Trip to Turkey

Over the holidays, I had a chance to revisit some video I took on our trip to Turkey last August. Much like my video of our trip to New Zealand, the use of the Flip camera lead to a lot of "art shots" (though I managed to bring a small tripod to help make it a bit more stable). Still, it's a meandering montage that moves at a slow pace -- you've been warned! The music is "Happiness" by Riceboy Sleeps and you can see an HD version by clicking on the Vimeo button below.

Marvel Strange Tales II #3

The final issue of Marvel's Strange Tales Vol. II is out tomorrow, and once again, I have colored not one but two exciting Nick Bertozzi pages!  Continuing with our Steranko themed artwork, the real watcher Uatu sinks deeper into the perverse world of Philip the fake watcher, culminating in a trip to the never-before-seen Watcher Mating Grounds.

My favorite page from Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD #1

My direction from Bertozzi was to "go crazy".  In fact, I came back with something that "wasn't crazy enough" and thus, I too sunk deeper into Bertozzi's perverse coloring world.  Once again, I turned to Steranko's Nick Fury comic for inspiration and was drawn to the audacious use of magentas and yellows on one of my favorite pages.  Here's the end result:

Fortunately for the outro page, I was able to tone down the colors a bit.  In a call back to issue 2, I used a similar color scheme of greens and yellows.  Here's the coloring process I used for all four pages of Vol. 2 to invoke the feeling of an older comic.  (Since it is the last page of the volume, I will refrain from posting the whole page and ruining the story!)

We start with Bertozzi's line art:

The first step is to flat fill the colors.  This is where I make the general palette choices but since this is the final in a series, I just pick up the colors from previous issues.  Still, there are some new choices to be made such as the background color scheme and the color Philip's hair and stubble.  Yes, I consciously chose to make him look like Dan Clowes's Wilson.

Since I know that Philip will be emerging from a depression, I've decided to give the lower half of the page (the last tier shown here plus the one I've omitted from this post) more texture.  To accomplish this, I add a temporary layer of noise.

 

Then I select the background color and fill it with a slightly different hue.  In this case, I use the adjacent panel's shade of green. Then I remove the temporary layer which leaves flecks of the hue underneath.

Here is the page thus far:

To further highlight the gradual brightening of tone, I desaturated the first few panels.  I wanted to contrast the first panel with the last panel in Issue 2 so I made it almost devoid of color.

Next, I added a layer of various types of white zip-a-tone gradient.  This adds a muted texture to the first two tiers which is subtle (and hard to see on screen) but will enhance the feel on the printed version.

To complete the old-school feel, I then added an off-white color for paper and an overall texture by scanning in a piece of cardboard.

The lettering goes on last and that's the end product!  Who knows if there will be a Strange Tales Vol. 3 so this might be your last chance to pick up the Strange Tales of the Fake Watcher!

Hat Portraiture in Reverse 8

Ink Drawing on Vellum, 9"x12"

Train to Philly

Here's a little artsy-fartsy movie I made using an iPhone while on a recent trip to Philadelphia. The music is Max Richter's "Infra 5"

What it on Vimeo for HD quality.

Marvel Strange Tales II #2

The next issue of Marvel's Strange Tales will be out tomorrow and I have once again colored Nick Bertozzi's introduction page in which the Fake Watcher, Philip, continues to show the vacationing Uatu the beauties of human life.  As with issue one, we continue to invoke the coloring and special effects of Jim Steranko.

A tragic ending to Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD #1?

While looking through Steranko's past art this particular page caught my eye.  In the top half alone, every color on the spectrum is used and yet it doesn't feel forced.  The gray tones of the last panel punctuate the previous color choices and the story.  While I didn't have a chance to do a grayscale panel, here is my homage to Steranko's rainbow page (the rest of the page is filled with greens and yellows):

You can see the full page and more previews of the stories in the anthology over at Comics Alliance.  Be on the look out for this cover by the amazing Jaime Hernandez!

Vicious Circle Therapy Group

My Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies short story comes out this Wednesday, and my editor, Michel Fiffe, suggested that I do a post to explain the process I used this time around.

Savage Dragon came on to the comics scene about the same time that my family moved neighborhoods, causing me to lose my paper route, and thus, my comics buying income.  So when Fiffe asked me if I'd like to do a short story, my knowledge was severely limited to a couple of the Cartoon Express Savage Dragon shows I'd watched back in the 90s.  Under the guise of "research", I went out and got some trade paperbacks and started reading. (I love my job!)

Marvel Strange Tales II #1

Strange Tales returns with Volume II and the first issue will be out tomorrow! Once again, I colored the introduction page written and drawn by Nick Bertozzi in which we rejoin our anti-hero, the fake watcher, doing his time in prison.

For this round of Watcher pages, I've attempted to create a Jim Steranko feel by adding textures and using zip-a-tone-like patterns.  Below are some Steranko pages I used for inspiration:

Look for this cover at your local comic shop!