Not one to rest on my laurels, this week's installment of Genre City contains two more exciting innovations from The House Of Ben. Okay, I didn't invent them, per se, but this is the first time I've used them. First up, speed lines. How could I personify the natives of Little Tokyo without them? I have to say that during their implementation I was all "Good lord, these look awful," but once I was finished with them and they all came together, I think the overall effect is tight. Those very speed lines necessitated our second pulse-pounding addition to the Birdie Toolbox: gradation. Yes, for the the first time in the history of Genre City, we've got panels that look all computerified. I don't ever intend to use this tehnique on anything other than stylized backgrounds, so don't sweat it. You won't be seeing any metallic effects or subtle cape folds any time soon. Eff that noise. I'm pretty happy with our Japanese Characters this week. By that, I mean the writing. Not the stock characters I pulled from Bleach, FLCL, and, dang I don't know where I got Satoshi's dad from. He sort of reminds me of a cross between Ranma's dad and someone from Metal Gear Solid or something. Who knows.
Also, you might not know it to look at it, but this is probably the first page of many that will be influenced by the page design of one Eduardo Risso. I've been hip-deep in back issues of 100 Bullets this week and it occurred to me that Risso designs pages that have at least one bleed panel (i.e. one that goes all the way to the edge of the page), with most of the other panels situated "in front of it". You can see how I've echoed that technique in today's page. I'm quite fond of the effect so expect to see quite a bit more of it in the days, weeks, months, and pages to come.
Note: The installment in question is only available for free at the above link until the morning of 3/2/2005. After that, it's subscribers only.
Recent Comments