Pecos Bill: Comic Book Cover Process

Right after Christmas I was invited to contribute a variant cover to the Pecos Bill kid's comic book series created by Brian DuPont. Brian's Pecos Bill series explores the possibility that the legendary Pecos Bill lived throughout the centuries, and still has tall-tale adventures in the modern era. Throw in a steam-powered jet-pack named Widowmaker (created by inventor Nikola Tesla), and you have a pretty exciting adventure series.

The idea really appealed to me, so I went to work on a cover for Issue #3. The style I ended up with was a lot different than the work I usually do, but I was pleased with the finished product. I painted it from start to finish entirely in Photoshop.

Here are some progress shots to give you a small taste of the way this thing was put together:

I started out with a really tiny thumbnail sketch or two, and a digital color comp (that's pretty important in any color work I do. Really serves as a guide when I go into the painting stage).

The linework, completed digitally. This was a new step for me, but digital comic art linework is actually pretty great, especially if you have a brush that has a bit of variance and texture in it to simulate a real pen. I used one from this set by Shaun Bryant: https://gumroad.com/shaunbryant 

This is a pretty big jump from the last image, but hopefully you sort of get the idea. I start out with painting large areas of flat color. Then I use those areas as selections in order to paint details, more color, and texture over the flat color. The background is made up of some gradients, spatter brushes (for stars) and hand-painted comets! (soft brush+texture brush for tail). Nothing fancy!

So there you have it! I had to complete the entire piece in about 3 weeks in order to meet the deadline, so that was a challenge. I look forward to exploring comics further in the future. 

In the meantime, consider contributing to Brian's Kickstarter campaign - you can receive a print copy of my cover if you donate a little more! Check out the campaign here: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1105876224/pecos-bill-3-how-pecos-bill-invented-smores-and-mo

And you can learn more about Brian and his comics here: 

http://www.colringbookpress.com/#!comics/cj5l

#136 CARGO Comic Cover Art

http://cargocomic.tumblr.com/

The home for my new wordless comic "CARGO" is finished - the previous Tumblr theme I installed was distracting, so I toned it down a bit - but this is the new cover illustration I completed today. Bear with me - I learned a lot through doing this cover, and that is exactly what I intend this project to be - a learning experience. The cover itself leaves a lot to be desired in my own opinion, but I think things are moving forward nicely. I hope you all will pitch in with any feedback you might have as the project moves forward!

I'll post a preview link here on Drawing the Sword when new Pages go up soon!

-Will

#134 Space Comics!

Hey everyone!
I'm excited to announce a new project of mine - my very own webcomic!
CARGO is a sci-fi short comic about space exploration and, well, CHOMPERS (see diagrams above). I've pretty much stuck my neck out by posting all this because now I actually have people expecting me to finish it! So I will.
Go ahead and bookmark the official site: http://spacecomics.tumblr.com/ where the comic will be published (I'll post updates here and on Twitter as well). I look forward to sharing the pages with you as I get them done!

#108 INKtober Day 16: Darth Vader's Birthday, Pt.6

The conclusion of our 6-part epic saga. Poor Vader.
Okay, now I'm finally done drawing Darth Vader for a whole week straight! On to cooler things tomorrow, I promise!! Thanks for your INKtober support guys & gals!

#107 INKtober Day 15: Darth Vader's Birthday, Pt.5

In which Lord Vader receives a present!

For all you Star Wars fanatics like me, here's a wonderfully descriptive article on the Star Destroyer which I used as reference for today's INKtober. Enjoy!

#106 INKtober Day 14: Darth Vader's Birthday, Pt. 4

In which, Darth Vader learns the importance of this momentous occasion..

#105 INKtober Day 13: Darth Vader's Birthday, Pt.3

The Saga Continues!

Note of Interest: Imperial officers rarely wear mustaches. This is merely creative license on my part. Also, for the uninitiated, Vader and the Emperor are communicating via hologram. This explains why the Emperor is exponentially larger than Vader in this particular scene, and also explains the fact that he is transparent. Thank you.

#104 INKtober Day 12: Darth Vader's Birthday, Pt. 2

In which the Dark Lord groggily begins his morning...

#095 Boba Fett (in Blazing Technicolor)

Spent a couple of hours today coloring my INKtober sketch from Saturday. I used a more comic book approach for this one. I think it turned out pretty good!

#065 Jake Parker's 2010 Missile Mouse Giveaway

You need it. I need it. Everyone needs it! It's the 2010 Missile Mouse giveaway from Jake Parker!
Jake draws the amazing Missile Mouse, a space-traveling super-agent who stars in a his own brand new episode: MISSILE MOUSE: RESCUE ON TANKIUM3!! You can win this plus a ton of other cool cargo. Just check out how to enter over at Jake's blog, Agent44. Good luck!

#052 Three Webcomics That Your Eyeballs Will Love

Today I thought I would highlight three webcomics that I have been enjoying the last few months that are definitely worth your eyeballs' undivided attention. So without further ado, here they are:

1. BIT AND RUN by Cory Godbey.
If you're a Mario, Zelda or Pokémon fan, you will definitely be in love with Bit and Run. A tribute to all things Nintendo, Bit and Run is now in its second "season", being written and published by Greenville, SC illustrator Cory Godbey on his blog, light night rains. While I'm not generally known as an avid gamer, I have been known to play my share of Kong on an old GameBoy Color, and the comic really captures the feeling of 8-bit color, characters, and environments of Nintendo. Cory has also stepped up the scope, color and humor of the series, which makes it all the more fun!

2. OH, BROTHER! by Bob Weber, Jr and Jay Stephens.

Bob Weber Jr. has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I was a kid, and now he has created a new strip called Oh, Brother! While this strip is being published in the papers, it does have its own website where you can subscribe to the strip, so technically it's a webcomic. The strip focuses on Bud and Lily, a brother and sister who just do kid stuff. Usually Bud gets on Lily's nerves, but they still love each other when it's all said and done. What I love about Weber's style is his simple line work, humor, and layouts. This strip feels like a classic, and I hope it becomes one.

3. COPPER by Kazu Kibuishi
I honestly can't tell you what the setting of Kazu Kibuishi's Copper is, but I do know that one look at these trippy, colorful animated pages, and you will be hooked. Each Copper installment is a whole page devoted to the adventures of Copper and his dog Fred. It seems as though the duo is nomadic; they are never in the same place twice. They explore forests, waterfalls, cities, flying machines, and all kinds of fantastic things. The best part is just getting to pore over page after page of Kibuishi's artwork. It is wonderful, and if you're interested, his site also includes a step-by-step explanation of how he creates his Copper pages. It's a gold mine!

So: go out and read some comics!!

#051 "Who's Scruffy Lookin'?"

My favorite Star Wars by far.

I'm really wanting to get these sweet 1980 Marvel comic book adaptations. Dark Horse has just published a reissue, but I would love to have an original edition.