Usagi Yojimbo Dragon Bellow 3 Cover Process

I was fortunate enough to be asked by IDW and Stan Sakai to do a run of covers on the new Usagi Yojimbo reprints of 'The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy'. I'll be doing six in total, and for this blogpost I'll be sharing my process for the creation of the cover art for issue #3.

This issue is currently up for pre-order through Diamond with the code JUN210503. Just ask your local comic shop to order it for you, or order it though an online retailer. The issue will be in shops Aug 25, 2021

To the left you can see the finished cover, but below I'll go through the steps in creating it.

Reference
For Stan's 1988 cover of this issue, he'd drawn Usagi and Tomoe rushing out of the castle's jail gates and engaging in combat with several opponents. I decided to do very much the same cover idea but from a bit more distance and from a higher angle to show the architecture more.

While I used Nagoya Castle as a reference model for my first Usagi cover in this series, this time I searched the Google Sketchup 3D warehouse for user uploaded models of Japanese castles with gates that looked similar to the interior drawings from the issue. This is Yamato Koriyama castle, and using the 3D model I could rotate it and get my camera angle just right for what I had in mind.

Layout/Pencils
Using the model placed into the cover template, I was able to draw over top a printout of it to get my architectural details the way I wanted them (I was also referencing Stand drawings from the interior pages of this issue).

With the architecture and perspective locked, I drew Usagi and Tomoe on separate sheets of copy paper and pasted them into the drawing in Photoshop. I could resize and rotate them until they were placed to my satisfaction. I did the same with the villains. and then gave everything a quick digital color paint job. Not only does this help me figure out the look, tone, and shape blocking of the piece, it also helps the editor see what my intentions are with little left up to interpretation.

Inks:
When the above layout was approved by the editor and Stan, I started the inks. First step was to print the layout file onto copy paper (over two sheets that had to be taped together at the seam) and tape that to the back of a sheet of Strathmore 300 bristol. On my Huion lightpad I was able to ink the cover art using the printout as my pencils lines. This way in the end the inked artwork is very crisp and clean with no need to erase pencils lines. I used Copic Multiliner SP pens to ink the art (the 0.7 and 0.3 nibs).

Most of the inks on this piece were for the architecture. The characters are very small and the hardest part was inking Tomoe's face and getting the expression correct from my pencils.

Rain Effects:
You may have noticed in my original layout, I included the rain drops hitting the roofs and forming rings in the puddles on the ground. I got the idea from some of Stan's panels from the interior art and just wanted to include that element here to add to the drama and challenge our heroes are facing in this jail break.

To ink the rain I flipped the inked bristol art over and inked the rain effects on the back while looking at the art on a lightpad (I've digitally simulated the look of it on the lightpad here). This way all the rain will register with the inks perfectly, and I can isolate the rain inkwork when coloring on a separate layer.

Color Flats:

The inks were approved and I scanned them in to Photoshop to start the coloring process. This first part of coloring digitally is called 'flatting' and is a professional version of coloring inside the lines. Establishing what each area's color is and where it ends. This not only is a color base for the image, but also allows a quick flat color area to be able to quickly isolate to render or make adjustments on.

The colors were fairly straightforward as I'd done a lot of the color choice making in my layout piece. In this step I only had one color hold (areas where I want the black inkwork to be a color other than black) on Usagi's eye scar. 

Final Colors:

Here again is the finished art (this time sans-logo). To render all of the color I mostly used the Dodge and Burn tools (Photoshop tools based on real photography techniques for purposely over or under exposing film as it develops). Burn is do darken and Dodge is to lighten. I use a stock Photoshop textured brush as I add shadows and highlights with these tools so the work looks a little more organic and less digital.

It's an honor to be asked by Stan to do these covers and to get his approvals as I work through each cover.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy #3 is out in stores August 25th

Mouse Guard Commission: Beetle/Badger Canoe Explorer

During OnlineCon last year and this year, I took on several inked commissions that I'd also plan to color for an upcoming Mouse Guard sketchbook.

To the left you can see one of those pieces finished and colored ready for a page in that sketchbook––and in this blogpost I'll break down the process to get there. This piece belongs to the same fan who commissioned the piece I shared the process of last week with a mouse explorer and his badger companion. And the same species swap happened on this piece too.

Let's start with inspiration. The request was for the same mouse from the last piece canoeing with their spirit animal badger ward. So, I did some google searches for images of people canoeing. I was after photos really, but found several painted pieces used for early/mid 1900's sporting magazines including this piece by Philip R. Goodwin. I liked the composition and figured I could use it even if I placed the figures facing towards us. 

For the canoe reference I did another search and came across a 3D render of a birch bak canoe by Faveral 3D.

My drawing for this piece started with drawing the canoe and then on a lightpad and another sheet of paper overtop the canoe drawing to get the pose and positioning of the mouse and badger correct. Once I had those the way I liked I scanned them each into photoshop and put them together in a square template the right size for the final piece. That way I could resize and reposition this main focus of the piece before worrying about a background. The cross-hair marks are used to help me register the pieces in photoshop so they line up properly. With the figures were I wanted them I drew the landscape over another printout of the characters. Having each of these pencil drawing separate meant I could tint them different colors in Photoshop to help me see where bits of the drawings started and stopped.

I printed out the above layout on copy paper and taped it to the back of a sheet of Strathmore 300 series bristol. On my Huion lightpad I can see through the surface of the bristol down to the printout to use as a guide as I ink. I used Copic Multiliner SP pens (the 0.7 & 0.3 nibs). 

I added a lot of the texture and details of the surrounding landscape as I inked, especially in the fallen logs. With these inks done, the piece was sent off to it's owner.

And like last time, I'd told the commissioner that I'd be replacing the badger for something more Mouse Guard appropriate for my sketchbook version. 

Using a scan of the piece, I drew a replacement for the tiny badger and on a new clean sheet of bristol inked a Rhino Beetle (I also swapped out the Everquest mace handle with something more innocuous. In this image I've digitally superimposed the two inked versions to simulate working on the lightpad over a scan of the original. In addition to inking the beetle, I also needed to ink in any ground cover or canoe where the badger originally was.

In addition to getting the new inked beetle piece scanned an registered properly, I had to mask out the linework of the badger so it didn't show through anywhere––especially in the open white areas where it would be very obvious if I missed cleaning it up.

And here are the finished inks for the piece––well. I thought I was...

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The fan who commissioned the piece reached out to me. They had watched me work on the piece on my Twitch stream, and something seemed off to them––the position of the mouse's grip on the paddle was wrong. It would be nearly impossible to pull a stroke in that arm position and to their eye, the paddle looked like it would have to go through the canoe to reach water.

So, I had them ship back the piece. I did a digital drawing to figure out how to correct it and then used ink and white correction fluid on the piece to get it to look like this digitally corrected version.

Once I had the final clean inks (including my beetle swap), I could start the coloring process for this piece. That first step is called 'flatting' which is basically a professional task of coloring-in-the-lines and establishing what color area each thing in the piece is. The final colors can be altered, but it's good to establish the distinction between the water and the plants or the canoe and the beetle.

I also took this step to establish color holds (an area where I want the black linework to be a color other than black) on the two depths of background, the water,  and a little detail color hold on the canoe's decoration to make it look painted on.


Here are the final colors all rendered and textured. I do most of this work only using two tools in Photoshop: Dodge and Burn. These are tools that date back to when Photoshop was a photo retouching tool and emulate part of the development process to over and under expose areas––ie: make areas darker and lighter. So with a stock textured brush I add shadows and highlights.

This piece will eventually be collected with many more in an upcoming sketchbook I plan to release in early/mid 2022.

Mouse Guard Commission: Beetle/Badger Warder

During OnlineCon last year and this year, I took on several inked commissions. The idea was 1) to make some fans happy (since I rarely offer these types of pieces any more) 2) Earn some income in the heights of the pandemic, and 3) build several pieces of work that I could color for an upcoming Mouse Guard sketchbook. 

To the left you can see one of those pieces finished and colored ready for a page in that sketchbook––and in this blogpost I'll break down the process to get there (including a species swap)

Right off the bat you may notice that the rough is very different from my final. That's because the commissioner requested a mouse with a tiny badger almost like a pet spirit animal. This tied in with their own RPG character. I was totally fine with it, but explained that I would alter the piece digitally for when I published it for a sketchbook. The rough/layout started with two drawings: the mouse (with a requested mace design from Everquest) and the wee badger. I scanned both, tinted them and placed them in a square template before roughly blocking in some digitally painted forest floor foliage.

I printed out the above layout on copy paper and taped it to the back of a sheet of Strathmore 300 series bristol. On my Huion lightpad I can see through the surface of the bristol down to the printout to use as a guide as I ink. I used Copic Multiliner SP pens (the 0.7 & 0.3 nibs). I added a lot of the texture and details of the surrounding landscape as I inked. The bark, leaf veins, sticks, rock texture, all of that was just figured out as I inked it. Those kid of details are like a zen meditation for me and the only worry is that I go too dense with them and lose the overall focus of the piece. With the inks done, the piece was sent off to it's owner. 

But, I was not done with the inks. Using a scan of the piece, I drew a Mouse Guard appropriate replacement for the tiny badger and on a new clean sheet of bristol inked a Rhino Beetle (I also swapped out the Everquest mace with an explorer's axe. In this image I've digitally superimposed the two inked versions to simulate working on the lightpad over a scan of the original.

In addition to inking the beetle, I also needed to ink in any ground cover where the badger was.

Here you can see the final inks for my sketchbook version.

I'd added a few registration marks around the patch piece (noting the mouse's eyes or the point of a leaf or two) to help me after I scanned it to get it back into the correct position. In addition to getting the new inked piece in an registered properly, I had to mask out the linework of the badger so it didn't show through anywhere––especially in the open white areas where it would be very obvious if I missed cleaning it up.

Once I had clean inks, I could start the coloring process for this piece. That first step is called 'flatting' which is basically a professional task of coloring-in-the-lines and establishing what color area each thing in the piece is. The final colors can be altered, but it's good to establish the distinction between the leaves and the twigs or the bark and the beetle.

I also took this step to establish a color hold (an area where I want the black linework to be a color other than black) on the background leaves to help push them back and add a sense of depth.

Here are the final colors all rendered and textured. I do most of this work only using two tools in Photoshop: Dodge and Burn. These are tools that date back to when Photoshop was a photo retouching tool and emulate part of the development process to over and under expose areas––ie: make areas darker and lighter. So with a stock textured brush I add shadows and highlights.

This piece will eventually be collected with many more in an upcoming sketchbook I plan to release in early/mid 2022.

The Komodo Wyvern

Last Friday on my Twitch Stream, we did the sixth community draw-along event #DrawTheExtinct where I posted an image from an old block print I made with a few animal photo inspiration prompts and the idea to create an imaginary extinct animal. I worked on my piece live on my Twitch stream while viewers worked at home and then on Monday we shared our finished pieces. 

Here is my finished Komodo Wyvern. And below are my steps to create it as well as the community submissions.

We started with the prompts of my original linocut print & sketch from a piece titled 'Extinct' as well as a Komodo Dragon, a Crocodile, and a vulture (thrown in to make it interesting and a wyvern instead of a dragon). I named the creature the Komodo Wyvern.

I told the viewers that they could use any combination of the inspiration prompts––they could make their version as cute and cuddly as a pocket pet stray kitten, as monstrous and deadly as a giant kaiju destroying cities, or anything in between. I also wanted this to be an excuse to get their pencils moving. I invited all skill levels, because I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't have to be good at something or pursuing mastery of it to just simply enjoy the act of it...and art is no exception.

On the Friday stream I started drawing with mechanical pencil on a sheet of copy paper to try and reimagine the beast. It went fairly well right off the bat. I looked at a few artists depictions of fantasy wyverns to get the body language right. The image here is after I'd scanned my pencils into Photoshop and made some proportion checks moved the head out a bit and added in a vulture feather ruff.

After I'd locked in my above design, I printed that piece out on copy paper and taped it to the back of a sheet of Strathmore 300 series bristol. Using a lightpad, I was able to see through the surface of the bristol as I inked the Komodo Wyvern. I used a Copic Multiliner 0.7 SP pen to ink the art. I was still streaming this portion on Twitch, though as my end of stream time was coming up, I was nervous I wouldn't finish in time. Turned out, I went a little over-time to get the inks completely finished before I said goodbye to everyone watching and offered encouragement as they worked on their pieces over the weekend. 

Off stream I scanned the inked artwork into Photoshop to prep it for final color. First thing was to drop it into the template I have for #DrawTheExtinct pieces with the border, background, and a base shadow already established. Then I started drawing in flat colors. This part of coloring (called flatting) is just a professional digital version of coloring-in-the-lines to establish the color areas.

My color choices were mostly based on the real animal species I based the creature on––but as is my way, most of my greens are a bit muted and warmer than real-life.

Below you can again see the final rendered corrected colors with a border and type applied. 

But, as this is a community event, I wanted to share all the other entries posted in the Discord. I awarded a prize and we voted together on a few more (prize winners marked with *) on Monday's Twitch stream and we all enjoyed seeing what each other had done. I hope we get even more participants next month (first Friday!)

Captain Nemo

Chris AU_Tiger

Cortrah

Evil Cartoonist*

KFlaggArt*

Nate Pride*

RedJarOJam*

Serarel*

SpacePiratePluto WIP

Tyrie*

VernNYC

Wicked Goblin King

Recent Toned Commissions

 I've nearly finished up all the toned paper commissions from the March 2021 #ONLINECON. In addition to having so many fans be able to get original artwork from me, I made sure to create a piece for each guest (as noted with *) who came on my twitch stream and helped make the event a success. I streamed drawing almost every one of these on my Twitch Stream.

Donatello: A Ninja Turtle*

for Jesse Glenn

Baldwin the Brave Marionette*
For Kevin McTurk

A Guardmouse

A Guardmouse Archer*
for Steve Hamaker

Usagi Yojimbo*

for Stan Sakai

R2D2*

for John Duncan

General Grievous* 

for Robert Barnes

Captain Balsamic*

for Armand Baltazar

Hardin from The Western Deep*

for Alex Kain

Bear from the Big Blue House*

for Noel Macneal

Piper the Listener*

for Meredith Salenger

Berg from Bitter Root*

for Sanford Greene

A Guardmouse*

for the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum

Freckle from Lackadaisy*

for Tracy Butler

Rippley: a Boston Terrier*

for Norman Chan

A Baker Mouse*

for Erin Godbey

The Magical Yet*

for Angela DiTerlizzi

A Mouse Minstrel*

for Very Handsome Billy

 

Kvido from Mae*

for Gene Ha

A Guardmouse & map*

for Serena Malyon

Rook & the Queen*

for Karl Kerschl

Gonzo dressed as Lancelot

The owl from the Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Sprocket from Fraggle Rock

Cerebus the Ardvark

Mocha Money with the Black Axe

Hellboy

Alchemist mouse

TMNT's The Last Ronin

Lockhaven's Apiary Keeper

Sadie: A Guardmouse

Kenzie: A Guardmouse

Delvin: A Guardmouse

A Mouse couple playing Swords & Strongholds

A Guardmouse based on a Jeremy Bastian design

Pet Portrait of a dog that loves to go fishing

Saxon & Kenzie in the woods

Dorothy Gale from Kansas

A fan's OC RPG Guardmouse

A Gundam

E.T.

Michelangelo a Ninja Turtle

A Rat named Sadie reading a scroll

A Mouse Astronomer

Ms. Brisby

Bilbo Baggins

A beachcomber Guardmouse 

A one-armed Guardmouse

Kate Bush dancing

Bastian: A Guardmouse

A Mouse Cartographer

Fettuccini a good pup

a one-eyed cat pirate

A Guardmouse with a shield

Hellboy

A Mouse Surgeon/Barber