A new project in the works

I am working on a splash page style piece of Kumagae, it is in a very early stage so I dont have anything to show yet. Hopefully by the middle of the week on into the weekend I will have some content to show. I am doing pinup/covers right now to get my feet wet and shake off any rust I have. After a few pieces are done I will then start working on sequential pages from sample scripts I have.

Ok, I lied

This is the finihsed Black & White piece, I actually was forced to go back and re-do the work I did during my last post. I saved my image in a low rez format, which meant it could not be colored properly at only 150dpi. With that being said I decided to go back and give Kumagae's tunic the same leather texture treatment I gave Ritsuko below. I feel it gives it nice contrast in terms of blacks and whites, the Mask on the Warlord was to get the same treatment but I think I'll leave that up to my colorist since it was such a large space with flat black I felt it took away from the piece overall.

Phase 1 complete

Well, this is the finished Black & White version. I could continue nitpicking at it for days but I've decided to leave it be and move on to the next phase. Considering I didn't plan it out other than a small thumbnail I must say I feel pretty good about this (especially since it's my 1st Adobe Illustrator piece). I learned a lot and my next project should fare better in terms of some technical aspects which you wouldn't be aware of unless you had the original vector file. Juan is going on Vacation so the coloring likely wont begin for another two weeks. I might mess with it though and see what I come up with.

Monday morning Quarterback

Well, I worked on the piece a little bit over the weekend. I've decided to add a bit more detail on the Monk instead of handing it over to Juan right now. I wont post it up until it's done but I think what I have planned will come out nice and I already have the ground work laid out for it. On a side note I have also been brainstorming what will be my 2nd piece consisting of these characters, I actually like the idea of creating comic covers so I will continue that trend for the next project.

Almost there

The piece is about 95% done, I have to fix the folded arm portion on the Monk but it's damned near done. I shouldve planned him out better but I may just have to go back and re do the arms from scratch, oh well it is a learning experience none the less. Once I complete it I will post up the finihsed Black & White.

Beyond Day 4

I am nearing completion of the piece, after the final figure goes in I will tweak some things here and there. Look for a post either tonight or tomorrow. After that is done I will send it off to Juan to color, I'm stoked about that because his painting skill is elite. Once it's done I will start a 2nd portfolio project.

Day Three

I'm a Night Owl, I worked on this most of the day Saturday but as the day turns to night I gain focus and before I know it it's 4:30am. I've been this way as long as I can remember; Hell, even at work I tend to hit my stride post lunch time. With that being said I got a lot done today, I had a scare though. My original file got corrupted somehow and wouldnt allow me to open it. However my buddy Juan told me I should be able to open it in Photoshop. He was right which saved me from losing my temper. So I can still do what I have to do with a few work arounds. It sucks though because I wanted to have the finished piece in Illustrator but I'd have to go back and do a lot of work which isnt worth it right now. As it stands the Black & White portion of the illustration is nearly done, I have 1 more character to add towards the bottom and then I will either color it myself or pass if off to Juan to do (he is far superior than I am at coloring).

Day Two

I'm getting into this piece, I spent last night working on it and didnt log on to WoW at all not even to check my mail. The piece is about 2/3rd done in terms of the actual drawing. I tweaked the proportions of the Dragon Warlord's Face (above Kumagae) and finished Kumagae as well.I put a placeholder font there for now and will begin work on the bottom section by placing the supporting characters there. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have some coloring to show.

Genesis

No, not it's not the Bible. Hell, it's not even the old 16 Bit console. But it is my first forray into blogging. I've decided to commit myself to changing my career and pursuing comic art/illustration. I had been running from my destiny for about a decade or so, but I cant run any longer. That being said I have started my first project. It's based on Kumagae which is a character I created and intened to develop into a full fleged Graphic Novel/Comic Book at some point in the future (distant or near I dont know yet). I took a different approach on this however, I decided to do it all from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Normally I would thumbnail, then blow it up and pencil it. Afterwards Ink it then scan it for coloring in Photoshop. After day 3 it's so far so good, I'm very nitpicky with it but for my first try I think its coming out satisfactory.

Chaz