Refwednesday 1: Ronin

If you know me well, you'll know that Paolo Rivera is one of my favorite comic book artists. I'd say overall artist, too, but I don't want to have to defend my claim because I'm simply too lazy to. No, I probably can justify my statement. Let's just move on.

Paolo Rivera has been posting on his blog, once a week, reference photos from his comics work. His posts are called "Wacky Reference Wednesdays." It's a good title. Working in comics, and art in general, kind of forces you to learn how to draw everything. Especially in comics, where speed, versatility, and integrity come into play with every assignment. You can say that about anything, really. The point is, this kind of post is going to be a regular thing on this blog. I'm making new work all the time, so there's really no shortage of reference photos. Here's to the first edition of... Refwednesday. It's a lame title. I know.

The first image in this post is actually a revised pose after I realized a technical problem in the sketches stage for the "Ronin" illustration:

You can't see the dude's face! This became a problem a big problem as I stared at the "Ronin" sketch more and more. The weapon actually divided the image plane in half, and that's a pretty big drawing no-no. You'll see in the original artwork, that the new arrangement is a little more visually stimulating.

Here's some of the poses that didn't work out:

And then there's some other details:

If you haven't seen 13 Assassins yet, you probably should.

Original "Ronin" illustration: http://narcisoespiritu.com/Ronin

Paolo Rivera: http://paolorivera.blogspot.com

13 Assassins trailer: http://youtu.be/NgPC74-Tde8

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Ronin

I think it's customary for illustrators to only post images of the artwork they do for magazines after the piece is published, but I think posting this cover I did for Instigatorzine 18 (which is released next month), is only good for both me and Instigatorzine. I entered this illustration into the Society of Illustrators Annual, Illustrators 55, along with the artwork I posted yesterday. Essentially, I submitted both pieces to Creative Quarterly 30, however, I didn't have this version completed at the time, and I gave an earlier render of "Ronin."

I was expanding the original version, a commission for Felix Duran, a friend and supporter of IZ, into the cover for Instigatorzine 18.

Oh, you forgot? I run this thing called Instigatorzine. I'll say it again: Instigatorzine. It's a mouthful, but it's pretty easy. Instigatorzine. INSTIGATORZINE.

Oh. Link doesn't work? http://instigatorzine.com

(Not sorry.)

.n

Tales of Caution: Portraits

What did I tell you? One hour.

This illustration is of... oh I'm sure you know by now if you've been following this blog for a while and for some reason come back for my return.

I was thinking of doing a series of these portraits, highlighting several characters from the Tales of Caution project. It's one of many things I have planned, but I think I want to focus on making the actual comic, too.

One step at a time, right?

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Back.

Now that I've got the house (me) back in order (sort of), expect to see more consistent updates. These posts will be uninterrupted creativity and production, unlike my tumblr which is riddled with ___ I laugh at. I'll prove it to you, if you think I'm lying.

Next post is in exactly one hour.

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