My plans for getting down to drawing some samples have largely gone out the window this week, continuing today with a phone call getting me out of bed (well, it WAS nearly 10.00 but in my defence, back to the workhouse tomorrow so though I'd rest up a bit) and hijacking me away to a family thing today.
After two aborted attempts at a Spidey strip (spliced together above, so you can see how far I got with each attempt before I knew the mojo wasn't working), I started getting stressed as every scenario I could think of was a pain in the arse to draw. Then: inspiration!
Rol had written a short Spidey strip that we were going to submit to Spider-Man Unlimited a few years back but I was only on the second (but final sequentially) page when the news came that the series had been cancelled, and then I got back onto the Jock. However, I realised I still had Rol's script and reference and it's a handy-dandy ready made guide for some samples! I dug it out, reread the whole thing and laid out a few pages in thumbnail form. I'm going to use these to ease myself into the strip (Spidey's contortions make him a hard character to draw well, at least for me!), starting with an easy domestic scene before cutting into the superheroics.
If this were to be printed now, Rol'd need to do a slight script polish due to the MJ references, but otherwise it still stands up as fine as ever. The only thing I may do is slightly change some of the actions as the villain, who uses cobbled together bits of old supervillain equipment, will be awkward to position, mainly due to his Vulturion wings.
Hopefully this will work and get me going again this week...I want to do these samples, some clear line work and ink some more Jock pages all before this year's Birmingham convention hopefully, just to see if it's still worth a shot at the publishers or if I should only consider self publishing.
If I manage to get #2 finished and #1 retouched, might even be able to get some sort of Jock-related package to take to the con (though I'd need to speak to Mr Hirst first!!).
But we all know about the best laid plans...what IS a swanee anyway?
3 comments:
You should really close your windows, so things don't keep going out of them.
Haven't you already done some of the Rol Spidey strip? Remember seeing a page or two. Considering your fondness for drawing buildings and cars, that first panel of the bank is terrific in an insanely detailed way.
Isn't swanee a river bank? Like up the creek...
I have indeed done some pages already for this...I completed one and think I was on the second one when the comic was cancelled.
I managed to get a panel done today and another strted---would have got more done except I had problems with BT again, as my password wasn't being accepted. They couldn't explain and I spent much time arsing around with various browser functions and they had to reset my password twice to sort it, gits...at least I'm starting a page though...
That first panel in the page shown here looks alot better reduced and the second panel is ok but not scene setting really. And the face on the third panel just went wrong...the bodyshot is actually ok but not as dramatic as I wanted so I gave up the ghost...
I'm not sure if it was the cancellation that put me off that Spidey strip (as the Unlimited format was soon after revived as Spider-Man Family), more the fact that the plot was very similar to another Spidey story that was published towards the latter end of Spidey Unlimited.
I wrote another short Spidey submission script last year, but it's hopelessly out of date now, hinging on Aunt May (and Doc Ock and the Avengers) knowing Peter's identity.
Still, it'll be great to see that strip you're working on completed - hope it comes together.
As to the Jock stuff, feel free to put together whatever you want to take along to the con.
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