Poster Job

So during my time off from school, I have been knuckling down and getting to work on a coloring job that I have been putting off with other projects or jobs. This is a sequential comic in poster format that I did for my little brother a while ago, based on his favorite film. The whole poster is 1 foot by 4 feet and this is the first panel in that overall layout, setting the time, place, and mood. Initially, this was going to be just my pencils and I was going to call it good.  But, being curious, and I suppose, a glutton for punishment, I asked him if he would like me to color it for him. Of course he said yes. Coloring has been something that I have been trying to get better at. I’ve been trying to go for more of a naturalistic look with more contrasts in hots and colds, and lights and darks and better values. I have been learning a lot while working on this and so far, am pretty pleased with the results I am getting-for the most part. I have been looking a lot at the work of colorists such as Peter Doherty, Alex Sinclair, and Richmond Lewis and seeing how they work with issues or problems I may be having. In particular, I was very impressed with the way Peter Doherty colored the desert landscapes of The Shaolin Cowboy by Geof Darrow. His work has been a great help and inspiration to me as I try and work through this project.

The original Lines

Here is the colors layer

With the linework added on top

This is my color correction for the work I had done. Going into this, I knew there would be some color manipulation done in post. I really like how warm the previous panel feels, but to more emulate the reference material that this panel is coming from, I decided to desaturate the blues to cause a cooler temperature and the sense of the panel being slightly overcast.


P.S. Bonus points if anyone can guess the movie this shot is from. Good Luck.
   



R.I.P. Moebius

Long time friend and collaborator of Geof Darrow, and easily one of my favorite comic artists, Jean Giraud, better known under the pseudonym, Moebius, has passed away after a long fight with cancer. His work will continue to inspire and influence me as well as countless others, but this is a sad loss indeed. Thanks for the imagination, the dreams, and most of all, thank you for your incredible spirit. You will be, and are deeply, deeply missed.

Been a While

Hey everyone, sorry for the gap in between postings. I am currently trying to finish a coloring piece for my portfolio. I really want to get it done before school starts again in April, so that is really fighting for my attention. But, thanks to a gentle reminder from my girlfriend, I thought I would post something. This is a color piece I did a while ago for an emotion study. This was done with acrylics and sharpie on illustration board. I chose to focus on rage and how I could convey that visually and sort of lyrically. The broken shards are supposed to be ripping or tearing out of the hunched over figure. Much the same way, if one lets it, rage can overpower and consume a person, and usually, that does not get alleviated in the most productive way.  I really wanted high contrast colors to emphasis the emotional state I was trying to convey and naturally, reds and blues came to mind. So here ya go. Please to enjoy.