For those of you who are curious about my working methods, here's a walk-through of my recent illustration for
The Indypendent.
Keep in mind that I don't have a "fixed" system. Every assignment's different - eg. full-color versus black and white, hand-painted versus digital, etc etc. But below is an example of my general process.
1. I read the text and got a sense of the messages conveyed in the story. (Sometimes the full text isn't ready so an outline or synopsis is all I have to work from.)
With those ideas in mind, I sketched this little dinger. Usually I'll do a series of sketches - four to five or more if I can't "get it right." But considering I only had a couple of days to do this illo, I went with the first idea. (I strongly suggest doing multiple sketches before moving onto the final.)
Most of my "thinking" is done at this point. I look for strong composition and draftsmanship.
2. I plunged into pencils. I went online and used five reference pictures of Bloomberg to make sure I got his likeness. (Note: use multiple references to avoid legal troubles.)
I changed the head's angle so the reader can see his face more.
Though I did most of my thinking at the sketch phase, I still modify things as I move along the process. Surprises can be cool but too many of them can make your final look like a hot mess.
3. Using a couple of brushes, acrylic ink and a micron pen, I inked the bugger.
Any modifications at this point are nominal. Eg, extra hatching in various spots.
4. I scanned it in, cleaned up any blemishes, erased a stray line at the bottom and bumped up the contrast.
With the illo clean, I digitally added grays and sent the final to the designers.
And here
it is.
Again, I don't have a "regular system" for doing illustrations. (Recently I've incorporated tracing paper into my illustrations. More on that some other time.)
But I always use the a) think and sketch, b) pencil and modify, and c) ink and finish process for my illustrations.
Hope you had as much fun placating my ego as I did. :)
Rock on,
Frank
© Frank Reynoso, Nov. 2008, All Rights Reserved
Ginormous line leading to the con. To give you an idea of how ginormous this thing was: this pict is just of 1/5 of just this line. There were more attendees already halfway onto the floor and inside the con.
The Ivanovs let it all hang out.
This is what the NY Comic Con is all about.
Posts
