Tuesday 28 January 2014

Pencil Process Cover Art


So here we have the original cover pencils for Death Sentence 4. I wanted to capture Verity's mood as she sits in confinement, drinking and drawing, contemplating her impending demise: that distinctive Death Sentence vibe of creativity, doom, and decadence. My wife posed for this one, and she'd probably rather not get dressed up like Verity and pose - so that conveyed a highly appropriate sense of surly depression. Good on her for indulging me - no wonder I married her.


This is the also the issue where Verity meets Weasel, which is going to profoundly effect her future. The scenes they share in this comic are some of the wildest so far - so to mark the occasion I dropped their names onto the amp stack during the painting process. I also used a slightly different technique to the other covers, using the pencil shading in the artwork rather than simply painting over it with a similar tone. That way none of the time spent on the pencils is wasted. You can use the pencil marks to add texture into skin and clothes, which looks a little more alive. Then I used different photoshop bushes to get texture into the wall, floor and amps - saving some time. It was one of those paintings where I was pretty much convinced it wasn't going to work until right at the end, when it all came together.



The next issue of Death Sentence is out next week. You can read every issue via Comixology  or order it to be delivered from any comic shop (like OK Comics in the UK  or Things From Another World in the USA).

Wednesday 1 January 2014


Here's the cover to Death Sentence 4, out now! Weasel and Verity meet - and the sparks fly.