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NUMBER 7 FALL 2003

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FALL 2003 • VOL. 1, NO. 7 FEATURES Editor-in Chief/Designer • Michael Manley Publisher • John Morrow COVER STORY Logo Design • John Costanza FROM THE MACABRE TO THE SUPER-HERO WITH DAN BRERETON Proofreaders • John Morrow & Eric Nolen-Weathington 3 Transcription • Steven Tice

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THE CRUSTY CRITIC Front and Back Cover DRAWING SUPPLIES AND PRODUCT Illustrations by 25 REVIEWS BY ANDE PARKS DAN BRERETON

CARICATURES A STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL BY 30 ZACH TRENHOLM

SUBSCRIBE TO DRAW! Four quarterly issues for $20 US Standard Mail, $32 US First Class Mail ($40 Canada, Elsewhere: $44 Surface, $60 Airmail). We accept US check, money order, Visa and Mastercard at ILLUSTRATOR TECHNIQUES TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Dr., Raleigh, NC 27605, (919) 833-8092 A STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL ON ILLUSTRATING IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR BY ALBERTO RUIZ E-mail: [email protected] 44 ADVERTISE IN DRAW! See page 2 for ad rates and specifications. THE POWER OF DRAW! FALL 2003, Vol. 1, No. 7 was produced by Action Planet Inc. and published by TwoMorrows Publishing. Michael Manley, Editor, John Morrow, SKETCHING Publisher. Editorial Address is PO Box 2129, Upper Darby, PA 19082. 58 WITH BRET BLEVINS Subscription Address: TwoMorrows Publishing, 1812 Park Dr., Raleigh, NC 27605. DRAW! and its logo are trademarks of Action Planet Inc. All contributions herein are copyright 2003 by their respective contributors. Action Planet Inc. and TwoMorrows Publishing accept no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. All artwork herein is copyright the year of production, its creator (if work-for-hire, the entity which contracted said artwork); the characters featured in said artwork are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners; and said artwork or other trademarked material is printed in these pages with the consent of the copyright holder and/or for journalistic, educational and historical purposes with no infringement intended or implied. Batman, Superman, Birds of Prey, Aquaman, Joker, Batgirl are TM and ©2003 DC Comics • Devil Dinosaur, Spider- Man, Blade, The New Mutants, Sleepwalker, Wolverine TM and ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. • The Crow is TM and ©2003 Fallen Bird Productions Inc. This entire issue is ©2003 Action Planet Inc. and TwoMorrows Publishing and may DESIGNING LIGHT not be reprinted or retransmitted without written permission of the copyright holders. AND SHADOW Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. 78 BY PAUL RIVOCHE FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to DRAW! #7. As the autumn breeze sweeps the first hints of the cooler season past my home office window, it also brings with it the usual change and hectic pace my life seems to take every fall. This August, I started teaching a class on storyboarding and storytelling at the Delaware College of Art and Design, in Wilmington, Delaware. I’m also busy storyboarding on The Venture Bros. for Noodle Soup Productions in NYC. The pilot has already been shown on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. I plan on covering the show production in-depth with a trip to the stu- dio in DRAW! #9. Next year I also plan a crossover with our sister book Write Now!, edited by old Darkhawk partner, Danny Fingeroth. We will do a crossover between DRAW! and Write Now! which will cover the complete process of creating a comic character from designs, plot, pencils, and script to final art and printed comic. It was also great to see so many regular DRAW! readers at this summer’s annual Comic-Con International: San Diego. Once again I shared a table with DRAW! con-

Figurative interpitation by Bret Blevins tributor and best pal Bret Blevins, Chris Bailey, John Gallagher, and Randy and Jean- Marc Lofficier. Our table was busy all show long with both Bret and myself selling our new sketchbooks as well as art and copies of DRAW! It’s always a hectic show and there was just too much to see this year, as the show somehow grew even bigger. Surf over to the drawmagazine.com web site and check out the pics I posted from this year’s summer shindig. Once again I’d like to extend another heartfelt thanks to this issue’s contributors, Bret, Paul, Ande, Dan Brereton, Alberto Ruiz (a.k.a. Dr. Cyberfunken), and Zach Trenholm. What a diversity of talent here—something I plan to keep striving for in DRAW!

I’d like to leave you with two quotes: “A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.” —Michelangelo; and “An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.” —James McNeill Whistler.

Best,

Mike Manley, Editor

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2 DRAW! • FALL 2003 MNOCTURNALISSIONS

From hard boiled detectives, giant monsters and super- heroes to the macabre, illustrator Dan Brereton covers it all with his lush and evocative brush strokes. The busy artist shares some of his working techniques.

INTERVIEW BY MIKE MANLEY TRANSCRIBED BY STEVEN TICE DRAW!: So what got you interested in drawing and painting monsters and horror material? Were you into that as a kid?

DAN BRERETON: I started drawing monsters as soon as I could draw. They were the first things I felt I could draw, people never interested me as subjects, nor machines or architecture. I’d draw a hillside full of caves in profile and then fill the caves with reclining monsters. I don’t have a recollection of doing this, but my mom has shown me some paintings that I did when I was two, two-and-a-half years old. She has one that’s a blue, pink and red watercolor. My mom painted a lot back then, and she’d set me up sometimes with brushes and paints. The painting

THE NOCTURNALS TM & © 2003 DAN BRERETON. TM & © 2003 DAN THE NOCTURNALS is entitled ‘Pecos Bill’ because it reminded me, for some reason, of the Disney character. I think just the colors, because there’s really nothing going on in the painting, it’s just a bunch of colors smashed on there. It’s probably one of the first examples of painting that I have. But as soon as I got to the point where I could actually sit down and think about what I was going to draw, it was monsters. I drew horned monsters with big teeth. Little more than stick figures, you know? One day in kindergarten we had an hour to kill and the teacher asked us what we wanted to do, so I piped up and suggested we draw monsters! She wanted to encourage me, I guess, so she indulged the request and the whole class had a ball. I was like the expert and I remember classmates coming to me with their drawings for approval and advice. It was like my first comic book convention appearance in a way. That day must have sparked something. It surely reinforced my love of creatures and the idea of excelling at something. I’ll never forget that day.

DRAW!: So you liked things like the Godzilla movies, I take it? Things like that?

DRAW! • FALL 2003 3 ILLUSTRATION DAN BRERETON

You know what? This is really weird, but I watched Ultraman on a daily basis. I watched Speed Racer, I loved the Warner Brothers cartoons, I loved the Groovy Ghoulies and Scooby-Doo and stuff like that, but Godzilla I could not get into. Because it was just a big rubber suit with a guy in it, and it just seemed really fake to me. And a lot of the Godzilla movies that were out when I was a kid were the ones with little Minya, and the more friendly Godzilla stuff was just lame. It wasn’t cool like Ultraman. I did- n’t draw monsters from films or TV, most movie monsters scared me too much. I had what I guess you could call night terrors or something. I was scared to walk down the hall to use the bathroom at night and would imagine things wanting to get me in the darkness. My parents didn’t leave a single light on in the house at night and it was creepy. Years later when Poltergeist came out, I could totally relate to the scene with the clown, toys and clothing that always looked like devils and creatures in the dark. I would spook the hell out of myself. Its not like I had a bad childhood, either. My parents are great people and they encour- aged my imagination. I just had this over-active imagination, like, to a fault. Comic books were my salvation, I loved super- heroes instantly and I loved stories where they triumphed over the villains. The first comic I ever saw was Captain America battling the Red Skull, drawn by Kirby, I knew I was home. The only time I wasn’t drawing monsters or aliens was when I was trying to draw Cap.

DRAW!: So were you into the Gamera movies at all?

DB: I hadn’t really seen Gamera when I was a kid. See, I got into all this stuff later, when someone in ’95 or ’96 sent me some tapes of the more recent Godzilla movies of the early Nineties, and I was like, “Oh, this is cool!” They’re somewhat low budget, but they’re pretty well done for being low budget, and I really liked what they were doing. And I totally got into them. I completely fell in love with the Godzilla stuff. Old, new, you name it. I bought a Japanese laser-disc of the original movie, the

BRERETON: This piece started with a color rough (center right) that I did as a scribble of a sketch with washes of color, then scanned in. I don’t do color roughs often, but I wanted them to see the color treatment I had in mind because it was important to the composition, which is rather simple. I really liked the pencil sketch for the finish (left)—something about the Baroness’ face really appealed to me. But when I got into the painting stages, I started to feel that, since she is a villain, she ought not to be so cute—it really didn’t fit the feel of the illustration, so she ended up looking much more evil. The tilt of her torso and where I had to crop her chest makes her end up looking much chestier than she would if you could see her entire

torso line—believe me, I wasn’t trying to go crazy there. TM 2003 HASBRO GI JOE © AND

(ABOVE) BRERETON: For this cover to Nocturnals: The Dark Forever, I worked out a pleasing montage and I instantly knew what the color scheme would look like. This is not unusual for me, I tend to get an image in mind in color and rather than try and nail it down on a comp, I let it come naturally. There have been times when this approach hasn’t worked out, but 99% of the time, I have the palette well in mind. If you look closely, you can see I made few changes.

(LEFT) BRERETON: The painting of the rawhide ghost town character, Digger Payne, was something I could have done off the cuff quite easily. The comp for it—done in mono- chromatic blues and ink washes—was kind of pleasing when it was done, but they needed a higher level of finish and warm, autumnal tones, so I gave that to them. I’m still partial to the rough. © Jess Acridge, 2003 , Be Afraid Productions. 2003 , Be Afraid © Jess Acridge,

DRAW! • FALL 2003 5 ILLUSTRATION DAN BRERETON

The Crow BRERETON: The assignment for this Crow image gave me an opportunity to do a little portraiture of Brandon Lee. I started with the prismacolor sketch on the far right—which was originally just the pre- lim sketch—and ended up being the drawing I physically painted over. I fixed the pencils with acrylic matte medium, then painted over it with watercolor and acrylic washes, sometimes mixing acrylic gesso with the watercolor. (I do this a lot to get an opaque or pastel shade) the effect of the water-based medium on the matte medium created a very painterly look without sacrificing a bit of the drawing, which is the backbone of the piece. I also loved how the fixative “bleeds” the prismacolor, making it more brilliant in hue and creating a “soft focus” sort of line. Matte medium is a great way to create an instant surface for painting over a drawing, while protecting the drawing if the painting isn’t going so hot and needs to be wiped off—something I learned from Barron, who often fixed sketches to paint later, or add to a larger piece.

DB: I always wonder about something: look at Walt Kelly, who started drawing Pogo in the Fifties? Forties? Look at the funny animal stuff that Frazetta was doing when he was younger and THE CROW TM AND © 2003 FALLEN BIRD PRODUCTIONS INC. BIRD PRODUCTIONS TM AND © 2003 FALLEN THE CROW then look at Pogo. Is there a correlation there? Was somebody looking at someone else’s stuff? Was Frazetta looking at Walt Kelly at one point? I don’t know. And then you look at Buscema, and there’s so many similarities between Buscema’s work and Frazetta, and you think, was Buscema influenced by Frazetta? And I met John Buscema—I was really lucky to meet him that one year he went to San Diego—and I had a nice talk with him. And I asked him about Frazetta. He liked Frazetta’s work, but he didn’t go on about it like, “Oh, he was so great!” But you got the feeling that he was looking at his work. I always used to wonder if Buscema was inspired by Frazetta. I really don’t know.

DRAW!: I think all of his peers were. It’s hard not to be, because Frazetta was so huge, so popular, but I somehow think

Halloween Girl—BRERETON: Evening is one of my favorite characters to draw. Imagine, after all those years of super-heroes and monsters, first reading about them in comics and then illustrating them, she is really refreshing. The drawing is watercolor over black prismacolor, done at the table of a comic book show. I probably did some clean-up in photoshop, which I’ve taken to doing after scanning art in. I’m never interested in relying heavily on digital tools—they’re just tools. The drawing and painting is always done in the physical world, with digital tools helping to come in at the finish. Maybe after I’ve come to learn it better I’ll be able to do more, but to honest, I don’t mind having a limited knowledge, because I’d HALLOWEEN GIRL TM AND © 2003 DAN BRERETON TM AND © 2003 DAN GIRL HALLOWEEN hate to become dependent on it. 8 DRAW! • FALL 2003 ILLUSTRATION DAN BRERETON

Tarzan’s Jane BRERETON: Colored pencil with watercolor wash. I did this piece in a sketchbook full of depictions of Tarzan’s girl. I was blown away by many of the pieces in the book, but inspired too. This was originally a two-page spread, something I enjoy doing in sketchbooks. After scanning the piece, I used photoshop to play with it, and touch-up the area where the two pages met. The winding trunk shapes and twist- ing vines are prime material for creating a strong composition that carries the eye through the piece from left to right, from background to foreground. Simpler compositions are best—if it’s strong enough, you can build off it and it remains powerful.

house style of comics. The ’60s era style.

Well, look at DC Comics. DC JANE © 2003 ERB INC. JANE DB: and Marvel, you’re looking at the Buscema was more inspired by Alex Raymond and Hal Foster house styles of John Romita and John Buscema, Jack Kirby. than Frazetta. And Frazetta was heavily influenced by them as And then at DC you’ve got Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino— well. It all goes back to the same well. DRAW!: Curt Swan.... DB: Yeah, I think he was inspired by the guys that Frazetta liked, too. Raymond and Foster and Wally Wood... the adven- DB: And Dick Giordano, those kinds of looks. I know I’m leav- ture strip artists. Burne Hogarth, Foster.... ing out a bunch of awesome guys. José Luis Garcia-Lopez. You name it. And they’re being replaced by this other look. And at DRAW!: I think those artists of that generation all were DC, especially, forget about the Image style, there’s this DC inspired by the strip artists; that’s the material that they read as house style now. It’s this sort of really realistic, rendered style. kids. Milt Caniff or Foster or Raymond... the great illustrators And I just look at this stuff sometimes and it just boggles my in the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, etc. mind. John Cassaday and Bryan Hitch, those two guys, I look at their work and I go, “Holy Christ. I’m in the same business as DB: Yeah. I always thought Conan was all Buscema, and I real- these guys?” They’re incredible! But, at the same time, as ly like his Conan. And then you discover, oh, there’s this guy incredible as these guys are, their work leaves me.... From a named Frazetta who painted these Conan covers, and you look technical point of view, I’m stunned, but I get weary looking at at those and you think, “Wow! These are pretty cool, too! it. I think, “I can’t draw, I stink.” [Mike laughs] But the stuff What’s going on here? These guys, do they know each other?” leaves me cold, emotionally. So from a technical point of view, No, they didn’t, but they’re all in the same family. They have I’m stunned, I’m in awe. the same fathers and uncles. DRAW!: Well, there’s not much humor in it... the way there DRAW!: Right. That’s a very good way of putting it. was in Kirby’s stuff.

DB: If you look at, say, the Image house style...when I say that DB: No animation in it. I mean back when Image first started, you had Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane... who was the other guy? DRAW!: Yeah, there was a bit of humor—the old Spider-Man stuff had a lot of humor in it. DRAW!: Liefeld? DB: They’re British. DB: Liefeld, yeah. You look at their work and you see that they established this house look that is still so heavily prevalent in DRAW!: British? Can you explain that? comics. DB: Not really. But it’s rendered heavily, worked endlessly. DRAW!: Well, it basically replaced the de facto Jack If you look at a lot of the other British stuff that was coming out Kirby/John Buscema Marvel Comics style that was the sort of in the late Eighties, early Nineties, guys like Steve Pugh and... DRAW! • FALL 2003 9 ILLUSTRATION DAN BRERETON who drew Grant Morrison’s first book over there? He has a real great style... Steve Yeowell. He had some animation, some humor, some opinion to it. And that’s the stuff that really gets my juices. That’s why I think I like Bruce Timm’s work so much. People who are working on his end of the spectrum get me a lot more excited. I’m juiced to it.

DRAW!: That’s why I really liked what Darwyn Cooke was doing on Catwoman. GATCHAMAN © 2003 TATSUNOKO © 2003 GATCHAMAN DB: Yeah! In fact, I was just looking at that stuff. I actually happen to have a copy of it someone gave me, and I was just looking at that stuff. I love the way he draws figures. There’s some opinion to it, there’s some juice to it, and there’s also this sense of... you’re not just going to be super caught up in rendering. You know what I mean?

DRAW!: Yes. But I think, as an artist... it’s all so personal. It’s your taste, some like detail, some like exaggeration, some sim- plicity. It reminds me of the old Alex Toth argument. Many artists hold up a guy like Alex Toth as being the artist’s artist. Sort of the artist’s ultimate goal/example of less equals more. Yet fans’ taste is often reversed—more equals more, or better. I think, if you’re an artist, your interest in the comic is more based upon your desire, in a way, to emulate your art heroes, your influences—to be able to draw as good as them. In your case, it would be somebody like Frazetta.

ABOVE—Gatchaman—BRERETON: This piece might have worked Yeah. DB: better for me if I’d played with the value more, there needs to be more push and pull in the art so that some of the montage elements don’t conflict with DRAW!: Where I think, to the average comic-reading fan or others for dominance. The only thing that saves it is the varying sizes of the person looking at art, they look at most modern cartoonists figures. At the same time, it has a crazy anime feel to it that I kind of get drawing super-hero books today and they see all this attention to from watching the shows the card is based on, so its not a total disaster. detail, and to the average person, they equate detail with sinceri- ty and quality. That means if the artist was really, really rendered up, his drawing is really good. It’s easy and obvious and stand why it’s important or what makes it great. And Van Gogh, lays there and requires the reader to do little work to complete oh my God. I couldn’t have cared less about Van Gogh before I the connections. There it all is. Not much mystery. got into school, and now I look at his stuff and it is so simply beautiful. It burns with emotion and passion. It has all these things that I guess just took people a while to figure out DB: It means, “Wow, he put a lot of work into this.” were there, just like it took me a while. DRAW!: So there’s always this eternal argument going, this lit- Well, if you go into an art gallery, the work that the tle battle going back and forth, within some artists in the indus- DRAW!: average person would buy is work by someone like Thomas try. Maybe not huge, but I certainly talk with many artists about Kincaid, because to them, they look at it and it’s very detailed this, because the fans never raise up an artist like Toth. The and it’s got all the glowy light and everything—that’s good. artists raise up a guy like Toth as sort of the ultimate—an artist who got really close to perfection in the medium. DB: That’s “good” artwork. That’s like my great-uncle. One day he comes over and he shows me this painting of a boat in a har- DB: Well, you have to get to a certain level as an artist to be bor. It was totally photo-realistic. The watercolor painter had able to understand why it is that Toth is a genius. Just like when obviously taken a photo and tried to do as photo-realistic a job you’re studying art, and your teachers are pushing Picasso on on it as possible. And he shows it to me and goes, “See that? you, and you’re like, Picasso, Van Gogh, these guys sucked! That’s Art.” [Mike laughs] He was basically telling me that what They couldn’t even friggin’ draw! Give me a break! Picasso I do is not ’good’ art because I don’t make it look real. And then draws a nostril in the middle of the face? Well, then you come to of course I show him a panel of my comic where I had taken realize, well, okay, Pablo Picasso mastered drawing the figure some reference and done a portrait of someone’s face, and I said, when he was a boy. He transcended and went up into the stratos- “What about that? Does that look real enough for you?” and he phere artwise. And most people don’t get that stuff. They just nods and says, “Well, that’s good. That’s good, right there.” But don’t have the education, they don’t have the patience to under- basically anything where you use too much imagination is not 10 DRAW! • FALL 2003 THE CRUSTY CRITIC ANDE PARKS

For my purposes, I bought a couple of packs of nibs, which THE CRUSTY came with holders. I had some old pens on hand, but I thought it might be a good idea to buy new stuff, in case Hunt had changed CRITIC them since I stocked up a decade ago. By the end of the testing, I was really thankful for that decision… one of the pens had changed dramatically, and it has become my new favorite nib. Hunt makes a wide variety of nibs, which I quickly nar- rowed down to pens that I thought appropriate for comic book work. Pens were eliminated for being too blunt, or for not being large enough to carry a good amount of ink. A useful pen needs to be capable of detail, and I don’t intend to waste my working day dipping my pen every couple of lines. Here’s a breakdown of the pens that made the final cut:

100—A flexible nib, for use with Hunt’s 104 pen holder, but can be used with the 102 holder, as well.

102—A stiff nib, for use with the Hunt 102 pen holder. This is probably the most popular nib amongst comic book artists. It’s capable of very fine detail, but can be pushed into making some fairly wide lines. This is the pen used by Terry Austin, Erik Larsen, Kevin Nowlan, Jerry Ordway, and yours truly, to name ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN HEEBINK ILLUSTRATION just a few. ©2003 ANDE PARKS 103—A very flexible pen, for use with Hunt’s 104 pen holder. PENS and INK This bouncy pen can almost be used like a brush. You can get a wide variety of lines, but it takes a gentle touch. Beware of ink Greeting, fellow Draw-ers! Your humble critic returns this blobs! issue to give you the rundown on your choices in pen nibs and India inks. I have to admit that I’ve been in a rut for several 107—A very stiff pen, for use with Hunt’s 102 pen holder. years when it comes to these tools… using pretty much the This pen is even stiffer than the 102. It’s wonderful for back- same products, and finding myself fairly satisfied with the grounds or for ruling lines with a raised straight-edge. results. When I hit the art supply store shelves to refresh my knowledge of what’s available in today’s market, I was shocked 108—A flexible, bronze-finished pen, to be used with the Hunt by what I found. There were more choices regarding inks than I 102 holder. This is the pen I was most surprised, and pleased, had imagined, and I was equally surprised to find that, in the with. When I used this pen in the past, it was very bouncy… American market, a single company holds a near-monopoly even more so than the 103. The new version, though, is stiffer when it comes to pen nibs. Even so, I found some revelations and easier to control. This pen is used by Al Williamson and P. awaiting me when I put these products to the test. Craig Russell, among others.

PENS I know… it may look like your humble critic is slacking off, Since I started slinging ink for a living, I’ve used dozens of only reviewing 5 pens. If you search, I’m sure you’ll find other different pen nibs… pens made by Brause, Gillott, Esterbrook, options, and you may prefer one of those alternatives. My focus, Soennecken, and Hunt. At times, I’ve preferred a number of dif- though, is on tools that are widely available. I’m confident that ferent pens, but the one I’ve found myself using most often is you’ll be able to find a pen that will suit your purposes among the popular Hunt 102. When I hit the Internet to see what’s cur- these choices. As always, I encourage you to contact me if you rently available, I found that Hunt dominates the marketplace. I love a pen that I haven’t mentioned. I’m always looking for new did find Gillott pens at one source in the US, www.aoeart- products. world.com, but the Gillotts I tested were not as well made as I’ve provided a visual example which should help demon- the Hunts, and did not offer any unique properties. I’d encour- strate what lines each pen is capable of, but I’ll give you a brief age you to try the Gillotts, but since Hunt pens are so much eas- rundown here, as well. ier to find, and I prefer them, I will not be reviewing the Gillotts I found the Hunt 100 handy, but I prefer the 108 or 103. in depth. This pen falls between those two in terms of flexibility. It han- The good news is that Hunt makes some excellent pens, and dles well, and ink flows well from its tip. If I want a pen with they are widely available. You should be able to find them at this much flex, though, I’d probably just jump to the 103. any arts and crafts store, not to mention a number of internet The 102 is an old standby. I’ve been using this pen pretty retailers. Unfortunately, a lot of crafts stores carry only packages exclusively for years. It handles well, and you can get it to proof a variety of points. That’s fine if you want to try them all, but duce an amazing variety of lines. It’s not especially durable, not practical if you use the same pen or pens every day. The especially if you press down hard. I snap the tips off of these Critic’s favorite internet source, www.misterart.com, offers all pens several times each year, and it’s never fun. At best, you can of the Hunt pens in bulk. If you buy a dozen pen points, you end up with a small ink splatter on your page. At worst, the ink, should pay well less than a dollar per nib.

DRAW! • FALL 2003 25 THE CRUSTY CRITIC ANDE PARKS

PEN INKING DEMO

STEP ONE I asked my pal Will Rosado to provide a copy of a panel for this demo. Will’s stuff is amaz- ingly rich and textural. Check him out these days at CrossGen. Anyway, Will was nice enough to provide several examples, and I chose this one to demonstrate how I might use several different Hunt pens to approach a drawing.

STEP TWO I first hit the drawing with the Hunt 108, using the pen on the main contours of the figures. The pen’s flexibility allowed me to pro- duce some very heavy lines. It’s fine enough for some detail work, but I save the finest figure work for the 102. I plan on doing most of the hair with a brush, but I provided myself some guidelines with the pen.

STEP THREE I did the face on the background character with the Hunt 102, along with the papers. This pen is great for fine work where some variation of line weight is called for. I want to use a dead line for the background elements, so I saved them for an even stiffer nib.

26 DRAW! • FALL 2003 A DIGITAL LIKENESS An interview and demo with caricaturist ZACH TRENHOLM

San Franciscan Zach Trenholm is a busy artist. He’s not only a top, in-demand caricaturist, but is also a scholar of the art form. This interview had to be slightly delayed because Trenholm was fighting a tight deadline for Fortune magazine the very day DRAW! Editor Mike Manley called to conduct it via phone. Trenholm’s easy going demeanor and laugh definitely kept him from “hulking out” over the last minute changes to the illustration he had just e-mailed over to the art director....

This interview was conducted over the phone, transcribed by Steven Tice and copy edited ZT: Yeah, exactly. After getting the art, the art director, Robert by Zach Trenholm. Dominguez, got back to me immediately with an editor’s request that Ellison now be turned into the Incredible Hulk. He DRAW!: So wanted him Fortune maga- appearing angri- zine called er then had been you up this done and as the morning and Hulk it could be gave you a accomplished in quick assign- a timely, pop ment to draw, cultural refer- an illustration ence sort of way. featuring.... I guess the bar- rage of summer Zach movie promo- Trenholm: tionals really Larry Ellison, does have an CEO of the impact. So now software firm I needed to ditch Oracle. the body I had Basically they just spent the wanted ’em last few hours him pointing doing and quick- directly at the ly redo him as viewer or the the Hulk. To be reader and honest, I’m not holding a fist- much of a super- ful of bills— hero artist (even pretty straight- an anti-hero like forward. I the Hulk). But thought I here’s what I could knock it typically do in a out by the situation like requested this: I go straight to the masters, and the master in this case five o’clock East Coast deadline (I’m here in California) and would be none other than Jack Kirby. did. After e-mailing the illo over, I guess an editor got... DRAW!: [laughs] Go find some cool, old Jack Kirby Hulk DRAW!: Got a brainstorm? examples....

30 DRAW! • FALL 2003 CARICATURE ZACH TRENHOLM

ZT: Exactly. Find a Kirby take on the Hulk. Which incidentally Ellison”—you’re going to bring up a lot of image files titled I was able to easily do online. “Larry” or “Ellison” or both that won’t necessarily be him....

DRAW!: Did you try to incorporate Kirby into your style? DRAW!: So you need to try and narrow the search criteria.

ZT: Oh, that’s impossible. ZT: Right, so even though the art director sent me refer- That wouldn’t work at ence, I still always go online myself to see if I can conjure all. For starters, he up anything better, especially any type of candid or off- excels at fore- guard reference. That’s always ideal when striving for the shortening, most definitive likeness. and I’ve never been DRAW!: Do you draw something quickly able to in pencil and scan it in, just so you can wrap mess around with the shapes of his my face, to get down the caricature, the mind likeness? around that too ZT: No, no... I pretty much do a tight terribly sketch. Particularly with the face. The well. rest I can approach like that, such as the body and background aspects.... DRAW!: When did Fortune origi- DRAW!: Now, is this in pencil, or is this on nally call you with the Wacom tablet in Photoshop or...? the assignment? ZT: No, it’s done in pencil on paper, and after scan- ZT: I got a call around ning the sketch into the computer, I convert it into a tem- 9:30 this morning here in plate for tracing over in Adobe Illustrator. San Francisco, so it was around 12:30 there in New York. And the art director DRAW!: Is that what you send to the art director first, or do you send him the sketch? needed it by 4:00 or 5:00 New York time, so I needed to really knock it out. ZT: No, I’m really bad about that. Unless they’ve worked with me before, I probably give ’em a slight case of hives the first time around [laughter]. What I do instead for my own creative DRAW!: What’s your flexibility is, after making sure I’m clear on what’s needed first step? Do you draw concept-wise, I simply just proceed with it and then provide the up a rough and then... do more or less finished illo the first time as a proof. The client you go on the web and try then has the option to make any fixes or revisions as they to find as many pictures of see fit. Most of the time though, things are pretty much the person you are going to accepted without any rework. draw as possible?

DRAW!: So there’s not a lot of back and forth changes, “move ZT: It depends on the art director. In this his arm, move his leg”? case, he supplied me with two pictures basically from one of the same sources that I would have gone to, which is Corbis (an online public access photo archive). Another is Google’s search ZT: Well, never on that micro of a level, but as I mentioned ear- engine for images. lier with Larry Ellison, he went from being simply himself in a business suit to needing to look like the Hulk, or to being the Hulk. DRAW!: Right. So you could go to Google, and search under “Larry Ellison” and hope to find some pictures of the subject. DRAW!: Now, do you charge them extra to do that, because you had essentially already finished the illustration? ZT: Google’s my last-ditch place to go actually, because if what you’re looking for has a common name, such as “Larry ZT: [laughs] It’s interesting that you ask that. No, I never really ABOVE: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison “Hulking out” do that—I lack the business cajonés I guess [laughter]. The from Fortune magazine. majority of my art directors are quite fair and in the particular Fortune LEFT: Neo and Orpheus from The Matrix. case of , they were already paying me a couple of hundred dollars more than normal because of the shorter turn- DRAW! • FALL 2003 31 ZACH TRENHOLM CARICATURE

around. As a matter of fact, when I got the commission, he told DRAW!: So you can keep your portfolio fresh, so to speak? me they were going to compensate me X amount for it and as I thought that sounded overly generous, told ’em to knock off ZT: Well, yeah, but it’s not entirely based on portfolio reason- $100 instead. ing. Speaking of such, I actually don’t even have one anymore. I’ve got my website, and then I have some folders that I slip tear DRAW!: Really? sheets into, but I haven’t had a tangible portfolio, y’know, something you would show an art director, in probably about ten ZT: Yeah, but this was, of course, before I had to re-make him years. into the Hulk. [laughs] So after spending another couple hours or so converting him into the Hulk, I then asked if he DRAW!: Wow. So most people, then, if they want to find out wouldn’t mind boosting it back up to the originally quoted fee. what you do, or to find out the kind of style you have, you are referring them to your website? DRAW!: Do you have a standard day rate for this, do you have an hourly rate that you figure for yourself in case things like ZT: Right. Well, they usually find me—mostly by seeing my this happen, where they go haywire, or do you just have a stan- work. dard way of...? DRAW!: They’ll see your byline and then look you up online ZT: No, I just sort of roll with it. Budgets are generally dictated and give you a call? by the publications and I pretty much take on the jobs that I do based on who’s calling. ZT: Right, that’s usually how it works. I also send out a promo- tional postcard every couple of years or so. That way if they’re DRAW!: And what interests you, I guess? not already familiar with what I do, they’ll hopefully take the time to visit my web portfolio and that will (once again ZT: Yeah, that’s as equally important. It’s basically two things; hopefully) lead to a commission at some point. At least that’s the more esteemed the mag or newspaper, the more inclined the idea behind the nefarious scheme. I am. And then of course it depends on how famous the individual to be depicted is. The more well known the individual, the DRAW!: So, most art directors who you have not worked with more timely the individual, then the more I want to take the before are people who are either coming across your work assignment on. BELOW: Producer Weinstein and directors Scorsese, Rob Marshall and Stephen Daldry done for the Wall Street Journal.

32 DRAW! • FALL 2003 From pencil sketch to Adobe Illustrator—THE PROCESS

STEP 1: Zach’s first step in doing this spot illustration of Cybill Shepard was to compile photo reference of Ms. Shepard. He does this by visiting an extensive clipping file of personal- ities that he has built up over the years and by the Internet, which has become an excellent source for material with its thousands of celebrity shrine or fan sites. After studying the col- lection of pix of her, Zach lets his mind, rather than eye, take over. With regards to likeness and character, it is far more selective and interpretive—retaining what is essential and ignor- ing that which is inconsequential. He usually achieves his likenessess in anywhere from 1 to 5 sketches, although it can sometimes take upwards of 50 sketches to obtain the same desired effect. He states that he knows when a likeness is successful: “It’s when the subject looks more like the caricature rather than the other way around.”

STEP 2: After he gets the likeness where he more or less wants it, he then moves on to the other elements of the illustration, sometimes doing a complete sketch (as he has here with Shepard), but more typically drawing each aspect separately (i.e., head, body, rocket, exhaust clouds etc.) and then later composing the “parts” collage-like, on the computer. Zach finds this way not only faster than working out compositions on paper but that it also allows for unlimited experimentation.

STEP 3: The sketch or sketches are then scanned into the computer for conversion into templates for tracing in Adobe Illustrator. Since time was of the essence in this case, the treatment fairly straight-forward and the magazine familiar with his work, Zach proceeded directly to final art without providing a detailed sketch to the publi- cation. Working digitally makes this possible. He sends all his illustrations, finished or otherwise, initially as “proofs.” If after seeing the artwork the client has any changes or additions, he can easy make those corrections to the original file and send the illustration again. The Power Of Sketching BY BRET BLEVINS

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DRAW! #7 Interview, cover, and demo with DAN BRERETON, ZACH TREN- HOLM on doing caricatures, “Drawing In Adobe Illustrator” step-by-step demo by ALBERTO RUIZ, “The Power of Sketching” by BRET BLEVINS, “Designing with light and shadow” by PAUL RIVOCHE, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more! (96-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital edition) $2.95 http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=431 DRAWING AND DESIGN PAUL RIVOCHE DESIGNING LIGHT and SSHHAADDOOWW By Paul Rivoche

T his time out, I have chosen to outline a few thoughts about while still remaining obedient to the rules of light and shadow. how I approach lighting a design drawing, illustrated by various The artist strives to reveal or “explain” form to the viewer and animation background renderings. My aim is to discuss some of direct the viewer’s eye, not simply to record raw data as it hap- the thinking process behind the choices which were made, not to pens to unfold in nature. prescribe an ironclad step-by-step procedure. As with other An artist has limited means at his disposal, yet wishes maxi- areas of art, the topic is so large that it’s only possible to put mum results. His transmission device is a flat piece of paper down some central ideas—in other words, to outline various and a relatively narrow range of tones. If he slavishly records interesting areas for further investigation. Regarding my com- everything everything he sees, unaltered, whether the source is ments and diagrams, I assume that the reader will have some in front of him or in a photo, he soon discovers that some sort basic understanding of perspective theory and the geometry of of editing is required, that the paper has a two-dimensional lan- forms, because these underly many of my statements. guage of its own that must be taken into account. He discovers that the more marks he makes, the more he tries to copy every ARTISTIC LIGHTING VS. NATURAL nuance of light and shadow, often the less form is described— LIGHT AND SHADOW paradoxically, form can get lost in the confusion and complexi- ty. Some alteration is required, some editing, to cut through the In the real world around us, light and shadow behave accord- clutter. You could term the results of this editing process “artis- ing to inflexible laws. For example, a given geometric form— tic lighting.” It is a process of clearly revealing three-dimen- let’s say a cube—repeatedly lit from the same angle and with sional form by careful placement of light source(s), manipula- the same intensity, will cast the same exact shadow every time tion of highlights, halftones, core shadows, reflected light, and the experiment is attempted. The rules of light will not change cast shadows, and also the removal of extraneous and distract- according to the day of the week, but instead act with utter pre- ing information. dictability. One can verify this for oneself by observation. This Similarly, if an artist seeks to capture an internal vision seen is the natural world which is recorded in candid photography, in imagination (as opposed to drawing from an external model such as news photos—nothing is arranged or altered, but is all or photograph), and describe it clearly and convincingly to the there as nature allows it to unfold. viewer, he also soon realizes the need to understand the rules of In contrast to this is what could be termed “artistic lighting.” light and shadow and the language of describing form on paper. Just as “artistic anatomy” is different than the anatomy which a Without a convincing play of light and shadow across his medical student would study, so too does the lighting which an invented forms, the viewer’s eye will probably not “suspend artist uses differ from the raw light and shadow seen around us disbelief”—will not accept the artist’s invention as real or possi- or in spontaneous photos. The artist’s advantage is to be able to ble. If the artist wantonly ignore how shadows really fall, stub- “edit” the elements of his picture carefully, to arrange and bornly calling any excess “style,” conviction will be lacking manipulate light and shadow to suit a given artistic purpose, because even at a subconscious level, people know what rings true and what does not.

ALIEN COURTHOUSE: This was a development rough sketch done for a key scene in a Justice League episode. The setting was a vast alien courthouse under a dome, with an accused person on trial, a prosecu- tor on a floating pod, a giant viewscreen with alien judges, and an audience of aliens ringing the whole scene. Including all these elements in one angle was a juggling act, so to simplify things I used a surround- ing “frame” of aliens. I varied the lighting on them, with one alien in total silhouette, and the rest with increasing lighting as we go upwards. This gave the viewer some information, but also kept some mystery by not showing them completely clearly. And rather than showing thousands of aliens at once, which would be impossible, I chose to show only these foreground eight up close, and suggested the rest in the far dis- tance by using specks. These foreground ones “explained” the distant ones. For the lighting in the arena, I chose to use a harsh toplight, to create a feeling like a blinding noontime sun—the accused has nowhere to hide. The cast shadow below the accused’s floating pod gave a height indication, with just a little softening at the edges to give a touch of realism. The screen unit where the judges are seen was rim-lit from behind and below, to create an ominous mood.

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