On the left are my rough pencils which I scanned into Photoshop in two halves. This left a shadow across the join but that didn't matter as it was just for a quick mock up for my own use so that I could determine where to place the cover text.
As you can see, I made a few alterations to both the drawing and the cover copy before the end result.
After I'd done this rough I then finalised the pencils, inked it, and scanned it into Photoshop again so I could colour it. You'll notice that I didn't complete the characters on the left. They'd be partially obscured by captions so there was no point in drawing them in full. Anyway, at this point it was time to add colour. Firstly the flats...
...then the finished, graduated colours. It took me a while to decide on the background colour. I didn't want to leave it white, and a plain colour didn't feel right either. At one point I was thinking of going with the version seen on the left (below) but I felt that the characters would stand out better with some yellow behind them, so the one on the right was my final choice.
I added a few more stars and gnats, rejigged the logo and cover text, and the cover was done. Then it was time to send the files of the entire issue off to the printer.
The finished result looks spectacular. Full marks to UK Comics Creative for doing such a fantastic printing job!
If you'd like to buy a copy it's available now from my online shop:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm
The first review is in, and it's over on The Oink! Blog here:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/brickman-returns-as-does-lew-stringer.html
6 comments:
Always fascinating to see your work process Lew, and in this case also how much a change of one simple colour (from purple to yellow) can make all the difference!
Thanks Phil. That's one reason I enjoy colouring in Photoshop far more than using a brush; alterations and variations are so easy to achieve.
Intersting to see this. I actually rather like the flat colours. Maybe you could go with those for the second print run! You know how us fanboys love an alternate cover :)
Ha! I'm not keen on variant covers myself as it seems a way to tempt people to pay for more or less the same comic twice. I think the only difference is likely to be the words 'second printing' in the indicia.
Love it! And I'd love to see more of your working process shown here on your blog in the future.
Thanks. Yes, I think I'll show more stuff like this. The trick is remembering to take photos, scans, or screen grabs during the process. :)
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