If you caught my older post, (where I hand drew and colored a one pager for the Star Wars book). Luckily that page (above) went off without a hitch...
Well, the OTHER two pages.. became the total opposite experience, mostly due to my own neurotic self-doubt. After the fun I had doing the weird little put put page, which Jonathan and George said they loved -
... i suddenly found myself loathing having to ink and color the double splash I'd submitted in pencil to George and Jonathan Rinzler. Not just their expectation. More my own.
I had just breezed through the put put, which felt like 'me'. These other two pager seemed.. overworked and like i was TRYING... so anal, but not in a good way. Now the stupid part is approached me and asked for me to just do it in my own style! It was my lame idea to try a stab at a Williamson-Frazetta EC style, which of course I frankly wasn't skilled enough to pull off.
I seriously considered trying to beg off and leave them just with put put page, but Jon asked me to finish the other double page spread too since George had approved that one.
Jonathan assured me, yes, the Put put page was good, but he and George DID like the double pager too... (grr!)..
So i was screwed. Couldn't back out now. : )
Adding to my (self imposed) headaches.. while, yes, I *could* have inked/colored my first penciled page, I decided instead to re-draw the entire spread only larger, only bigger, then ink and color *that*.
Thus, increasing the tediousness of an already difficult task. I had to trace it, because (in my own mind, George gad already approved *those* exact pencils, so I had to make the painted one look *exactly* like those.) George in reality may not have even cared if it looks exactly like my layout pencils, let alone Jonathan, but *I* had fixed on it looking just like my original pencil version.
To my credit, i think i did manage to make the guys face in panel 3 look a little less stiff, and tried to add some life into the monster.. that's the bitch of inking pencils, (even your own!), trying NOT to lose the life and energy. Feel like your creating it fresh.
Also felt pressure because no digitally 'net' on this one! Because I knew George wanted the original art to go into the Ranch's Art Gallery, I decided to do it all by hand. Thus, I traced and blew up my own art, and was reminded how lifeless tracing can become.
So, while inking it I tried to Re-draw it in ink and color... if that makes since?
So, while inking it I tried to Re-draw it in ink and color... if that makes since?
Now, this is a study in how while you technically *can* you can redraw something, even your own art... yet run the risk of losing whatever the original energy was there...
Also a lesson in how... some things look better, some worse...
But it was too late to worry, I just had to sink or swim.. turn my brain off and let my hand do whatever it always does... or hopefully does..
Whatever, after tons of noodling, i finished it. No one seemed half as horrified with the finished result as I was. Or maybe they were just being polite. Or I am just a neurotic freak. Or both.
But the point is, they accepted the double splash. I signed a few prints of the first put put one - end of story.
BTW..check out these cool boxes the prints came in -
..the publisher must have pastes in these black and white version of the put put print just so...?... they'd know at a glance who's prints to ship to who? Just guessing..
BTW..check out these cool boxes the prints came in -
..the publisher must have pastes in these black and white version of the put put print just so...?... they'd know at a glance who's prints to ship to who? Just guessing..
Thus ends the Star Wars pin-up stuff...
