I just added a new Gallery page. I'm still debating on the format and pictures of mine that I will post in the Gallery, so for now, it will simply link to an outside page. It's an old DeviantArt portfolio showcasing some of my past work.
My true Gallery is coming soon.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
Art Influence: Jim Lee!
As promised, with every 10th post, I'll do a write up on an artistic influence of mine. Today's spotlight is on Jim Lee.
Jim Lee really needs no introduction. He's one of the most popular comic book artists who ever lived and has the distinction of drawing the best-selling comic of all time, X-Men No.1.
Jim got his start at Marvel Comics in the 80's drawing Alpha Flight before moving on to Punisher War Journal, Uncanny X-men and the record breaking X-Men. In the early 90's, he quit Marvel to co-create Image Comics, drawing his own creation, WildC.A.T.S, which became a cartoon series, toyline and video game. Today, he works for DC Comics, having drawn Batman, Superman and now the Justice League.
Jim Lee's style is known mainly for his highly detailed line art and his cross-hatching style called feathering. Feathering are thick to thin pencil or ink strokes used to fade from light to dark, like a gradient. This style is very metallic looking and became so popular in the 90's that he was the most copied artist of the time. He's also known for his beautiful female and powerful male anatomy. His popularity also invited the criticism of his art being TOO flashy and distracting from the story.
Early Jim Lee art in Alpha Flight looks very different and simplistic from his most popular and confident work in X-Men. I feel that the biggest turning point in his work was while working with Carl Potts on Punisher. Carl single-handedly molded Jim's style by doing all of the layouts himself, allowing Jim to learn more about visual storytelling and letting him branch out more with experimenting on light and shadow. This is where his feathering and shadow technique really starts to grow to what we are most accustomed to seeing in his work today, like in Batman.
Overall, I learned the most from Jim while he worked on his own characters, WildCATS. This was my fave period of his and I feel that this was where he was at his best. Since they were his own creations, you can see the care in his art. My biggest wish is that I hope he one day returns to them.
Jim Lee really needs no introduction. He's one of the most popular comic book artists who ever lived and has the distinction of drawing the best-selling comic of all time, X-Men No.1.
Jim got his start at Marvel Comics in the 80's drawing Alpha Flight before moving on to Punisher War Journal, Uncanny X-men and the record breaking X-Men. In the early 90's, he quit Marvel to co-create Image Comics, drawing his own creation, WildC.A.T.S, which became a cartoon series, toyline and video game. Today, he works for DC Comics, having drawn Batman, Superman and now the Justice League.
Jim Lee's style is known mainly for his highly detailed line art and his cross-hatching style called feathering. Feathering are thick to thin pencil or ink strokes used to fade from light to dark, like a gradient. This style is very metallic looking and became so popular in the 90's that he was the most copied artist of the time. He's also known for his beautiful female and powerful male anatomy. His popularity also invited the criticism of his art being TOO flashy and distracting from the story.
Early Jim Lee art in Alpha Flight looks very different and simplistic from his most popular and confident work in X-Men. I feel that the biggest turning point in his work was while working with Carl Potts on Punisher. Carl single-handedly molded Jim's style by doing all of the layouts himself, allowing Jim to learn more about visual storytelling and letting him branch out more with experimenting on light and shadow. This is where his feathering and shadow technique really starts to grow to what we are most accustomed to seeing in his work today, like in Batman.
Overall, I learned the most from Jim while he worked on his own characters, WildCATS. This was my fave period of his and I feel that this was where he was at his best. Since they were his own creations, you can see the care in his art. My biggest wish is that I hope he one day returns to them.
All art used for review purposes only and copyright © & TM their respective owners.
2nd Walk-thru Process
Here is just another look at a second process I have for creating comic style art:
1. First, I sketched the character in pen. I used a Precise V5 extra fine
roller ball pen. I always do this first step in pen because the lines
are very fine and when I use this “doodle” style in pencil, it muddies
the paper. I drew this on regular 8 ½ x 11 printer paper, since my
scanner cannot accommodate paper larger than this.
At this point in the art, I'm only thinking about anatomy and structure for a powerful looking figure. It has to look solid and not bloopy. I focus only on contour and gesture lines and less about light-sourcing.
2. Now, I slap the sketch onto my light box. I throw a sheet of tracing paper on top and finalize my lines in pencil. My pencil of choice is a mechanical Zebra M-402; size 0.5mm HB lead.
My focus has now shifted to thinking about light sources. I prefer not to shade, as this muddies the drawing, so I draw the terminators of the shadows and how I want the light to hit the muscles. Terminators are the dividing edges of shadows that separate the dark areas from light areas. This is the most time consuming step. If I was just penciling, then this would be my last step. I would scan this as the finished pencils and give it to the inker. But I’ll ink it myself as an example for Step 3.
3. I pull out my trusty Pentel brush pen and just quickly fill in the blacks. I’m NOT an inker and this is just to give you an idea of how it will pretty much look. You can also do this step on the computer if you ink digitally.
4. Finally, I add in a bit of energy around the character's hands for good measure. I saved this for last to give the inker or colorist the chance to create the effect themselves in whichever medium they are most comfortable with.
At this point in the art, I'm only thinking about anatomy and structure for a powerful looking figure. It has to look solid and not bloopy. I focus only on contour and gesture lines and less about light-sourcing.
2. Now, I slap the sketch onto my light box. I throw a sheet of tracing paper on top and finalize my lines in pencil. My pencil of choice is a mechanical Zebra M-402; size 0.5mm HB lead.
My focus has now shifted to thinking about light sources. I prefer not to shade, as this muddies the drawing, so I draw the terminators of the shadows and how I want the light to hit the muscles. Terminators are the dividing edges of shadows that separate the dark areas from light areas. This is the most time consuming step. If I was just penciling, then this would be my last step. I would scan this as the finished pencils and give it to the inker. But I’ll ink it myself as an example for Step 3.
3. I pull out my trusty Pentel brush pen and just quickly fill in the blacks. I’m NOT an inker and this is just to give you an idea of how it will pretty much look. You can also do this step on the computer if you ink digitally.
4. Finally, I add in a bit of energy around the character's hands for good measure. I saved this for last to give the inker or colorist the chance to create the effect themselves in whichever medium they are most comfortable with.
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