A rare art post for me. I'll probably think the better of this and take it down or friends-lock it tomorrow.
Still:
Pencils for the first 2 pages of MCBLACK #3:


Yes, those are supposed to look like fake boobs, and yes, I cheated on the last panel--fifty redraws, and a tracing of a blueline of a tracing, that's about where I'm gonna leave it.
22 pages left to go; I hope I live long enough.
-- JF

2008-09-11 01:08 pm (UTC)
Wowzers.
2008-09-11 01:14 pm (UTC)
Yeah, fiddy pages. I have 24--the first issue--inked and lettered, but I redrew six or seven panels from it and I need the inks for those in before I can say that it's complete.
I want to be finished penciling by the end of the year, but it's gonna take a miracle. Least I'm improving--I can't pull off a lot of the stuff I've written, but ore and more often I produce a drawing or two that looks cool.
-- JF
2008-09-11 02:59 pm (UTC)
It still looks odd to me in the first panel.
My only comment re: the first page is that McBlack doesn't seem to be reaching for the phone, judging from where it was shown in panel one. Oh, and I love that he has a half-dead plant.
Also, on page two, you have clearly put the driver on the wrong side of the car.
2008-09-11 11:54 pm (UTC)
The convertible int he first panel is based on a different model Corvette than the one I used in the last; a more modern one... but it looks right to me. Any idea what bothers you?
Correct, he doesn't look like he's reaching for the phone... it's a gag. (In the narration he talks about choosing your weapon, he reaches out--and picks up the phone.)
I used to have a half dead plant just like that.
Funny how a right-hand-drive vehicle is much more convenient for comics storytelling than the kind you North Amerikanos drive.
-- JF
2008-09-12 12:17 am (UTC)
2008-09-12 12:39 am (UTC)
Like I said, different reference models...
Maybe it's a Transformer?
Bugger. More fixy...
-- JF
2008-09-11 03:11 pm (UTC)
2008-09-11 11:54 pm (UTC)
I hear and obey.
-- JF
2008-09-11 03:45 pm (UTC)
2008-09-11 11:56 pm (UTC)
The pic on the wall is a character that appears in issue #2 to whup McBlack's arse.
It's not a mask, he just, uh, has no face.
-- JF
2008-09-12 12:32 am (UTC)
2008-09-12 12:45 am (UTC)
The faceless man is a former failed hit who rolls back into town. McBlack sees him and drops what he's doing in order to finish old business... or so he thinks.
If I do more McBlack (I do have another one planned) this will be a regular occurrence.
My original notion was to do stories built around the faceless guy, but I abandoned that after about 20 pages. McBlack is better suited to a miniseries.
-- JF
2008-09-12 01:50 am (UTC)
2008-09-11 10:55 pm (UTC)
2008-09-11 11:59 pm (UTC)
Thanks, Dino. I can't wait to see it inked, either--Dave Gutierrez kicks some serious ass; he fixes the linework, the lighting, the textures and as well as small perspective or anatomical errors.
-- JF