked pieces!!! Another great addition to your awesome collection!!!

Many thanks, Alberto. As I have mentioned, I couldn't believe it myself that this was just pencils and no inks.

Superb example of pencil drawing technique. Hatts off Mr. Deaodato Jr. 

Many thanks, Toni. As someone has observed, this is as good - if not better - than inks.

Quite possibly, Mike Deodato's best artistic phase was when his work was being published from pencils only. I am fortunate to have several pieces from this era as well and I cherish and treasure each one, like I am sure you do with this piece. Just gorgeous - major congrats!!

Quite possibly, Mike Deodato's best artistic phase was when his work was being published from pencils only. I am fortunate to have several pieces from this era as well and I cherish and treasure each one, like I am sure you do with this piece. Just gorgeous - major congrats!!

Many thanks, Dave. Yes, his work on the Hulk in this medium was also really fantastic as well. I do have one piece only and I couldn't believe that that, too, was only in pencil.

Gorgeous pin up of Black Cat. Hard to believe it was only done with pencil. Congrats!

Many thanks, Chris. Yes, diffiicult as it is to believe, this piece was done entirely in dark pencil!