Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Jack Redd is an English based artist who has been doing some amazing superhero pin-ups. He took the time out to have a chat with me in regards to his work and allowed me to showcase one of his pieces.

What originally got you into comics?

I originally got into art through comics, I mean like most kids I drew all types of things growing up, but it was comic-books that made me actually start to appreciate the craft of creating art. I am based in England and I grew up in a very small town and comics just weren’t really stocked, so I had to make do with the odd summer special reprint that would turn up in one of the smaller newsagents. It was the X-Men that I really loved, the characters, the stories, the art, the sexy ladies. :)

Haha . . I think Jim Lee’s X-Men helped in that respect. I still loved the way he drew Psylocke. When did you start working?

I started working professionally as an artist when I was 13, designing costumes for some local professional wrestlers. I remember some of them got on a pretty big tour round the UK and I was supposed to go see them, but I ended up getting pretty ill and couldn’t make it. Afterwards one of the guys turned up with this poster that had been signed with get well messages from all the wrestlers on the tour – the highlight being The British Bulldog – Davey Boy Smith. I was so proud!

After college I started to move away from comic art and more into pin-up and portrait art – but regardless of what form – I have always been working as an artist in some form. it was actually only earlier this year that I got commissioned to do some comic-book characters and once I started I couldn’t stop myself. It’s giving me a chance to play with all these new techniques and styles and is getting a pretty good reaction so far.

That’s cool. I’m a big wrestling fan too (it’s a guilty pleasure) and I remember British Bulldog! I’ve seen some of your commissions and they are amazing! Love your showcase piece. Can you tell me a little more about it?

This piece is called A Dark Night and was my tribute to Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker as well as being a real fun piece. The full size of it is is 16 1/2″ tall and 35 1/4″ wide as it’s made up of 3 separate bristol boards. It’s done in pencil and inks. The main concept of it was to have Ledger’s Joker surrounded by the comic book versions of the other Batman family characters. The women all over him and the guys not too happy about it!

I tried to add little details in the piece, such as the interplay between all the characters, like the way the Joker grips Ivy’s hair and in return her vines crawl up his leg, or Catwoman playfully tugging at his tie, but with her claws out and ready – all the while the Joker is ready to stab her in the back! They don’t play nice and that’s the way they like it!!

I liked how the final piece turned out! I think Ledger’s performance is probably the scariest portrayal of the Joker. Thanks for your time and I wish you all the best.

For any commission details or enquiries, please feel free to email him on jack [at] reddlife.com or visit his website at :
http://www.reddlife.com

Following on from Green Tea Latte and Green Tea Cappucino, here’s a very delicious Green Tea Ice-cream with Azuki (Red Bean) and cornflakes for the extra crunch. Mmmm . . cornflakes . . .

Another photo from Alan L, I like the composition of the seagull focused in the foreground with the Opera House blurred in the background.

Back in August I enrolled in a new drawing course and picked up the required equipment last Thursday. The course was different to what I expected but it was really good fun, with the two hours flying by in an instant. It was a small course of ten people run by artist Karl Mattas.

The first technique he taught was to follow contours. Following the lines of the body with the eye rather than looking at the page. While the image drawn would not be in proportion, he mentioned you will be able to pick up details you would usually miss. My first attempt (left) viewing a standing model at a slight angle, followed by the model turning around (right). I tried to follow the contour of the hand in the second drawing.

There was more time given to the next image (below left) where the model was sitting. The proportion was a little skewed with some of the lines intersecting. It was difficult to follow the hair using the contours. The final image (below right) was the most difficult of all. Drawing the model without looking at the page. It sounds much easier than it is especially when there is a natural tendency to check your work.

Overall it was an interesting experience and a chance to use Willow Charcoal for the first time. It’s given me a different feel to drawing as I’ve been following the various drawing books up till now. Working with a live model and a teacher opens up a new perspective. Can’t wait for week 2!

Michael Bridges does some of the most incredible paintings with a focus on superheroes. More of his samples can be found in his site Superhero Portraits. If interested in purchasing any of Michael’s work you can check out his eBay Auctions. I was fortunate enough to ask Michael a few questions in relation to his work.

So Michael, tell me a little about yourself.

I first showed an interest in art as a child at about the age 4 or 5. I became interested comics in Junior High School, which is now called Middle School (which dates me) and is also the time I started drawing them. In high School I was introduced to the art of Salvador Dali and surrealism that’s when I switched from comic book drawing to surreal painting.

What got you to move from surreal painting into comic book art?

I had been doing surreal art for some years and had become pretty good at making my paintings look realistic. I had always loved comics and had thought of trying my hand at maybe trying to do realistic comic book character paintings especially when Alex Ross came on the scene. When I started selling my art on eBay I noticed that comic book art was selling very well so I decided to give the realistic comic book character painting a try and it worked out pretty good for me.

Alex Ross is probably the most definitive comic painter of our times. He was able to move comics away from the cartoony. Is that how you would describe your work?

You can describe my art as fine art and comic book art.

Besides Alex Ross, whose art do you admire?

Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio and my all time favorite is Jim Steranko who I don’t think get any credit for the influence he had on comics.

Thanks for your time and sharing the your She-Hulk image.
She-Hulk is probably one of the more difficult characters as she has to be both sexy yet muscular at the same time. The muscle tone of the character and lighting of the piece is fantastic!

The new drawing course starts next Monday. I did a little shopping Thursday night and I’m ready with all the supplies. This will be the first time I will be experimenting with willow charcoal. It’s all very exciting for me! Will be posting up some of my work when I start the course.

I was shopping recently and walked past Famous Amos (a cookie franchise). Anyway I took a double take when I realised who the staff at this particular shop had used for their mascot. Could this be the dream job for Cookie Monster?

After having a quick chat with their mascot, I ordered a nice hot latte with some Famous Amos cookies. Mmmm . . choc chip and macadamia nut cookie. Cookies recommended by the Cookie Monster.

Tim Tyler is the inker and artist on several independent titles including Faust, Razor and the newly released Engine (full review of Engine coming soon!). Engine #1 is available now in Diamond Previews so hassle your local comic book store to order in a copy if you like his work.

I had the opportunity to look through a lot of his work but my favorite piece was this Invisible Woman commission that he did.  It has an interesting retro feel. Nice image especially the blurring effect where she turns “invisible”.

Tim was also nice enough to spend some time to answer a few questions for me. So Tim . . what got you into comics?

I have always loved comics, ever since I was a small child. I discovered the works of Jack Kirby, John Romita, Gil Kane and others, through Marvel’s reprint books in the 70’s. Kirby always stuck out in my mind, for his power and dramatic panel pacing. I have always loved film as well. Comics is basically film on paper, so maybe it is the fusion of the two that interests me.

I agree with that too! Comics and movies are similar but have one major difference. I can’t remember who coined the term “in between the panels” but a great comic tells more in the white space between panels by leaving it to the reader’s imagination while in film the director tends to show the entire scene. Anyway, who would you consider are your biggest influences?

The work of Kirby is one of my great loves. I also like Buscema, Kane, Trimpe, Ditko, Grell, Perez, Wrightson, classic Frank Miller, Classic Byrne, Cockrum, Ploog, Alan Davis, R. Crumb, Jim Lee (for the most part), Joe Maudriera, and probably lots of others. Timothy Truman had a great affect on me, when I was a teenager. We spoke alot, and he helped me through a bad time in my life….going as far as to helping me get into the Joe Kubert School of art in the early 80’s, where I attended for a year. Looking back on it, I should have stayed the complete 3 years, but I was young and stupid at the time. Independent comic work began to come and my desire to jump in and get to it, was stronger than my reasoning power to stay and learn the craft better.

My early Independent work, which began in 1986 with “Pyramid Comics” had a lot of heart, but the groundwork wasn’t quite there yet. I spent the rest of the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s basically learning in the trenches. Looking back, I regret it, but also know it was a time in my life where the ideas were flowing freely. In a way, I felt I had to get them out of my system, and unto paper.

Even the one year at Joe Kubert school would have been amazing! By the way I’ve seen your comic writing and pencilling work on Engine. How would you describe your style?

My style nowadays is a mix of a few different things. Kirby’s dynamics and underlying feelings, Japanese anime action and detail, dark shadows and very detailed textures. I think I have just as much fun drawing rubble, or bark on a thousand year old tree, as I do illustrating people. I think of the background and environment in a page, as being a character in itself.

I try to pace panels like I would, if I were making or watching a film. In my mind, that is what I am doing. Simply replaying a film I created , in my mind, and transfering its visuals to paper.

My pencils tend to be extremely loose. Over the years, I have developed my inking to a degree, where I can put down a basic pencil image, then put most of the details in, during the inking process. I will do tighter pencils when asked, usually when I do commission work.

Appreciate you spending share some information about yourself. All the best with your graphic novel Engine and future endeavours.

From my previous post, Heroes is one of my weekly must watch shows. Two of the Heroes’ cast member were in Sydney earlier this year to promote the release of Heroes – Season 2 DVD. I was unable to attend but fellow blogger Arthur Lee was able to take some photos in this post.

Would have really like to gotten an autograph from Masi Oka (Hiro) as he’s one of my favourite characters in the series. However, I’m able to share one of Arthur’s photos of his encounter with Masi. (Special thanks to Arthur for letting me post your photo on this site!)

Arthur’s Website :
http://thestixx.blogspot.com

Arthur’s Photography Site :
http://www.arthurlee.info

I’ve had a few visitors outside of Australia who visit this site. I thought I’d share a picture of Sydney taken from the Harbour Bridge taken by amateur photographer Alan L. What I really like about this photo is the vanishing point effect.

Additional Information :
You can walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and it affords you the most magnificent views. If you have a little extra cash to spend, you can climb on top of the bridge where the views are even more magnificent! Unfortunately you’re not allowed to bring your own camera to the top.