Anatomy of a comic cover creation

Pete Wells has a FANTASTIC blog over at 2000ad Covers Uncovered, where he gets cover artists from 2000ad's 'prog' to speak about the challenges and inner workings of creating the terrific covers we see on the finished 200ad comics. While Wasted is not 2000ad, Pete was kind enough to toss up the process I used to whip up Wasted 8's cover. Please click over here to check it out.

If you are an art process junkie like me, I HIGHLY recommend that you bookmark 2000ad Covers Uncovered and check in there from time to time...you'll be amazed at what you see there!

Cheers!

Wasted #8 now out!

A package of Wasted #8s just showed up in my mailbox, so it's official...Wasted #8 is now out in the U.K. at newsagents everywhere! For those that don't live over there, just stop by www.badpressltd.com and they'll sort you out. 64 pages of comic mayhem! This issue sports a cover of mine and a six page 'War on Drugs' adventure with everyone's favorite American overzealous drug cop, Johnny K.


Alex Ronald's 'Vampire Vixens' also stop by this issue, again in full color! The writing on this one is by the Emperor.


'Tales of the Buddha' by Jon Haward drops by as well.

All this and about 45 MORE pages featuring various comic strips of all shapes and sizes. The last issue sold out VERY quickly (thanks Vixens!) so don't delay!!

Wasted 8 is available right here!

Ask an Artist on the 11th! - A3on11 - How to draw talking heads in an engaging way?

This month's question comes from a local artist who is at the beginning of his career. He asked me: "When drawing comics, how do you make talking heads less boring?"

In the beginning I struggled with this(and still do!)but its very critical to learn. As much as I wish it wasn't so, writers will write scenes where people ACTUALLY TALK to each other, and not just fight,shoot guns or do other cool action stuff.

Comic writers have a lot of nerve.

Anyways, I have 5 major techniques that I use to help the talking heads scene that work well for me, and other major comic pros...as we'll see below.

In no particular order:

1-Extreme Emotional close up.
Use this one only when it's needed to deliver a character's emotion. Use it too much and you lessen its effectiveness.

2-Angle the panel.
Don't be afraid to 'tip' the characters in the panel to the left or right. Movie makers do this a fair bit and it keeps some visual variety and interest - too many straight up and down shots can get boring after a while.

3- Vary the head size.
This can be done with perspective and characters standing a distance apart in the same panel, or by switching the size of the heads from one panel to the next.

4- Move the Camera view around.
Don't just use straight shots and side views! You can go 3/4 views, go for an over the shoulder, overhead views, worms eye views...etc.

5- Pull in and out to show the WHOLE figure.
Just because heads are talking doesn't mean we have to see their lips move! I'd suggest pulling way out and showing the whole figure and space they occupy from time to time. Re-establish where they are in space often to remind your reader whats up.

So...that's some of what works for me and other artists. Look for these 5 techniques in your favorite comics.

In the new issue of HOLMES INC. that I'm drawing up, you can see me putting 4 of the 5 to use for this 'talking heads' page...

Here I've used #1, #3, #4 and #5 from above.

Now in this ARTHUR ADAMS page he incorporates #1, #3, #4 and #5

Over in Body Bags, JASON PEARSON uses #2, #3, #4 and #5

Lastly, in this Battlechasers page JOE MADUREIRA uses all 5, check it out!


Previous month's 'ask an artist' articles can be found over here : A3on11
Remember, I’ll be answering any questions you ask on the 11th of every month right here. Questions can range from very basic ones about general art creation and processes, to very technical comic creation ones. To shoot me a question, just email me (address on the right side on this blog), ask me on Facebook, or throw it in the comments section here. What I talk about just depends on what gets asked! Thanks for the question. Keep 'em coming. See you next month.

Yanick Paquette gets WASTED!

The new issue of Wasted -WASTED #8- is just around the corner, set to be out this week on May 5th. One of the cool things about this issue is that it features a teeny tiny bit of art (an Easter egg!) by YANICK PAQUETTE of Batman Incorporated fame.

Yanick is a friend of mine who takes his convention apperances about as intensley seriously as I do...as evidenced by this photo of us from the last fall's Montreal Con.



At the Wizard con after a conversation about art 'assists' that are sometimes happen in this industry, I asked Yanick if -as a lark- he'd like to draw a bit on the Wasted pages I was working on at the time. He said yes, and after a few minutes he drew the fellow in the bottom right of this scan. It was only later when I got home did I see that he'd also drawn his mustache and goatee in the upper panel. That cracked me up, and still does!



I can honestly say this is the first time I've inked a professional penciller for D.C. comics, and it was VERY fun. I had to 'GQ' Yanick's pencils up a bit so it wasn't too jarring a style switch in the middle of the story, but you can still see lots of Yanick in there!

The final published page is gonna look like this.



It's out This Thursday in the U.K. Grab one when you see it!

Cheers.

Sneak peek of HOLMES INC. #2 !

After Holmes Inc. #1 (remember?) got good reviews and was so well received, it was elementary that there would be a second issue! (Sorry....I could NOT resist!)

I'm currently working on 7 pages for issue #2. I'll be inking myself this time (sadly no inks from Ty for me on this one) so it will look alot more like my work over at WASTED.

The book is again spearheaded (and the editorial whip cracked!) by Ty Templeton. I've heard all the pitches, read all the scripts and seen chunks of the art on this bad boy, and it's like the best parts of issue #1 are now taking steriods!! Yep, it's that strong.

The release date has not been set yet, but keep watch here, and over at Ty's website for all the details in a short few months.

If you've not seen issue #1 yet, see me at a con, or head over here and grab one!

Ask an Artist on the 11th! - A3on11 - Comic Conventions...Why?

Video this time, let me know what you think...should I do another 'fireside chat' for a future A3on11?



UPDATE: Sometimes technology really SUCKS! I was able to put together a pretty nice video (IMHO) answering a question about conventions, but it will... Not... LOAD... Properly on the blog!! The audio and video are way out of synch. I've spent far too long trying to get it right...now I've thrown in the towel.

You win internet...this time. (-insert western gunslinger music here-)

So, my apologies.

In keeping with the theme of video and conventions and me answering questions, please check this informal interview from the Montreal con last year.

Cheers!

Hippy and Trippy!

My pages for Wasted #8 are in the can!

I'm quite happy with this panel in particular...Alan Grant's script called for:

"Large panel. Johnny is massively stoned, with half strenght images/visons of peace, love, flower power, dancing naked ladies and a hippy band playing behind him.
JOHNNY: I QUITE LIKE IT! "

I think I got the message across, even is the girl isn't quite dancing. ;-)

By the way, I hope the folks that wanted it grabbed Wasted issue #7, as it has now sold out! I figured it would, but man...it went SUPER quick!

Wasted 8 will be out in mid May. I'll post details when I get them, so check back here for details or head over here.