“Come inside. Have a spot of tea and meet the missus.”
There is an element in illustration that is taken for granted when it comes to professional art, and that is the ability to perceptually render characters in their allotted space, accurately. Whether it’s an isometric view of a room, or a tight-shot on a character from the chest-up, one must possess the ability to separate the background at an appropriate distance– all done by using your own eyes to perceive this depth on a two dimensional page.
These storyboard sketches are from frame grabs that I pulled in sequence from a specific scene. Each frame is approximately 3” X 2” (thumbnails) and I scroll through each one and spend about five minutes sketching out the main elements that make up the image. This exercise is an effective way to feel the depth and distancing from background to foreground using your eyes and not having to rely too heavily on perspective plotting and rulers. Let’s face it, not every shot (especially tight-shots or over-the-shoulders) are going to be measurable on the page with perspective points. But it’s important that drawing from the photo is approached three-dimensionally, so that you translate the spatial elements the same way if you had created the image straight from your head. For example, do not get caught up in measuring the distance from the top of a head to the top of the panel frame.
This exercise is also useful in learning better lighting techniques. I will quickly jot in general shadow areas and lighting directions to get a better feel for the cinematography. I also should have a better grasp on the cinematic language as deconstructing these scenes will give me better clues as to how they work.
Scene referencing from the 2007 film ‘Funny Games’, directed by Michael Haneke.
DARK PHOENIX COVER - COLORED
Finally got around to finishing up the color work on this cover idea. Things were progressing on a timely schedule until the background came into play–then I practically hit a wall. It wasn’t so much a technical problem, I just started to loose faith in my original composition, so I began to mess with different versions of how to end the piece. Ironically, I came back to my original concept, which I think worked out OK in the end.
I’m also happy with how close the final illustration is to the original pencil work. Although I had photo referenced models (thank you Steph & Matt!) I used the photos to basically superimpose the lighting scheme to my own faces and figures. I hope the piece has more of a traditional comic book look, rather than an ultra-realistic one.
Thanks again to my Philly cats for being such great models!
-Inspired by John Byrne & Chris Claremont’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” run, 1980.
Ext. Industrial, Tokyo - Continuous
FINAL REVEAL
Original script written by Chris Claremont, 1984.
DARK PHOENIX COVER - PENCILED
Reminder to myself: please color over the next couple of days. Thank you, sir.
-Inspired by John Byrne & Chris Claremont’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” run, 1980.
Ext. Industrial, Tokyo - Continuous
The ninja has reached the front car of the Shinkansen, and is apparently cornered. Both rivals prepare for a final standoff…
Click image for bigness…
Original script written by Chris Claremont, 1984.
Ext. Shinkansen, Tokyo Train Station - Continuous
Wolverine pursues his anonymous assassin on foot which leads him to a train station just three miles south of Tokyo, during peak commuter hours.
Click on image to read more…
Original script written by Chris Claremont, 1984.
Ext. Downtown Tokyo Backstreet - Night
Fade In:
One day when I was a kid, my favorite action figure ‘The Flash’ disappeared on me– or at least I thought it did. I couldn’t find it for months until one afternoon I was trolling around in the garage and found it laying on the window seal. His joints were rusty and his color was half-faded by the sun, but I was still so happy to see him again. In fact, I believe this old picture is proof of that very day. Well, after rummaging through my external hard drive this afternoon, I found some Wolverine turnarounds I did almost a year ago. A part of me feels like I did when I found my Flash toy all over again…
Maybe now I’ll finally bang out those Wolverine pages I planned a while back. I’m feeling a little snikty this week.
Psycho Pirate’s defining moment comes when he discovers what’s really been haunting Arkham Asylum. Forgotten, superhuman souls transcending through limbo in a super criminal madhouse. Hayden is dangerously aware of who these people are and why they are back from the dead… And no, it’s not Black Lantern rings!
When I read the closing acts of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man, it was this particular issue that resonated with me the most. The marriage of the original art style and counter voices of the script gave a mental impression that was much richer than the page itself. Chaz Troug was the great original artist for the book, and his art style is fully merited when you read issue five, ‘The Coyote Gospel’. He has this artistic approach that lies between traditional superhero comics and a Chuck Jones cartoon—it’s a fantasy that’s lively, jarring, and surreal in the same moment. Because his pages evoked such a strong fantasy in my head, it became even more enticing to re-visualize a part of the story. Specifically this scene.
[Here is all four pages with shotty bubbled text from the original script. Click the image below. (Beware, it's big.)]
Sometimes as storytellers, we tend to think in cinematic terms. There were a few films that helped spawn some of my own imagery. I think of scenes from Švankmajer’s Lunacy, or Kubrick’s Eye’s Wide Shut. But even more so, Luis Buñuel’s ‘The Exterminating Angel’ had some oddly humorous, yet appropriate comparisons. The dramatic confusion between characters as to what is real and what is illusion, all within this solitary space. In the end, it was this final splash page that motivated this whole exercise from the beginning.
Although this is all personal exercise, I hope that in by doing so I’m complimenting the original work in my own fanboy sort of way. I really enjoyed the Truog/Morrison run of Animal Man. I think I’m going to read ‘The Invisibles’ next.
