Perspective is a Harsh Mistress

(Apologies for cross-posting this everywhere, I just don't know where people see my work, so I put it everywhere, and today I have a ton to do, so I'm even copying and pasting the text.)

The advantage to re-drawing about half of the Factor of 01 to be consistent in print format means I get to completely rework things I have not been entirely happy with. Originally the first panel, while it worked, wasn't entirely what I wanted. This is closer, and while I don't think I've got the handle on 3 point perspective that it demands, I think it's good enough to serve the purpose.

I also won't be replacing this on the web site until the next strip is redrawn. I've completely changed the beat of the action. That's the worst part of the original artwork. I really do not like staging fight scenes in my comics, so I do it badly. In the first Jet-Pack Jenny comic, there's actually two strips that were all black as a cop-out, albeit done on a dare. That second panel is also the second part of my lesson in how harsh a mistress perspective can be. Never ever say you can fix perspective in Photoshop, it will still not look 100% right.

AlphaBeasts - Q is for Queen Alien

Decided to go the quick & easy route for this magnificent beast! One of the greatest movie villains of all time...ol' Queenie herself. Did the sketch over lunch and then photoshopped the bejeebus out of it to make these playing cards. Hope you dig 'em!

The original art is on the left, then photoshopped variants follow...

AlphaBeasts - Lord of the Rings edition

N is for Nazgûl - #AlphaBeasts
I did this last night thinking I still had "N" to do...I completely forgot about Nian...d'oh! Ah well, I like this one better (even though I don't like it very much either).

This is from the Lord of the Rings...another name for the Ringwraiths that chase lil' Frodo all over Middle Earth.





















O is for Orc - #AlphaBeasts

Another Lord of the Rings creature...this one of the Moria variety. Photo referenced from a Maquette by Jamie Beswarick in the Art of the LOTR book.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Moria_Orcs

Wonder Woman

I did this drawing of Wonder Woman in my spare time, just so I could work on that costume. I don’t hate it as much now, but I still feel like it’s more complicated than it needs to be.

The trickiest part of this for me was retaining her femininity, but weird things happen to your drawing style when you watch a two day marathon of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The shape of the face was reworked, but thankfully, she has black hair, making it an easy fix.

The hands were the trickier part. Knowing that the face still retained some masculine properties, I didn't want to give her man hands. I referenced the hands, and in the process, moved her left hand (her left, not yours)three times to get the placement where I wanted it and where it worked anatomically.

Ghost Rider

Here's a drawing of Ghost Rider that I started when I saw a neat little drawing Rico did in his sketchbook. I'd spent almost all night fighting with various drawings, including a Scarlet Witch that started off with such promise, and a Jocasta that got ruined in trying to render reflections.

Small Press Creators: Latour, Brunner, Renzi

Small press or no, Loose Ends is a testament to just how good comics can be. Latour, Brunner, and Renzi all manage to speak their own creative voices without creating a bunch of noise. As a result, there is nothing conventional, cliche, or phoned in about this book. So, if you haven't already, pick up Loose Ends, support small press creators and support good comics.

Jean Grey

Another Dave Cockrum-designed costume, this timeJean Grey of the X-Men. I did take liberties enlarging the phoenix logo to her later Dark-Phoenix style, but dang it, It works better. I had thought about putting stars in the black area, but if I have my physics right, with all the flaming effect, there'd be no stars visible near it, much like you can't look up at a streetlight and see stars really close to it.