The Larsen Project

My first ever submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic (Burst). It's a burst of happiness! :D This was a nice break in-between jobs. Medium: Ink with PS Color. Some process pics below...

In an attempt to do more editorial-type work, I have been keeping an eye out for stories in the news that I find particularly interesting...France's new Anti Veil Law is one of them. If you're interested in seeing the story, here's CBS's take. I caught it last night on NBC's Nightly News, but couldn't find the clip. Here is an alternate color scheme, because I can never settle my mind on anything... And this is the original ink on paper. I colored most of the line art...

I was recently asked by Ape Entertainment to do the back up stories for their upcoming Kung Fu Panda 2 books. This is page 4 in that 8 page story. The process for these pages is obviously much different from my usual fare, but I learned a few new tricks that I will definitely be incorporating into new work... Here's how they were done: I started with black and red line art (done with a mixture of rapidograph pens, micron pens and brush for the large fills). I wanted the lines to be even, and doing the art in 2 colors helped me to separate out the lines to color them (see this post for details on that technique). I then painstakingly colored in the flats and the line art, making sure to color the lines outlining the characters so they matched the fill color, giving the art a flat, "Samurai Jack" feel. I then selected sections and started laying in gradient layers to add subtle variation in color for the FG rats, darken the BG rats and color the sky in the first pan...

A little step by step of my piece for the PCS/Autumn Society Hallowed Halloween Show... Final Thumbnail Pencil Ink Color Show Info: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: This October 1st - 31st the Autumn Society of Illustration, the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society and Proximity Gallery present: HALLOWED HALLOWEEN Opening Reception - October 1st, 2010 October 1st - October 31st PROXIMITY Gallery 2434 East Dauphin Street Philadelphia, PA 19125 267.825.2949

From Sketch to pencil to ink to finished color... CLICK HERE to read the La Morté Sisters on Zuda Comics

The following is a step by step for the process of creating my piece for the PCS Domo Arigato: Robot Show. I do very detailed sketches on graph paper to get a feel for the layout. The ink of the main image - the girl and mechanical bull - was done seperately from the type in ink wash on arches hot press watercolor paper. Everything was assembled and colored on the computer. I fudged with the type to make it simpler and fit in the space nicer. If you live in the greater Philadelphia area, you should save the date of May 7th and see this and many other amazing pieces at the PCS Domo Arigato Show, and join us for the PCS Art Crawl !

Continuing my 1 new piece/week. Ink on watercolor paper with washes... I think I may do another, less "painterly" version of this when I have the time. I feel like this got a little muddy in spots. And here's that... I like this version much better. Muddy colors make me sad :(

Because I have a relatively light week freelance-wise, I decided to do a quick personal piece today. Part of my New Year's resolution has been to do one personal piece a week. Better late than never. Enjoy... (ink and wash with winsor newton No. 2 brush and big sumi brushes on watercolor paper) Too many layers in photoshop