Archive for July, 2008
Anatomy of a panel
I posted the intro panel to the short story “Cast-Iron Coffin” a bit ago, and I thought it would be interesting for some of you to see the process that I use to get to the final product. I’ve been asked by Sketch Magazine to write up a tutorial for using markers to create a comic page, so I’ll probably use some if not all of these images. Here we go!
Brush lines over pencils
I like using a pen brush to do character lines.
Finished linework
After the brushwork, I use a series of Microns to add more defining lines, and lines for hard-edge objects.
Starting to add spot blacks
Time to break out the markers and start adding blacks!
The finished spot blacks
Here all of the solid blacks are in place
Starting to Render the image in greys
Laying in marker tones, light to dark.
Finished Grey Tones
Pretty much finished with grey tones at this point
Adding a new face
I hated the way the woman’s face looked in the panel so (thanks photoshop!) I drew a new one and added it. It’s smaller and darker than the original, adding depth and competing less with Eddie’s face.
So, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek!
-Dave
I couldn’t help myself…
I had to redo the woman’s head.)
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Hey, folks! Just wanted to share some of the artwork for the short story I was working on for the publisher. This is the first panel of the short and serves as kind of the “cover” for the story, so there’s lots of blank space that will be filled by lettering. It’s also a first for me in drawing water and submarines.)
I’ve got to say that the one thing that bugs me (and has been pointed out by others) is that the woman’s face isn’t quite right. I may see if there is something I can do with shading to help, but I may have to re-draw the face and photoshop it in. I’m resistant to doing that unless it just can’t be helped, but I think it warrants the effort since this panel is so important.
Other than that, I like the scene (well, I may work a bit more on the dark hills in the distance.
It’s great to be working again!
-Dave
Koryu Mini-Submarine
As I was plotting through the short story I’m working on, I browsed over to Chris Weston’s blog and read about how he had modeled a car in a 3D program to help him with perspective shots. I thought that was a pretty cool idea, so I downloaded and installed Google Sketchup on my machine. I watched a few tutorials (and had worked with some 3D programs before) and worked up a scale model of a WWII Japanese Koryu mini-submarine. I have actually enjoyed working on it so much that I probably spent more time on it than I should, but it’s been pretty successful. I’ve downloaded some of the models available for Sketchup and constructed a scene to place the model in that should be darned helpful and I’m really looking forward to seeing how well it works.
In other pulp news, Francesco Francavilla, a great artist and pulp devotee, has been doing some interesting interpretations of classic Dick Tracy characters on his Pulp Sunday blog!
-Dave
Ghostly News!
Hey, Everyone!
I wanted to let everyone know about how things were going with the Ghost Zero comic. I have, over the past week been having discussions with a couple of different publishers about a potential home for GZ, and I’m pretty happy to relate that one has been decided upon! I don’t want to name names at this point as nothing is official, but I’m really happy with the publisher…GZ will be in good pulp-company!
Right now the plan is to put a 4-page short story in the books they publish as an introduction to Ghost Zero. Initially, we were considering running the “Fleshless Legion” story, but I really wanted to knock out a new short, just for this launch. So, right now, I’m working on a really cool story I’m calling “The Cast-Iron Coffin”. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that it involves a Koryu-class submarine.)
Anyway, the story is roughed out (I like to know all of the backstory to a short, even if it never shows in the comic….you never know when it will come in handy!), and I’m working on the page breakdowns and thumbnails. If all goes well, I should be able to give you a peek of the art next week.)
I’m really intrieged with the idea of doing short stories instead of 3-issue arcs. In some of the classic comics of the 40’s a comic would have a few 8 to 10 page stories inside, starting off with a 1/3 to 1/2 splash panel. I’m following that format with “The Cast-Iron Coffin”, and it feels like I’m walking in the footsteps of those pulp forefathers. With my slow production schedule (a page a week), it might be a good idea for me to focus on doing a few short stories. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes and what the publisher wants to do. It’s all pretty exciting!)
That’s all for now…stay tuned!
-Dave
Or, the curious tale of how a small artist came to Chicago.
I had no intention of going to the Wizard World Con at Chicago this year. That is, until artist Doug Klauba read his copy of “Ghost Zero: Ghosts with Guns!” and decided that I had to come. Doug is a prince of a fella. No kidding. I was constantly amazed that he had clothes on, because he would literally give you the shirt off his back, if needed. Anyway, Doug thought that I needed to show GZ around to some publishers and get professionally published, so up I went.
The maps on Google and Yahoo will tell you that Chicago is a little over a 7 hour drive from where I live in Kentucky. Those maps know nothing about Chicago traffic, or construction detours, which actually make the trip a butt-bruising 9-hour trek. Needless to say, when I rolled into Rosemont, just outside of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, my brain (and butt) was mush. I closed my eyes for a few minutes in the hotel room, and after calling Doug, walked down to the convention center and into Wizard World itself.
Now, I hadn’t been to a major Con since GenCon in 1993, and I was totally unprepared at how big the con was, how noisy, colorful, and chaotic it would be. It was like falling into a box of cracker jacks…a bit overwhelming at first, but sooo sweet. After the shock of seeing that everyone..EVERYONE..had a t-shirt with an image on the front, (in all fairness, I did too, the first day) I felt completely at home.
The experience of going from pretty much total isolation as a comic creator to being plunged into a mix of hundreds was very similar to the experience that Harry Potter must have had when we arrived at Hogwarts for the first time (thus the clever title of this post). I honestly felt in my element and could go up to anyone to strike up a conversation. I met some fantastic guys..Mike, Jason, Adam, Aaron, David….most of whom were hanging out in artist row behind the Tranfuzion and General Jack Cosmo booth….and I finally got to meet Doug Klauba himself.
(This pic catches Doug in mid-punch to my mid-section)
Everyone at the con was very corteous and friendly, and I actually had the really cool experience of having a couple of people walk up to me and say “Hey! You’re the guy that writes Ghost Zero?”, which was phenomenally cool. Everyone who saw the GZ poster and comic was really blown away.
And, of course, there were the publishers. The big change for me with this Con as opposed to previous ones is that I really felt more like an insider and less like a fanboy on the prowl for a sympathetic publisher, which is great. I had serious discussions with a couple of publishers, Moonstone books and Ape Entertainment, both of whom publish some great, pulp material, and both of them bringing different things to the table as publishers. I’ll have more conversations with each of them this week as I make my way to a decision about which place would be a good home for Ghost Zero. Either way I go, I really can’t make major moves until I have the “Vigilante Crypt” story arc complete…which will be sometime next year. I mean, no matter how cool your concept is, it all comes down to the goods….which comes down to the discipline of working every day. After taking a break doing coloring work, I plunged back into the comic pages last night, and it felt good. Seeing all of the fantastic art at the Con was just what I needed to pump up the inspiration batteries.
So, now that the Con is over, what’s different? Well, I can tell you that I’ll definitely be doing more large Cons. Meeting with the people is fantastic, and I honestly had a hard time saying goodbye to some of them. I think it’s good for me as an artist to see others and be seen. Also, I’ll continue conversations with the publishers until something is settled. A relationship with a publisher is like any kind of relationship…both parts have to be comfortable with each other. I also have to reconsider serializing on the web. If I’m going into print, I should focus on that. Not to say that I won’t be giving regular peeks at what’s going on with the books. And, of course, the constant is work on the comic. The Ghost Zero story is literally huge…there’s so much to tell….and none of it happens without sitting down every night to draw out another page.
So, that’s how Wizard World was to me.
-Dave
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