You Never Know: Page Process for Playlist Kickstarter

Zoom in for Full view!


As you may know, I'm currently working on a project called "You Never Know" for an upcoming comic anthology called Playlist , which is being Kickstarted right now!

All of the comics in the anthology are based around songs by different musicians or bands, drawn in different unique styles. This is something awesome that you'll definitely want to be a part of, so check it out!

The song is a sort of Supernatural Horror/Noir tale that is inspired by and based on the song You Never Know by the band Brazil! Here is a breakdown of the page process step by step.

It's pretty self-explanatory but let me just give a little bit of clarification here.

1 - Concept Art
----------------------
After getting the general idea for the story from reading the song I do a rough concept design. This gives me a solid visual for what to think about when I'm drawing the thumbnails and finished pages.


2- Song Analysis
----------------------
This is one of the more exciting parts for me as a storyteller. Since the story was originally written as a song with verse rather than as a comic script, it's up to me to break down each page and panel. This gives me a LOT of freedom and makes the process really enjoyable.


3 - Thumbnails
----------------------
Once I know what's going on each page as far as the song is concerned, now it's up to me to break it down into individual panels. This goes hand in hand with the script analysis part. These thumbnails are VERY rough. If I was working with an editor or published house I imagine they might be a little frightened about these almost illegible scribbles, so I would have to tighten them up more. I probably should anyway, because coming back to these a few weeks later I even had to discern what I was drawing a few times. Regardless, when it's just for me I don't feel the same need to make these totally definite, I want the freedom to play with the layout and panels just a bit when I get to drawing the page.

4 - Pencils
----------------------
Rough pencils. I ink my own work so I'm not as concerned with having a final line, black placement, or rendering as I would if I were handing this off to another artist. This saves me time, as well as makes the inking more exciting for me as I usually do it the same day as the pencils. If I made finished pencils and then inked them it would probably take me close to 15-20 hours, and there's just not enough time in the day for that. These pencils are darkened up significantly in Photoshop so that you can actually see them onscreen.

5 - Inks
----------------------
I think I'm with a lot of artists who ink themselves in that this is my FAVORITE part of making comics. I love coming up with the storytelling and figuring out how to draw the different parts of my story, but the feel of the pens and brushes on the board is really awesome, as well as the variety of marks I can make with them. After inking I erase the pencils, scan, crop, and threshold the inks to get just black and white.




Hope you enjoyed and for all of you interested in making comics I hope this is helpful!


Please check out the Playlist Kickstarter page! We currently have 10 days left to go and it's going to be a tight squeeze for funding! If you found this useful, like comics and/or music, please share it with your friends and back us if it' something you think is cool!

Thanks again!

I use -

Strathmore 500 Series Semi-Smooth 11x17
4H Pencil core and mechanical lead
Micron, Brush, Rapidograph, Marker

Playlist! Brand new Kickstarter project!

I have an announcement to make! I'm excited to say that I will be collaborating with one of my favorites, the super cool band Brazil, in creating a comic for an awesome kickstarter project called Playlist!

This is the cover for our tale, entitled You Never Know, based on Brazil's song of the same name.

This project is featuring 200 pages of awesome comics from a bunch of great, talented and super nice comic illustrators! Every story will feature a song interpreted by one of the artists into comic form. There will be a wide variety of artistic style and voice, all bringing music by some great musicians and bands to life!

Please take a look at the project and help us bring this amazing project to fruition!

You can check out some of the great artist's on their dA sites here!

Our editor and awesome artist!





And many more!


Really excited to see this project happen! It is going to be totally unique and something really special that you'll want to be a part of!

Our success will be because of you! Enjoy, spread the word, and donate!

Thanks!

Something Cool - Teaser!

 

Whats this!?

Something cool is coming soon to Kickstarter and I'm a part of it! Keep an eye out!

2013, HeroesCon, and upcoming Comics Projects!

Time to update!

I am currently two weeks into the final quarter of my senior year, mere weeks away from finishing my undergraduate degree, a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Sequential Art at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

It's been an amazing four or so years here, and it has definitely changed my life for the better. I have not only the drive to succeed, but the tools and means to as well. Four years ago I decided to take control of my life and make a change, pursue the dream that floated in my head since I was a child. Now I'm seeing one of the first milestones in that dream come true!

So what does this really all mean?

Currently for my senior project, I'm working on pages for a graphic novel story that I wrote in spring of last year. I'll be taking the package to a few publishers, hopefully piquing their interest, and getting my first major tale into the world and into people's hands. There is no guarantee of course that my book will get picked up, but that's not going to stop me from completing it and seeing it published, even if it means I need to do this myself. I'll be keeping all of you updated with everything I can in relation to this and it's progress.

I am also working on a really cool anthology project headed up by the talented and hardworking . It's called "Playlist" and it's going to have awesome comics drawn by myself and friends of mine based on awesome songs and music that inspires all of us. There will be a Kickstarter for this project sometime in the next few weeks or months, and any and all support we can get for this will be great. Share, donate, support comics and art! Believe me, this will a project you'll want to be a part of.

Finally, I have my first gallery show next month here in Savannah Ga. It's called "The Underground Comix Show" and it will feature original art and stories by local comic artists and illustrators in Savannah. If you are in the area and like comics, independent artists, and/or unique stories, this is will be the place to be! Mini-comics of the work shown will be available, and it's going to be awesome.

The show starts at 6pm February 8th at the Ashmore Gallery, and will be open until February 12th.  You can check out more info at the facebook event site here [link]

I'll also be opening commission projects up once I've graduated, probably on a 1-3 slot rotating basis for those interested. Keep an eye out for announcements concerning this, if you're interested in getting an awesome original illustration from me, this will be the time.


I will also have a table this year at HeroeCon in Charlotte, NC. If you go to HeroesCon or are in the area, come by and say hi, buy some prints or a sketch, and chat! I'll be sure to update when I have table numbers and specifics!

Until next time!