BONUS CONTENT: Sketchbook: Kaagan-Vas

by on October 28, 2010 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog Entries

Back to sketches!

Going forward, I’ll try to pair up Bonus Content sketches with the actual story page that’s posting that week. It won’t always fit exactly, and there is a bit of catch-up to do, but I think it’ll be better and less jarring than it has been to date.

Here we have some alien concepts for the flashback Kaagan-Vas. These scenes are always fun since I get to just come up with a bunch of new and different creatures, but it’s also a bit taxing creatively. When I’m in the groove, I feel like I can come up with some very cool designs, but when I’m not feeling it, it’s very hard to tap into that part of the brain that lets me come up with something new and different.

With this batch, I was feeling pretty under the gun and behind in schedule, so I didn’t get to put as much time into the concepting as I would have liked. But then I figure, for a short flashback sequence, I could probably get away with a little less development time since I’m not sure how much these particular characters will show up again.

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BONUS CONTENT: Art Process Display Banner, Pt 10 (FX) & 11 (Final)

by on October 21, 2010 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog Entries

So here are the last two steps of the art process in creating my new display banner. In the left image, I added all the final touches to the art, which consist of various special effects: haze around the planet, glowing engines and lights on both the Khoruysa Brimia and the Mosquito, and a few metallic gleams on the ships and weapons.

I also made the final decision to nix the different colored horizontal bars, which were looking a bit hokey. Plus, with everything else going on in the image, the last thing I needed was three bars of different colors as any kind of distraction. I replaced them with a single blue background color for all three bars, but that looked too flat and boring, so I added the white vertical gradient down the middle. That ended up working perfectly since it broke up the flatness of the solid color while also drawing your eye towards Sky in the center of the image.

On the right side, you have the final image, with the text laid back on top of all the artwork. Huzzah!!

Overall, I’m really happy with the final piece, and if you come and see me at your next comic convention, maybe you’ll get to see it in person in all its glory. Assuming the airline doesn’t lose it in transit….

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THE HOBBIT a go!

by on October 18, 2010 at 10:50 am
Posted In: Blog Entries

Woo hoo! While things aren’t completely out of the woods yet, it looks like a huge step has been taken in the “Hobbit” movies, and the studio has now given the project a greenlight to start filming in February 2011. That’s a pretty big turnaround from the uncertainty and muck that’s plagued the project thus far. On the plus side, at least the long delays ultimately brought Peter Jackson on board as director. Now if they can only secure Martin Freeman as Bilbo…

Check out the news here.

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BONUS CONTENT: Art Process Display Banner, Pt 8 (Nebula) & 9 (Stars)

by on October 14, 2010 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog Entries

Here the banner image is really starting to take shape with the addition of more layers to the Space and Planet background. Not much to say here, but with the image on the left, I added some purple-y nebulae to the Space area and crackle-y details to the Planet. On the right image, I added the starfield, bright stars/suns, and shadow on the planet.

Next up, effects and final image!

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BONUS CONTENT: Art Process Display Banner, Pt 6 (Shade) & 7 (Space)

by on October 7, 2010 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog Entries

Now we’re into the fun part of the Coloring stage: the shading and highlights. In the left image, I added the shading on all of the main art, namely the characters and ships. With that done, in the right image, I started working on the background elements of space and planet. At this point, coloring characters is pretty easy and straightforward, but I knew the space background would be a bit more work and require more layers and experimentation. Having done a few colored space backgrounds before for the series, I knew I’d want to lay in some Cloud effects (a Photoshop filter) as a starting point.

Next up, more Space and Planet layers…

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