I wanted to share the Process behind one of the pieces I drew this past weekend for an upcoming SPKO interview. Check it out. I’ve been asked a lot recently about how I work and the thinking that goes into what I’m creating. So here’s we go!!!! :

0. First, I started off with a rough idea of how I wanted the illustration to look. I imagined, 2 wrestlers fighting in the foreground with a large Joe head in the bkg. I try to give each Promo Piece a vibe. Do I want the characters to look more iconic, or do I want them to be having a good ole’ time? I hadn’t really drawn a group shot so I decided it would be a fun challenge. I wanted the viewer to get an idea of the variety of characters in SPKO. In particular, I hadn’t showed of “The Other” or “Prince Swagger” much so I thought it would be cool to include them. I also figured it would be a cool little height chart so readers of SPKO could get an idea of how Joe Somiano stacks up in comparison to his peers.

1. I nixed the “super huge Joe’s head idea “and jumped straight into penciling the focus point of the illustration. I’m usually pretty pumped when it comes to this phase. I love to pencil, and I try to keep things pretty loose. I didn’t map out all of the characters in the background, just some of the main ones. I also added King Crown’s hand in the foreground just to make the image a little more dynamic overall. At this point, I was still indecisive about the direction I would go with the lettering of “S.P.K.O.”

2. I usually start inking areas I’m pretty certain about before I finalize the pencils in other areas. I like to constantly move forward with the progression of things so I never get too stuck. It’s really helped me get things done by working that way. There’s something about a splash of ink on the page that makes me feel like I’m almost done even if there are still several hours left on a piece.
I was still uncertain about whether to treat the text as a “rock-like” font or to go for a more “smooth” type. Mr. Awesomeness’ hair takes forever to ink sometimes but I have a better system down these days. Between his hair and arm tassels, he’s one of the harder characters to draw in SPKO. Ironically, his cousin Glitz (the guy with the round glasses) is a lot easier to draw though they look the same.

3. I was still unsure about the text so I decided to go ahead and finish inking all of the characters. The Other’s tentacles were a cool device to move the viewer’s eye (and pop those characters forward a bit). I try to spot blacks in interesting ways across the page. Between The Other’s Tentacles, Joe’s Hair, Mr. Awesomeness’ hair, and Felicity’s “Astro Boy” styled cut, it really moves the viewer’s eye.
You also notice that a lot of character’s heads overlap in the upper right hand corner. I usually don’t worry about that because I know I have to clean up anyway. It easier for me to just draw the character’s head and hair and worry about edits later. Keeps the speed going. It also gives me room to play around even in the inking phase.

4. So with nothing else left to ink, I’m forced to address the lettering issue. I figured going with the “rock-type” (Poke-joke) would be a nice compliment to the action between Crown and Mr. Awesomeness 2. It adds so much to that punch! I threw in some explosion type effects near King Crown and “SPKO” to really emphasize the impact. For detail reasons, I added a ring to Crown’s finger, and I changed Joe’s frown to a smile. I figured it would help Joe stand out as one of the main characters and show a bit more of his personality. I also added the motion lines to Mr. A2’s punch just for extra momentum. I erased a lot of lines with Dr. Martin’s Bleedproof White and cleaned up a lot of loose ends. Finally, I threw in some sweat drops; cross-hatching on Elicity’s outfit to give it that “net-effect” and this piece is done!

So that’s the average Working Process for me in a nutshell. It can be more complicated but I usually just keep the “Move Forward” mind-set the whole way through. I figure things will work themselves out over time. Don’t get stuck on those little hang-ups! I hate to pull the “Let it Flow” artsy-fartsy card, but it’s never steered me wrong yet. And even if the piece sucks, I can always redo it or draw something else. I never get too attached.
So that’s it for this week. I’ll try to post these process blogs throughout the SPKO 2 Development Cycle. And also note that I’m working on Lunar Boy and the HoloBooster Chase Chapter 2 slowly. I want to make sure it’s just about done before I begin updates again. I’ll be sure to post a follow-up on that soon enough.

Till next time! Stay sexy comic-kers!

J