Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat & Kid #5

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 short story issues that will be collectively called 'Lone Goat and Kid'. I've done six in total, and for this blogpost I'll be sharing my process for the creation of the cover art for issue #5.

This issue is currently up for pre-order through Diamond with the code MAR220513. Just ask your local comic shop to order it for you, or order it though an online retailer. The issue will be in shops May 25, 2022.

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

Layout/Pencils:

In this issue, Usagi meets an old general who is now magistrate of a little town. The one great hero feels that he has been reduced to managing townsfolk after his illustrious deeds are behind him. He and Usagi walk through the town talking about service before what is to be the big (and somewhat surprising) climax to the issue. I wanted to show the quiet moment of the general walking heavy hearted through the busy town. For the kanji I had a friend help me translate 'eggs', 'fish', 'rice', 'fruit' and 'tea' to advertise for a merchant in the market.

I also decided to have one of the townsfolk be a mouse.

Inks:

When the 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).

This cover was so busy that everything felt like it took forever to ink even though there were no particularly difficult areas. The main worry was maintaining push  from foreground to the far distance without flattening the depth of focus.

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. Most of the color choices had been made in the layout stage, but I made lots of changes to the townsfolk and building elements so that none of them blended in to another. In this step I also established several 'depths' of color holds (areas where I want the lineart to be a color other than black) to help sell the distance of the street as well as the kanji on the flags.

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.

Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat & Kid #5 is out in stores May 25, 2022.