Star Wars #20 Cover "Sandtrooper" Step by Step

Here's a look at how we made the Sandtroopers Variant for the Mile High Comics Star Wars #20 cover.

The cover concepts I sent into Marvel Comics Editors Heather Antos and Jordan White and Lucasfilm for approval.

Roughs were drawn at 2" x 3" in my sketchbook using Warm Grey Copics then colored in Photoshop CS3.

I've alway loved these guys in Star Wars so it was a real treat to draw a cover with them!

PENCILS

Worked really fast on this one...

Wasn't happy with the gun going off screen but I really wanted it to be the big gun the main trooper carries and it is REALLY long...

so, I made it work!

Drawn in Light Blue and HB lead on 12" x 18" Bristol Board .

INKS

I adjusted the height of the thigh pads digitally...

Rachel Dosdson inks over my pencils with a Windsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable #2 Brush and Higgins Black Magic Ink.

FLATS

The first stage of color is called flats - flatting allows me to choose an area to color at any point throughout the coloring process.

Not much mystery what I was going to do here so quick stage...

COLOR

Initial color rough in - using the main light source and the reflective source to form the trooper...

I colored this on my Cintiq 22 HD using Photoshop CS3 .

Starting to add detail to backgrounds....

Used a custom "cloud" brush for the clouds...

Adding darker values to Trooper to really establish him in space.

Also started rendering the shoulder pad and adding a secondary light value to the white areas.

Began converting line art to colors...

which is really effective on the suns and the detail on the white armor...

All polished and ready for show....

almost, something missing...

Dirt!

Used my custom "cloud" brush to add the dirt...

FINAL 

And the printed cover...

Very happy with how this turned out. 

It's interesting with a lot of my work now, I know how it looks in color in my head so sometimes the line art isn't really impressive because I leave things for the color stage...

Working on a series of these - so another one next month!

TD

From Harley Quinn #1 to Harley Quinn #1

My latest cover had me do an homage to my Harley Quinn #1 cover 

Rachel Dodson inks, Alex Sinclair colors and me pencils.

for the new Harley Quinn #1 cover.

Rachel Dodson inks, colors and pencils by me.

From DC Comics and Midtown Comics!

I will be doing a full step by step for this.

TD

Sketching Horses

Sketching standing up today using the Nomad Satchel.

Model - "Rou"

Col Erase Scarlet Red Pencil

Copic Warm Grey Markers

Bee Paper Sketchbook

TD

Batman Rebirth #1 Step by Step Part 4 Colors 2

Our cover art for Midtown Comics Batman Rebirth #1 - a full color and black and version are available here-

LINKY

And here's Part 4 of the Step by Step of how we made the art!

Colors 2

On to the next level of rendering and smoothing.

Nailing the rendering on Selena's face... 

Working on the jewels, goggles...

And see all the layers I'm using here as I add little gradients to smooth out things - which when satisfied I merge...

Now time to convert line art to color...

Skin tones, rim lights, jewels...

This is the fun polishing part of the art.

Sharp eyed viewers will notice the inclusion of Darwyn in the BG. Rachel finished inking this on the 14th of May - the day that Darwyn Cooke was announced to have cancer. I started coloring the cover that same day and continued to work on it Saturday, the 15th of May, when Darwyn passed...

Shocking stuff!

For numerous reasons, it just felt right to include his name on this.

The finished art

All the final line art conversions, glows on signs and gems and final highlights!

Details

So, Pinky...

On the morning of May 14th when Rachel was still wrapping the inks- we took our cat, Pinky, back into the vet, for blood tests and x-ray at 8:00 am as she had not been week that week.

At 10:30 am, we received a call that Pinky had an inoperable tumor on her liver that had been the cause of all the problems that she had been suffering for months and culminated that week.

So needless to say it was a difficult day or two wrapping up this cover but it was great to get her memorialized on this cover as a thanks for being such a good pal!

Our studio has felt much smaller without her in it...

PINKY 

2002-2016

See the Pencil version here

PART ONE

and Inks here

PART TWO

Colors 1

PART THREE

TD

Superman Batman Supergirl Batgirl Midtown Comics Original Art and Cover

We did the art for these two covers and here is the original art framed up with covers themselves AT Midtown Comics Headquarters!

See the complete making of the covers

HERE

TD

RED ONE #3 Pre Order NOW!

RED ONE #3 Pre Order NOW!

September 7, 2016

RED ONE returns in “UNDERCOVER”, Part 1!

After a terrible fight, Soviet Agent Vera Yelnikov has managed to defeat the Carpenter, leaving him for dead at the bottom of the sea. Rid of this enemy, the Kremlin Elite Agent can now carry out her mission of becoming the new darling of America - as the superhero, RED ONE. But the young woman has another project in mind: in her undercover role as assistant to Director Lew Garner, to help make the film The Farm X! Brought to you by TERRY and RACHEL DODSON (STAR WARS: PRINCESS LEIA, UNCANNY X-MEN, WONDER WOMAN, HARLEY QUINN) and XAVIER DORISON (LONG JOHN SILVER, THE UNDERTAKER).

Contact your local retailer to have them PRE ORDER - RED ONE #3

Comic Shop Locator

Diamond Distributor Order Code for September 2016

JUL160715

From 

IMAGE COMICS

and 

RED ONE SITE

And how to Pre-Order a Comic by Kieron Gillen (thanks!)

HOW TO PREORDER A COMIC BY KIERON GILLEN

Check out Kieron's and Jamie McKelvies brilliant Wicked and Divine HERE

Batman Rebirth #1 Step by Step Part 3 Colors 1

Our cover art for Midtown Comics Batman Rebirth #1 - a full color and black and version are available here-

LINKY

And here's Part 3 of the Step by Step of how we made the art!

Colors 1

FLATS

The first stage of color is called flats - flatting allows me to choose an area to color at any point throughout the coloring process.

Generally, I hire someone to do this for me - a "flatter". This one I flatted myself as I needed to get rolling!

INITIAL COLORS

I colored this on my Cintiq 22 HD using Photoshop CS3 after I scanned the original line art.

Detail

Used a big Pencil to rough in at 100% of color then used lower % to work to add lighter and darker values. 

 I used the Gradient tool to hit all the big elements of the flat background.

Next level of rendering on Catwoman.

Here you can see I have two extra Layers above for the Big BAT shadow and for rendering on Catwoman.

Detail

 Next time the final COLORS and 

A LOT about the day we made this cover and who PINKY is!

See the Pencil version here

PART ONE

and Inks here

PART TWO

Next time

PART FOUR

TD

Look sir, droids!

Sandtroopers for my Mile High Comics Star Wars #20 cover.

Pencils and colors by me and inks by Rachel Dodson.

Step by Step coming soon!

TD