A Shadow of Steel

It's been awhile since I last posted up stuff, so here is a little something on a project I'm working on. I am collaborating with the 'Final Frontier' comic shop in Plymouth (again) to make a possible series of self published comic books. So far it's been an interesting project and challenge. It has been too long since I wrote my own stories so it's been hard getting back into the swing of things, but I think we have an interesting story to start things off. If there is any feedback you want to give me in relation to the compositions then please feel free to leave a comment.
I should also point out that as it doesn't have any text yet on the pages it would be hard to understand what is going on. Though once the script has been tweaked the second dummy book will have text incorporated with the images. Hope you enjoy.

Happy Valentines Day!

What can I say, this image speaks for itself so Happy Valentines Day y'all!

Stoker.

Hey folks, just a little message for today. I have submitted a design for the Stoker film post card competition being held by Talent House folks. Having watched the trailer myself I found the film very compelling and instantly went to work on getting a conceptual design for the poster. You can view my design here via this link  to talent house website and I would be really happy if you could vote for me too, I would truly be appreciative for your support. You can also leave a comment underneath the page too. I hope you enjoy the image and thank you for your time.

Closing date for the voting is the 11th February 6pm. 

A story about freedom.

Below here are some pages from my sketchbook that have inspired a tale of sorts about surviving against the odds, freedom and finding a friend featuring the space hamster. More to come soon so stay tuned.

Panel 2.

It's that time again where I must update my blog with my latest creation. Me and my friend Benj decided it was high time we started a small group based project as a way to inspire and motivate our merry group in the coming of the New Year. We decided to make a 8 panel comic where one starts the first panel and gets passed around to each of us that does a panel each till it is complete. I did the second panel which as you can see makes the story a bit of a downer...for now depending on what the others plan to do.

If you are interested in seeing the progress then please check out the collective here to see this project reach its final stage.

So simple.

Today I was wondering how does a colourist for Tim Sale bring colour to his grey ink wash images and seemingly replacing the grey with the colour without losing the texture. Well today I found out the answer and a rather simple one at that. Essentially all you need is a new layer in photoshop with either the color or overlay blend and then go crazy on it and then rocket, parmesan, done. I experimented with a page from my 'The Big Sleep' adaptation and compared it to how I orginally altered the inkwash colour. Now originally I made the inkwash into a solid new colour, wiping out any brush texture that was there originally and quite frankly it took a long time to do (I am sure there was a quicker way to achieve this).
With the experiment that I did today it only took a couple of seconds and it still looks great, so I feel had I known this other method I could have saved myself a lot of grief and time. Though I have to say I like both versions for their own merits but it will be interesting to try an inkwash image and then to render the colour digitally.

Chinstrap.

Hello fellow bloggers, Dave here with a selection of concepts for a comic book character that I am co-designing with a Sam from the comic shop. Essentially I am trying to create a 'cowl' like mask for this hero that incorporates the fedora hat. We also want to try and make him distinguished from other comic characters that have a similar design such as The Spirit, Green Hornet, The Shadow etc. At one point I even applied an old fashioned motor cycle cap to be used as part of his disguise. 

So far it has been an engaging exercise to push the boundaries a little on concept and design and I hope I get to see this project through to the end, and maybe illustrate his first outing maybe. Who knows.