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Saturday, June 24, 2006

Rain for Illustration Friday 

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For this Illustration Friday topic, these old comic pages sprang to mind, so I went thumbing through my old yellowing bromides to find them. This picture goes way back to the second (unpublished) issue of Maelstrom, and was drawn around 1983. Another pic from the same page appeared in a newspaper interview I did at the time.

Once I'd decided I wanted the climax of this story to be in the rain, I really enjoyed experimenting with the approach in pure black and white. Mostly, I used a lot of black and white waterproof inks, but also cut strips of dotty screentone.

The sequence lasted about 7 pages and gets pretty nasty in places, in spite of the pretty artwork. It's also too short in some ways. So, while I think some of these pages are among my best comic artwork ever, I'm not convinced the script is good enough to publish now. There are a few hundred pages of Maelstrom, but only the first issue and serial in Reverie saw print. As the first issue ended on a cliffhanger, there were a few people annoyed that they couldn't find out what happened, but this frame gives a clue at least :).

Rain is a b&w comic artists dream to work with. I may have to do it again sometime.

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Comments:
Heya,

I really like this picture. As someone who dabbled in drawn artwork, I'm impressed by your skill with it.

Regards,
The Other Ian T.
 
This is great work, Ian. I like the simplicity of the lines and the black & white. :0)
 
amazing artwork. congratulations.
AnnaC.
 
Well done! And the rain is a great effect.
 
beautiful...i love yout artwork ...:P
 
here again to let you know how happy I am for finding so many great comments from you!
AnnaC.
 
That's really great! I like how some of the rain/puddles are reversed. very good.
 
this is an excellent B/w illo.
 
very nice, i can almost hear those splish sploshes.
i like how the rain is going on all around her - letting her carry on contemplating under her tree, undisturbed.
she looks very serene.
 
This is really something, Ian! Your rendering of the rain as it hits the water is quite amazing. I also like the little drop that's coming off her hair band. I admire the balance of this piece...just the right amount of dark and pattern. 1983...you must have been a mere child!
 
oh this is so beautiful! her pose is so elegant!
 
Hi Ian! I am glad I can upon this one because I really love this!!! Love the way you captured the rain in the water, the circles. Beautiful!!!
 
Thanks, all! I remember the fun I had making this series of pages and I'm glad that still comes through in this pic. The really waterproof ink inspired me to experiment - I had used white for lettering and touches here and there before, but nothing quite like this.
 
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