Missing Parts

Here is the shaded version of the previously posted page. You'll note that the upper right panel appears unfinished; this is because Cornelius's narrative caption will be covering the top part of his face and the background. I want Dent to appear somewhat anonymous in this frame as the caption will convey he has a bad case of amnesia (as well as a missing arm).

On a different note, I recently discovered the art/writing of Stan Sakai on Usagi Yojimbo. Not that UY is new to me, I've seen it before, I've just never picked it up to read until this last week (issue #111). I think I will backtrack a bit and start collecting some of the series. One thing particularly nice is that my kids can read it.

Dent's Recovery

Here is some new inking. Chronologically, this is part of a flashback in the book where Cornelius Bacon explains his first encounter with Dent (not yet known as the Peck), left for dead in the city dump. Bacon rescues and nurses him back to health. This is the page where Dent is finally up on his feet, but suffering from a wicked case of amnesia.

I almost spoiled the page by accidentally spattering water on it while tracing over the pencil comp (errant beverage). Yeah, yeah, I know, I know: I should be using indelible media. But I so love these Tombo markers. You get the brush effect without all the dipping and dripping.

Michael Turner

I browse through the comic community frequently to find artists whose artwork and style inspire me. One such influence I found a few years back was Michael Turner. Sadly he lost his battle with cancer last week at age 37. It's been a year of unexpected passings in the industry. Mike "Ringo" Wieringo died last August at age 44. Both passings are a tragic loss for the comics world.

Freedom

Happy July 4th. To the left is an image from one of my illustration idols, Norman Rockwell. This painting was done in 1943 as a part of series entitled The Four Freedoms published by the Saturday Evening Post. According to his publisher, when Rockwell first undertook the project he thought it would take two months. It took seven. Rockwell said, "It should have been tackled by Michelangelo." I think he did fine all by himself. This particular piece is called Freedom of Worship. The others in the series include Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

I am proud to live in the most free nation in the world. May we never forget the religious ideals that this nation is built upon, ideals which afford us the very liberties we enjoy.

When Night Falls

This page actually precedes the others in order. It is right when night falls on Sactown and Cornelius is explaining the corruption of city. Note the politically friendly graffiti. I'm not completely sold on this page for two reasons:
1) I'm not sure upper right frame is as a contrast to his Cornelius dramatic narration. It's supposed to be humorous, but may just come off confusing. I thought about placing the silhouette of a drug deal or a lady of the night, but I just didn't want to make it so seedy in conjunction with the mattress tag. I know it's hard to process this without the text in place.
2) The visual on the Peck running through the bottom frame. Feels messy right now. I'll sleep on it.

Team Will

Though this isn't necessarily illustration oriented, I thought is was worth mentioning: my buddy, Jonathan Weast (a professional illustrator), just got through cycling from San Francisco to Washington DC; he and his team mates did it in only 10 days! What's more, they did it to raise awareness and funds for children battling cancer. To see photos of they're adventure, surf over to the team's site and team member John Livernois's blog of the trek.

Congrats, Jonathan, on a huge ride for a noble cause.

WALL-E

Took in WALL-E today with the fam. I give it a solid B+/A-. Pixar did a wonderful job telling a story with minimal dialogue. Good imagery and cinematography. They almost jerk a couple of tears out of you near the end. Excellent character development which makes these robots believable and endearing. And they get tons of mileage out of nuanced animation that only reinforces the story and characters. I highly recommend it. I think I would've given it a solid "A" had there not been some minor plot holes, but I won't spoil the movie with pesky details. BTW, the animated short before the film was very tight and clever (a huge step up from the short they did before Nemo). Hats off to the folks in Emeryville.

Cat to Cardboard

Here's the near finished panel, sans lettering. This one was a fun one to see to fruition as I had to manage to tie in the alley cat and get the Peck up on a roof in short order. Hopefully that looks like debris on top of the building he's jumping onto. On the following page he surveys his city, Sactown.

Cough. Cough.

Here is a peek at a Peck page I'm shading right now. Should have it done tonight. Need to work out some linework issues on the lower left panel (as well as shade it) and create more depth in the other two panels.

Smog report: The smoke is heavy right now in the Sac Valley. Something like 800+ wildfires started from a single lightning storm last week. The sunlight looks reddish on the sidewalk outside. Smells like a campfire; looks surreal. (Sigh). Stay in doors, crank the AC and draw.