DAYS MISSING: KESTUS #1 (of 5)
Retail Price: $3.95 U.S.
Page Count: 32 pages
Format: saddle bound, 6.625” x 10.25”, full color
Written by Phil Hester
Illustrated by David Marquez
Cover by Alex Ross

Archaia and Roddenberry Productions are proud to present the thrilling sequel to the critically acclaimed series DAYS MISSING. DAYS MISSING: KESTUS continues the saga of The Steward, a mysterious being whose ability to “fold” days of time has resulted in critical human events being absent from our historical record. Their existence is not remembered…but the occurrences of these days have forever changed the course of our evolution.

Since humanity’s birth, The Steward has stood as a guiding force for our species. But now, he is not alone! The emergence of the ancient being, Kestus, may put everything he knows in question, and the future of those he means to protect in jeopardy.

T +13 (Contains material suitable for teen readers age 13 and above)

Some details about the upcoming graphic novel, SYNDROME:

SYNDROME, the debut original graphic novel by writers Daniel Quantz & R.J. Ryan with stunning artwork by animator-turned-illustrator David Marquez, tells an unpredictable, deeply emotional story of the epic lengths science can go to heal the world’s ills. Steeped in chilling horror and suspense and brought to life with breathtaking, cinematic visuals, SYNDROME is a singular and convention-defying work.

When a rogue neuropathologist makes a startling breakthrough — literally isolating the root of all evil in the recesses of the human brain — he’ll stop at nothing to advance his theory. With the help of a naive Hollywood actress, a tormented motion picture production designer, and a condemned serial killer, Dr. Wolfe Brunswick launches a bold experiment in the Nevada desert, the outcome of which could transform humanity forever.

SYNDROME  will be released as a 100 pg oversized hardcover this summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego through Archaia Entertainment and Fantasy Prone.

So, I just got back from this weekend’s Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) where the fellas at Archaia announced the book I’ve been working on the past 6-8 months:  SYNDROME!  I’ll be revamping the website over the next few days to better showcase that project, but for the time being, here’s some awesome press we got over the weekend:

First, a video interview by Sara Lima over at Comic Vine with the writers of Syndrome, RJ Ryan and Dan Quantz (both great guys) and myself:

http://www.comicvine.com/archaia-studios-press/57-1971/c2e2-2010-creators-of-syndrome/92-539428/

A couple ComicBookResources articles, the first is an interview with the writers:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25805

this second is coverage of the Archaia panel where the announcement took place:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25836

And finally more coverage of the Archaia panel over at Newsarama:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/c2e2-archaia-100419.html

and specifically regarding SYNDROME:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/c2e2-archaia-syndrome-interview-100421.html

Very closely related to the earlier post on Process, I’m also obsessed with how-to books.  Like many comic artists, I have a little bookshelf full of these tomes, including my pride and joy, an original hardcover printing of Andrew Loomis’s Creative Illustration (12 bucks at a half-price books here in Austin – they had NO idea what they were selling…).  By far, Loomis’ books have been the some of the most enlightening instructional texts I’ve ever come across despite the fact that they’re over 50 years old.  They are, unfortunately, out of print and there seem to be no plans to change that.

Over the years there have been various places online that have hosted digital scans of Loomis’s books, and I’ve made the effort to acquire PDF copies of each.  I’ll spend the occasional weekend afternoon going back through these books, and every time I find something new to incorporate into my work.

I recently came across these AWESOME resources, where all of his books (and many more, including George Bridgman) are collected for easy download:

http://gekos.no/art/index.php/component/option,com_idoblog/Itemid,60/id,68/task,viewpost/

http://alexhays.com/loomis/

http://webshop.gekoss.com/

Dive in and enjoy!

I’ve been drawing for so long that I have no doubt my knowledge of style, technique, etc biases my opinion.  I mentally critique every piece of comic art I see – trying to learn from those that I really connect with, and try to figure out what “went wrong” in those I don’t.  (There’s a really fine line between art that, on the one one hand, I don’t like because it looks “flawed”, and on the other hand,  stylistic choices that are “technically” correct, but that I nonetheless find unappealing.  I don’t know if that’s an artist-specific experience or not – I’ll have to think about that and post later).

One conclusion I’ve reached is that the whole art team has to be working together to make the final piece work. It may sound like a fairly obvious statement, but it’s an important point.  The comic world is replete with great pencillers’ work being ruined by bad inking (sometimes their own) or bad colors.  And there are an equal number of situations where a great inker or colorist has saved a bad penciller.  Choose your permutation. Just look through your own books and I’m sure you’ll come across it somewhere, and I won’t waste the effort mud-slinging here.

Instead, here’s one great case of where it all works:

(image from Mike Choi’s blog: http://mikechoirants.blogspot.com/)

The Mike Choi/Sonia Oback team you see here is a great example of where it all clicks (what’s more, they’re a couple).  Choi is an accomplished penciller in his own right (clean, technical, not lazy at all with backgrounds or props, lots of good stuff), but when you see Oback’s colors, there can be no denial that her contribution is HUGE!  (Often, I think she doesn’t get nearly the credit she deserves for their shared work.)  The pencilled image is great:  clean lines, solid anatomy, detailed, but it is a bit static, dry, vanilla.  Compare that to the colored version.  The whole mood has changed, there’s emotion and mystery and danger all over it.  Textures pop – metal weighs heavy like metal, you  feel the slickness of Domino’s suit, and the brick and blood in the background are amazing. Choi’s solid anatomy is given firmness and volume. Beautiful.  On their own, the pencils may feel a bit empty – but they are IDEALLY suited as a canvas for the style of coloring Oback brings to the table.  A great team making for a great visual appeal.

]]> http://davidmarquez.com/http:/davidmarquez.com/how-important-is-a-good-colorist/feed 0 http://davidmarquez.com/http:/davidmarquez.com/process http://davidmarquez.com/http:/davidmarquez.com/process#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:47:14 +0000 davidmarquez http://davidmarquez.com/?p=123 I’m obsessed with process.  I’ll spend HOURS on twitter or google reading through various artists’ thoughts on art.  Sketches, videos, words, it’s all good.  I’ve  gradually shifted more and more into the digital realm for my own art making, to the point that now I really only do really quick thumbnails with paper and pencil, doing all the real layouts and final inked drawings in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet ( a nice big 9×12″ Intuos3 from my days working on A Scanner Darkly).

There’s a pretty lively debate/discussion about traditional vs digital tools and comics (especially for inking).  There are those that swear by the tried-and-true methods of crowquills, sable brushes, tech pens, etc.  The argument sometimes goes something along the lines of …”if it worked so well for all the artists you loved as a kid, it should be good enough for you.” It’s a pretty flawed argument. Don’t get me wrong – I have a GREAT amount of respect for people who use traditional media, but not because it is inherently superior to digital.  (There is *one* HUGE benefit, but I’ll get to that).  If our forebears had access to modern technology and tools, I can promise you that at least a few would have adopted them over their traditional counterparts.  Tools are tools.

For several years I made a concerted effort to learn the tools of the trade – first with rapidographs (technical drafting pens), but eventually favoring brush and ink.  For my style, perhaps crowquill would have been more appropriate, but I could never really wrap my head around them, and the brush (as long as I had JUST the right brush) really seemed to do everything I wanted.  One day I decided to ink a sketch in photoshop using a Wacom I hadn’t touched in quite a while, and found that not only could I (with a little tinkering with the brush presets) get really nice lines, similar to a brush or crowquill, but I had  ALOT more control.  If I didn’t like a line, I could redraw it with no fuss – something that many traditionalists correctly argue is a mixed blessing.

Arguably the greatest benefit of digital tools is the greater versatility of the toolset. There are a few things I haven’t yet found a good digital equivalent for (e.g. a true ink-splatter tool, or  a french curve set or straightedge ) – but these are greatly outweighed, in my view, by what you gain access to.

For perspective, you are no longer limited by the size of your drawing desk  for laying out vanishing points, or having to measure out increments on the sides of your page to layout out a correct grid.  Using something like Freddie Williams’ perspective paths (http://freddieart.com/QuickTools/), perspective becomes FUN! (Seriously! Try it!).  Also, with other programs like DAZ3d or Sketchup, you can set up amazing reference models and essentially lightbox them by inserting a screengrab of your model as a layer in the drawing.

The list goes on and on, and I’d recommend anyone who’s interested to check out Freddie Williams’ DC Guide to Drawing Comics Digitally.  It’s a great starting place for those interested in trying digital tools, but I’d also comment that there are lots of *free* resources online, if you have the time and patience to seek them out, and Williams’ book lays out *his* processes, not *the only* processes, a point he himself makes.  Again, digitial tools (hell, ALL tools) are to be used however best suits the artist.

Drawbacks?  Yeah.

While a digital workflow *can* be faster, the freedom to draw and redraw definitely can (and does) slow things down.  Traditional inking tools force you to make the right line the first time, or at least punish you if you don’t.  It’s good training, but I think that with discipline, you can become equally efficient using a digital toolset.

Perhaps more importantly – computers are expensive.  Assuming, however, that you have a computer that’s relatively new (say, the last 4 years or so), with a couple hundred bucks to spare, you can fairly easily get a beginner’s rig going.  Perhaps sometime I’ll post on that topic specifically.

The most tangible drawback, other than the monetary barrier to entry, is the lack of physical original art.  This is, to me, the most convincing argument for using traditional tools.  That said, while there is definitely a collector’s market for the big-name artists, I tend to see ALOT of unsold original art, even for them.  If you absolutely HAVE to have your original art – for your own purposes, or for sale, then yes, traditional methods are probably for you.

For myself, I prefer the freedom granted by the digital toolset – more versatile tools allow me to create better art.  I do NOT believe that digital tools make me a better artist.  But quite frankly, neither to traditional tools. Tools are just tools. It’s up to the artist to make something of them.

Didn’t really mean to ramble on like that, but those’re a few ideas that’ve been stewing in my head for a long time.  Here’s a little taste of my digital layouts, then the inked version.

Digital Layout

Digital Inks

For anyone else jonesing for some Process, check out Kevin Nowlan’s AMAZING blog:  http://kevinnowlan.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!