_________Kev Ferrara___________

[kev ferrara]

This is a panel for the fourth book, so I have to leave it for now.

Strange, when colored and "valued" it looks more like the image in my head, spooky and sinister, but less like the fun and light pen, brush and ink image it was earlier. Not much I can do about that except shrug. Even though I love line work, the story comes first.

Priorities... priorities...

kev

[Nathaniel West]

I love the way your work uses lights and darks to express forms and edges, rather than just linework. It really reminds me of the classic comic illustration in a way. Very beautiful work!

[Whyatt Thrash]

What's wrong with you! You're way to good! Loving it all...

[Bruce Pluto]

More great work Kev. I always enjoy seeing what you've put up.

Bruce

[Flipnastywebby]

i love your colored pieces.
the best part is, you dont have to color them for they are amazing as black and white pieces! ( this guy right <--.......big ink paintings fan)

keep up the inspiring work sir!

Slainte!

[TheNightPainter]

Inks really great....
Looks like "FRANK FRAZETTA MEETS IMAGE COMICS"

[sve]

I think if you want to show a true action don't say it half way... it's kind of indefinite at what this guy stares... I supposed he should look at the face of the other guy... his hands are half way to his neck,,, not very active gesture...doesn't excite me much as well... would be better to see his hands reaching the neck of the enemy and fighting, making an effort to win... right now this picture doesn't look very involving.

The other thing: why you made his sleeve the brightest spot in the image... it competes with the face of the guy and and every time I try to look at the the main character my eyes shift to the shoulder and hand. I can't look at it longer too because there is nothing informative or unusual in the gesture of fingers.

I don't feel a passion in this fight as well... more like both guys are lazy and don't really want any hassle.

[sve]

You are afraid of that, huh? well, take it as a man and learn to live with what nature gave to you .
Bridgman's is a nice book

[DARYL]

kev it feels like you're a bit ironic in your words there (as you should be, you rock!).

I think that this has been one of the most interesting threads for quite some time. I also think the last drawing is quite funny, with a zombie cowboy scared as hell, even seems to be afraid of the other guy's touch.

Some thoughts: It seems to me that the right guy is moving quite slowly, and it might be a lot more clear in the context what he's actually doing. But if he for instance is threatening the Deadlander he might want to go for a firm grip of Deadlander's shirt or something like that, instead of slowly dragging his fingers along the cloth.

I'm a lot more fond of your inks compared to the colored versions, but it could be because I think that I generally prefer something inked to stay b&w.. And it could all be a matter of taste, but in my head I think something zaps when I see inking which is a bit more rough in nature, colored with smooth gradients. It might be interesting to see how it could look with a bit more painterly roughness to it, like with your lovely oils for example?

Keep up the great work man, keep inspiring! (Oh and I bought a few of Bridgman's when you mentioned it)

Thanks /D

[kev ferrara]

Daryl... and everybody else ~ thanks!

Yeah, that last panel is a kinda funny one and there's a lot of what-the heck silliness in Deadlander. I think it is boring to only try to be funny, or only scary, or only serious. It seems too narrow a world. I'm all over the place so I think my work should reflect that.

So yes, I drew this funny... But it is also a dramatic moment from the story: The mustached Judge has just risen out of the ground and is part of a group of newly risen dead folk that surround Deadlander in this scene, which takes place in a graveyard under some willow trees. At this point Deadlander is looking for a way to escape but everywhere he turns he finds he is blocked by a zombie-like figure.

This figure, of the Judge who had originally sentenced Deadlander to be hanged, is a particularly surprising member of the undead posse. Deadlander himself had killed this Judge with the same noose by which he had been hung.

Thus the drama of this moment is not about fighting. It is about Deadlander recognizing with shock the Judge, who he knows to be dead, and being surrounded by others of the Judge's undead ilk. I think the tensions in the panel reflect that story. Though not terribly seriously.

----------

Just did the logo change on my comic... Turning the bad into the dead...

Boy, there's nothing harder than changing letters and getting everything to "work" again on a logo. I hope I've succeeded.

I have enormous respect for good typographers. Typography is just like composing illustration. It has to read from a distance, it has to flow nicely, and the aesthetics have to reflect the subject matter. And you have to pre-visualize the design!

I can't wait to see what the new name will look like on the cover and title pages...

FYI, I had to change the name from the Badlander because of a legal issue -- turns out somebody had done a Badlander short story for Dark Horse ten years ago so they own the name.

So I went with Deadlander and I think its even a better name and more descriptive of the horror character I'm working with.

kev

[DARYL]

in that context I think everything makes sense

[Ellingsworth]

Hey Kevin, forgot to drop by your awesome thread, great stuff dude, thanks for the nice reply. I freakin' love the ink work on post number two and three. Keep it up.

[alxcote]

The linework in those pen and ink's is superb. Great motion.

Alex

[Koryh]

Great explination Kev,
But I still think it's boring. I mean, really I never found undead men about to kiss all that exciting.

Just fooling, I love the timeless feel of the panels and you other drawings are fantastic. I wish I was as consistant on my own project. Is this a full time gig for you? If not what could possibly be your day job.

Keep it up!

[Anville]

Your linework is awe-inspiring. I get a bernie wrightson ish effect, but its still totally unique.

Anatomy is top notch also. I may come off kindof mankeymankeymankeymankeymankey for saying this, but the black and white drawing of a warrior is beautiful. The musculature is just incredible.

Dig your still lifes too. Keep it up.

[Crawdad Jones]

FANTASTIC stuff! I'll be sure to pick this one up when it hits the funnybook stores! My cowboy hat is off to you!

[kev ferrara]

So yesterday I was drinking some coffee on a break and looking through the CA critique threads and came upon one called "Pirates" by Mintze. The illustration was of a Pirate gal and her mate upon a beach, looking intently at a totem made of bones. Meanwhile another pirate was pulling their rowboat up the beach. Mintze had been unhappy with the piece as a whole and had given up on it.

I participated in a discussion about the underlying problems with the piece leading to some compositional and dramatic analysis. But after the thread died out it occurred to me that making that particular scenario dramatic was actually kind of a challenge.

How do you get drama out of "looking at a totem of bones?" And some guy pulling a row boat ashore. How do you unify these separate actions into one story?

Anyhow, here's the composition I came up with to solve the Pirate Problem...

[Obliviongrin]

Hey Kevino-
The previous discussion of the zombie / judge panel finally gave me something more to say than just GREAT WORK!
I think the interchange of emotion thru eye contact and expression of these two characters is intense, without even knowing the context of the story. While I always prefer B&W to color, I loved the way the added values from the color helped emphasize the judge's gaze.
BTW, GREAT WORK!!
I look forward to seeing your work in print!
Pablo Abramos

[Fellah.]

That last pencildrawing is super beautiful. Really great style!

[Metajake]

lotsa dope stuff, Kev. Keep it comin!

[kev ferrara]

Okay, I did a bunch more work on the Deadlander logo, sent it off to my editor, and now it has been approved at Dark Horse.

So I created these cover mock ups using my new design to demo the logo and some color schemes. Not sure about the second one, but the first one looks good.

Its funny, I was having trouble figuring out how to fix the design issues I was having with the logo. So I turned the logo in reverse to look at it, and since I could no longer read the backwards writing it became a work of pure design. And lo and behold, once I couldn't read the word, I could see the design problems clear as day and the design issues solved in a flash!

I always look at my artwork in reverse, and now I'm always going to look at my logos and typography that way too!

kev

[kev ferrara]

Another panel from The Deadlander....

[kev ferrara]

I'm sort of proud of this one so I moved it here from my sketchbook thread.

[kev ferrara]

A pen and ink of General Cavanaugh, one of the charcters from The Deadlander...

[Crostar]

Great stuff. The color work is excellent, but the pure white on black inks have a certain simplistic purity. The Deadlander stuff has a very classic Illlustrator's feel.

[kev ferrara]

Here's just the inks on that panel I posted yesterday...

Feel free to comment on anything... I love to hear what other artists have to say... Thanks!

kev

[ciots]

as usual, lovely work. the lines always seem to fall in the best places

[drd]

Amazing as always. Tell me, is this brush with ink or purely pen? Some looks brushed and some looks pen, or do you use a mixture of both?

[kev ferrara]

Hey drd, thanks. The last piece, post #236 is purely brush. Post #234 is all pen. It looks like post #211 has some of each.

[kev ferrara]

A Deadlander panel, discarded...