zaterdag 22 december 2012

Yeah! Painting again!

Almost forgot how relaxing painting really is. After all I hadn't done it anymore since 1,5 year.

There you're standing again.. In the studio, right in front of that painting you started 1,5 year ago. Quite an awesome piece in size (1.00 X 2.00 m) and an image of some kind of apocalyptic chaotic city in panic. What was it meant to become? Will it become whatever it was meant to become?.. I wasn't sure but since I wanted to finally start painting again. I began emptying some paint-tubes, meanwhile I decided to began working again on the sky and strengthen the contrast in the painting, and began blending colors. 



Oh by the way. Usually I post detective or comic related items on this blog. But besides comic artist, I'm also occasionally a painter. This is what I also like to do, so why not blog some about it?

I wanted to make the sky more sinister and ominous. Elements like airplanes were supposed to stay or come back if painted over. I short-studied some images and let the painting began. Contrast was strengthened and the sky began to become what I wanted. On the other hand it began to look also like some kind of tidal wave. Best part was I didn't had any sense of time. Just wasn't aware. Only the first half hour.

I returned a few days later with a bitter liquor with the mind set on: just continue and see where it goes. 

I liked, and still do, the idea of a tidal wave so that became the focus of the evening. 1,5 year back I placed some electricity poles in the image. They reinforce the depth because of the different sizes. When painting them over, they were being swallowed by the wave and not only reinforcing the depth but also the chaos and panic.After 3 hours of working it's a good moment to sit in a chair just in front of the painting and let the image do it's work. That's when start making plans for the next session. Leave the wave for now, continue with the anchorman in the middle, bring back the airplanes, detail the buildings, bring back the electricity poles, anyway more enough to work on.



But damn it feels good to paint again!


zondag 5 augustus 2012

Detective Sunday #4: Det. Sgt. Westie


Again I didn't quite managed to take a day off during sundays. A new assignment I took, really takes a lot of time and it has a very short deadline. Even though, after a little time in between I was able to finish a detective. Detective Sergeant Westie is a character I created in style of the crime-noir comics-series Blacksad.


My mother's dog is a West-Highland White Terrier named Stefke. A very cool but quite stubborn dog. So the ideal basis for a character in the comic series. And since canids are most often police officers in the series, I thought of this one as well for a detective. I also took some inspiration from Martin Lawrence's appearance as ex-con Miles Logan and then posing as Detective Malone in the movie Bluestreak.


For the first time I watercolored the inked drawings. Never done it before and got the time to use watercolor for comics. I might give it a chance for a next time.


The characters of Blacksad are always well worked out. 'The animal for the character' as would I say. A German shepherd as a police commissioner, a orangutan as a blues musician or an arctic fox as a member of "Arctic Nation", a racist political organization similar to the Klu Klux Klan. Just to give a few examples.
If you get the chance, you should really check out the comics. Not just the artwork is awesome but the stories are very good as well.

That's it for this Detective Sunday. Not sure when the next one will be posted, but just check the blog to find out! So stay tuned!

zaterdag 7 juli 2012

Detective Sunday #a: Preparations

Finally got some time again to work on the Detective Sunday's. I'm about to start it of very soon, but for this one I'm taking some time to work on. Theme for the next Detecive Sunday is Blacksad. One of my favorite crime-noir comics. For this one I some kind of switch the rule. Instead of an existing character from literature to a comic impression, I'll give an impression of a created character into a comic. Blacksad in this case. So stay tuned!

For some more info and a review on the comics: http://comicattack.net/2012/07/dhr-blacksadsh/
Pencil sketch / design for Det. Sgt. Stefke "Westie"

maandag 14 mei 2012

Beeld- en muziekverhaal: Life's Electric, Trust me I'm a doctor

Onlangs heeft de Weerter rockband Life's Electric hun debuutalbum gelanceerd.Dit werd gevierd met een knallende performance in de Bosuil te Weert afgelopen zaterdag. Het was een ontzettend energieke set wat ze tijdens elk optreden weer voor elkaar weten te krijgen. Met hun website nu af en een album in handen zijn ze klaar om Nederland te gaan veroveren!

Ik heb de eer gehad om mee te denken en werken aan het design voor het album. Een heel interessante klus moet ik zeggen. Ik verzorgde de illustraties en Mark Handels de afwerking van het album. Vanaf begin tot eind bleef de ontwikkeling interessant en ontzettend leuk.
Een jaar eerder had ik de band al laten weten dat ik graag voor hun een gave illustratie zou willen maken voor het album. Uiteindelijk werd ik eind oktober vorig jaar ook gemaild of ik voor de band illustraties zou willen verzorgen. Deze tekening vonden ze zo vet;


zoiets wilden ze ook. Het idee van de band was een storyboard te maken die bestond uit tien platen. Het hele album is een verhaal en elke illustratie moest de bezieling zijn van een nummer en tegelijkertijd moest alles een geheel zijn.

Nou vind ik het sowieso al heel erg gaaf om beeldverhalen te maken en erg tof om voor bands te mogen ontwerpen. Maar het interessantste vind ik wel om de muziek, klankkleur, en ziel van het nummer te visualiseren. Misschien nog niet eens de muziek, maar de hele air van de song. Nee de hele air van het album! De essentie!
Hoe? Met frontman, Ferry van der Woude, besprak ik, onder het genot van een uitstekende koffie en als afsluiter van de middag uiteraard een biertje, waar de nummers over gaan en ook wat voor hem de essentie van de nummers is. Nadat alle nummers ook besproken waren, was het ook echt alsof we een heftige film hadden zitten kijken. Een detective die troubles heeft met een vrouw was onmisbaar om de kijker door het verhaal te loodsen.
Nu verwachtte ik eerst hier een soort van beschrijving te typen, maar ten eerste zou ik dat geheim wel prijsgeven? Nog mooier (ten tweede).. Ik kan het niet eens zo makkelijk uitleggen! Aan de hand van waar het om gaat probeer ik een scene te bedenken. Een clip in m'n hoofd voor te stellen, rekening te houden met de kleur van de klanken in het nummer, dat onder andere en nog wat meer tegelijkertijd. En dan schetsen en ontwikkelen! Klankkleur voor dit album was verzadigd azuriet-blauw. En wat ik ook steeds terug hoorde was de delay en reverb. Ik ervaar een song met die effecten, vaak ruim in omvang. Maar het doet me bijvoorbeeld ook denken aan stortregen of explosies van energie.

Debrisflow
Anyway! Het was veel werk, maar het was ook een enorm toffe klus! Mark Handels heeft er werkelijk een schitterend geheel van gemaakt! Mark jij ook nog bedankt voor de conceptmiddag/avond en de samenwerking. De heren van Life's Electric wil ik ook via deze nogmaals bedanken voor de communicatie en het vertrouwen.En u! Beste lezer van dit bericht. Wordt een luisteraar en kijker en check het nieuwe album van Life's Electric: Trust me I'm a doctor

zondag 5 februari 2012

Detective Sunday #3: James Giron

Little busy this Sunday, so I left it with only one illustration. I tried a European style for this character of the Smoky Barrett-series bij Cody McFadyen.

James Giron is an FBI-profiler and a team-member who works underneath Smoky. He's a very irritable and quite irritating to everyone. Someone like: "I hate everything!" The team prefers to call him 'Damian'. Like to know why? I'd say read the series, if you like thriller-horror. Still he's a team-player and a very good agent and profiler.
And nonetheless one of my favorite characters in the series. (Next time smaller lines though.)
Till next Detective-Sunday!

zondag 29 januari 2012

Detective Sunday #2: Detective Lena Adams

Todays detective of Detective-Sunday is detective Lena Adams of the Grant County series by Karin Slaugter. The style I derived it from is of The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore.
I chose this style because I find it airing the county feeling. I might give it another try, since I'm not really into the American drawing styles, but I'll get a chance when I work on another character of the Grant County series. She also didn't came out as hardened as she get's to be from the second book on. But I still need to start with the fourth book of the series so I'll get back to Lena again.

But that's for the next Detective-Sunday.

Detective Sunday: Review: Fell Vol. 1: Feral City

Yes! The second Detective Sunday. Let the drawing begin! We'll have to wait for that for a few more minutes, because I would also like to share some short comic-reviews now and then on Detective Sundays.

So let's start with my favourit of all.

Fell-Feral City, by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith
Published by: Image Comics
ISBN: 9781582406930
Cover of Fell Vol. 1: Feral City
I have to be honest, that I do not know a lot about the writer and artist, except that Warren Ellis is a great writer (Transmetropolitan) and Ben Templesmith is a great artist (30 Days of Night). And I'm not going to talk about what other reviewers talked about allready.

Fell Vol. 1: Feral City is the only trade paperback consisting of eight, sixteen page stories about homicide detective Richard Fell. Fell has been transferred from an unnamed city across the bridge to the suburb Snowtown. Something happened which made him be banned from the city, and forced him to work in the industrial nighmare of Snowtown that's literally eating itself and every person in town seems to be insane somehow.

The short storries are presented in a tv-like drama serie. Each short issue is for example a case to solve by Fell and within the greater story there's attention for character development. The reader get's hooked to each story from the first picture to the last, and doesn't get a chance to slow down the pace. 
There has been thought well about keeping up this pace by the two creators (I assume). The lay-out of the page are by most a 9 picture (3 x 3) set-up. Sometimes alternated with a wide-shot. So you jump from the next to the next to the next picture, and you might be able to take a breath when you reach a wide-shot. 


First page of Fell Vol. 1: Feral City

I conclude with Ben Templesmith's artwork. Templesmith proves to produce incredible art. Dark yet fine and quite beautifull. But what noticed me that it is a somehow simple style, which makes it
accessible for the reader to place himself in the characters, like novels. The reader could be the character Fell. Helping him solve the cases, trying to make sense of the crazy town and it's insane inhabitants.


Fell is a great example of crime/detective fiction in comics I've read. And I highly recommend! And with me, more reviewers do!

For the Dutch readers who would like the Dutch issue, look for: Fell 1: Welkom in Snowtown.

Now.. Let the drawing begin!

zondag 22 januari 2012

Detective Sunday #1: DS Roy Grace

The first 'official' detective of Detective Sunday is Detective Superintendent Roy Grace from the Roy Grace series written by Peter James. I derived the style of David Lloyd's 'Kickback'.

I'm getting to know quit a few detectives from the novels I've read. All of the characters have something distinctive, and so has DS Roy Grace. His girlfriend has been missing since he was thirty and he sometimes consults a medium to help him solve his cases. But compared to all the other detectives, Grace seems most natural to me. That was the first image that I came up with and tried to create. Just a regular man. But a most driven detective.

Up to the next Detective-Sunday.

When the answer is right in front of you

From Monday to Saturday I work on my own projects or commissions. I'm kinda a workaholic and start feeling guilty when I sit down for a couple of minutes. Even if it's a break. But I do think it would be good to take the Sundays of and don't work on projects or commissions. On Sundays I will be theme-drawing but only recreational!
So I hereby declare; 'Detective-Sunday', as an (in my case) a recreational duty-bound day!
'Detective-Sunday' stands for: drawing favourite characters from detective/thrillers I read, in a style that would suit the story. For example: Birdman, Mo Hayder (2000), Dead Simple, Peter James (2005), Blindsighted, Karin Slaughter (2001). Can't help it! I just need an assignment. But I started out quite well last week. I must confess I worked on a page of the Afghanistan-comic, but I forgive myself.

So I'll start on the next character within half an hour, I'm not sure which one next, but I'll find out in a moment. First, let's get back to the title.

About two years ago, I was working on a sci-fi detective. The story takes place in the Netherlands around the year 2030. I'll give a summary later on. I already had most characters in mind, except for the main! Tall, young (about 28 years old), not very experienced, his father is already a chief-commissioner who wants his son rise in ranks and of the streets as soon as possible. He only needs one murder-case to solve and then he would be of the streets.
So I was on my way to the academy, I sat in the train and wasn't even thinking about the character. But I looked up from my newspaper. And there he was! I quickly made a sketch unnoticed, and 'Inspecteur (Detective-Inspector) Lucas van de Welt' was born.

Sketch I made in the train, February 2009 (I thought)
At the moment I don't have the time to work on my own detective-stories, but I better keep myself in some good shape, and work on one of my favourite hobbies.

Since this occurrence, I trust to rely more on coincidence. For example, I don't force titles for stories, paintings or comics. I just let them come up! Because sometimes the answer is right in front of you.

zondag 15 januari 2012

DI Jack Caffery

It was about time for a post again, and some drawings. When I get the time not to work on my own projects or commissions, I draw favourite characters of the books I read. The first I did today is DI Jack Caffery, from Mo Hayder's 'Birdman' (2000). I find it on of the most darkest detectives I had ever read, so when I make this 'fan-art'  I try to work it out in a style that would suit the story. So in this case I chose Alan Moore's and Eddie Campbell's 'From Hell' (1991-1996)




I'm not sure yet if this is the only one I'll make of DI Jack Caffery, perhaps in a few months I'll try another style like David Lloyd's 'Kickback' (2006). But for the next time another character first.