IG-88

Digital drawing

I used the IG-88 boss battle from Shadows of the Empire on N64 as an inspiration for this. This whole level involved taking a train through a junkyard world, and ended with an intense battle with this guy, filled with odd robotic vocalizations and pulse weapons.

In case you missed it, I did a whole series of posts on the process for making this. You can check my feed to read up on each step, or just watch it all unfold in the gif. 

IG-88 Process- rough colors

All the basic colors filled in without any shadows or highlights. I went into this hoping to just use four color tones, but it ended up not being enough to define all the chaotic figures in the foreground. 

Once again, a large purpose for this project is to start to develop a style for digital coloring and drawing. A large inspiration in this endeavor is the comic art of Francesco Francavilla. I really enjoy his use of contrasting neutral colors and flat tones over complex gradients and effects. 

(rejected color scheme)

IG-88 Process- "Ink"

Inking has always been my favorite step of completing a drawing, which is one of the reasons I held out on digital tablets for so long. 

Although I'm still looking for new techniques, I've so far just treated the brush tool in Photoshop as an inking pen, clarifying and focusing the sketch layer into well-defined figures. Although I do miss the ink-on-paper look and feel, using layers to build a composition and the eraser tool to reclaim the white negative space takes away all the pressure of leaving an errant, permanent mark somewhere on the page. I'm sure that there's something to be said for shunning that sense of perfectionism, but I can't imagine trying to render all that rubble in the foreground without the ability to make serious revisions.

The only huge downside I've discovered for this digital technique is the inability to use a ruler to make straight lines. Maybe that problem would be easily solved if I started working in Illustrator over Photoshop...

(inking over the transparent sketch-layer from my previous post)

IG-88 process- sketch

Here's a first glimpse at a new project featuring my favorite bounty hunter of the Star Wars universe. The piece is for a Star Wars/Star Trek/Doctor Who themed opening at ZaPow! early next month. I wanted to experiment by using my tablet to create an all-digital drawing from sketch to finish. My goal is to create a well-defined character and space using only 3-4 colors and to avoid the temptation of using Photoshop effects to create blurs and gradients. 

Cryptozoology Coloring Book- Mongolian Death Worm

The Mongolian Death Worm- a 3 meter-long arthropod living in the high steppes and deserts of Central Asia. 

Cryptozoology Coloring Book- Chupacabra (again)

I originally planned to redesign the creature, thinking the original to be too cartoony and wolf-like. After sketching some alternatives, I just couldn't come up with a better design or composition. I decided that some minor anatomical tweaks and a new background would bring the original one up to par with my more recent cryptid pages.

Here's a link to the original drawing. Funny, but somehow I only gave this guy 3 legs at first. 

----> http://jakelagory.blogspot.com/2012/09/cryptozoology-coloring-book-chupacabra.html