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.