Horror Classics: The Caged Beast
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art
Got stricken by a bastard duo case of insomnia and anxiety last night, so I couldn’t quite hit the desk and be as productive as I wanted to be. After a third cup of coffee and a stale tuna sandwich, I said fuck it and decided to finish the Werewolf piece. I use a mouse to color, so the annoying little hairs made my weird manic state a little useful.
Where with the Mummy I used yellowish dusty hues and with Frankenstein I used cadaverous greens, this time around I made a conscious effort to use earth tones.
Tags: beast, creature, hybrid, lycan, lycanthrope, monster, werewolf, wolf, wolfman
Making Faces
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Work
I never really feel comfortable sitting still and waiting for word to come in about things I’m waiting for word on — I’m sorry if that’s not vague enough, I’ll try harder next time — so Jad and I are plowing forward with our joint comic venture. Just in case you didn’t catch previous mentions of HARBINGER WAR, it’s a Zuda pitch we’re collaborating on. Set in the distant past, it’s gonna play with a lot of sci-fi elements (her department) while balancing all the smart stuff with monsters and boobies (my department).
She’s turned in a draft for the initial script, and together we’re whittling that down to the smoothest and tightest read it can possibly be. No specific looks for specific characters have been established yet, which is why I’m still playing with design aesthetics and mix n’ matching elements. Prehistoric-set stories tend to be pastiche pieces, wardrobe-wise, so I’ll need to take a few liberties, stylistically. They had lip gloss back then right? Right. Sweet.
Tags: cavemen, concept art, designs, don't tase me bro, dreadlocks, early man, homo sapiens, jad montenegro, john amor, neanderthals, pre-production, prehistoric, sketches
Because It’s Monday
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Trash
Tags: donkey, giraffe, i have coffee, i know right, monday
Black Fauna: Baboon
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Trash
Just trying something out…
Tags: creature, demon, monster, sketch
Less Talky…
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Trash
Because I felt like I wasn’t plugging my work enough and every other thought in your noggin is not me… Jad and I figured it’d do everyone a world of good if we created an honest to goodness Official Gallery Page for this site — see, the ART button up on the banner directs you to all journal entries that show and/or talk about artwork; howevers, I realized that all a handful of you probably prefer to just see art and just have me shut up… sometimes.
So this is me totally me being thoughtful. *wink wank*
Dumb story short: Shiny New Button Alert!
Grid Talk 2
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Research
Sometimes, artists decide to try writing.
Oh noes.
This is an ongoing conversation via the interwebs about work experience, professional opinion, and just plain doucheity. This is what came off my good friend Karl Slominski (aka Kid Reverie) and I just shooting the shit after pulling all-nighters laying out our respective projects. Come look.
Amor: I have this habit of not doing the layouts for an entire book in one go. I send the approval thumbs in 5-10 page sets, and I feel it works for me coz it breaks the story into little manageable chunks… vignettes almost… and I don’t need to be too painfully mindful of page 20 as I’m still inking page 3. Is it the same for you?
Slominski: Lately I’ve been laying out a whole book right after I go through the script the first time. Then I’ll reread the script and punch up the spots in the roughs that could pack a bigger punch- I’ve found that drawing out the final pencils takes less time when you already know exactly what’s on those pages. I’m much more comfortable when I know what the workload looks like down the road- that way I can plan accordingly. It seems that aside from doing the final inks though, tweaking layouts usually takes the longest time.
Amor: I actually feel the same way about knowing exactly what’s in the page and what comes next, it definitely makes it feel like the hard part’s done and all that’s left is just the actual drawing of the page. Know what I mean? Like… the comic is done and now it’s just a matter of drawing it. Hahaha! I just realized how retarded that sounds. It helps, sure, but it’s a double-edged sword for me coz I’m of the impression that while it’s not put down on paper yet (thumbnail or otherwise) I haven’t fucked it up yet. Coz it’s a bitch when a lousy “first stab” at a thumbnail directly affects later attempts.
Slominski: That’s the worst! I usually hit a bad spell around the middle of the book where I’ve got a killer thumbnail and I’ll spend hours trying to get the same vibe on the actual page. I’ve broken that bad habit by blowing up the original thumbnails on a photocopier and lightboxing said thumbnail. I had to do that today actually. But you’re right, as fucked as it sounds- once you nail the flow and format of the book the easy part is actually drawing it.
Amor and Slominski
Amor: Now I love drawing comics. And I love drawing. But wouldn’t it be awesome to get signed on to just do thumbnails a coupla times?
Slominski: Haha I’d actually pass on that job offer- I’d much rather be involved in a project from start to finish. Do you remember throughout the early 90′s how half the books out there had 2 artists working on them? I remember a lot of old X-books or Youngblood crediting someone for layouts and someone for “finishes”. Personally, I think that kinda takes away from a narrative artist’s credibility if someone else is doing the layouts for you. Sure you can draw eye-catching pretty pictures, but part of being a comic book artist is the craft of storytelling.
Amor: Agreed.
Slominski: I’ll always get more stoked about good storytelling than good art, but you know you’re doing your job a solid when you can deliver on both.
Amor: Well put, Holmes. Sure you’re an artist if you can draw… but you ain’t a comic artist till you bring it with sequentials that are all your own. And daily, I might add. Swish! Time to hit the desk…
Tags: comic shoptalk, karl slominski, kid reverie
A Few Times in Math Class
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Trash
I was sorting my junk today and stumbled upon one of my high school sketchbooks. Here are a few sketches done circa 1999… exactly ten years ago.
Huh.
Tags: darth maul, evangelion, gundam, ogre, orc, sith droid, sith robot, sketches, troll
Seeing Red
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Work
Just thought I’d post the first three pages from SOVENA RED #1 written by the mansexy Rod Hannah. The guy’s been a joy to work with, so here’s hoping these sequentials do his story justice. I’m trying to inject a little bit more Immonen and Ottley into my stuff, so if that carries across in the line work then YEEHAW, if not well… YEEEHAW!!!
Ngyarp.
Tags: comics, galactus, inked pages, rod hannah, sequentials, sovena red, teen superhero
Pantsphone Chronicles IV
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Photos
Ugly jam on the road home today, so I just took the long hike from the mall after stocking up on drawing materials and such. My feet hurt.
Good Advice
Tags: cebu, cebuano artist
When Things Get Hairy
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art
Woke up a bit groggy from a work binge the other day, and I was out of coffee… so after an arctic shower, I warmed up by finishing the line art for the Werewolf Horror Classics piece. The rough sketch was barely discernible as a lycanthrope, I think. This illustration was finished live on Ustream while talking shit with a coupla buddies via Skype… I’ll do that more often to get the joints ready in the morning (half past noon), but it’s back to work for now.
Tags: horror classics, pencil art, werewolf
