If you're going to make custom dragons then I don't see why you shouldn't make custom dinosaurs too. Like T-Rexs with horns or spiked tails, saber teeth and stuff. Feathers and frills. A triceratops would also make a cool dinosaur to ride.
Also, try making your logo in a version that uses one solid color. Two colors is distracting and hard to balance.
I also think the logo would look a lot better if it was actually Dinosaurs versus Dragons.
The difference is that dinosaurs actually existed. All illustrations of fantastical (ie not komodo) dragons are "custom." Plus, he can just customize with armor, as he's done.
yeah i vote for not customizing dinos
you can stylize them pretty good though
i recommend checking out http://chasmosaur.deviantart.com for inspiration, really simplified AWESOME dino work done in vector.
sooo inspirational
makes me want to draw dinos.
If you're going to make custom dragons then I don't see why you shouldn't make custom dinosaurs too. Like T-Rexs with horns or spiked tails, saber teeth and stuff. Feathers and frills. A triceratops would also make a cool dinosaur to ride.
Also, try making your logo in a version that uses one solid color. Two colors is distracting and hard to balance.
I also think the logo would look a lot better if it was actually Dinosaurs versus Dragons.
The difference is that dinosaurs actually existed. All illustrations of fantastical (ie not komodo) dragons are "custom." Plus, he can just customize with armor, as he's done.
Meh, Dinosaurs existed 65 millions years ago, all we got is some fucked up bones to tell us what they were like. No one really knows exactly what they looked like, so I don't think anyone will give 2 shits about the realism of the dinosaurs as long as they look awesome.
And theres nothing on Earth that really matches what dinosaurs may have been like so long ago.
Dinosaurs might as well be mythical creatures. Dragons could have existed but Dragon corpses decay completely into minerals and leave no traces when they die, so we don't know for sure either.
my only problem with this so far is that the 'woman' looks completely different in each panel.
but lovely clean work, be nice to see it coloured/scripted
I'm trying to get comfortable with her size and style. I know it's a bit off, but I'm trying to tighten it. I've uh ... got 100 pages to do it :P ... but hopefully I'll get it down faster then that. You design a character one way but then by the time you start drawing them in panels you start to evolve ...
also, I've gotten 3 test pages done from a colorist and it's pretty awesome. As it's not my work, as per the rules, I haven't posted the work, but it's pretty damn fantastic.
I dont know how you came up with these fonts, but they dont look that "legit".
I think you should hand draw out your own title/logo and then digitize it up back in the computer. I don't know what you're going for, but these feel too commercial/coloring book/shitty webcomic.
It's because they are the free fonts from Blambot:
Warmonger and Feast of Flesh if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, man if you're having this published you really should design your own logo. If it were a webcomic it'd be different, there's lower expectation (as that's who I used for the fonts for mine). but anytime I see the Blambot stuff on the cover of something in a bookstore, I immediately pass it discarding it as amateurish.
Using his stuff for dialog is different, I find that acceptable, but I prefer sound fx actually done by the penciller, not the letterer, so that it's considered as part of the design of the page.
And the logo is EXTREMELY important. It will tell the reader what to expect in style and quality.
Yup, I've decided I'm going to draw my own logo. One coherent piece of my own work. I liked it at first when I made it as a joke and it was simple, but now with the art and actually moving forward, I see it doesn't fit.
also, I've gotten 3 test pages done from a colorist and it's pretty awesome. As it's not my work, as per the rules, I haven't posted the work, but it's pretty damn fantastic.
I think we can let the rules slide on that one. I'm sure that everyone here would love to see these pages in color.
Yeah, I'm really digging the artwork. it gives me kind of a mix between Bruce Timm and Ryan Ottley (of Invincible) feel. I do want to see what the colorist has done. Also, will you be lettering and doing the SFX? or will someone else?
also, I've gotten 3 test pages done from a colorist and it's pretty awesome. As it's not my work, as per the rules, I haven't posted the work, but it's pretty damn fantastic.
I think we can let the rules slide on that one. I'm sure that everyone here would love to see these pages in color.
Okay, maybe I think they are great because it's fun to see my art colored so here goes. This is also just one of the colorists trying out. May not be the final.
they seem little bit desaturated here, they are more saturated on the ones he sent me, but I had to shrink them.
And I believe I will be lettering and sound effecting.
Some suggestions:
I'd tell him to differentiate the skin tone of the male and female a bit. Right now theyve goth got the same skin, same hair, same cloths, simmilar makeup, simmilar body builds, and theyre both riding the same type of dinosaur. Its confusing to tell them apart at a glance, which isnt great character design (you should instantly be able to tell whos who).
In that same vein, I'd work more to differentiate her, design wise (assuming she's a main character and isnt going to die in the next 2 pages). Your working with a primitive cave-man society where nothing is standardized, there is no reason that ANYONE should look like anyone else.
Feathers, bones, necklaces, bracelets, more body paint, hair ornaments, piercings, different clothing, etc etc, the list goes on. To unify them as a tribe or group or whatever, pick a unifying THEME, like a colour, or lots of a certain design element (lots of feathers or something), don't make them all wear the exact same costume. I just think there's so much more you could do with the overall design.
Same deal with the dinosaurs and dragons. Pimp dem beasties out. Paintjobs and decorations. You could really make some awesome looking critters, instead of just bland dinosaurs with cookie cutter cavemen riding them.
I hate to be an excuse maker, but here we go. I think this is also one reason I didn't want to post the colors, since neither the colorist is finalized, nor are the colors.
I've mentioned the skin tones to the colorist because I did want the guy darker and woman is about right. Funny thing about you saying they look the same ... because they are twins, they do the same stuff, stay together and end up matching eachother in physique and clothing and will do much of the same things.
You are correct, I do need to work out my character design and right now this is their "leisure" wear, but come time for battle, I'm working on some more "fancier" designs. I guess the main fear from me when designing is that I used to design very crazy stuff but when it came time to drawing panel after panel of the same thing, I got sick of it and wanted to kill myself, so subconsciously I think I just now make my stuff pretty basic because I know I'll be drawing a character 300 more times. But you're right, I should make them more epic and their battle gear will reflect that.
you might want to talk to the colorist about how yellow the people are.
They are nearly at risk of looking like this:
I also agree that if you are going to market it as "dragons vs dinosaurs" then the dragons should immediately be identifiable as so. At first glance at any beast, the reader, without anything more than gradeschool knowledge of such matters be able to tell which is which.
What I see now is "real dinosaurs" vs "made up dinosaurs" none of them feel like they pull anything from previously existing dragon mythos.
I'm not saying your dragons have to be really generic, storybook dragons. I'm just saying that when I look at it I should see "Dragon".
you might want to talk to the colorist about how yellow the people are.
They are nearly at risk of looking like this:
I also agree that if you are going to market it as "dragons vs dinosaurs" then the dragons should immediately be identifiable as so. At first glance at any beast, the reader, without anything more than gradeschool knowledge of such matters be able to tell which is which.
What I see now is "real dinosaurs" vs "made up dinosaurs" none of them feel like they pull anything from previously existing dragon mythos.
I'm not saying your dragons have to be really generic, storybook dragons. I'm just saying that when I look at it I should see "Dragon".
I think you may need to adjust your monitor; they don't seem too yellow at all.
Ok, it's been a LONG time. Had a major delay due to personal events in my life. But I'm back and actually redrawing a lot, as I look back I'm not happy with it. Anyways, one thing that was brought up was the logo design, so I'm working on remaking it from scratch had drawn (which I'll probably vector and clean up) ... and here's the new double splash that was tossed around for the first few pages.
Some pages ... just to show it's actually being worked on ... and coming to a close. Hopefully be done my art chores somewhere between the end of this month and the middle of next.
Thanks. Mignola was a huge influence on me in my mid-90s art style, so I pay homage to it here and there when I "channel" the feeling. It's hard to show pages without giving away things that happen, so you're sorta seeing random acts of stuff. I hope the end result will make more sense.
Posts
The difference is that dinosaurs actually existed. All illustrations of fantastical (ie not komodo) dragons are "custom." Plus, he can just customize with armor, as he's done.
you can stylize them pretty good though
i recommend checking out http://chasmosaur.deviantart.com for inspiration, really simplified AWESOME dino work done in vector.
sooo inspirational
makes me want to draw dinos.
Meh, Dinosaurs existed 65 millions years ago, all we got is some fucked up bones to tell us what they were like. No one really knows exactly what they looked like, so I don't think anyone will give 2 shits about the realism of the dinosaurs as long as they look awesome.
And theres nothing on Earth that really matches what dinosaurs may have been like so long ago.
Dinosaurs might as well be mythical creatures. Dragons could have existed but Dragon corpses decay completely into minerals and leave no traces when they die, so we don't know for sure either.
The things you learn.
i fucking love lore
SO HARD
and this is what pages look like before I "ink" them.
white gutters or black gutters? maybe I'll have to wait until this is in color to make a decision.
But you do know what's missing from this comic, right?
Also, that is one butch woman on the last few pages you posted.. is her jaw alone wider than her waist in a sideview?
It may be an optical illusion. Her waist looks thicker to me.
But yes, she is supposed to be pretty buff to lead these people and compete with the men of her clan.
another page.
Great, now that's all I will see on this page .. and now I'll be twice as self-conscious whenever drawing anything like it again.
Ha! That's the funniest thing I've read all week.
but lovely clean work, be nice to see it coloured/scripted
I'm trying to get comfortable with her size and style. I know it's a bit off, but I'm trying to tighten it. I've uh ... got 100 pages to do it :P ... but hopefully I'll get it down faster then that. You design a character one way but then by the time you start drawing them in panels you start to evolve ...
also, I've gotten 3 test pages done from a colorist and it's pretty awesome. As it's not my work, as per the rules, I haven't posted the work, but it's pretty damn fantastic.
It's because they are the free fonts from Blambot:
Warmonger and Feast of Flesh if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, man if you're having this published you really should design your own logo. If it were a webcomic it'd be different, there's lower expectation (as that's who I used for the fonts for mine). but anytime I see the Blambot stuff on the cover of something in a bookstore, I immediately pass it discarding it as amateurish.
Using his stuff for dialog is different, I find that acceptable, but I prefer sound fx actually done by the penciller, not the letterer, so that it's considered as part of the design of the page.
And the logo is EXTREMELY important. It will tell the reader what to expect in style and quality.
I think we can let the rules slide on that one. I'm sure that everyone here would love to see these pages in color.
Okay, maybe I think they are great because it's fun to see my art colored so here goes. This is also just one of the colorists trying out. May not be the final.
they seem little bit desaturated here, they are more saturated on the ones he sent me, but I had to shrink them.
And I believe I will be lettering and sound effecting.
Some suggestions:
I'd tell him to differentiate the skin tone of the male and female a bit. Right now theyve goth got the same skin, same hair, same cloths, simmilar makeup, simmilar body builds, and theyre both riding the same type of dinosaur. Its confusing to tell them apart at a glance, which isnt great character design (you should instantly be able to tell whos who).
In that same vein, I'd work more to differentiate her, design wise (assuming she's a main character and isnt going to die in the next 2 pages). Your working with a primitive cave-man society where nothing is standardized, there is no reason that ANYONE should look like anyone else.
Feathers, bones, necklaces, bracelets, more body paint, hair ornaments, piercings, different clothing, etc etc, the list goes on. To unify them as a tribe or group or whatever, pick a unifying THEME, like a colour, or lots of a certain design element (lots of feathers or something), don't make them all wear the exact same costume. I just think there's so much more you could do with the overall design.
Same deal with the dinosaurs and dragons. Pimp dem beasties out. Paintjobs and decorations. You could really make some awesome looking critters, instead of just bland dinosaurs with cookie cutter cavemen riding them.
I've mentioned the skin tones to the colorist because I did want the guy darker and woman is about right. Funny thing about you saying they look the same ... because they are twins, they do the same stuff, stay together and end up matching eachother in physique and clothing and will do much of the same things.
You are correct, I do need to work out my character design and right now this is their "leisure" wear, but come time for battle, I'm working on some more "fancier" designs. I guess the main fear from me when designing is that I used to design very crazy stuff but when it came time to drawing panel after panel of the same thing, I got sick of it and wanted to kill myself, so subconsciously I think I just now make my stuff pretty basic because I know I'll be drawing a character 300 more times. But you're right, I should make them more epic and their battle gear will reflect that.
maybe I'm setting myself up for an epic fail.
Or are they gonna have bone armor and other trinkets.
I am also pleased to hear you are scrapping the logo because it was not doing the strips any justice.
INSTAGRAM
They are nearly at risk of looking like this:
I also agree that if you are going to market it as "dragons vs dinosaurs" then the dragons should immediately be identifiable as so. At first glance at any beast, the reader, without anything more than gradeschool knowledge of such matters be able to tell which is which.
What I see now is "real dinosaurs" vs "made up dinosaurs" none of them feel like they pull anything from previously existing dragon mythos.
I'm not saying your dragons have to be really generic, storybook dragons. I'm just saying that when I look at it I should see "Dragon".
I think you may need to adjust your monitor; they don't seem too yellow at all.
in progress
and new double splash
The headless Rex looks kinda silly without any hint of what did it within the panel, but the scale of the next one is fantastico.
Also it appears you ate some of Mignola's brains because the last image looks super cool.
INSTAGRAM
it looks really awkward and makes her expression unnatural.
Got it, she's been changed since ... those pages are from last summer.