Yeah, sorry for another-and-longer hiatus, guys- but we're back! "Back", as in the here and now, not "back" as in that weird animated movie from the '90s involving dinosaurs who eat cereal to to become smart/anthropomorphic, something about time-travel and kids in New York and Walter Cronkite, I dunno... Huh... my train of thought got derailed again. Sorry 'bout that.
The last half of June was pretty inspiring. I went to Heroes Con 2012 with my big sister and bro-in-law. We met and got our photos taken with Stan "The Man" Lee, the co-creator behind Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and others. It was pretty overwhelming to finally meet one of my biggest comic influences- very nice guy, too!
I took a small portfolio of some of my best works from 2011 and this year, including three "Quacktown" strips. Got great feedback from my favorite artists who were there, so that meant a lot; Dusty Higgins, the artist/co-creator of "Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer", really motivated me and Jill Thompson, the creator of "Scary Godmother" and artist/co-creator of "Beasts of Burden", said that Tyrra was cute (I mentioned to her that Ace from "Beasts of Burden" was an influence on the Husky, and she doodled him next to her signature in the BOB issue I brought). Best of all, though, Mike Mignola, the creator of "Hellboy" himself, said: "A duck and a dog who fight monsters? Cool!" Next to meeting Stan Lee, that made my day 'cause I'm such a ginormous "Hellboy" fan.
Lately, I've been busy with getting some free art requests done on deviantART, not to mention reorganizing my studio from top to bottom. Hope you don't mind seeing more filler strips 'cause these are fun to do!
Anywho, enough of that personal tripe- onto the comic!
- The design of the Cyclops and the name of the isle, "Barani", are both nods to one of my favorite fantasy adventure movies as a kid, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958). "Barani" was the name of the little genie boy in the movie (who, by the way, had a cool Auto-Tune-ish voice). The Cyclops was my favorite monster brought to life by the great Ray Harryhausen, and I've been wanting to draw the Duck and Dog encounter such a wondrous monstrosity. The title of this filler strip is also a nod to the movie, along with "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989), another cinematic cult classic!
- The hand was based loosely on reference of my own left hand, albeit me hiding the pinky to get that just-right humanoid hand anatomy. Just so everybody knows, my nails aren't long, sharp, and yellowish, nor are my hands scraped up like I double fist bumped Edward Scissorhands.
- Only Quacklad has the guff to stare right back at a gigantic creature of Greek mythology and act like it's a schoolyard showdown. To Tyrra, it's pretty "meh"-inducing.
- Originally, Tyrra was supposed to have a scared/nervous look on her face, but I thought a semi-casual/uneasy expression would suit her best. She's the kind of sidekick/partner who can save your bacon in the nick of time, but has more fun being the Greek chorus to your mishaps and eventual screw-ups.
- I am very happy with how the coloring turned out on this. I love playing around with gradients, and I ended up using them the most on the Cyclops- my personal favorite of them were the ones on his big, bloodshot eye.
No comments:
Post a Comment