Okay, so my last post was in March...that does qualify for slacking. However, I'm pleased to note that I was actively engaged in an art project recently, as in end-of-June recent. I was asked to create a design for the cover of a program booklet for an anime-oriented con. A request was made to give it a Leji Matsumoto look and feel. In case you don't know who that fellow is, he's the creator of several popular anime stories, among them being
Galaxy Express 999 and
Captain Harlock. An example of his work is below:
In a nutshell, he's an epic space opera kind of fellow. So I thought up a basic concept of a pilot, his computer AI which takes on the form of a woman, and the unusual ship he flies, which is called the Space Bird. My initial rough pencil came out like this:
Expanding on the idea required me to do some research on Mr. Matsumoto's style to get the appropriate 'look and feel' for the image. The Pilot, the girl and the bird were each rendered as separate black and white line art images. These images were then scanned, sized, retouched and colored. The girl required several layers for the many aspects of her costume, which is kind of funny since she appears semi-transparent in the final image and some of the detail is lost as a result. But it turned out well and the reaction was very positive. For those of you who are curious, here it is:
Needless to say, there's a long series of steps to get from the initial pencil to the final product. In my next entry, I'll try doing a step-by-step explanation of the five W's as I develop the image that I will post. And I'll try not to take several months in between entries. Promise.
NICE!!!!
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