It's finally up! I can talk about it! I'm fit to burst!First I wanna thank the rest of the incredible creative team. Huge thanks to Aron Eli Coleite for a fantastic script. Aron got me the HEROES webcomics job and I think it's really fitting that we both get to usher out season one together. Secondly to the talented kids at Comicraft. Their caption and dialogue placement have added a grace and flow to the pages that leave me stunned. Thanks for making me look great! Lastly to Frank Mastromauro at Aspen who chose me to do this. Thanks for running all my stupid requests to NBC and working around the clock to make this happen.
Before I get onto page 1, let's deal with the DRESS HANA COMPETITION! The results were on page 8.
I gotta say again, the entries were incredible. Seeing the page, I hope it's obvious to everyone what I was looking for. It's hard to dress someone when you don't know what they're dressing for!
The winner is Vanessa's original design. Vanessa really had the look I was going for hands down.
As you can see, I wanted something short and dynamic. Something that would show off Hana's athleticism. I think Delusions of Granduer suggested that every woman has a little black dress. It was themightytruk who suggested that the Heroes helix should be included somehow.
From left to right in the panel you can see the runners up on each of the other women there:
Waterdancer (woman with left arm up): This was a stunning number, which I felt a little tough to do, but I loved it nonetheless. I felt the frills were a bit too effeminite for Hana, though.
Acidburn133 (black haired woman on Hana's right): Another original design, and one I liked a lot. It just didn't quite scream, "Hana" to me.
Vanessa: with Hana's winning design. I loved the subtle gold beads, the straps and the leopard print (that you can barely make out on panel 1) that hinted at her predator nature.
Leshia (black woman on Hana's left): This was my next favourite. I just loved its simplicity and elegance and the hanging neckline. This was my first number one choice.
Vanessa (again): Maybe it's because the model had a striking resemblance to Hana... But I loved this. I just knew I was going to struggle with the texture though. As you can see, I went for a pasted in texture that works for this one shot but would get tiring over several panels. You can see it without the captions here.
Jennifer (blonde woman with arms in the air): I liked the neck clasp, I thought it was really cool and unique. Jennifer also suggested that Hana would dress in Dolce Gabbana clothing. While I didn't get a chance to use this suggestions it did fit nicely and help round out Hana's character for me.
Curlymarie also got a leg in on the wardrobe with her original design on page 9 panel 2. Unfortunately you can only just make out the beautiful and unique neck strap design.
Ok, let's talk page 1. Here's the artwork without the painted layers and textures. As you can see it's incredibly minimalist. When I work with Annette I make sure I dot every I and cross every T. When I'm working by myself I know that there's some things I can do faster at the colouring stage. When I ask Annette to do this, I will include a detailed description of what I want.
To avoid copyright, the Earth is actually the Earth from the start of HEROES! I screen capped it, cleaned it up and pasted it in. I could have drawn it... but why?
The only note I got about page 1 was that my initial take on the asteroid looked "flat and cartoony". I took the former as a great piece of art direction, and the second as a compliment about my colouring. The last thing I want is these comics to look cartoony! I've got a fantastic looking tv show to compete with! Looking at the initial version, I'm horrified I sent that through. I was also disgusted with my laziness on panel 3. It was just a cut, paste and blow up of panel 2! I don't think they asked me to redraw it, but I did. My artistic conscience just couldn't live with signing off on this horror.
I'm also going back and redoing all the art previews in the previous posts so you know what I was talking about. Retrospect is a lovely thing.
11 comments:
As I said before you did an amazing job!!!!!!!
Excellent job. Incredible detail and we sincerely appreciate you including the fans in on your artwork. Thanks for thinking of us!
I think that "the death of hana gittelman" is the best graphic novel in the entire series. you did an incredibly amazing job!
Jason... did you put yourself in the comic? I'm pretty sure I saw you in there... but I suppose, in that situation, I can't really blame you :P
Fantastic comic! I can't wait for part two :D
Your graphic novel chapter is amazing. I love your style and the art! I can't wait to see the next chapter!
PS I love the helixes (helixi?) in the party scene ^.^
My goodness, where to begin? How 'bout some stream of consciousness...
The Alaska stuff, for some reason, really stole the show. Can't put my finger on it. Maybe because you broke those iconic glasses? ... The club (again, thank you!) scene with the dresses. What a generous gesture. You are truly the most giving artist I know. And good choice on Vanessa's dress--the others were nice, but Vanessa's was the most sexy without being too slutty. Simple and elegant, and shows off a well-toned Israeli Army body.... Did you know that's the first time the symbol has appeared in a graphic novel? Twice! ... Hong Kong looks beautiful -- especially those fields and Hana lazily riding the boat. Very nice.... I liked Sprague's finger gun. Reminds me of being a kid.... You improve exponentially with each panel, especially with your likenesses.... Can't wait for Part 2. I'm going to have to tape my socks to my legs so they don't get knocked off too far. (Plus it comes out the day before my birthday.)
Enjoyed the Ben Badower portrait on nakedfella. Had a good chuckle.
Wow, that was an amazing work of art!
Thank you so much for the shout out. I really loved this graphic novel, its really beautiful.
-Waterdancer
*is stunned* that *was* my design! lol.
Vanessa's design is awesomely awesome and so very Hana! I'd be terrified to wear it, but we all know that characters like Hana are incapabale of having wardrobe malfunctions, haha.
The writing on this one was awesome and the art fit so well with the story... Well, that's the point, isn't it? After a re-read to point out the dress to my mom, I realized just how amazing all of facial expressions are on everyone. The concern on Parkman's face was especially awesome, and I'm going to have to agree with Ryan on Ted's "finger gun", that was awesome. But yeah, I'm falling asleep so:
Thanks for including the fans in on this one, I'm not the first to say it, and I doubt I'll be the last. That was way more interactive than the 360 sites, even! lol.
Is it Tuesday (again) yet? lol.
Brilliant job! It's so nice to see side characters like Hana fleshed out in these webcomics... I remember reading the older issues of x-men in high school, it's great seeing the evolution in artwork and coloring from back then to what comics are now.
Looking forward to the next chapter... I've already fallen off the edge of my seat!
rini: Thanks again, man!
bu11dog: Thanks for all your flattering posts. I really appreciate them.
nemesis: aw... thanks! I really gave it my all.
flit: Yeah, that's me! LOL!!! I will explain why when we get there.
lindsey: Thank you! I will chat about those helixes too. There's a story to them.
ryan: And thank you to you too! Your contribution begins next blog entry. I loved the icy pages too. They just looked really convincing to me. How good is David Blumenstein? LOL!
anonymous: thank you!
Waterdancer: Thank you for being involved and your great contribution. It was such an inspiration.
acid: I love drawing people and expressions and faces. Thank you for going to the effort to create an original design.
kat: So glad this could bring you back to comics. Get back on your seat, cos I wanna knock you off with the next installment!
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