Concept: Nightmares in Neon

March 8, 2011

Having some free time today I felt like experimenting a bit, this being the result:

Antagonist Baby Face in a suitably menacing pose. What's in the case? You'll have to wait and see...

Again it seemed a cold mood was in order so I used a similarly restricted palette of blues to my previous concept of Scratch but placed all the focus on the character – Baby Face – and removed scenery altogether going for a super abstract silhouette. Having recently read Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye I suppose this started out as an attempt to emulate him to some degree, however I was also considering the dark suited villains of classic Noir and the way their presence would be emphasised through high contrast lighting and threatening shadows.

I added the highlights around his figure via computer on a whim as it appeared a little too stark against the coloured background with just a pure black outline – perhaps not an entirely successful effect but one which adds a greater sense of atmosphere and menace I think. Additionally I’ve included the basic black & white version below for comparison. Note the walls and slightly different arm/body shape, changed for the better I felt but then I quite like the original’s simplicity in some ways.

Original hand drawn version of 'Nightmares in Neon'

Which do you folks prefer?

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Posted by Ozy

Concept: Baby Face redux

March 4, 2011

Of all my concept work the previous design for one of my villains ‘Baby Face’ received some of the harshest criticism, specifically in relation to the clothing. Even I’ve got to admit that in retrospect it was a terrible drawing, both in terms of the idea and its execution. Keeping what worked (the head) I decided to ditch the silly army-meets-Halloween vibe of the previous design and attempt to integrate the noir aesthetic I’ve been exploring more thoroughly, hopefully creating a shared style and set of influences amongst characters.

Generally I was thinking of Orson Welles’ in The Third Man when I was drawing it and how his dark suit in the role of Harry Lime gave the character a sort of ominous presence during daylight, while allowing him to disappear into the shadows during darkness. It perhaps makes the name connection with infamous bank robber ‘Baby Face Nelson’ more apparent too thanks to the fashion resembling that of his era. I’m also particularly pleased with how the old and new sensibilities mesh, the outlandish Cyclops’ eye and blank face lurking beneath the shadow of a trilby, not immediately apparent until you get closer keeping firmly in line with the cyberpunk tradition (yes again) of putting a strange spin on the familiar.

Admittedly having a villain in a dark suit is somewhat clichéd, but this isn’t necessarily for the worse; Baby Face is a henchman, someone doing the nasty work for the one who’s really pulling the strings. Being stereotypically monstrous simply furthers misdirection in the plot and all being well will stop readers guessing the ending and the true villain of the piece so easily.

So please, forget I said anything ;)

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Posted by Ozy

Concept: Fraison

March 3, 2011

Within the story world I’m currently writing, Professor Jasper Fraison is a key figure who is both respected and hated by the populace in equal measure. Having helped kickstart the cybernetic revolution he’s essentially the one thanked/blamed for making the first true cyborgs a possibility. In an attempt to steer away from more unfortunate mad scientist clichés I deliberately made him quite bland compared to the other designs, the intention being to have someone who wouldn’t look out of place on the street today – just an aging man with a lifetime of regret behind him who happens to be a genius in cybernetics…

On a related note; excluding a few other minor characters this concept marks the last design for my comic’s main cast! That’s not to say tweaks and redesigns aren’t in order here and there (because they are) but with this I have solid foundation on which to build and experiment, taking me one step closer to production :)

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Posted by Ozy

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