Post by HoM on Jul 5, 2016 4:57:44 GMT -5
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some cracking artists over the last year or so, since I returned full-time to the DC2.
I’ve said it before but it bears saying again; be it Jamie and Roy’s stellar ongoing work on Justice League and Green Lantern Corps, Steve Howard blasting out those superb Superwoman: Of Tomorrow covers, ArtTeach knocking it out the park whenever he puts digital pen to paper, or JF Joutel delivering greatness whenever time permits, we’ve been really blessed with a strong talent base since we slowly began the rev up months before the somewhat stalled Ten Years Later event.
With Omega Crisis #1, I reached out to Nathan Kilburn. Last time we saw his work, it was a Ten Years Later tie-in, specifically The Authority: A Finer World, and his process is really cool to watch unfold.
Let’s see what it took to get the cover to the first part of this event out into the world!
The below is a truncated copy of the conversation Nathan and I had over the course of the weeks he spent working on the cover. I have removed a lot of my praise because I can go on, but I felt like it was an interesting glimpse into what goes into getting covers for the site. Shall we begin?
The original pitch I sent was as follows: THE FIRST ISSUE CENTRES AROUND DICK GRAYSON AND BARBARA GORDON'S WEDDING, SO WE COULD DO A WEDDING PHOTO? MAYBE THE WEDDING PARTY IN A PHOTO, AND THE PHOTO ON FIRE? and Nathan asked for references to get started, which I sent happily.
NK: ARE ANY OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE WEDDING PARTY PAIRED UP? I'M JUST TRYING TO COME UP WITH A MORE INTERESTING GROUP SHOT.
CW: HERE'S SOME THOUGHTS: GRACE AND KATE ARE A COUPLE, ROY AND JASON ARE AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS, WALLY IS EXASPERATED BY IT ALL, HELENA AND DINAH ARE KINDA DRUNK (IT'S A THROUGH LINE IN THE ISSUE), ZATANNA IS THE CONSUMMATE SHOWWOMAN AND TIM IS ABOVE IT ALL (MAYBE KEEPING JASON AND ROY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER?). BABS AND DICK HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON*
It's important to note that the thing that I—and I hope the rest of this community—value about the DC2 is the continuity. This book is a love letter to everything that’s come before, and while it alludes to events that took place over the last ten years, the decade we jumped to get to this story, it also ties into continuity that ran up until that point. Grace Choi and Kate Spencer became a couple in New Outsiders, written by Brian Burchette. All of Barbara’s bridesmaids are based around the relationships in that title, and I thought it was important to honour that.
Meanwhile, over on Dick’s side, the groomsmen are representative of his time spent in the Teen Titans, as well as his two ‘brothers’, Tim Wayne and Jason Todd. The former we’ve seen accepted into the Bat-family, and his ongoing evolution will be covered elsewhere in this event and the tie-ins. Jason, on the other hand, had a rocky relationship with Dick, but there are allusions across the Ten Years Later line, in both Batman: The Final Knight and Superwoman: Of Tomorrow of their coming to an understanding. They are brothers after all, and in the decade jump, certain things have happened that bring them together. And then there’s the missing member of the party, Damian Wayne. We’ll see what’s happened to him elsewhere too.
I understand that some of you might think that others should be in the roles above, but I felt this was the best for this story. You might have recommended Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, or any others, but this was the core for him, back in the day, and I imagine it would be similar if Tim got married—Bart and Kon would be his groomsmen, for sure, and Dick Grayson would be part of it as well. Anyway, I digress.
NK: BIT OF A SKETCH FOR THE COUPLE POSE. I FIGURED I COULD LEAVE THEM IN THE FOREGROUND LIKE THAT, AND THEN HAVE OTHER NEAR A NICE SHRUBBERY OR SOMETHING.
NK: GOT THE COMPOSITION SORTED. NOW TO SKETCH IT UP
NK: IT HAS BEGUN! HE'S GOING TO HAVE NIGHTWING SHAPED CUFFLINKS. AND I MIGHT BUT A BAT SHAPED PIN IN HER HEAD DRESS
NK: YO, I'VE DECIDED TO HAVE DINAH MIMIC WHAT THE GUYS WILL BE DOING ON THE OTHER SIDE, AND SO I CAN FIT THEM ALL IN, WITHOUT HAVING TO DO AN ARIAL SHOT, THEY WILL BE STANDING ON TIERS OF A GARDEN FEATURE
NK: BRIDESMAIDS ARE NOW SKETCHED! WOOP WOOP
NK: here's the sketch - on with the inking!
CW: BRILLIANT! YOU KNOW ALFRED ISN'T ABOUT BECAUSE THEY'VE ALL GROWN THEIR HAIR OUT
NK: A BIT OF SHADING TO SORT OUT, BUT MORE OR LESS THERE. THEN I'VE JUST GOT TO DECIDE HOW I'M GOING TO COLOUR IT
CW: MAKES SENSE. WHAT KINDA APPROACH ARE YOU CONSIDERING?
NK: SOMETHING SIMPLE AND DUO TONE - NOTHING TOO COMPLEX. PERHAPS LIGHT GRADIENTS WITH SHADING OVER THE TOP, KEEP THINGS CLEAN AND LET THE LINE ART DO THE WORK FOR ONCE
CW: SOUNDS RIGHT FOR THIS, COMPLETELY
NK: NKING DONE
NK: NEARLY THERE, JUST THE BURN EFFECT TO SORT OUT. I'M TRYING TO MINIMISE ALL MY TECHNIQUE, QUITE MANGA STYLE. THEY ARE THE MASTERS OF MINIMALISM.
CW: MAN, YOU'RE TELLING ME. MASAMUNE SHIROW, KATSUHIRO OTOMO, IT'S LIKE... SO SIMPLE, AND AT THE SAME TIME, WHEN THEY TURN IT ON, IT'S ALWAYS ELEVEN AND NOTHING LESS
And then we end up with a beautiful moment captured in time, turning into something nasty as the fires spread from the corner to the rest of the piece. I think this is a beautiful representation of what happens in the issue, a bit more metaphorical a cover than one that is directly lifted from the story, but damn good either way.
Now. Nathan wasn’t originally going to do the cover for this issue. Site founder and original Art Director Brandon Herren was on board for the piece, but in March of this year he tragically passed away. And when David and Ramon both came to be separately to let me know I felt completely lost. Brand was part of the site since day one. His art, his amazing sensibilities, are everywhere, and without him, without his talent, we wouldn’t be here today. Writing this… it’s just so unbearably sad. He was a great man, a loving father, and the world is lacking immensely for his absence.
I thought it would be nice to share a sketch he did to show what he had planned for the cover. He did a big chunk of design work for this event, and I want to share that, so I’ll be posting bits and pieces as we progress. Brandon was great. Really great. I miss him whenever I think about him and I think about him whenever I log onto the DC2. I’m rambling a bit now, so here it is:
RIP Brandon. You are missed.
I’ve said it before but it bears saying again; be it Jamie and Roy’s stellar ongoing work on Justice League and Green Lantern Corps, Steve Howard blasting out those superb Superwoman: Of Tomorrow covers, ArtTeach knocking it out the park whenever he puts digital pen to paper, or JF Joutel delivering greatness whenever time permits, we’ve been really blessed with a strong talent base since we slowly began the rev up months before the somewhat stalled Ten Years Later event.
With Omega Crisis #1, I reached out to Nathan Kilburn. Last time we saw his work, it was a Ten Years Later tie-in, specifically The Authority: A Finer World, and his process is really cool to watch unfold.
Let’s see what it took to get the cover to the first part of this event out into the world!
--
The below is a truncated copy of the conversation Nathan and I had over the course of the weeks he spent working on the cover. I have removed a lot of my praise because I can go on, but I felt like it was an interesting glimpse into what goes into getting covers for the site. Shall we begin?
The original pitch I sent was as follows: THE FIRST ISSUE CENTRES AROUND DICK GRAYSON AND BARBARA GORDON'S WEDDING, SO WE COULD DO A WEDDING PHOTO? MAYBE THE WEDDING PARTY IN A PHOTO, AND THE PHOTO ON FIRE? and Nathan asked for references to get started, which I sent happily.
NK: ARE ANY OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE WEDDING PARTY PAIRED UP? I'M JUST TRYING TO COME UP WITH A MORE INTERESTING GROUP SHOT.
CW: HERE'S SOME THOUGHTS: GRACE AND KATE ARE A COUPLE, ROY AND JASON ARE AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS, WALLY IS EXASPERATED BY IT ALL, HELENA AND DINAH ARE KINDA DRUNK (IT'S A THROUGH LINE IN THE ISSUE), ZATANNA IS THE CONSUMMATE SHOWWOMAN AND TIM IS ABOVE IT ALL (MAYBE KEEPING JASON AND ROY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER?). BABS AND DICK HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON*
--
It's important to note that the thing that I—and I hope the rest of this community—value about the DC2 is the continuity. This book is a love letter to everything that’s come before, and while it alludes to events that took place over the last ten years, the decade we jumped to get to this story, it also ties into continuity that ran up until that point. Grace Choi and Kate Spencer became a couple in New Outsiders, written by Brian Burchette. All of Barbara’s bridesmaids are based around the relationships in that title, and I thought it was important to honour that.
Meanwhile, over on Dick’s side, the groomsmen are representative of his time spent in the Teen Titans, as well as his two ‘brothers’, Tim Wayne and Jason Todd. The former we’ve seen accepted into the Bat-family, and his ongoing evolution will be covered elsewhere in this event and the tie-ins. Jason, on the other hand, had a rocky relationship with Dick, but there are allusions across the Ten Years Later line, in both Batman: The Final Knight and Superwoman: Of Tomorrow of their coming to an understanding. They are brothers after all, and in the decade jump, certain things have happened that bring them together. And then there’s the missing member of the party, Damian Wayne. We’ll see what’s happened to him elsewhere too.
I understand that some of you might think that others should be in the roles above, but I felt this was the best for this story. You might have recommended Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, or any others, but this was the core for him, back in the day, and I imagine it would be similar if Tim got married—Bart and Kon would be his groomsmen, for sure, and Dick Grayson would be part of it as well. Anyway, I digress.
--
NK: BIT OF A SKETCH FOR THE COUPLE POSE. I FIGURED I COULD LEAVE THEM IN THE FOREGROUND LIKE THAT, AND THEN HAVE OTHER NEAR A NICE SHRUBBERY OR SOMETHING.
NK: GOT THE COMPOSITION SORTED. NOW TO SKETCH IT UP
NK: IT HAS BEGUN! HE'S GOING TO HAVE NIGHTWING SHAPED CUFFLINKS. AND I MIGHT BUT A BAT SHAPED PIN IN HER HEAD DRESS
NK: YO, I'VE DECIDED TO HAVE DINAH MIMIC WHAT THE GUYS WILL BE DOING ON THE OTHER SIDE, AND SO I CAN FIT THEM ALL IN, WITHOUT HAVING TO DO AN ARIAL SHOT, THEY WILL BE STANDING ON TIERS OF A GARDEN FEATURE
NK: BRIDESMAIDS ARE NOW SKETCHED! WOOP WOOP
NK: here's the sketch - on with the inking!
CW: BRILLIANT! YOU KNOW ALFRED ISN'T ABOUT BECAUSE THEY'VE ALL GROWN THEIR HAIR OUT
NK: A BIT OF SHADING TO SORT OUT, BUT MORE OR LESS THERE. THEN I'VE JUST GOT TO DECIDE HOW I'M GOING TO COLOUR IT
CW: MAKES SENSE. WHAT KINDA APPROACH ARE YOU CONSIDERING?
NK: SOMETHING SIMPLE AND DUO TONE - NOTHING TOO COMPLEX. PERHAPS LIGHT GRADIENTS WITH SHADING OVER THE TOP, KEEP THINGS CLEAN AND LET THE LINE ART DO THE WORK FOR ONCE
CW: SOUNDS RIGHT FOR THIS, COMPLETELY
NK: NKING DONE
NK: NEARLY THERE, JUST THE BURN EFFECT TO SORT OUT. I'M TRYING TO MINIMISE ALL MY TECHNIQUE, QUITE MANGA STYLE. THEY ARE THE MASTERS OF MINIMALISM.
CW: MAN, YOU'RE TELLING ME. MASAMUNE SHIROW, KATSUHIRO OTOMO, IT'S LIKE... SO SIMPLE, AND AT THE SAME TIME, WHEN THEY TURN IT ON, IT'S ALWAYS ELEVEN AND NOTHING LESS
And then we end up with a beautiful moment captured in time, turning into something nasty as the fires spread from the corner to the rest of the piece. I think this is a beautiful representation of what happens in the issue, a bit more metaphorical a cover than one that is directly lifted from the story, but damn good either way.
Now. Nathan wasn’t originally going to do the cover for this issue. Site founder and original Art Director Brandon Herren was on board for the piece, but in March of this year he tragically passed away. And when David and Ramon both came to be separately to let me know I felt completely lost. Brand was part of the site since day one. His art, his amazing sensibilities, are everywhere, and without him, without his talent, we wouldn’t be here today. Writing this… it’s just so unbearably sad. He was a great man, a loving father, and the world is lacking immensely for his absence.
I thought it would be nice to share a sketch he did to show what he had planned for the cover. He did a big chunk of design work for this event, and I want to share that, so I’ll be posting bits and pieces as we progress. Brandon was great. Really great. I miss him whenever I think about him and I think about him whenever I log onto the DC2. I’m rambling a bit now, so here it is:
RIP Brandon. You are missed.
