My first short story is completed for issue #17!
Okay, so I’m super aware I’m posting less than I should be so going to try and to do shorter blogs that will capture what I’m up to.
Maybe with bullet points. Kinda like an interesting Powerpoint presentation? Hopefully?
Anyways, the first short story for issue #17 of Lloyd and the Bear is all done. I’ve mentioned this before that my plan for the book is to do a series of short stories told by different characters who have met Lloyd and Bear. As they’re telling the story from their perspective the story drifts a bit from reality and it’s allowed me to use different art styles and looks for each short – which also means I can ape the style of creators and characters that really inspired me through the years. So it’s a love letter, right?
The first short (which really shaped how all the stories would look) was a nod to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
And whoa, this took me an age to do! First, getting the style right…
I had thought first to go with a more hand drawn look but then figured it looked like bad fan art so went more with my own style but trying to roughen it up a bit (‘Roughen it up’? Is that a thing?). Then came the colouring…
I wanted to go with B&W but realised I couldn’t do the style used in the original TMNT comics so went with shading having put together a new palette of greys but stopped short on my first attempt as it felt like three/four levels of shading just wasn’t working.
The final panel I pulled back on the levels of shading but it wasn’t until I finished did I realise that Bear pretty much looked like a Ninja Turtle but with ears added so I went and made his head more angular!
Seriously, this took me so long BUT it put me on a path for the rest of the stories!
More soon! Bear hugs!
PS. I typed this all up last week but never posted it. Still working on getting content out…
PPS. The alien snails telling the story are from an old comic I drew as a kid which had a snail as a super hero with gadgets in his shell (yes, very Inspector Gadget). As it turns out, snails don’t see colour so the B&W short totally works! Result!
