More concept art

Tried Modern vigilante outfit a little baggier/more casual. Also more playing around with WW2 vigilante and slapping some colour around to get ideas.

Costume design 1

Ok, became another exercise in practising with the wacom pen, but here is a basic costume. Tried to be tonned down version of a vigilante costume ie. No Primary colours or blatent flag waving suit like the original captain America costume, but maybe a muted/browny yellow southern cross painted onto the sleeve or forearm tattoo.

The bottom one, was trying for darker/black ink type shade which gives the image more contrast but I feel the top one has a bit more depth because of the lighter shadow area and detail....is that what you get?

Anyways,rough stuff, Ill probably draw the comic by hand but we'll see.

The Soldier concept art

Still playing around with concepts for the World War 2 story. Haven't got a name for him yet, even in the draft script I don't have a name for him apart from "The Soldier". Still need to design a proper full body suit for him. I thinking something very close to the 9th Division AIF uniform from the New Guinea Campaign, with my nods to "Captain America" and "Daredevil".

Playing with my new wacom tablet with the first drawing. It's a learning curve, that's for sure.

Marvel comic stuff

One page to go (page 1), hoping to send off to marvel to get some feedback. A long shot, but we'll see what happens. Practicing my penciling, composition and storytelling

Finished colour pratice

Finally got around to finishing colouring practice. Still wrestling with script ideas and sifting thru 3rd party work commitments.

Anyways, I finally bought myself a wacom tablet so I'll have to unpack it and teach myself to use it, this might make the colouring process faster than using a mouse.

Gotta run.

More story brainstorming and ideas

11th Feb

Extra notes:

Trailer/short film aim to show quick action visuals:
Ø Explosion
Ø Character lifting/throwing heavy object
Ø Running/Jumping (explore angles)
Ø Punch/kick /combination
Ø Character acting/pose
Ø Backgrounds- comic book like or 3d objects (one or two shots like “Batman Sub Zero”

Do I throw in a gag in the trailer/film?

Script process:
My main way of thinking at the moment is that I need to hammer out a script for something NOW- I don’t think a full script will be needed at this stage to get started, especially if I want to run with a Jack Kirby/Stan Lee “Marvel Method” i.e.: Working off a plot, visually telling the story and inserting dialogue later. If the animated section of the project is going to be a detailed trailer/promotion clip, then I will need to storyboard and settle on the visuals, what dialogue will be spoken in the trailer by characters and what will be voice over.

My other idea was do 3 short films based on either 3 issues that will make up the graphic Novel or just do 3 short films and one comic or 3 comics and one promo trailer. (I’m worried I’m thinking too large for my time and capabilities this year.)

3 periods in time:

A vigilante who hunts Bushrangers in the Aussie Outback (1870’s)- a symbol of the law against killer bushrangers (Ned Kelly became a symbol through his headgear- the irony of the Aussie culture is that we barrack for the underdogs and anti-establishment to a certain degree- Ned Kelly, Chopper Read- we love our true Crime (Underbelly a huge hit)- More story development after research- or maybe this could be a smaller story that connects with the WW2 soldier?

The Australian Army in World War 2 have a “Captain American” type solider- (The soldier is inspired by the Outlaw vigilante?) more muted coloured than Captain America- Maybe not the traditional Aussie flag colours (too similar), but maybe a dark dirty green with brownish gold – this character and his scene would be more for a connection in the linage and as a homage to Jack Kirby’s first successful hero.
I think instead of being a symbol developed by the Australian Army/Government, The character could be related or inspired by the bushranger hero (maybe a relative, otherwise what’s the emotional connection-
Ok, the soldier makes friends with a young bloke in his battalion who reads the old comic books about the Bushranger vigilante- he might have his mask that was given to him by his father/grandfather and he has the mask for luck. The soldier might not think much of the comics and of the young guy but is friendly to him. Soldiers go into battle, young guy dies maybe pushing the soldier out of the way of a grenade or a bullet – prompts him to pick up his comics later, read, likes them, finds mask (linking stories together), makes his own outfit out of his uniform and gear. (Retrospective story- begins with Aussie war hero established, then retrospective origin.)

3rd story set in the present. The grandson of the war hero. I don’t want any of these heroes to have powers or a connection to space. Even though this is the case with much of the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee collaborations, it wasn’t always the case- and despite the fantastical artwork I believe the motives and characterisation behind the characters made them different.

So in saying that, I want to make the reason why he feels the need to suit up and ‘make a difference’- I want the animation in particular to show news reports overlapping (like that ‘Megadeth’ song) of events similar to recent events such as the Droughts, the floods and in particular the terrible fires, the terrorist events, and also show/hear reports (overlapping) of Drug trafficking, ATM bombings and Rapes (events start from large to small)- where the young guy feels compelled to act is how he notices the area where he lives grows increasingly violent. (maybe like growing graffiti, the owner of the local store he talks to has black eye.) Maybe he feels this growing need to help in the world, but feels powerless as (unlike Batman and Iron Man) he has very little money, can’t land his dream job (Centrelink scene?) and feels that joining the army or the police will not solve the problem now and not protect his neighbourhood. Maybe catalyst is elderly couple assaulted in his area? Goes out in Grandfather’s mask and logo T-shirt first, then a more practical outfit after first outing- assessment of the environment and the practicality of his movements and how he goes about making a difference.

Taekwon-do aspect- In his ability and moral character. Maybe words from his master can be part of what makes him want to go out and make a difference- The fist from the ITF logo to be his symbol- and perhaps an Aussie flag on his sleeve or backpack- or just the southern cross…?

Anyways, Enough for now.

Thought process-Nothing too in depth, just my train of thought:
Basically, I was exploring ideas and possible visuals by writing dialogue. Nothing concrete but I was trying to explore how the modern character (un-named) is thinking and what will eventually lead him to become a masked vigilante. Now I realise I’m not going to achieve something like Alan Moore/David Gibbons’s “Watchmen”, but what I liked about the characters is that some issues were told from their perspective/retrospective thoughts and at no time in the book were thought bubbles used- leaving the visuals to tell the story. This is similar to “The Punisher” to some degree where captions are used- The Punisher tells the story via his “War Journal” (like the Journal Rorschach uses in “The Watchmen”). I believe because the caption boxes can be coloured and given a distinctive character style/font, it adds to the visuals of the comic page/panel and makes the page feel less cluttered than large speech balloons AND thought balloons too.
I’m trying to piece together the idea that the modern hero feels compelled to do something as a reaction to modern events/everyday living. From Stan Lee/Jack Kirby era, and even before that, masked heroes have been born from the world around them and are shaped through enivornmental events (political or even personal.)

The first of the “Superheroes”- Superman, was developed by Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster in 1938. Science was one of the boys' main interest in driving the character from another planet but the idea has been said to have come from the a story that a year before Jerry Sigel and Joel Shuster pitched “Superman” to various publishers, Jerry Siegal’s father had been a shopkeeper who was shot by a robber. He made this hero bullet-proof. Another little tidbit was when the article was discussed in the newspaper, someone had wrote in who wrote rather negative remarks about the shooting (I forget the details, may be a comment against the support of more police etc.) anyway, the letter was signed “L.Luthor”- who went on to be Superman’s greatest villain.

When the Second World War broke out in Europe and news of Hitler’s atrocities towards the jewish community reached many of the writers and artists back in America, many heroes in comic books went into battle against Hitler before the attack on Pearl Harbour brought USA into the mix. “Captain America”, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, was one of these heroes born from the era- A “Super Solider.

Obviously, sales in comics and trends plays huge factors in popularity of characters and types of comics, I’m just being really general here. To get to the point though, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s characters were often born out of the Cold War and the Atomic age: science and the new world of the Nuclear bomb- The Fantastic Four were space explorers trying to beat Russia to space when they were bombarded with Cosmic rays; The Incredible Hulk was a scientist for the American government who while saving Rick Jones was bombarded with Gamma rays from a Nuclear Bomb; Iron Man was a American Arms manufacturer who was injured in Vietnam and built an iron suit to escape his captors and save his heart (who often confronts Russian spies and Russian and “Red” Chinese villains including Crimson Dynamo, The Mandarin, Titanium Man and the Black Widow). Spider-man was a different sort of hero to the norm (Teenager) but was created by a spider bite from a radioactive spider, Daredevil was also a different sort of hero (blind Lawyer) as he was more street orientated but gained his powers from Radioactive waste spraying into his eyes.

Ok, I’ve gotten a little carried away- more stuff later.

More preliminary concept art

Some scribble and texta scribble ideas exploring the WW2 vigilatne idea and a side view on the modern vigilante. Still trying to piece together some sort of story- and I think I'm leaning towards a large trailer and graphic novel with small 12 pages intervals. More info to come.

Costume design 1

Concept Thumbnails Session 1

A little bit too bulky but this is one of the first drawings here that has jumped out at me. I want to keep him grounded in some sort of realism, but I don't think the clothes will be black, but certainly dark. The visor I wanted to enhance his vision in the dark- not infra red though, not night vision....I'll think of something. I like the idea of a backpack. The over-the-shoulder bag has been done, and I liked how "Captain America" had his shield straped to his back. He can't just web his stuff to a building like "Spider-man" so this could do. Maybe smaller, just to carry clothes, a digiatl camera for gathering evidence (?), homemade weapons, bandages, cable ties etc.
Something similar to the bottom right may be the final suit. The pillow case masks that I've been scribbling look a bit too ninja-ish. The logo I've almost decided on, will be a fist symbol from the I.T.F taekwon-do logo, as I'll have the hero train in it. Still haven't decided on whether he has any powers or not. Anyways...

Still toying with ideas and costume designs- at the moment just going for a mask/face. I think the fact that I'm talking street level hero or vigilante that the images of a "Daredevil" type of design keeps creeping in. Also, considering Jack Kirby and Joe Simon's first "successful" Superhero ("The Red Raven" apparently didn't sell well) for Timley comics was "Captain America", I wanted to have some kind of touch in his mask. I like the idea of a cheap, inexpensive costume, so the zip up jacket, pants, gloves and runners will probably be the go. Maybe earlier on, the pillow case mask and the t-shirt with the logo on it will be the way to go. I'll keep playing, this stuff was only my preliminary thoughts and doodles.

Colouring process test for Comic pages...

I've been toying with some different colouring techniques that may aid me greatly this year if I choose to run with the graphic novel approach. Not quite finished yet as I've been busy on the holidays trying to semi-cement my ideas, working, reggie strips, folio stuff and trying t get over a small bout of sickness, but I've picked up a great deal of knowledge thanks to a great book "The DC comic gudie to Colouring and Lettering Comics".

Basically the book has some great photoshop techniques in order to prep artwork to colour and administer colouring via channels (something I've always wanted to learn.) Also it has made me very consious in regards to what Colours I pick for what (flats) and their temperature (warm or cool) and aiding the artwork in creating the main focus points for the viewer.

So I've been practicing on a splash/cover page I penciled for CFCA involving a fight scene (See above); problem is the page wasn't inked so I really had the play with the pencils for a while in order to get them sutibly dark enough to begin applying colours. I basically faked the inks by running over the areas that needed to be black with digital blacks.

I'm finding CMYK to be handy to work in as the concept of mixing the colours to get something similar to what I need makes more sense that mixing RGB which is based on light and not ink. Anyways, here's some of my progress. I havent touched the picture in a few weeks, I have started modelling shapes with shadows and have applied mild gradients to the larger block areas and am almost up to the highlights stage.

I realise that I'm lucky to pull off decent pencilling let alone colouring, but it's fun to dabble in something else. There are so many concepts and rules to consider with just pencilling alone, let alone inking considerations and colouring, but it's a challenge and I love the storytelling and depth/focus theories being it. My other main problem is that I don't have a wacom tablet so all the "inking" and colouring has been done with a mouse so it's a little slow.

This is a greyscale look of the finished colour flats. The book says it's good to have a variety of contrast. If your colouring looks like a bunch of greys with no lighter areas then it looks bland (hope that's right anyway...)

Colour flats. Tried to make the main colour of the page seem like a sunny day, and have warmer colours for the foreground characters such as the guy bottom left with the bloodied face, and then the main focus of the work ie: the heroes have warmer tones for their main colours- ie warmer greens for Sea Dragon. Problem is with Blue Flyer is that he's blue, which tends to be cooler but Im hoping the eye at least travels around where Seadragon is, sees the red of blue Flyer's goggles, and is also drawn to the guy in front, who in hindsight could have been made darker/ cooler so not to draw so much attention and maybe even enchance the middle more...I don't know, it's my first real attempt at this sort of thing :P