Progress Report: Yet another finished colored page from Hades: Lord of the Dead

It's been a whirlwind of posted finished colored pages 'round here lately! Here's one from the book's central action scene, where the Lord of the Dead himself carries off young Kore to the Underworld. This page is part of the same sequence that these two almost finished pages I posted awhile ago belong to, and I also had previously posted the black and white artwork for it as well. And now it's done!

Progress Report: another finished colored page from Hades

Olympians Book 4, Hades: The Lord of the Dead is all but in the can as I type this (just going over the last few pages making color tune-ups, and adding lightning. Boy, there's a lot of lightning in this book). I thought I would share another finished color page with all of you, so you can see what's coming up.

This particular page has proven to be a favorite of mine-- there's something about the way Demeter looks in these panels that I really dig. In fact, I've shared this particular page with you all before at the finished black and white stage and the concept sketch stage-- I should really go and add the rough pencils in one of these days.

So what do you think?

Progress Report Hades: Finished Color Page

I'm beginning the final step in coloring on Olympians Book 4, Hades: I Forgot the New Subtitle. That means lots of finished pages! Here's one-- the first view we get of the titular god himself.

Progress Report: Some almost sorta kinda finished color pages of Hades

So I've been working on coloring the finished black and white artwork for Olympians Book 4, Hades: The I-don't-remember-the-new-subtitle the past few weeks. Last Friday I took a break from that to make an appearance at the Little Red Schoolhouse in NYC; as part of my presentation, I showed the students there a bunch of the almost-finished colored pages from Hades. And since I showed it to them, I figured I should also show them to you, the dedicated readers of this blog.

The above pages are not finished-- there are a lot of subtle gradients, details and color tweaks still to be added-- but there's enough there to give you an idea of what to expect from the final book. How do you like 'em so far?

Progress Report Hades: Finished Page

I'm about a third of the way done with the finished black and white art for Olympians Book 4, Hades the Wealthy One as I write this. For your viewing pleasure I've posted the page wherein the Wealthy One himself makes off with poor unsuspecting Kore (Persephone), picking flowers in a field.

For those interested you can check out the pencil sketches and thumbnails for this same page by clicking the provided links. Enjoy!

Progress Report Hades: Rough Sketches

Last time I showed you all some of the thumbnail sketches for Olympians Book 4, Hades: The Wealthy One. Now here is the next step in my admittedly complex process-- the rough sketches, or dummy.

Now what exactly is the difference between these and thumbnails? Well, at first glance, not all that much. For starters, in real life they're much bigger than my thumbnail sketches-- about 5 1/2 inches by 8 inches, as opposed to my barely two-inch high thumbnails. They're also more detailed and clean-- they actually serve as my blueprint for the finished pages I will draw, so I try to fill them as much as possible with the information I will need. Finally, as you will see in the scans, they are actually bound together in a book (see the spiral bound in the middle?). That's the dummy part-- it's a little scale version of the finished book, with facing pages and all that, to help me and my editors to fully visualize the final project.

I tried to include some of the same spreads as I showed you in my thumbnail preview, so that you can see the evolution of the pages. Sharp-eyed readers will note that the first spread in my thumbnail post is not represented here-- that's because so much had changed between thumbnailing and roughs that they didn't even match anymore. Another reason for this extra step-- more opportunity for self-editing.

Hope you all enjoy this view of my precess. Next step-- finishes!

Progress Report: Hades: The Wealthy One-- thumbnails!

A lot of times I'll double post my sketches here and at my other blog, My Online Sketchbook, but this is just for guys. Hera: The Goddess and her Glory is in the can, all wrapped up, and (as you can tell from all the character sketches I've been posting) I'm currently hard at work on Hades: The Wealthy One. Writing a graphic novel like Hades is a tricky business-- in addition to all the words, there's all the pictures as well. Each panel has to work, each page, it's a lot to keep track of.

These are some "thumbnail sketches" (I guess they're called thumbnails because they're so small-- in real life each of these drawings are only a couple of inches high) which are essentially, very rough layouts of how the finished pages of Hades will eventually look. You'll notice, as I am both the writer and illustrator of Olympians, I actually kind of do both at the same time-- there are small snippets of dialogue and writing in the margins, and sometimes, in the drawings themselves.

Enjoy this sneak peek look at Hades. I'm sure that some of you sharp-eyed mythophiles will be able to tell exactly what is going on.

Progress report: Cerberus

Heracles, taking the dog for a walk. I'd hate to see the pooper-scooper for this guy, especially since with three heads, he can eat three times as much, if you know what I mean...

Progress report: Hydra

I posted this on my other blog as part of a lame joke I made there. But I figured I'd share this with you all (seeing as how I scanned it and all already). This is Heracles facing off against the Hydra, a monster who, every time a head is cut off, two more grow in it's place. As you can see, Heracles has been pretty busy. Enjoy!

Progress report: The Glory of Hera-- wedding of Zeus and Hera

Update on Olympians Book 3: The Glory of Hera-- at least , that's the title for now. The higher-ups at First Second, my publisher, want to include Heracles's name somewhere in the title. In a sense, the book is completely named after Heracles-- Heracles is a title that translates as "The Glory of Hera". But they want something a little more apparent. So far, we have ideas along the line of "The Glory of Hera: The Twelve Labors of Heracles". What do you think? Any ideas?

Above we have a page of finished black and white art from "Glory of Hera", a scene from the wedding of Zeus and Hera. I was very happy, after their (mostly total) absence from Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess, to have the opportunity to draw Titans again. I do so love the Titans.

Progress report: The Glory of Hera--Pin-up

Some of the first finished black and white artwork I did for Olympians Book #3, The Glory of Hera, was the pin-ups for the bios at the end of the book. This is my drawing for Heracles ( influenced by the Farnese Hercules), who in a funny sort of way, is actually the title character of this book. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely the story of the Queen of Gods, but the name "Heracles" translates as "The Glory of Hera". Hera and Heracles have quite a complicated history, and the story of their conflict makes up the lion's share of Glory of Hera

Progress report: The Glory of Hera-- rough draft

Update on Olympians Book 3, The Glory of Hera. The last time I wrote about this, I had just finished thumbnailing the book. Now, for your viewing pleasure, a sample of pages from the rough draft, or "dummy" of the book. After I break everything down into thumbnails, my next step is to create an actual "book", called a dummy, of my layouts, to better help me envision what the final pages will look like. The drawings are little more refined here than in the thumbnailing stage, but notice that some characters are still more or less just rough shapes. Especially that cow. Ugh. I need to get some good cow reference, and quickly.

More to come soon!

Progress report: The Glory of Hera

So, the third book in Olympians is the story of the Queen of the gods, Hera. Hera is my favorite of the Goddesses, and I hope to paint a more fair portrait of her than the jealous, vindictive wife we often see. From time to time I'll be giving you updates on my progress on her story. I've recently finished thumbnailing the book, which for me is the most difficult part. Thumbnails are tiny little rough drawings of what the finished pages of the book will eventually look like. I've attached some scans of my thumbnails for The Glory of Hera so you can see what they look like. I'll admit, they're not too much to look at right now. Check back soon for a more exciting update.