Clean Pencils:
Color, logo & Text:
(I don't usually like a lot of text on a comic book cover, but this particular piece seemed to be begging for a fair amount of words, even though I find it makes the page look a little too crowded. But what the hell, I'm off to bed...)
12 comments:
Wow, very nice cover. Makes me wish I could pick this up in my local comic shop. How do you go about creating your covers? Is it different from doing interiors? Who are some of your favourite cover artists?
I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links but I spotted some of your work on another site and was curious about it. I'm guessing it's from after Brigitte's Quickies but before Carnal Tales. There were fifteen different pictures but none of them had any captions. If I hear back that it's ok to do so I'll post a link later.
The text on this cover doesn't crowd the image at all. The stuff on the board, on the paddle, on the college pennant all set the scene and give it a clear academic touch.
Plus, gotta love the tear weeping from the schoolgirl's left eye. She knows she's about to receive corporal punishment--and probably much more from Professor Doom.
I can't wait for next year--but I guess I'll have to. Oh well. Good things come to those who wait. ;)
DENNIS: I'm glad you don't think the text is over-bearing on the cover. At least I had the foresight, in the clean pencils stage, to remove the brick wall above the blackboard, which would have interfered with the logo and made the page look even more crowded. But you're right, the text does help set the tone of the scene, so it's not like the words are there for no reason.
My view of the scene is that the girl's tears are both from having being punished already (hence, the bruised butt cheeks), but also from the fear of more paddling. But it's fun that each reader makes up his/her own story behind the cover. :)
As for the undead's name, I was thinking of calling him Prof. Skelton. A firend of mine suggested Prof. Bones. But Prof. Doom is pretty damn good too!
Thanks for the comments!
- James.
BLAIR: My creative process is kind of all over the place, but I'll try and break it down for you.
Covers: In general, my initial step is to figure out where the characters are going to be. Once the location is set, then I can hopefully come up with a cool concept. I never draw any preliminary sketches as I like to improvise as I go along. (I can usually visualize the cover in my mind fairly well, so I don't feel the need to sketch beforehand.)
I also use my covers for character creation purposes. In fact, the vast majority of my main characters were drawn for the first time on these covers.
My main concern is to always make sure the main focal point (usually a scantily clad babe) stands out against all other elements. Which is why on this particular cover, for example, I chose darker tones for everything except the schoolgirl. Her milky white skin especially, contrasts very well against the blackboard and brick wall.
Interiors: The challenge here is to keep the story flowing at a good pace, and make sure, since I only have 5 pages for each chapters, that the layouts will work in telling the story clearly within a limited amount of space. I like to improvise even more when it comes to interior artwork, though. Sometimes, I'll be drawing a panel without knowing what comes in the following one. I figure it out when I get there. :)
As I mentioned in a previous reply, I'm old-school when it comes to comic books, so most of my favorite cover artists, and their best work in my opinion, are from days gone by. (mostly the 70's & 80's.)
From the top of my head, some of my favorite cover artists include:
Dave Stevens, Jack Kirby, Berni Wrightson, Neal Adams, Nick Cardy, Luis Dominguez, Steve Ditko, Joe Staton, Don Newton, Mike Zeck, Jim Aparo, Jerry Ordway, Jim Starlin, Jim Steranko, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Frank Brunner, Michael Golden, George Freeman, Brian Bolland... whew! -- you get the idea. :)
I'm guessing the link you want to post has something to do with Twisted Toon Tales, a comic series I did some years back. But go ahead and post it if you want to.
Thanks Blair.
- James.
Thanks for the insight into your creative process. I think that when covers are done right they can really add to the experience and so far I really like what I see of your cover work.
Here is the link that I mentioned:
http://galleries.smut.com/cartoonx025/1016735//5/1/free/index.html
Were these part of a bigger series? They definitely have a different look than the stuff you are doing now so I would guess that they are from a number of years ago.
This brings another question to mind, as far as your older work is concerned do you make any money from any of these sites? I only ask because I'd rather sign up to a site where I know the creator would get some of the money.
Thanks
Those were a series of 50 illustrations I had done for an adult site provider. I had drawn them in a simpler, more cartoony style. This was quite a number of years ago, but I think the deal was a one time fee for the work.
I am, however, still being compensated for other older work that I've done which appears on some of these sites.
Fantastic Stuff, James. I think your horror stuff has got to be my favorite.
I don't think all of the text crowds the cover either since most of it is part of the art it only enhaces it like any other detailing would.
Thanks, Mike.
Horror covers are always fun for me to do and this one in particular was a hoot! :)
- James.
I'm glad Bart Simpson didn't come to school that day ;)
Funny you should mention Bart... the opening sequence of The Simpsons is what initially gave me the idea for the schoolgirl writing on the blackboard.
I think detention is a bit more harsh at Nightmare College, though, than it is at Springfield Elementary. ;)
- James.
Hot, just hot.....but the pic is only 99% hot, what would make it 100% is if she was wearing platform heels.....oh man.
Still, it's not a bad percentage ;)
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