Changing Ways » Production Diary

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 9

Randall — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:09:32 +0000

Beauty is in the details.

I love making signage that helps bring a world to life. In this bathroom scene I wanted to show how the world had changed since the outbreak of book 1 but then much of society had forgotten or moved on from those events. Posters for faith or health warnings are slowly being covered over by graffiti as the population becomes more blasé.

So keep an eye out for signage. I like to drop little hints about the story arc into them. Did you notice that the Divine Order of God is still about? hmmmmm interesting.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 8

Randall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:02:17 +0000

Sound effects (SFX) are a big favourite of mine and wherever possible I try to make sure they look part of the artwork. Part of the moment. An addition that doesn’t distract but instead compliments the mood of a frame.

I do this in Photoshop with a hard edge brush (1% Spacing) in whatever colour works best with the scene. The layer mode for this is usually screen or overlay, depending on the desired impact.

Once a page is close to complete and the artwork is flattened, I’ll always keep the SFX on a separate layer so it can be easily moved if it’s placements clashes with any voice bubbles or important art content.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 7

Randall — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:57:25 +0000

This is where all the super awesome magic happens.

Welcome to (one half of) studio ‘Man Cave’.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 6

Randall — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:34:29 +0000

For most of my frames I’ll take photos based on my early layouts in order to mock up a template for the scene. Very rarely is the content of a frame based on a single image. For most frames I’ll take 10-20 photos then use 2-10 of the photos taken to compose a scene.

Here you can see a rather unusual cluster of objects in this cropped sample from a page. The top panel shows the photo mockup comprising of a real motorbike, a toy motorbike and a tree. After that, additional content that needs no photo template is also added (digitally, using a Wacom tablet).

Below that you can see the final image after a couple of hours using Abobe Photoshop.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 5

Randall — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:58:38 +0000

I sketch all pages at a thumbnail size (approx. 50 x 100mm) with a pen or pencil, usually directly onto a printout of the script of that particular page. At such a small scale it’s easier to judge the use of space and how each juxtaposed images feeds into the next. After this I’ll scan the sketch at 300-600 Dpi, import it into Photoshop then resize the sketch to fit a standard comic page template (you can stretch or cut and paste the content as the sketch is merely a guide).

From here I can use layer guides to construct the frames (based on the early sketch), introduce voice bubbles to make sure the dialogue will fit comfortably and then digitally sketch new layout details, notes and content.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 4

Randall — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:26:23 +0000

All my pages are initially produced in black and white. I find this to be much easier when composing a frame as I can concentrate on negative/positive space, eye navigation, composition etc without contrasting hues getting in the way. All scenes are then darkened heavily in Photoshop with two layers of black at a 50% Fill. A layer mask is then added to each of these layers and that’s how I achieve the ‘glow’ effect that people often comment on.

NOTE: If you don’t use Photoshop or don’t understand Layer Masks then think of it this way. I cover the art with 2 layers of shadow. Then with a soft brush I remove areas of this shadow, giving frames an almost torch like glow. This is also why I like to render darker locations as the effect becomes more…effective.

Color control is then added in Photoshop with a combination of Color Balances, Hard light, Soft Light, Hue, Multiply and Overlay layers. Once I achieve the desired combination of light for that page, I can cut and past the colour effect layers into other pages from that same scene.

Finally I’ll add only small areas of colour for narrative purposes. In this sample, it’s used as a device to easily recognise people or entice the reader to focus on particular content. The girl to the right (pink in her hair) or Jessie (feature character on the left) who always wears red. As for the tattoo, this was originally drawn at full size with colour pencil then scanned and imported into the image with a reduced opacity and a Multiply layer mode. This layer mode makes the paper it was drawn on transparent and therefore, visually realistic.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 3

Randall — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:30:29 +0000

I don’t draw with ink. All my pages are hand painted with black ink and water but prior to that, all artwork is pencilled. I use a standard A3 sheet of paper (photocopy paper is partially transparent and good when working from photo montaged templates) which fits a standard comic page quite comfortably. For pencils I’ll only use a .35 mechanical pencil, nothing smaller. I have enough trouble trying to not snap my .35 leads when drawing.

After this, the art is flatbed scanned at 600 dpi and then the brightness and contrast (or levels) are adjusted in Photoshop to enhance the contrast and make the pencil lines more defined. Ill then print this sheet on A3 (I use Quill XL MultiBoard 210gsm) and proceed with painting the line work.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes part 2

Randall — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:01:58 +0000

Just a quick sample. With most of my panels I’ll use a wide format to enhance the cinematic feel and Ill also introduce a short depth of field. This is achieved in Photoshop by duplicating the art layer, applying a 2.1 Gaussian Blur to the duplicated layer and then activating a layer mask for that layer. With a layer mask available you can choose which parts of the blurred image will remain while erased areas will expose the clean art beneath.

Changing Ways book 2 behind the scenes

Randall — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:58:13 +0000

In the next few weeks I’ll be posting production sneak peeks of Changing Ways Book 2. I’ll be uploading insights into my techniques, studio space, frame samples, story arc hints etc so stay tuned as I’ll upload 1 image per day for the next 25 days.

So lets kick this off with a simple desktop screenshot that shows some technique process for book 2 and a hint at some of my recent research.

- kickass.

Changing Ways behind the scenes desktop

Book 2 Cover Art Unveiled

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:36:04 +0000

As Changing Ways: Book 2 is nearing completion, Justin Randall unveils the cover art for the continuing saga of the Barrot family.