Dirty pencil drawing for the Ozcomics.com Lobo Challenge this week. It was great fun letting loose and digging into the page with a soft pencil and pushing it around with a paper stump and eraser.
Art Nuggets
The Concept Art of Nick Smith
Category Archives: Comics
Iron Man
Having done some Iron Man sketching at Drink’n’Draw the other night I fancied inking and colouring him up.
Usagi Yojimbo
At last! Usagi Yojimbo makes an appearance in the OzComics.com sequential challenges. This was a quick drawing I did last night using the Brush pen and fine liner, as well as a little white paint pen, which turned out to be really useful. Not only did it white out the blacks, but I could then reapply the blacks over it and you couldn’t tell the difference. It literally behaves like liquid paper. The pose for this image is a homage to the great Toshiro Mifune and his ronin character that he played in Kirosawa’s Yojimbo and Sanjuro. Great films. Check them out!
Sebastian Hawks – Creature Hunter
This piece was done for another OzComics.com weekly challenge. There’s a bit more to it this time because one of the more popular images will be included in the Graphic Novel that is being made with the help of Pozible. It’s called Sebastian Hawks – Creature Hunter and if you want to know more or contribute you can find it here.
Once again I’ve used this as an exercise in refining my comic style. I’m definitely getting a good feel as to what works and what doesn’t, however something like this level of embellishment would be more suited to the cover than the panels. If you’re interested in seeing this image included in Graphic Novel, please head on over to the OzComics.com gallery and ‘like’ it.
Behold My Booty!
This weekend I will be in attendance at Supanova at the Brisbane RNA Showgrounds, so come on down if you’re in the area and pick up some of this sweet loot. I have postcards, prints, posters and t-shirts for sale, as well as the chance to win some of the more exclusive images.
I can be found, along with my cohort Pete Yong, at Pete & Nick’s Art Nuggets in Artist’s Alley, Booth L2. Below I have provided a helpful map, so as to remove all possible impediments to people attending. I’m excited to be taking part and hope to see many friendly faces as well as make new acquaintances. Should be fun.
HILT
A down on her luck warrior is out hunting when she crosses paths with a party of knights returning from battle. When the warrior decides on flight instead of fight the chase is on.
This is the premise for short comic that I am in the process of making. Having tried my hand with some of the OzComics.com Sequential Challenges I thought it time to put all I’ve learnt into a story of my own. It will be about 20 to 22 pages in length and will hopefully provide me a with a earning curve that will help me develop as a comic artist. I have started a blog to act as a development diary for the project where all the artwork and musings are collected in one place.
As to the artwork itself, I spent quite a bit of time getting the composition right. I had initially intended for a more straight on composition with the warrior at the bottom of the piece looking back at the avalanche of knights chasing her, but decided against this because you wouldn’t be able to see her face. As such I went for this more kinetic image. Having settled on a composition the next step was to do the pencils. I spent a lot of time on this step with the intention of skipping the inking stage and using the pencil scan as the inks. Unfortunately the scan I got was not suitable straight up for the final art and so a fair bit of tidying up was required. Once the ‘inks’ were done it was on to the colour and background. This part of the process is great fun as the image comes together. The final act was to increase the size of the warrior herself. This really helped make the image more immersive by exaggerating the depth. Finally, the arrow was added and puts the icing on the action.
This weekend I will be at the Brisbane Supanova at the RNA Showgrounds with posters promoting the comic. I will be at the Pete & Nick’s Art Nuggets booth (Booth L2) in Artist’s Alley. I hope to see you there!
Dredd
Saw me some Dredd 3D last night. Gotta say I really enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised how close they kept to the comic in terms of not only the character and world, but also the bleak ethos.
Personally I liked the Judge Dredd design. The helmet was true to the icon comic version, while the rest of the costume brought the character a certain believability. It was a great proof of concept. I just hope they can get enough at the box office to do a sequel. A TV show wouldn’t go amiss actually.
If I was to have one criticism it is that Karl Urban was a little on the short side for my liking. I always think of Dredd as being tall and lean. With a more pronounced jaw also. Still, it was definitely good enough to inspire me to knock out this pic.
Thor
Created for the OzComics.com Thor challenge.
Killeroo
Sequential Challenge #4 was based on the character Killeroo, created by Darren Close, who runs OzComics.com and so kindly sets up the challenges and supports the local comics community. I’m pleased to have been able to get this one done to show my appreciation for what he does. If it weren’t for him and his challenges I would not be so far down the comic artist road.
This was a fun strip to do, although I must say I loathe drawing motorcycles. I’d hoped to get it coloured but time ran out. Better to make sure the inks and lettering and such are finished off well, than rush the thing.
This will be my last entry into the Sequential Challenges for a while. I’m going to put my efforts into my own strip, so stay tuned.
Batman: Year Fifty
Having been away at the CDW Wellington last week, I didn’t get the opportunity to contribute to the OzComics.com challenge in time. Nevertheless, the script was there and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. The writer Matt Holcomb created a vivid image of what he wanted and even went so far as to supply imagery from which us artists could gain inspiration, varying from German expressionist cinema, to Citizen Kane and Alex Ross.
With this one I wanted to stick to just the penciling and inking, and forego colour in order to speed up my process. However, as I started adding more texture and tones it ended up taking about the same time as the previous two challenges. Perhaps I need to be more disciplined, but I really like the film grain quality the mid tone texture gave the images. It feels a lot more of a 1940’s style noir movie.
SEQUENTIAL CHALLENGE SCRIPT #03 ‘Batman: Year Fifty’
By Matt Holcomb
PANEL 1:
EXT. WAYNE MANOR – PRE-DAWN
On the other side of the tall, gothic gates of Wayne Manor, a familiar and iconic silhouette — cape, cowl and tall ears — makes its way toward the dark, castle-like mansion, perched on a mountain of mist. (CK ref. #3)
PANEL 2:
INT. WAYNE MANOR – BRUCE WAYNE’S BEDROOM
WIDE ON Bruce Wayne’s bedroom — vast and expressionistic, a giant fireplace cut into the wall on our right (CK ref. #4), old gym equipment to the left. Batman’s imposing shadow is cast over Bruce Wayne, the bed he’s sitting up in, and the wall behind.
CAPTION: He visits me every day, always before dawn — a spectre in shadow form.
PANEL 3:
The iconic Bat-Signal in the sky, projected onto clouds high above Gotham.
CAPTION: Not unlike the signal Jim Gordon would throw up to the sky for Batman whenever help was needed.
PANEL 4:
Batman and Jim Gordon back in the day, on the rooftop of the Gotham City Police Department — good friends deep in conversation.
CAPTION: Or whenever Jim needed someone to talk to.
PANEL 5:
MCU of Bruce sitting up in bed, shirtless and brooding, draped in Batman’s shadow. The octogenarian Bruce is still a beast of a man below the neck. (TH ref. #1)
CAPTION: Like Jim, perhaps Batman needs the company. And what better person than me — the one who created him.
PANEL 6:
Bruce is standing by his bed, scarred back to us, putting his black silk robe on, Batman’s shadow next to him, now smaller on the wall behind the bed. (AR ref. #1)
CAPTION: Abandoned him.
PANEL 7:
Bruce, silhouetted, silk robe flowing like Batman’s cape, is framed inside the door frame as he exits the bedroom, the door frame cutting into Batman’s shadow — it’s like Bruce is walking through Batman.
CAPTION: But I have nothing to say. Nothing to apologise for.
PANEL 8:
WIDE ON Bruce, who stands inside a narrow, slanted shaft of light in an otherwise shadowy Batcave. The vehicles. The lab, computer and surveillance equipment. The memorabilia: animatronic T-Rex, giant Lincoln penny, oversized Joker playing card — all covered in white drop sheets.
CAPTION: All I can do is continue to give Batman’s shadow a place to visit.
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AUTHOR’S NOTES
I have compiled some reference images for the script, some of which I’ve specifically cited. The original PDF document I sent to OzComics includes all reference images, but for some reason Facebook doesn’t allow for PDFs to be posted. So for anyone who wants to view the images (not fussed if you refer to them or not), then just copy and paste this link to download the original PDF:
Art Nuggets 