background

here is the background for the panel in progress - it's somewhat inspired by anime, which i feel is totally appropriate for all the tech-y elements in the hope universe, the look of which creates a nice contrast to the characters with their unmistakable franco-belgian heritage.

interesting to see the BG in its unobstructed glory - it will be mostly covered up in the particular panel i'm working on, but even though this creates more work right now, designing and drawing and coloring the whole panel - if you think about this workflow more like you would in animation, this 'shot' is being prepared like in a multiplane set-up, and thus it allows you to use all the elements separately, and possibly in a slightly different way, in other panels requiring the same (or a similar) location...

the bad guy

this is our little doctor guy, recast as the villain in this story, the ceo of omnicorp - he'll only appear as a hologram, though...

the original idea only really works in movement: multiple faces projected on top of each other, the 'chairmen of the board' all talking at once - this is a simplification, both conceptually and graphically, and it'll work really well in the story, as the personification of evil...

;)

m

inks

sorry for the delay, but E3 was big and noisy (as usual) and became somewhat a distraction for a couple of days - but now back to more regular posting as intended:

i'm using a combination of copic multiliner, pigma microns and pentel brushpens - so yes, i'm inking on paper, but then i clean it all up once in photoshop - this may all change once i get a cintiq, but for now the back and forth between real pen and pencil on paper and the computer works just fine for me...

pencil over rough...

here is the next step: cleaned up the silhouette, put in 'real' arms and her 'bionic arm pads', put in detail on her leggings, boots and dress - and her hair

also put in the real sword - and i just noticed i need to move her left fist away from her body to achieve a better read in silhouette - but i can do that during the inking stage...

homage...

to frazetta - he is truly one of the great ones - the vitality and energy of his characters, the virtuosity of his brushwork and his breathtaking compositions have fascinated me ever since i came across his work in 1976 (during my stay here in the states as an exchange student)

One of frank's paperback covers provides the inspiration for this upcoming panel, which will appear towards the very end of the adventure - hope encounters her ultimate nemesis. The pyramidal compositions as well as his flawless anatomy are aspirational, so i better not cheat, but have a solid underlying construction for the character, even though (or especially BECAUSE) she's a cartoon character - strong pose, solid construction, clean line of action, good read in silhouette and details wrapping around the form...

not that i'm delusional by even putting my stuff and frank frazetta in the same sentence, but when you're stealing, steal from the best...

i will post work in progress, the piece in several successive stages of completion, to show the process, and chat a little about the how's and the why's

panel assembly

here is a preliminary assembly for a panel scenario - big action-showdown - hope fighting (defeating?) a bunch of holo-ninjas with her ultra-sonic scream - a situation that will definitely occur in the story i'm putting together - maybe just not EXACTLY like this, but it's pretty damn close - based on original material created a while ago, but now updated and made to work with the 'new look'..

enjoy


m