I inked Will's Boba Fett (I ok'd it with him first - UPDATED to say: have a look at the original here). It's always interesting to see what someone else does with your artwork when they're inking it (have a look at Gary Martin's book where different artists have inked the same Steve Rude page to see what a difference it can make). It's also pretty useful as a lesson - for both inker and inkee - you can see what someone else sees in your artwork and suddenly stuff that you didn't expect can sort of leap out at you.
In inking Fett, I inked straight onto tracing paper (think that would save time - it didn't, it was a pain to scan in...) I inked the outlines of Fett giving 'bounce' to the lines using a brush (Sapphire Series 51 10/0 - a tiny, four eyelash size brush that is my weapon of choice).
Next were the background elements, trying to keep the focus on Fett himself, so the background bits would fade a little into the background. Inking Starwars tech is fun, the object is to keep the lines from getting too perfect - every thing should look like it's been dented/dinged at some point. If it's a long straight/curved line you shouldn't be reaching for the ruler. And, you can get away with actually adding wobble in some lines.
Once done I whipped the originals away to see how I'd light the sucker, It's a good pose, shot in a dramatic angle so I figured some simple up lighting would help me 'sell' the drama.
I only made a couple of minor changes to the figure, I moved the bottom of the leg up - as it seemed (to my eye, in my inking of it) to be too long and I shorted the forearm of Boba's left (our right) arm. (I really enjoyed inking the right hand, it's a pretty solid hand that I'll be stealing for all of my future figure drawing... you can't have it back - it's locked into my head now! bwah-ha-ha!)
When it was finished there seemed to be a compositional 'dead space' -a framed area that didn't really contain anything. (If it was a comic page, that area would be perfect for a logo/dialogue or another panel). So I dropped a temporary logo in there.
Anyhue, hope that change of pace is interesting/useful/not dull for you. Have a great weekend!
9 comments:
This is a great piece of art! Much improved from the first go around. Boba's the O.G. as far as bounty hunters go. Anyway, nice job on this, very cool angel as well.
Whoops. I meant angle, not angel. Ha ha. Seriously though, very dynamic shot for sure.
This is just great PJ. Had to try really hard not to rave about this to ther others when you mailed it on the other day. I'll definately learn an aweful lot from it and am gonna try and incorporate the imorovements into my work. I'd honestly love to work with an inker the whole time if these are the results
Wow, this is excellent. What a dynamic amalgamation of ye're styles lads. PJ, I agree with just about every tweak you made on the(already kick-ass) piece, all well-thought out and very well executed.
Now I really want you to ink one of mine so that I can get schooled!
Very valuable exercise and a great idea. Maybe some more of this cross pollination is the way forward for this wee blog of ours.
Hey Nick, looks like you've got Angel on the brain. I wonder why!
I dunno how to compliment this without offending Will, so here goes nuthin'...
PJ; fair play. From what i can see, you went over Will's work and really improved it. The drawing is still solid, but your finish is far more clear and interesting. I criticized Will for having the same line weight for all objects and you really showed what can be achieved by varying the line. That, and all the various texture really makes Fett stand out against the various tech. I thought Will's work would benefit from an inkers touch and you certainly validated that for me.
Since we started this blog myself and Thompson have been talking about inking over each other's work. You beat us to it.
Long time reader, first time commenter. Boba Fett is great, love the ink and thanks for the writeup, very informative. The whole blog is great so far, keep up the good work lads.
Right ill leave it there before I should take out the pompoms and become a cheerleader for ya.
wow, I like the improvements (not that I didn't like the original) but this really brings out the sketch to its potential that it was meant to be. Well done both lads
Perfectly judged inkwork. The lines and shadows are PURR-FECT.
Post a Comment