Calliope

     Oh, this was such a fun assignment!  I've had a bit of a lull in creative satisfaction after projects, but this one just felt wonderful to make.  Quick summary, for class we were to pick out a favorite comic cover, then redo it in our own style, or a style that strongly deviated from the original.  Well, here's the original.

 

     For those of you who were unaware, The Sandman is my favorite comic series, and one of the main motivators that made me want to be a comic book artist in the first place.  It was an easy choice.  Now for the version I made.  Since this cover has that classic mix between actual physical objects and ethereal images that McKean is known for, I wanted to do a complete 180.  Flat graphic blacks, zip-a-tone, and simple colors.

Josh's Bar Night

     I've been enjoying a project that we've been working on this quarter, that started with writing a story.  I decided (with the help of one of my favorite writers, Gabe) to write a story about a man that has a horrible day.  People don't like to read about happiness too much, and it would probably be a boring story to draw without the conflicts that we came up with.  A quick synopsis for you; A poor fella named Josh has just been dumped by his girlfriend, and tired of moping to break up songs, decides to go out on the town.  He gets drunk, rambling sweet nihilistic nothings to anyone around him, eventually leading to a misunderstanding that gets him punched, tossed out, and lost in the city. 
     Anyway, after I had the script it was time to draw.  The interesting part about the comic pages that I'm drawing is that the class has to draw it several times, and completely different shots every time.  This has been pushing me to pick much more interesting camera angles, and I suggest anyone who wants to make a comic try this method out.
     Here is the first set of penciled pages I finished from this technique.

Ooky Spooky

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS NIGHTMARE FUEL.

     Well kiddies, your host, the blog keeper, is here with a wraparound horror cover illustration.  Tonight seemed like the perfect night to post it, I've been listening to Tom Waits, I just finished putting together my Halloween costume, and there's a clear night out with cool breezes and a bright moon.  Lovely fall night.

     Well, enough introductions, here's the creepy stuff in question.

     If you really want to creep yourself out, look at it full screen.  That's the best way for them to look into your soul.

Max Is Tripping Balls

     Here's the finished version of the Max Starwind psychological style cover!

     Oh man, that is some trippy shit.  I liked the black and white version on it's own, but the coloring process for this one was fun.  So much experimenting, touching up, and playing with brushes in Photoshop.  :D

Max's Flowing Locks

     A psychological cover is the best, in my opinion.  Getting to play around with symbolism and having a harder concentration on composition and design instead of straight story telling seems to draw the reader in and create a more solid illustration.  Using the fan favorite (and class assigned) character Max Starwind, I created this cover:

 

     Flowing hair, eye contact, treasure, alien bits, what more could you ever need?  This piece was heavily inspired by the work of Dave Johnson.  He is by far my favorite cover artist.  You should probably check him out at  http://devilpig.deviantart.com/.

     And my next post will be a finished colored version.  I have a lot of different plans of attack I could choose for this cover, I can't wait to see which one works.

Oh no, tentacles everywhere!

     Max has been swallowed by an evil plant monster, and inside there are gross tentacles stealing away his amazonian princess!  Oh, the humanity!  Here's the finished cover:

 

     This might have just been an excuse to draw a busty woman being attacked by tentacles.  Or maybe it was a sincere artistic expression of the moment of loss and the intensity of Max's emotions.  Probably not, but maybe.

Finished Kid's Cover

 

     Ohmigoodness.  Max is adorable in his space car.  It's like WHOOSH SPACE OH NOOOO!  

     

     This is the finished mock-up cover for a kid's comic starring Max Starwind.  I am happy with this layout, especially the title font.  Coming up next on my bloggy blog will be a Max cover for the average mostly-adult comic audience.