PASTEL
DEFENDER HELIOTROPE
How
The Comic Is Made, Page 6
The next step is to back-paint the line work of the Gunship crew. This is done rather like backpainting animation cels. Using the remaining layers - and adding additional layers if needed - I usually start with the skin. I make unique skin tones and colors for each person, composed of a 'primer' color that is very dark, then I spraypaint on lighter shades of the same color to produce depth and form.
Next comes hair, which is put on the next layer down. Hair is done with a medium base, upon which I draw countless strands of hair in a darker color, then I add countless strands of hair of a lighter hue on top of that. Lastly I add shine in the form of select strands drawn in the lightest hue of all. Occasionally, I may add a few touches of airbrush in light or dark color to even some parts of the hair out. Of course, much erasing to clean up overdraw and airbrush slop has to be done after all of this. I really think my hair stands out in Pastel Defender Heliotrope, because of the unusual level of detail applied to it. It is a bit of work, but I find I really like the end result a lot.
The next layer(s) down from the hair layer is reserved for clothing. For the Gun crew, this is actually fairly easy, in that they wear uniforms that are all the same gray, so I can do a base of dark gray for all the characters, do light gray trim on the uniforms, and then finish up with the airbrush using pure white to do all of the shading, highlight, and so forth. The crewmen by the consoles, however, needed a few touches of green and yellow, because they are so close to the Chatoyant screens and displays, that it would be expected that the shine on their clothing would be the color of those screens.
Lastly, I have to go to a layer just above the background and add shadows for all of the crew. Shadows are very important, because it is the very thing that cements the character into its environment. A character that casts a shadow that curves with the environment feels solid and real, and a part of the background. One hardly notices shadows consciously, but their absence is very disturbing, at least to me.
With the painting finished there is only two more steps to completion: doing word balloons and the text of the story, and then, finally, posting the image.
All of that happens next.
By
Jennifer Diane Reitz
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