Rose City Step by Step

A little behind the scenes look at how I made the Rose City artwork.

My initial sketches - knew in general EXACTLY what I was going for - but not SPECIFICS. I would let the drawing dictate!

 

I started off working full-size, 12 x 18 2 ply Bristol Board, using Light Blue and HB Lead. Nailed the figure and personality, knowing everything was there to set her up.

I roughed in the roses for compositon and design puroposed then found tons of Rose pics to make sure they were accurate. Went for a Heavy Mucha Dead Line on the roses with a thin interior line so they are more decorative than realistic.

Roughed in the rest of the BG details then found reference for the iconic Portland images that existed in the early 20th century - Mt Hood, the Steel Bridge, and Union Station.

The final pencil art

Face detail.

Rachel Dodson's inked the art using #2 Windsor Newton Series 7 Sable Brush and Higgins Black Magic ink. Rachel always starts with face when it is at it's highest level of clarity/.

Face detail.

She then works backwards in depth - all brush.

Detail

Know the flowers.

Final inked line art.

First step in color is to create a flat layer - this is saved as a separate channel that I can select any area later on that I want to recolor or change.

Quick first stab at coloring - went with a muted old travel poster look. Used simple tools in Photoshop at this point just Pencil tool and a few gradients on the sky and foreground for a variety.

Next layer of depth in coloring and I begin to alter the lineart into color.

Face detail.

Final colors!

Here's my hand lettering I did on tracing paper... print size with a B pitt pen.

and then scan and drop over the print template.

I color and clean the lettering and then drop on top of the art and adjust as necessary.

This print debuts at Rose City Comic Con, Portland, OR, September 21 and 22.

 I will be at Flesk Publications Booth 733 both Saturday and Sunday.

TD