Art Inception - From Sketches to Comic

Hello there,

In this post I want to show you some of the initial sketches for my comic Shades Of Men. I already posted over a hundred pages on Steemit but please don't let that scare you. It's an easy read that I posted in chunks for the past few months.

I started drawing this comic back in 2012, it tells the story of Lev and Ricky, two homeless guys in modern Paris. As they meet a teenager kicked out from home, they decide to help him survive from a life in the streets.
The story is an action adventure with humour and drama. I really packed everything I love in it. So it means the world to me.

Some of the sketches you're about to see were drawn as far back as 2004! The whole project really matured with me over the years. It gathered bits and pieces from various source of inspiration like movies, comics, and personal experiences.

Now you know more about the background for these sketches and why they are so important to me, so let's jump in- Shall we?

This is the very first sketch showing my characters Lev and Ricky together. That was in 2004, right after completing a five page short story including a hitman that looked just like Lev... The story was taking place in North American city at the time and I was experimenting with crowd scenes...

Now here's a scene in Shades Of Men with a similar crowd scene to compare both. I'm still using the same technique but I think there are more details on the clothes and proportions are probably a little better. It hasn't changed that much in the end...
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This one shows the villain I had planned. What an ugly face!?! I drew this in 2011 while preparing the scenario. I had a vague idea of the plot and the villain's motivations but more came afterwards.

The funny thing is that this main villain split into two! You might recognise the face of Kilkarni from Shades Of Men as you can see below. But the suit and the business man attitude has shifted to another character you'll see below.

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And here he is Mr Pomerec a heartless casino owner that will be causing some trouble. I was working on face expressions and age below.

Here's Mr Pomerec in the comic with the suit and tie as in the previous sketch.

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This one is brutal. First attempt in color and it starts good. It would have needed some polish but the software I was using was pretty basic. I still managed a blurry effect that gives a nice atmosphere to the scene. Maybe I should use that more! ;-)

And that was the version in the comic. Not as bloody as the concept art. I had to match the blood intensity according to the previous scenes. And unfortunately (Or fortunately...) it was not hours of beating up, Tarantino style.

Is used brush pen for this one giving it an organic look. You gonna say out of context this is a strange vision. I don't know how I came to that. Kof... Kof... Lev means Lion... Kof...Kof...!

And the final one with the purple tint. One of my favourite scene. Once again, very strange out of context!

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With this final sketch I tried to convey the urgency of this chase in the metro. Once again brush pens with an experiment on colors.

The final version leave less space for experiments but the content is here. You can even notice the guy with the headphones passing by.

I can point out that for most of these, I haven't pulled back the old drawings for reference. I kept it all stored somewhere in that brain of mine. Without paying attention. That's funny how the brain works.

And when I think of all the tips and tricks to stay creative. It almost feel like you're trying to control a wild beast. Having no idea where it would go next. It takes time my friends... It takes time and effort.

Let me know what are you thoughts of this progression blog. Leave a comment below if you feel like it. More sketches, illustrations and story telling on my profile.

See you on the other side,

Jrej

Thanks. It funny how every sketch as an almost identical comic version.

I've always been very inspired by movie for my content and we have a lot of American blockbusters that all take place in huge us cities. I also considered Moscow because of Lev's origins. At some point I realised I should write about what I know that way the setting could be more than passive background.

For Lev concept art I would have to go back between 2001 and 2004 when I drew the character again and again on shool notes margins. Lol. I'll dig through it. I can say he wasn't always black and white in my mind (maybe purple-ish) but I would always use a black fountain pen to draw him!

I'll have to do a specific blog post about that!