War in Hell

A work-in-progress, but pretty much there now. Getting my horror fix before I embark on that new pro colouring gig. Inspired in part by the Great War flashbacks in Ian Edginton's Ampney Crucis Investigates in 2000AD and by more general Lovecraftian themes (Lovecraft of course being a direct influence on Edginton).

El Bigote - One Sore Loser

After my stint inking and colouring the cover for 'El Bigote - A Tequila-drenched Reckoning', Matt McLaughlin (writer and creator of the strip) invited me to contribute a pin-up of the character for a future issue. This is what I came up with - the undead quill-slinger kicking back in his favourite local hellhole, enjoying a relaxing game of poker with some poor schmuck who's clearly bitten off more than he could chew (and who looks very familiar come to think of it). The woman behind the man is the mysterious and deadly Rita Moreno - more of her coming soon in the comic too.

El Bigote - anatomy of a cover

Stage 1. El Chivo provides the pencils, having done the leg-work in terms of the overall idea and composition (this is a wraparound cover btw)

Stage 2. Inked with my Pentel brush pen

 

Stage 3. Greytones are added digitally to give more depth

 

Stage 4. Blocks of colour are added in Photoshop (the part of the process that's known as flatting)

 Stage 5. Final colours - highlights, shadows and textures are the last things to be added

Then it's off to Bolt-01 and Owen Watts for the logos to be added, before the comic heads off to the printers very soon. I've already seen some of El Chivo's roughs for upcoming El Bigote adventures and I'm really looking forward to inking those too.