Friday, June 05, 2009

LEFT BEHIND page 1

Hey gang! Thanks for the great comments on LEFT BEHIND.

You can find the free download at the nbc site: HERE.

This was a lot of fun to draw. I love drawing the episodes that tie directly into the episodes. In fact, when people ask me what the comics are about, I usuallyuse ROAD KILL as an example...

"Let's say the bad guy gets away and turns up next episode in the show. The comics would show you how he gets away and how and why he turns up at the next place you see him. They fill in the gaps between the series. You don't NEED to read them, but they're fun if you do."

My likenesses of Peter are... ok. I think I did some great Matt Parkman's though. So I'm very happy with that. I think you can tell it's Peter, but you're not really gonna put any of these pics of him on Milo's driver's license.

In panel 2 there's shout outs to Natalie Wells (of the Nat and Noo hotel from ROOT AND BRANCH part 1). I didn't manage to include her or Ryan (who has always been so incredibly helpful and supportive of me) in the last story. And given that I included shout outs to Tom, Dick, Harry, their dogs, cousins and parakeets in the last story, I felt kinda bad. I would have loved to have put in more shout outs in the story (andI got a LOT of requests to do more) I just couldn't fit any more in without it detracting from the story. And while I like doing shout outs, the story comes first people.

And now the elephant in the corner. What the flaming heck is with the costumes? Here's the thing, they're not wearing spandex, but I wanted a stealthy superspy/superhero feel. West is in a tight top (like what he wore on the show) and black jeans. Abby is also in a tight top with what I guess are yoga pants. I actually saw a chick in her outfit at the gym. Have you ever noticed how much people in gym gear look like superheroes? Sparrow is in a halter top and jeans. The main reason why it's all tight is cos I didn't feel like drawing jackets. folds in clothing take time, and time was not a luxury I had. This had to be done in the blink of an eye. Ollie bought me more time and I tried to put that time in to backgrounds and detail rather than clothing.

Tight fitting clothing is FAST TO DRAW. Here's how many times I drew everyone (not including distance shots):

Sparrow: 2 times - including a huge poster shot. Those rocks took FOREVER!
Abby: 9 times
West: 8 times

Now you add jackets and accessories with folds, texture, lighting, zips, buckles etc and my time frame starts blowing out the window. Just think about an elbow. A bare bent elbow is about 3 lines plus some rendering. A bent elbow in a jacket is about 10-15 plus the same amount of rendering for each of those lines. And that's just an elbow let alone every joint on each person 8 to 9 panels! I made a call against the deadline I had that would also sell the visual sexiness of all the characters as well as the stealthiness.

My favourite quote is from Pamela (WickedM on the 9th Wonders boards) who quoted Buffy saying, "Don't worry I've patrolled in this halter many times."

And Joss makes it ok cos he makes the characters self aware of the ridiculousness of their wardrobe choices to help put bums on seats.

NEXT: Page 2. Powers and Paul Caggegi.

6 comments:

Ryan Stewart said...

Jason, thanks for the shout out. You're really too kind and generous.

What a great tie-in to Exposed. I swear, you and Ollie should take your show on the road and pair up for non-Heroes projects!

Protect This Throne said...

Really super awesome amazing art! I *love* Kat/Sparrow's expression as she cuts the wires- it conveys everything that she must be feeling so perfectly. And I love the sense of motion carried by lean of the legs as the man is running up the stairs! I can't believe how much of the story is told through the art in this chapter. You're a really amazing artist, Jason.

Alexandre Togeiro said...

Chair-falling stuff there, really great page! :) I want to friendly disagree with you though, I really like the Peter likenesses. In this page in particular he's really incredibly realistic, ready to pop out of the page! I swear I can even see his crooked mouth through your drawing, just look at the lower lip :P (he played Rocky's son in Rocky 6, which is interesting since they both have a crooked mouth thing)
And hey if its not too much to ask I wonder what tool you use to draw, a Wacom tablet or similar? Or even the mouse??
Congrats on the fantastic work :)

jasonb said...

Ryan: My pleasure dude! And let's just say Ollie and I have some stuff in the works. It'd be awesome if the HEROES fans checked that stuff out too.

Abby: There's a great deal told through the art because Ollie gives me the space to do so. He trusts me and I work my ass off to make sure I live up to that trust. Poor comic writing is usually to make up for poor art. Me? I'm just trying to stay out of the way of Ollie's amazing writing!

Alexandre: I guess the audience is the best judge. I mean, there's no doubt it's Milo, but it's not my best Milo. I use an old Wacom INTUOS 2 6x8. I just bought a new stylus cos I'd worn my previous pen tip down to a nub!

Rick Sanchez C154 said...

I liked the wardrobe. If I looked half as good as any of our intrepid trio, I'd dress like that too. Besides being easier to draw, tight clothing is actually more practical as it's less likely to snag on anything and easier to run in.

Ondodara said...

You Peter is pretty fine !
He really looks like to the original.
Great Job.
The whole novel is beautiful from A to Z.

What i can say about "stories involved into the episodes we already seen", is that it's a pretty good idea.

The only problem i have, is that a lot of characters have been underused in the actual show, like Peter for instance, and i think it's not especially a good idea to have brought that much characters in the "Rebel" Arc, as we didn't see them at all during the whole volume.

So at the end, theses stories don't really tie into the show.

I'm sure it could have been great to work independant stories of the main characters after that volume 4, to see where they're going.

An introduction to volume 5 may have been an interesting way to conclude the arc.

As the rebelion is already over, and that we probably won't see West nor Monica nor Sparrow in the show. (which is sad in my opinion)

Anyway, this is great work, these novels are pretty interesting and i can't thank you enough for such dedication.

Can't wait to see the following GN. ^_^