Something I threw together

[Sick Nick]

In a couple of weeks' time, I'm going to the London Super Comic Con; one of the guests will be George Perez, my favourite artist, and I thought I'd do him a little picture to show my appreciation. Here it is.



I used to be a really keen comic-book artist but lost my enthusiasm somewhere along the way, probably because I was too much of a perfectionist and lacked patience. I'm hoping a bit of maturity will add to the quality of my work.

Any comments are more than welcome. I admit I fucked up Thor's hand and I've got other nitpicks but I'm reasonably happy overall. That said, I know I can do better.

[The Shuruku Demon]

I like it. You can clearly see Perez' influence in there, both in the fine detail, and the way you greatly differentiated the height and build of the various characters. Obviously, those are also all characters that were key to some of Perez' most notable comic runs, down to the specific version of Nightwing he drew in the early '80s. I'm sure he'll appreciate someone going to that much trouble on his behalf.

Did you do any preliminary sketches prior to this, to get your takes on those characters down pat? Back when I was sketching a few months back, I found myself going through numerous comics for reference, in attempting to decide exactly what my take on Spider-Man/Peter Parker was going to look like. There's quite a bit of variation in terms of how the fine details are portrayed.

[Sick Nick]

I pretty much went straight to work on this, the only character I really researched was Nightwing because I wasn't familiar with his costume. I knew the Perez outfit had the 'wings' over the shoulders but I had no idea of the finer detail. Thor's costume, I remember back to front and I still like this version the best - it's also the outfit I most associate with Perez. I was surprised with Wonder Woman - I drew her enough back in the day that I thought she wouldn't cause any problems but the logo took me by surprise and when I actually looked it up, it was too late in the day to do a proper job of it. I toyed with the idea of giving WW slightly bulkier boots, the way Adam Hughes draws them, but in the end I stuck to Perez' slimline design.

Naturally, I worked from photos for Perez' face. I'm not used to going over my pencils in pen and I actually lost quite a lot of detail along the way on his face and particularly his eyes.

Working on something else now for a website, sort of a sword and sorcery tale, which I hope will be MUCH better than this effort, but it's going to be a lot of work. I hope to have three pages of that completed within the next two weeks (the splash page is almost done) and we'll see how we go from there. Depending on how it pans out, I might or might not post those pages here.

Thanks for all the comments, Shuruku, very encouraging and good luck with your own work.

[Sick Nick]

I dunno how well this will show up here but here are the very rough layouts for the splash page I mentioned above. The page is practically finished now; I ID'd a couple of bits about the layouts which were particularly flawed and hopefully improved them. I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

[Sick Nick]

OK, here are the final splash page and the second page from the story I mentioned further up. I um'd and ah'd about posting these here; the person who set me this assigment hasn't seen them yet and she's told me she wants to wait for all three pages to be done before she sees them. That said, I'm ahead of schedule and I just couldn't keep the pictures to myself.

I'm pretty damn pleased with them overall - I can see errors and the first panel on page 2 just doesn't look like the lady in question but I was tinkering around with different angles. I think these pictures are way better than the Perez pic further up. My storytelling obviously needs work and I'll move to a finer tip when I do this sorta thing in the future; the panels also don't make much sense without lettering but I'll add the words once I've shown off my work to the recipient.

I've got one more page to go, which will probably be the trickiest so far - will try and take more time over it, as I really raced through these ones. I started the splash page last Thursday and finished it on Saturday, working around 1-2 hours per day; I started the second page on Sunday and pretty much finished it last night, bar a couple of minor inking details and working about the same amount of time per day. I've got a clear 8 or 9 days to get the third page done.

All comments welcome, natch.

[The Shuruku Demon]

The first of these two thumbnails isn't working for me, but the second page is very impressive. It's not far off from the kind of art I've seen in some indie comics.

Is this a story of your own creation, or are you working to someone else's plot outline? And do you have an idea of how many pages you'll be doing in total?

[Sick Nick]

The first of these two thumbnails isn't working for me,

Bugger. That'll probably be because I deleted the image. It's funny how different things look on screen and you can pick up weaknesses there which you couldn't see in the original article. In this case, the left shin/foot under the table needed some work, so I fixed it, deleted the original image and replaced it. Hopefully you can see it now.

but the second page is very impressive. It's not far off from the kind of art I've seen in some indie comics.

Thanks very much! I'm picking up more and more issues as I go along, particularly in perspective and foreshortening and like I said before, I think I need to use a finer tip for the inking.

That's a big compliment though, particularly since this is just a hobby for me and I can only spend a couple of hours per day drawing.

Is this a story of your own creation, or are you working to someone else's plot outline? And do you have an idea of how many pages you'll be doing in total?

It's somebody else's story with their own made-up character. I was going to keep the specifics under tabs but the cat's out of the bag - I showed the lady in question the splash page yesterday (couldn't keep it to myself any longer) and she was happy with it.

The story's for Artyfakes Action Props (http://www.artyfakes.co.uk ), which is run by a young lady called Tabitha Lyons, who's also a cosplayer who is getting an increasing amount of attention. The character's called Faith Harper and her story is at http://www.artyfakes.co.uk/Faith-Harper.html , together with some fetching pictures of her in costume. About two weeks ago, I approached Tab and an independent filmmaker she works with to see if I could do any promotional artwork for them. Tab told me she's interested in having Faith Harper's story set to comic book form, so that's what I've been doing.

I've got one more page to go; first panel is done but truth to tell, I'm not happy with it. The layout was very tricky but it's too late to correct it now. When I was drawing Faith in the panel, I had a particular pose in mind from a Perez Wonder Woman comic - the sad thing was, it took me bloody ages to find the panel in question and when I did, it wasn't exactly as I remembered it. Ho-hum, never mind.

As far as doing future pages is concerned, it depends on how happy Tab is with the work and my own inclination in a couple of weeks' time. The story seems to get much more difficult to put in picture form as it goes on, although there's the potential for some nice action panels towards the end. I've got a couple of ideas for other 'projects' (sounds pretentious!) if I don't go further with this story, primarily a Spider-Man actions scene facing off with 3-5 of his rogues gallery. We'll see how it goes.

[Sick Nick]

I should add that Tabitha's opened up the request for artwork to everyone now; if you're interested, Shuruku, her email is enquiries@artyfakes.co.uk

[Sick Nick]

OK, here's Page 3. No knockers though, this isn't The Sun.



The first panel's rubbish, I really struggled with it. Had a clear idea in my head of what I wanted but in the end, the angle of the face defeated me. I also lost the right hand with too much shading.

I'm very pleased with the other three panels though ... in fact, I think they might be the best three panels of the whole story. I'm particularly pleased about the last one because I thought it'd be a real challenge to get the perspective right.

NB: As I've progressed through the story, I've gone increasingly 'light' in certain areas of the panels because I'll be sticking words in shortly.

[The Shuruku Demon]

Hopefully you can see it now.

Yeah, this thumbnail works fine.

The story's for Artyfakes Action Props (http://www.artyfakes.co.uk ), which is run by a young lady called Tabitha Lyons, who's also a cosplayer who is getting an increasing amount of attention. The character's called Faith Harper and her story is at http://www.artyfakes.co.uk/Faith-Harper.html , together with some fetching pictures of her in costume.

Very nice. Almost makes me want to take up cosplay myself.

I've got a couple of ideas for other 'projects' (sounds pretentious!) if I don't go further with this story, primarily a Spider-Man actions scene facing off with 3-5 of his rogues gallery. We'll see how it goes.

Hope I'll get to see your take on the Rhino at some point!

I should add that Tabitha's opened up the request for artwork to everyone now; if you're interested, Shuruku, her email is enquiries@artyfakes.co.uk

I appreciate that, but I'm behind schedule on my Spider-Man Family thread, and I want to concentrate on getting that back on track ASAP. Besides, I seriously doubt I could produce better work than you have. I'd probably struggle to match it in all honesty.

OK, here's Page 3. No knockers though, this isn't The Sun.



The first panel's rubbish, I really struggled with it. Had a clear idea in my head of what I wanted but in the end, the angle of the face defeated me. I also lost the right hand with too much shading.

I'm very pleased with the other three panels though ... in fact, I think they might be the best three panels of the whole story. I'm particularly pleased about the last one because I thought it'd be a real challenge to get the perspective right.

NB: As I've progressed through the story, I've gone increasingly 'light' in certain areas of the panels because I'll be sticking words in shortly.

Great stuff again. I agree with your assessment of how the panels compare to eachother. I don't know whether you were planning to give Tabitha the actual physical pages, or send them electronically as scans. If it's the latter, and if that first panel really bugs you, you might want to consider redrawing it on a separate sheet of paper (possibly tracing the original panel very lightly to achieve similar proportions, and making the necessary changes from there). Then you could cut and paste that panel into the scan of the original page using Photoshop or a similar program, creating a new version of the page that didn't require you to redraw the whole thing from scratch.

(The way the second panel cuts into the space of the first might seem a potential obstacle to that. But if you were to cut & paste the revised first panel over in two separate rectangles, you could fit them around that second panel without overlapping it, if you see what I mean.  Edit: In fact, most art programs will have an option to cut and paste irregular shapes anyway.)

Just a thought; you may not have the time or inclination to do all that, and the panel isn't all that bad anyway.

[Sick Nick]

Thanks for your remarks again, Shuruku.

Hope I'll get to see your take on the Rhino at some point!

Hopefully you will soon! Depending on whether I go ahead with Tabitha's story, my next plan is a fight scene with Spidey facing off against a handful of his foes in a junkyard. Rhino *will* be one of them. I've generally drawn him in the past as an overmuscled mass along the lines of the Hulk but I'm veering more towards a less ripped version of the character, probably in his original costume instead of the armoured Sinister Syndicate version. I've been spending a bit of time on John Byrne's site lately and he draws a fantastic Rhino. He said that he never rated the character until he drew him for a commission and then he fell in love with him.

I used to like Mark Bagley's version but he just looks too much now.

I appreciate that, but I'm behind schedule on my Spider-Man Family thread, and I want to concentrate on getting that back on track ASAP. Besides, I seriously doubt I could produce better work than you have. I'd probably struggle to match it in all honesty.

You're too kind.

Great stuff again. I agree with your assessment of how the panels compare to eachother. I don't know whether you were planning to give Tabitha the actual physical pages, or send them electronically as scans. If it's the latter, and if that first panel really bugs you, you might want to consider redrawing it on a separate sheet of paper (possibly tracing the original panel very lightly to achieve similar proportions, and making the necessary changes from there). Then you could cut and paste that panel into the scan of the original page using Photoshop or a similar program, creating a new version of the page that didn't require you to redraw the whole thing from scratch.

The thought's occurred to me. I've run out of time now, I'm showing the pages to Tabitha tomorrow. If she's massively keen on what I've done, I may well do that. It's annoying because, of all the panels, I had the clearest idea of that one in my head in advance. The face and hand are the main problems but I think the background needs work too, it's too sparse. The table could do with some shading too - I'm no inker but I'd like to get an idea of how to give some extra dimensions to wood.

Of course, if Tab's not fussed, I won't bother. I'm almost hoping she's not fussed because as I said before, the story gets harder to put into comic-book form as it goes along. That whole 'some say he died in the revolution, some say he escaped' ... I haven't the first fucking idea of how to draw that!

[The Shuruku Demon]

Hopefully you will soon! Depending on whether I go ahead with Tabitha's story, my next plan is a fight scene with Spidey facing off against a handful of his foes in a junkyard. Rhino *will* be one of them. I've generally drawn him in the past as an overmuscled mass along the lines of the Hulk but I'm veering more towards a less ripped version of the character, probably in his original costume instead of the armoured Sinister Syndicate version. I've been spending a bit of time on John Byrne's site lately and he draws a fantastic Rhino. He said that he never rated the character until he drew him for a commission and then he fell in love with him.

Huhn. The only time I can recall him drawing the Rhino in a comic was when the Hulk was seeing hallucinations of various foes shortly before Doc Samson knocked him out.

I used to like Mark Bagley's version but he just looks too much now.

That full page shot Bagley did of the Rhino in ASM #409 was one of the images I considered using for Rhino's bio pic in my thread. However, while I consider Bagley one of the best Spidey artists of all time, I agree with you that his version of the Rhino probably had too much muscle definition. I wouldn't necessarily draw him exactly like he was in the silver-age myself, however there's a logic in making his muscle tone look more like that of an actual rhinoceros, as old school artists tended to.

If I were drawing him myself, I'd go for something close to the classic look, but perhaps with some subtle armour-plating or other fine details, like the versions that appeared in Sensational Spider-Man or Punisher War Journal a few years back.

The thought's occurred to me. I've run out of time now, I'm showing the pages to Tabitha tomorrow. If she's massively keen on what I've done, I may well do that. It's annoying because, of all the panels, I had the clearest idea of that one in my head in advance. The face and hand are the main problems but I think the background needs work too, it's too sparse. The table could do with some shading too - I'm no inker but I'd like to get an idea of how to give some extra dimensions to wood.

I think the level of texture and detail in your panels is better than what I'd be likely to achieve. That said, it strikes me that a good way to add detail to the table-top would be to etch in some fine lines running along the length of each "plank", shaping those lines into ovals at certain points to match the kind of visible grain you'd see in real wood. Might need a very fine pen for that though, and it would probably be advisable to Google some close-up shots of planks or wooden table-tops to use as reference pics.

Of course, if Tab's not fussed, I won't bother. I'm almost hoping she's not fussed because as I said before, the story gets harder to put into comic-book form as it goes along. That whole 'some say he died in the revolution, some say he escaped' ... I haven't the first fucking idea of how to draw that!

Feel free to pay no attention to this whatsoever, but the first thought that occurs to me would be to draw a wide-shot of the revolution in progress, without that specific character visible anywhere (leaving the question of what happened to him as ambiguous as that line of text).

[Sick Nick]

Huhn. The only time I can recall him drawing the Rhino in a comic was when the Hulk was seeing hallucinations of various foes shortly before Doc Samson knocked him out.

I think that's the only time he ever drew him in an actual story; I was just looking at the scans recently and I thought Byrne got Rhino's physique just right ... massive and muscular but not like a giant bodybuilder the way the Hulk or Abomination are. More 'wide' if that makes sense, with a shorter torso, thicker legs and no neck.

Here's a link to a commission John did:

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35556&PN=0&TPN=2

There's another commission with Rhino joining a bunch of baddies in attacking the Hulk but I can't find the link.

I think Byrne also drew Rhino for his bio in the Deluxe Handbook but don't quote me on that. The Deluxe bio picture was an improvement on the first one, which might have been drawn by John Romita Sr IIRC. Romita created and absolutely defined the Rhino's look but if it was him, that bio pic wasn't his best work.

That full page shot Bagley did of the Rhino in ASM #409 was one of the images I considered using for Rhino's bio pic in my thread. However, while I consider Bagley one of the best Spidey artists of all time, I agree with you that his version of the Rhino probably had too much muscle definition. I wouldn't necessarily draw him exactly like he was in the silver-age myself, however there's a logic in making his muscle tone look more like that of an actual rhinoceros, as old school artists tended to.

Exactly, like I said, 'wide'. Bagley's picture's great but it's just too 'Mr Olympia' for the Rhino IMO

If I were drawing himself, I'd go for something close to the classic look, but perhaps with some subtle armour-plating or other fine details, like the versions that appeared in Sensational Spider-Man or Punisher War Journal a few years back.

Yeah, the old suit's probably a bit boring by itself. There are certain things I might incorporate from the Sinister Syndicate look, like the cloven hooves as opposed to stubby-toed feet, and the chest and shoulder plating's reasonably cool. I just don't like the huge studded wristbands and ankle bracelets.

I think the level of texture and detail in your panels is better than what I'd be likely to achieve. That said, it strikes me that a good way to add detail to the table-top would be to etch in some fine lines running along the length of each "plank", shaping those lines into ovals at certain points to match the kind of visible grain you'd see in real wood. Might need a very fine pen for that though, and it would probably be advisable to Google some close-up shots of planks or wooden table-tops to use as reference pics.

Good idea. I have a nasty tendency to work too much from memory or 'guess' at what certain items should look like. I was going that way with the treasure chest in the last panel but then saw sense and decided to Google a few chests to see what they look like (treasure chests, mind). Same went for the fireplace in the splash pic, I probably spent more time on that than I did on Faith herself but I thought it came out OK.

If I carry on with the story, I'm looking forward to Googling some horses and gypsy caravans!

Feel free to pay no attention to this whatsoever, but the first thought that occurs to me would be to draw a wide-shot of the revolution in progress, without that specific character visible anywhere (leaving the question of what happened to him as ambiguous as that line of text).

Yeah, I was thinking of doing something like that or having Faith's face in the background recounting the story, with flames all around and the revolution in full swing in the foreground.

[Sick Nick]

Gonna redo that crappy panel.

[Sick Nick]

Quick update ... I'm not linking to turboimagehost any longer because apparently it throws up Malaware alerts.

I've created a Deviantart page for myself at http://conradknightsocks.deviantart.com. It's a bit shit at the moment but I'm going to add stuff as I go along and hopefully it'll be looking nice in a few months' time.

I redid the first panel on page 3, here's the revised, lettered page (hope the link works!):

http://conradknightsocks.deviantart.com/art/Faith-page-3-final-lettered-356873083

Tabitha liked my work as it goes and I'm going to carry on with the story in due course. In the meantime, the Spider-Man scene is well underway.

Ideas for future stuff include a Conan picture and maybe something involving the West Coast Avengers.

[Sick Nick]

New stuff on my Deviantart page, if you wanna take a look:

1. Conan pencil picture
2. Inked mock-up of a Morbius top trump card
3. Pencil drawing of Thundercracker from Transformers
4. Inked scene showing Spider-Man facing up with a handful of his villains in a junkyard

Next up is an inked drawing of Rockstar Games' 'Manhunt'. It's gonna be a big one, the most detailed work I've done since my Spidey scene. This fucker's going to take at least a week to polish off.

[Sick Nick]

Hmmm, the Thundercracker picture was a jokey bit of fun, didn't put too much thought into it and yet it's drawn more views than any other picture in my gallery. Maybe I should do more Transformers stuff.

[Astro]

Likin' it a lot, Nick. Very classic stuff. Enjoyed that Spider-Man you did, and technically speaking I think the Transformers is the best executed you've had, though the Spider-Man one is a more ambitious piece.

Keep 'em comin'!

[BigJayHam]

Nick, you have a family. Please give up on your dreams.

[BigJayHam]

Also, I'm kidding. GO FOR IT.

[Sick Nick]

I can't. I've given up now. The Vampire Hunter D pic I just posted is a figment of your imagination.

Thanks, Astro, appreciate it. I'm doing another Transformers pic next... The Thundercracker pic still eclipses my other stuff when it comes to hits although the inked Manhunt pic is catching it up.

[Astro]

Nice, didn't see the Manhunt until just now. Is that a reference to something that already exists?

Love what I think is your newest -- "D", the post apocalyptic cowboy.

[Sick Nick]

Manhunt's a pretty nasty video game produced by Rockstar Games. It's basically about snuff movies and caused a big furore when it was released - it was banned in several countries IIRC

'D' is a vampire hunter, although I can see the cowboy influences, particularly Clint Eastwood. Ultimately though he's more along the lines of Solomon Kane or even Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing. More of a goth, as my wife pointed out yesterday.