Page from recent What If prior to color. Focus was on elements directly involved in the action.
Objects. Technique. Pulling back on the detail so that it suggests movement, but maintaining semblance of the
real life objects being referred to.
Frames box in the setup moments. Then open up and move along with the direction of the disarm.
I wanted Stick to display combative skill sets. Use of weapon of opportunity with grace and leverage.
I suggested using a Musashi quote to break up the time in small beats, which writer Karl Bollers graciously added in print version.
Background is sparse, in contrast to prior pages which were purposefully claustrophobic, full of heavy details and shadows creeping at the edges. Textures of gloss and grit.
Once the action happens, time is emptied. The backgrounds fade. Represented by subtle faux zipatone; a custom brush created from a Salinas strip. Salinas, one of the masters of pen and ink.
Nod to bold Japanese brush work on immaculate paper.
As action ends, zip texture ebb back from below the page.
The emptiness is left in Stick's unseeing eyes.
The lines are all vector based, the greys are also digital.
No physical art exists.
The irony of nothingness does not escape me.
Historical Pict
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