I'm pleased to say I have permission to show some details from my paintings for the new 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' game book written by Nick Robinson, this is the follow up to Nick's previous game book 'Countdown Sector 106' from Tin Man Games that came out last year.
The image below shows details from the first 4 paintings I made, in each case you can only see the bottom or top corner of the painting (roughly 1/6th of the full painting).
I have a long way to go and may be able to post more examples later, but I really can't say anything at all about the game book itself at the moment.
But I can tell you I'm being very careful with the details of Dredd's world and hope to create something that fans of Dredd can really take a delight in. I'm scowering the progs to make sure my vehicles, buildings and everything MC1 - is true and consistent to Dredd.
I'll be working on 'The Dark' all summer as I'm doing everything from cover to perp sheets and when I can I'll post more here.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/DREDD-So-far-BUBBA-forum2.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/DREDD-So-far-BUBBA-forum2.jpg.html)
VERY excited for this!
Interested to know how you are creating the art, Bubba? Pens? Computers? Both?
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses over the next weeks and months... :-)
Quote from: SimeonB on 04 June, 2013, 07:21:04 PM
Interested to know how you are creating the art, Bubba? Pens? Computers? Both?
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses over the next weeks and months... :-)
A bit of both, SimeonB, but mostly digital so far.
Those images are giving me vibes of Liam Sharp, John Higgins and even a touch of the McArthy's! Beautiful!
A blog post on a story I illustrated for Zarjaz last year, a story written by Lee 'BABBLE' Robson.
http://wineink.blogspot.cz
Looking good!
Can't wait to play it! :)
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 06 June, 2013, 11:03:23 AM
A blog post on a story I illustrated for Zarjaz last year, a story written by Lee 'BABBLE' Robson.
http://wineink.blogspot.cz
Although, to be clear, I illustrated it last year and it will be published in the next issue of Zarjaz.
Quote from: dweezil2 on 06 June, 2013, 11:12:09 AM
Looking good!
Can't wait to play it! :)
Cheers, I'll let you know when we get any word on publishing the game.
and...to be clear, I illustrated the story at the link above - last year and it is due to be published in the next issue of Zarjaz.
Having see all of that strip- I am seriously looking forward to the next game book. Bubba's Dredd is as good as anything we've had in the prog of late.
I get a Colin Wilson vibe and use the phrase "Old Skool Dredd" to heap praise on the glimpses I see here.
Great stuff.
Don't play the game yet the book might be on my list purely for the art.
Dunk!
Quote from: Dunk! on 06 June, 2013, 12:30:52 PM
Don't play the game yet the book might be on my list purely for the art.
Dunk!
I hope so!
Countdown Sector 106 was great, so I've high hopes for The Dark.
Quote from: dweezil2 on 07 June, 2013, 12:16:06 PM
Countdown Sector 106 was great, so I've high hopes for The Dark.
I'll try and surpass those hopes Dweezil2!
Update on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark':
I have six new paintings nearing completion and I started working up some mug shots. I'm still mulling (and doodling) the direction of the cover design. Last night a portrait came together for one villain and in such a way that I'm tempted to work it up as a large pastel study on paper and then scan it in and work over it in Pshop.
But nothing is 'done' or will be until I see it all together, I'll be hovering over everything in the last week or two, tightening things up, so I have as strong a set as possible. Here and there I've added some nods to progs passim.
Last week I watched some Minty test footage and spotted a reference they had made that was identical to one I had made in one of my first 'Dark' paintings. That was kind of delightful somehow, as far as I know the reference is not in any trailers I would have seen...so a bit of coincidence there.
Any road up, I just wanted to share all that and thank everybody for the kind comments...I'm working round the clock to make the art as worthy of your anticipation as possible.
Time to head back in to the shadows...I'll come back out of 'The Dark' when I have more to share...
That looks great.
Not tried the game yet. I understand the first is now on Android so I might have a wee look.
Quote from: Bat King on 01 July, 2013, 10:01:23 AM
That looks great.
Not tried the game yet. I understand the first is now on Android so I might have a wee look.
That's right, Bat King, now available on Android and others. Details here...
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?cat=51
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/Dred-underwayTHEDARK.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/Dred-underwayTHEDARK.jpg.html)
For artists...or anyone interested in the process.
I've inked and painted with everything over the years but about 13 years ago I started scanning and colouring my inks in Photoshop. I then began inking with PS and it killed my line...or I killed my line. I had just got to the point where I was kinda happy with a sable brush-line and could never quite get that quality...just...right...in PS.
Manga Studio kindly gave me MS EX5 a month or two ago, but the application is quite different from MS EX4...it's a whole new box of crabs in fact, based on an entirely different set of, well, 'everything'. I opened it once, took fright and backed out sharpish. I'll get up to speed with it yet, but not mid-stream on 'The Dark'.
So, anyway, in the attachment image you see here I'm inking over a sketch of Dredd (in action!) for the new game book. 'Inked' on MS EX4, an app I highly recommend and that I've found finally allows for a more brush-like digital line. You can pick up the debut version pretty cheap...and it has almost all the bells and whistles you'll need, more than enough to be getting along with.
Who know's, I may be kicking myself once I get up to speed with MS EX5...but whatever tools it holds will have to wait until after we've put out The Dark.
The latest issue of Zarjaz (18) has a six page Dredd story written by Lee Robson and illustrated by myself. I was working on it right up until I started 'Judge Dredd: The Dark'....so, it's something like a pre-match stretch...
The issue has just been reviewed very favourably I think by Mike Cassidy on ECBT 2000AD... and as far as I'm concerned I'll be keeping in mind the following line anytime I illustrate anything, anywhere again!
'this is how every comic about anything ever produced by anyone anywhere should start.'
That's a keeper...and in our case thanks to Lee's wasting no time getting the party started...0 to 60 in 4 panels :)
... you can read the review here.... http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/combo-review-zarjaz-18-dogbreath-27/
'Draw Along With Bubba' on Twitter....
In this series I plan to share some of the millions of details, re-draws & sweat & tears & gnashings of teeth...that I'm lavishing on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' (That's the new gamebook and sequel to 'Countdown Sector 106' from Tinman) - Anyone interested in seeing the work grow can follow 'The Dark' developments on Twitter here... @BubbaZebill
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?p=3105
Hmm...tried to embed a Vine clip...not sure how to, it didn't seem to work...
Sigh...no dice. Well, for those who don't mind clicking out (such an inconvenience!), here's a wee Vine clip of an even wee'er detail from one painting for the new Gamebook.
Dredd Shoot-Out - Progression from pencil to paint.
https://vine.co/v/heO569FPaAB
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 01 July, 2013, 08:44:00 AM
Update on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark':
I have six new paintings nearing completion and I started working up some mug shots. I'm still mulling (and doodling) the direction of the cover design. Last night a portrait came together for one villain and in such a way that I'm tempted to work it up as a large pastel study on paper and then scan it in and work over it in Pshop.
But nothing is 'done' or will be until I see it all together, I'll be hovering over everything in the last week or two, tightening things up, so I have as strong a set as possible. Here and there I've added some nods to progs passim.
Last week I watched some Minty test footage and spotted a reference they had made that was identical to one I had made in one of my first 'Dark' paintings. That was kind of delightful somehow, as far as I know the reference is not in any trailers I would have seen...so a bit of coincidence there.
Any road up, I just wanted to share all that and thank everybody for the kind comments...I'm working round the clock to make the art as worthy of your anticipation as possible.
Time to head back in to the shadows...I'll come back out of 'The Dark' when I have more to share...
Which was the Minty bit?
During development of Minty we noticed a few coincidences - the Pinky Gang in Tour of Duty with the psi-powered bad guy, the gila munja with the skull in the helmet in Cursed Earth Koburn.
And there was the throat punch and helmeted headbutt from Dredd. People will always come up with similar things especially when drawing from the same source...
Which was the Minty bit?
[/quote]
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/DREDD-ThePhantom.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/DREDD-ThePhantom.jpg.html)
This is a small, tiny really, detail from one of the first pictures I did for The Dark, a block interior. Your clip must have been set up a year or more before I did this drawing. Anyway I caught this reference in the extended footage when you posted it online. I nearly fell off my chair... I don't think this scene made the final cut for Minty?
I really love the test footage and extended chatter.
Ahhh,
yeah the chopper/phantom stuff was in it from the beginning - Steve S did a bunch of graphics, they did turn up in a still I made which was auctioned off as a canvas print at Hi-Ex (2008 or 2009) before Edmund was even cast.
We just went for a load of Easter Eggs in audio and video, even if you don't see it clearly - like the graffiti, the Judge Pal poster, the Uncle Ump Poster, the reference to the first encounter with Judge Death on the radio chatter.
When we did the Thought Bubble cut, none of the CCTV made the cut, I didn't want to rush it so took my time fixing the other stuff.
Originally the CCTV was going to be a continuous shot, tracking into the centre, but you never really got a sense of seeing it, so I ended up just picking the best ones for when it goes full-screen, so I had a couple left over.
Jared who voiced Dredd and arranged most of the other voiceovers asked if we could put up a reel of the audio in full (we had more than we could fit in), so any extra/extended CCTV scenes were used for that.
There were a couple more like a demonstration, but I never finished it because it need a lot of CG, and also we only had a limited number of extras, so you could only really have a certain number of shots before the same faces kept popping up.
Cheers
Steve
Well hats off Steve and to everyone involved with Judge Minty (and I completely missed the Death reference....I'll go back and listen to that now) it's incredibly difficult to do what you did - and so very well. I sent the link to a pal in the states who had first pointed out films like 'Troopers' etc (years ago), he was blown away by the quality of Minty. You proved a hell of a lot in JM...most obviously that the designs as they are in the comic would work in live action.
The extended audio and visuals just show how far you went. It must be bittersweet to edit out all those sequences. I'd be crying into my synth-caf!
Heh, thanks - it's just at the bit where Minty is cleaning his Lawgiver, although it's mixed quite low.
I worked out that Death takes place about two weeks after Minty, which I think is the week after the New Year is canceled episode, and I made the CCTV date reflect that.
I'm not particularly precious about the VFX side - happy to cut it/blur it out if it suits, whatever works best for the film.
Could still do with a snip here and there, but what's done is done.
Daniel did an amazing job taking the costume off the page with minimal changes - gave me a real buzz when I saw someone wearing it for the first time.
Quote from: Steve Green on 25 August, 2013, 10:22:21 PM
it's just at the bit where Minty is cleaning his Lawgiver, although it's mixed quite low.
I went back and listened and realised I had heard the reference first time... but I think I'd missed that the extended audio was in 2 parts. I don't recall seeing part 1 before. Ah...my addled mind.
Minty and Death, Progs 147 and 149, looking back it feels like very different era's somehow. So not only do we see where minty goes but we have a hint at the timeline in the city.
I may be way off here, but Planet Replica's...is Daniel behind that? ...was there any suit designs vaailable (off the peg so to speak) when you started? I only began following your progress quite late in the day and I'm not sure what came first there.
It still surprises me that the helmet is so accurate in JM. After all in many strips it's clear that Dredd's cranium would be quite small and has to be reduced by the artists to make it all work - but it works so well in the film. I've done it too with JD:TD, reduced the skull area a little bit.
Another oddball thing to me is the bike, that could have tanked and yet it was perfect. It would have been so easy to avoid using the bike somehow. Yet you tackled it full on and proved it would work well on film.
We've seen the city drawn a thousand times and again that could have been tired looking or unwieldy but when we see the highways like so many snail trails - I felt it was with fresh eyes somehow. Seeing the expected in an unexpected way, or it seemed to me.
Edmund Dehn is very good, tough, tired, vulnerable.
Yep, basically Daniel was making a helmet sculpt for Steve S - originally the plan was to go more the way Dredd 2012 did, comic helmet with more riot-cop armour.
I can't remember when the decision was made to go comic, but I think it works well - it frees you up elsewhere to be a bit more outlandish, and it also gives you an easier ride from the fans. Same goes for the bike - We reasoned that if everything is a bit retro-looking and just go with it, it kind of works.
It would be different if it was a comic costume riding a more normal bike - you either go one way or the other. In the original script, it just started on a bike crash, so you never really saw it - but I thought we may as well go for it - if it looked crap it could always be cut back.
I wish we'd had a top half of the bike on a gimbal though, that would have been fantastic.
So there were only 2 costumes when me made Minty, which became the dry-run for the Planet Replicas ones - we did shoot the Long Walk ceremony with just 2 and it was a bit of a nightmare.
Shooting people separately against green screen, getting them in and out of costume, rinse and repeat.
In the end we shot it again, as people had the PR costumes by then, so they kindly came down and it made it go a lot smoother - a shame for the original judges, but it looked better in the end.
That's interesting, so it seems supplying JM generated the Dredd costume scene. I hear there will be a squad of 'Judges' on patrol at the con's soon. It's amazing to think the enthusiasm at the heart of Minty is still making its presence felt. Who know's where Planet Replica's will go and having so many judges at cons will certainly generate tons of interest in 2000AD.
Although I really admire the choices they made with Dredd3D (I thought the eagle pauldron was a design triumph), choosing the comic design for Minty was absolutely the right thing to do. The pauldrons are just right, they too could have been too much, but they look right and functional.
If you had the top of the Lawmaster on a gimbal, I imagine that's a prop nobody would want to dismantle!...that would be a keeper.
Only 2 costumes...a nightmare of continuity!
There was a comic con out here in Prague a while back. I wanted to see Minty so much I considered contacting them and an arthouse type cinema to see if they would be open to showing both Minty and / or Dredd 3D (which was not released here). I think real life got in the way and I didn't follow up....or more likely, they both became available...online and via iTunes.
After all these years and 2 major films, Minty is still the only project to prove the concept could work just as it seemed to in the pages of 2000AD. Thanks for going in to it all Steve.
Quote from: Dunk! on 06 June, 2013, 12:30:52 PM
I get a Colin Wilson vibe and use the phrase "Old Skool Dredd" to heap praise on the glimpses I see here.
Thanks Dunk...I certainly hope I can keep that vibe going!..the first time I saw Colin Wilson's work on Dredd was a MC Rackets series. Loved it, especially his vehicles, many years later I found out he'd worked on Young Blueberry, perfect choice of artist. There's something wonderfully Moebius about his work.
...I'm answering very late, I know, I should have followed up your Colin Wilson comment before now.
No problem!
Yeah, it's nice to have a visual presence at the cons. All credit to Steve S and Daniel for getting the whole thing going.
I've decided...if I have time (and it's going to be tight) I'll paint the cover to 'Judge Dredd:The Dark' in oils on canvas.
I love digital media...but damn I miss the smell of paint.
More on that when I get there...
Quote from: SimeonB on 04 June, 2013, 07:21:04 PM
Interested to know how you are creating the art, Bubba? Pens? Computers? Both?
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses over the next weeks and months... :-)
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 27 August, 2013, 04:27:28 PM
I've decided...if I have time (and it's going to be tight) I'll paint the cover to 'Judge Dredd:The Dark' in oils on canvas.
I love digital media...but damn I miss the smell of paint.
More on that when I get there...
Looking forward to seeing that in development and then when it's finished! Hope you have enough time...
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 27 August, 2013, 04:27:28 PM
I've decided...if I have time (and it's going to be tight) I'll paint the cover to 'Judge Dredd:The Dark' in oils on canvas.
I love digital media...but damn I miss the smell of paint.
More on that when I get there...
Quote from: SimeonB on 04 June, 2013, 07:21:04 PM
Interested to know how you are creating the art, Bubba? Pens? Computers? Both?
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses over the next weeks and months... :-)
I like the sound of that ! :thumbsup:
Quote from: dweezil2 on 27 August, 2013, 05:45:32 PM
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 27 August, 2013, 04:27:28 PM
I've decided...if I have time (and it's going to be tight) I'll paint the cover to 'Judge Dredd:The Dark' in oils on canvas.
I love digital media...but damn I miss the smell of paint.
More on that when I get there...
Quote from: SimeonB on 04 June, 2013, 07:21:04 PM
Interested to know how you are creating the art, Bubba? Pens? Computers? Both?
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses over the next weeks and months... :-)
I like the sound of that ! :thumbsup:
I'll keep you posted here, thanks!
Street signage in Mega-City 1.
Does anybody happen to know if there is a designated MC1 font for street signage?...I know it's unlikely, I know...but any suggestion of a commonly used font would help, even one from the film.
If so please post here.
Thanks.
A new painting underway today...sketched last night actually. Trying in each case to find an unusual angle on the descriptions I am given. The scenes should shed light on the story but in some cases I feel I have enough room to not only set the scene but show something beyond the immediate, the wider world.
Any images I post here are mostly extreme close-ups and so cannot reveal anything about the story. Just work in progress to give you an idea of what goes in to the paintings at each stage.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BTkJivZCEAAGVcr.jpg:large)
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/bullethole-copy.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/bullethole-copy.jpg.html)
Do you draw cartoons or comics? ...if so why not think about joining in...
Pat Mills posted (or re-tweeted) a message for comic artists to pitch-in and send a character sketch to Dave Kirkwood of the MOB project this week. I mistook the concept as a request for a 'mobster' type. Anyway I thought up a character I called 'Bullethole' Jackson and quickly drew it up in Manga Studio. It sold immediately. Also, Bullethole was placed shoulder to shoulder with Rorshach by Dave Gibbons (and Dave McKean to the right of him!)....some nice company to be keeping.
The concept is simple, artists send in a drawing of a character and the drawings are digitally aligned on a page by Dave Kirkwood. The page grows into a crowd of comic characters and this 'Mob' is printed and sold to raise money for cancer charities. It seems to have raised an astonishing amount of money before with a previous print.
Although it's an auction one twitterer was so smitten with 'Bullethole' that she paid 100 pounds up front for the drawing as a gift to her husband. I was told I could print it as a 1/1 print but I decided to break out the inks. Anyone willing to put down 100 quid deserves an original.
I bought some paper and a lovely new brush. I knew I had black Winsor and Newton ink so I didn't buy a new bottle. That was dumb because yesterday I started to ink it and realised my ink was so old that it had somehow separated into a black block and muddy water. I've been digital longer than I thought! It still ended up being a nice enough inked picture of 'Bullethole' but I'll be heading back out to my art supplier for a new bottle of ink on Monday. My second version will go to my collector...or at least she'll have the choice of two. The muddy version will go as a bonus piece to Mr Kirkwood in the hope he can sell it a second time.
There are many pragmatic reasons to be fully digital but I miss the materials. I miss the smell of the ink in particular and inking Bullethole was a pleasure. I did it in the car while my wife did the shopping yesterday...it felt good doing good so easily.
You can read more about the project at the link below...and why not consider joining in if you have a few minutes.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mob-print-and-booklet
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/micro-mob-print
http://davekirkwoodstudio.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/micro-flash-mob/
I bought a little sketchbook to rough out some ideas for 'The Dark' (DREDD gamebook 2) while I'm travelling.
Here's a sketch I made with a brush and some Indian Ink on cartridge.
As before, I can only really show what you know will be in the game book...can't really show too much else.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-ink.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-ink.jpg.html)
It's funny to me, but I always have to remind myself that Dredd has aged since I first read the stories. So my drawings begin as a younger man for some reason...and are then aged up a bit.
I really like that about this character, I admire that he ages.
Part of another picture in progress for the 2nd Dredd gamebook.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg.html)
In March I began playing with a walk cycle for this robust citizen, the plan proved too elaborate so I shelved it. I'm now working on something different. But for what it's worth, here it is (See the link below).
(http://2000ad.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/download.jpg?w=627&h=560)
1st 'Fatty' Walk Cycle Test.
https://vine.co/v/hjrYvUaFXQ1
A few months ago I was in London for the launch of my comet storybook app and Marcus Charter was our photographer for the day. We soon realised a mutual appreciation of 2000AD growing up. Marcus told me he was shooting pictures the next day based on Dredd. This is one of the pictures, so if any uniform-owning fans want a definitive picture of themselves in costume...call Marcus.
Charter Photography
+44 7778 919589
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1403288_658056764232812_1558338342_o.jpg)
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-Leap-BubbaZebill.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-Leap-BubbaZebill.jpg.html)
This was the backdrop to the final page of a story I illustrated for Zarjaz (written by Lee Robson). Anyway, I drew this backdrop and planned to drop all the panels on it so the reader would see Dredd's actions, with him leaping at centre of the page, under the panels the perspectives would heighten the sense of...but it was a total failure, didn't work. It neither read right or looked particularly good. Well, no, it looked ok, it just did not serve the story. I decided I'd drop it and paint it some day...and that day finally came last week as a warm-up for new JD:The Dark paintings.... I'll post more work from The Dark in the new year, meantime, merry crimbo everyone. BubbaZ.
Blimey! Some brilliant work on show here Bubba!
I'm only able to post a fraction of the work, so I'm delighted you like what I've shown here, Pete.
I'm working on a high-speed pursuit now and cover-art concepts and I have plans to paint the cover in oils...if time allows... Best wishes in 2014!
An interview about my work on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' over on ECBT a wee while ago... http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/interview-with-bubba-zebill/
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 31 December, 2013, 01:19:13 PM
An interview about my work on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' over on ECBT a wee while ago... http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/interview-with-bubba-zebill/
Good interview -
QuoteI was lucky to do my college work experience placement with Jim Baikie in Orkney. So I think I spent 12 days with the Baikie's and it was just incredible to be able to do that.
Bloody hell, that's what you call a good start! It shows too, some lovely artwork there.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 December, 2013, 07:41:39 PM
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 31 December, 2013, 01:19:13 PM
An interview about my work on 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' over on ECBT a wee while ago... http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/interview-with-bubba-zebill/
Good interview -QuoteI was lucky to do my college work experience placement with Jim Baikie in Orkney. So I think I spent 12 days with the Baikie's and it was just incredible to be able to do that.
Bloody hell, that's what you call a good start! It shows too, some lovely artwork there.
It was a great start, I have very fond memories of that time...and the view of Hoy. I think Andrew Wildman told me he worked with Jim as well, in much the same way. I remember Jim telling me he believed it was vital that young artists had some help to get a foothold in the industry. There should be more men like him, I can't speak highly enough of him.
I'm managing to push a few things forward today. I wasn't going to open 'The Dark' again for a while. But I need to design a cover and I have a few interior illustrations that are still just sketches. I keep thinking I can't share the best of this work because the game calls for so many reveals, so being a spoiler-hater, I have to hope that the images will be appreciated during play alone.
But one sketch I'm looking at now can be shared, in part at least, it's another Dredd v Perps painting and I'll post some examples as it progresses.
Keep up the teasers Bubba, it's looking increasingly awesome! :)
I will Dweezil2 and thanks for the good word, it's always encouraging.
I just posted the following page on my twitter feed (@BubbaZebill)...it's not for 'The Dark' - but it was the 'warm-up' that I needed to get the project started, a Zarjaz story (Z16...I think). It gives some idea of the acceleration and perhaps the kind of inking that I may use in some of the B/W mug shots in the game. Although I did try and draw this story to look like 'old school' Judge Dredd. My hand may be a bit different for the game.
Anyway, best wishes in 2014 Dweezil2, and to anyone reading this thread, make it your year people, make the best of it. (...if I didn't say that already...which I don't think I did...but I suppose I could simply check the thread...but that would be too damned easy)
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/DREDD4-for-ZARJAZ-copy2.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/DREDD4-for-ZARJAZ-copy2.jpg.html)
Lovely stuff Bubba! :thumbsup:
Have to hunt that issue down! :)
All the best for you in 2014 too! ;)
Silly me. I just realised I should have made it clear when I posted these before, this is the sketch in Indian Ink on my sketchbook followed by the same detail but now a finished illustration. Speed of execution and material can make huge differences to the outcome of a picture.
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 24 September, 2013, 09:17:13 AM
I bought a little sketchbook to rough out some ideas for 'The Dark' (DREDD gamebook 2) while I'm travelling.
Here's a sketch I made with a brush and some Indian Ink on cartridge.
As before, I can only really show what you know will be in the game book...can't really show too much else.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-ink.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-ink.jpg.html)
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 14 October, 2013, 09:53:34 PM
Part of another picture in progress for the 2nd Dredd gamebook.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg.html)
Is this going to be about a new Judge Dredd computer game?
YEs ThryllSeekyr - Tin Man Games are producing a 2nd Judge Dredd game book for iPad, Android etc... I've been asked to illustrate it. Where possible I share certain image details here of my daily work. In most cases the full pictures can only be seen in the game, but where there are no spoilers I will show full paintings (with permission).
We don't have a firm date of release yet, but we hope to launch it this summer.
I could have waited until 'The Dark' was complete before illustrating it. But then time would be very short and while a tight deadline can bring the best out in a person, I consider illustrating MC1 a special opportunity and something to lavish time on. So I set out to make each illustration stronger than the last, and that can be time intensive. Time will tell if that has worked.
But it's not all I do, I am also working on a graphic novel, a very different subject and style. Today I laid out the first 60 completed (inked, painted, lettered) pages in InDesign and I think it's working out just fine. But again, only time will tell.
I've been working on mugshots for the new Dredd gamebook, I did the mugshots on the 1st Dredd gamebook, those were different in style from what I'm planning now. I can't show the new ones but I'll post a few of the old ones in a few minutes.
Professor Jonas Tuko for Judge Dredd Countdown Sector 106
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/ProfJonasTuko.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/ProfJonasTuko.jpg.html)
Judge Dredd Countdown Sector 106
http://gamebookadventures.com/gamebooks/judge-dredd-countdown-sector-106/
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/78b6fc5a-070c-4128-9e2e-b15adbca9912.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/78b6fc5a-070c-4128-9e2e-b15adbca9912.jpg.html)
Judge Dredd Countdown Sector 106
http://gamebookadventures.com/gamebooks/judge-dredd-countdown-sector-106/
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 06 January, 2014, 02:37:07 PM
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-ink.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-ink.jpg.html)
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 14 October, 2013, 09:53:34 PM
Part of another picture in progress for the 2nd Dredd gamebook.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/dredd-twittertagcopy.jpg.html)
[/quote]
Woah, this totally reminds me of the Dredd megaspecial with the Bolland cover...
Cheers Pete, that's a very fine compliment, Sir...one I'll bask in for a while. I don't know which cover that is (but I'm sure I'll know it when I see it). Do you have a link?
When I was a kid, Brian Bolland was my favourite artist on Dredd...but these days I cannot make up my mind. Each artist brings so much to the stories, I'm a huge fan of Mick McMahon....and this whole new school blow my mind. Tharg deserves the credit maybe...in not setting a house style at the outset. It's enriched the stories so very much, never a dull moment.
Must admit though, I keep going back and reading (and re-reading) Block Mania and The Apocalypse War. I think it's the very best of Dredd...and that's saying something. And Carlos Ezquerra's work on AW just gets tougher, better, meaner with every passing year. This is one reason I posted 2 inked versions of that Dredd, one going in a Bolland direction, the other in an Ezquerra direction...because I'm torn. And that script...jeso... 'I would die a thousand times before I betray my city' 'I'd settle for just once.'
Thanks again for the kind feedback, it does spur me on, I'll be posting more sketches soon.
This one Bubba, I couldn't post it yesterday cos I was on my ipad:
(http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/1378483.jpg)
Oh boy, yep, that's an absolute stormer Pete! I know that one of course. One of the things I definitely like about Brian Bolland's Dredd is the lower lip and chin in profile. The chin is not all that big but the lip juts out so unnaturally...I have no idea how that was arrived at but it's a brilliant characteristic. A good example of which is the Block Mania cover with Dredd, Max Normal and a medic....prog 240.
DREDD ...coming together in layers in Photoshop. The final black layer is an imported ink page from Manga Studio.
https://vine.co/v/h5OrvLi5AMU
Yesterday I looked again at a picture for 'Judge Dredd: The Dark' that I had not looked at in months. An action scene that was ambitious and failing. I had been unhappy with it, only small parts of it seemed to be working...the break did me well, I could see a way through and finished it up to my satisfaction.
A new set of descriptions popped in to my mailbox last week from Nick, so it's back to work on the Gamebook 'Judge Dredd: The Dark'....I'm particularly excited about a nightmarish mutation that I have to dream up...I may eat some cheese tonight and sleep on it :)
Work in Progress detail...blown up out of all proportion.
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/Dredd-for-Tinman-JDf.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/Dredd-for-Tinman-JDf.jpg.html)
Anyway interested in collecting an original inked picture of Dredd need only enter Mick3666's charity raffle...details here. http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,40130.0/topicseen.html
I sketched and inked this picture today as a prelim for Judge Dredd:The Dark....it's inked right up to the border, and it's Super A3 size...so it's a big one. I made this for a great cause, to raise funds for Acorns Children's Hospice.
So, enter the raffle NOW and it could be yours!
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/Dredd-for-Hospice.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/Dredd-for-Hospice.jpg.html)
Sadly I have run out of time and won't be able to paint the cover in oils. I wanted to, I planned a rather big picture on canvas. The advantage of oils is that I could create very realistic effects and also show lots of textural detail. Similar can be done with digital of course...but it's just not the same somehow.
The disadvantages are expenses really. I'd have to hire a photographer for the painting and materials costs are also a pain...but the real expense is time. There just isn't the time, I thought there might be, but here we are ploughing through March and I still have several pictures to finish....so, no way.
The good news is that I have lavished time on the interior illustrations. I've gone to great detail so that fans can return to the images and find things they may have missed first time around. I've tried to touch on styles and visions that have made this series great over the years.
I can't complain, I'm paid to pour over the progs every morning to look and see how the best of the Dredd artists have designed his world and it's people. I've tried to evoke all of that by picking through so that fans will see (hopefully) the mean average of a MC1 building, droid, bike...etc. From the get-go I've wanted the pictures to look like film production work...although not sure I've achieved that, it's always been on my mind.
In addition I have a pretty tidy design for the cover now, that, with luck, should attract non-fans alike. That's my hope anyway...and one day, maybe, I'll get a chance to justify an oil painting.
Later today I'll post a detail of a mugshot and for the first time I'll try and show how it will sit in the context of the over-all picture on an iPad. Apologies to those who were hoping to see a painting in progress.
Here's a tiny, tiny mugshot detail for you...have a good weekend folks. (BTW this image will be no more than 3cm across when it pops up on your iPad...so it should be quite striking once you see the whole painting...which I can't show you, like so many it'll be for those who buy the game book only. :( ... )
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/Dredd-Dark-detail.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/Dredd-Dark-detail.jpg.html)
Enjoying reading these updates and your drawings are quality, thanks for showing us your processes and sketches :D
Hey thanks for saying Bobblehead. I'll make sure to post from thumbnails to finished work in future.
A little about the process. I sketch in Manga Studio and then ink before exporting for colour in Photoshop. Here and there I punch up the texture with pictures I've taken of textures. Most of my holiday snaps in Dubrovnik were in fact texture shots for example. Most of those are of no use in 'The Dark' but will come in handy if I do anything historical.
I've been collecting 'industrial' textures for The Dark. Last summer I found an incredible machine on the riverside, a pile driver / tractor of some kind, a rare find. It was covered in odd colours and Chinese decals, I couldn't believe my luck. It was a Sunday and, with no one around, I climbed all over it snapping its gears, levers, platforms, hydraulics...its been very useful in various illustrations.
There's an enormous factory about 60km from me, I'll be riding out there soon as it has been described to me as very like a dystopian future city, so it could be handy. Today I'm working on a character that is about 30% 'Czech lamppost'...I do wonder if any Czech gamers who load The Dark will notice.
Working on the cover design today....unashamedly trying to pay homage to a master in the process.
So far so good....the cover art is sloooow going. A different kind of pace all together.
In addition the artwork above in ink has now been imported and is more of a base for the cover than I'd planned. I like the inking on the arm leather...so that and the glove are now (for what it's worth) cover art.
It was only intended as a sketch...not so now....now it's actual cover art.
AND you can win it....and / or a place in the game as a perp mugshot (illustration) - to do so goes to the link below and buy a raffle ticket...good luck.
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,40130.0/topicseen.html
Getting there with the cover design now. It's taken more time than expected, that always seems to be the way. But so far so good.
I designed a small action element for the cover that hints at a story element that I've not yet illustrated. Only, I ended up liking it so much that I'm going to now open a new file and build up that interior illustration today.
It's beautiful outside and I can hear the birds, and thankfully 'always barking dog' seems to have been put-down, fed...or god forbid - taken a bloody walk. Poor thing, not the mutt's fault.
...anyway, my mountain bike wants the trails and I'm kind of leaning that way too. But first I have a Lawmaster to let loose...or depict at least.
Another finished illustration, this one is probably the most cinematic, quite pleased.
Bike time, I can hit the trails now knowing when I get back I'm starting something new.
(didn't get out yesterday after all)
Cover painting completed....thanks to the rain, I didn't go out. I love bad weather.
I'm using a slightly different technique today. The illustration has a lot of strong shadow and I'm basically polishing up the sketch (I'll explain in detail if anyone's interested in reading about the method)which I didn't think would work, but has left me with some rough and energetic line art...I kinda like it...so far so good.
I'm listening to 'You Are Listening to Los Angeles'. A very interesting musical project in which ambient music is played over live police broadcast. A perfectly apt backdrop to illustrating Dredd on the beat (down).
++ITEM++
http://youarelistening.to/losangeles
It's been a cracking day here all day, blue sky, warm...I just sat down to draw and it started pouring, the Gods are with me on this one!
One of the people who entered the charity raffle won a make-over of sorts, and will feature as a criminal mug-shot in Judge Dredd:The Dark (Gamebook) that I'm drawing and painting now. Funds were raised for Acorns Children's Hospice. A damned good cause I think.
This is the last game book picture I'll be posting.
But the winner was Mr David Page...
(http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/opipop/DREDD-MUTANT-Mug-copy.jpg) (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/opipop/media/DREDD-MUTANT-Mug-copy.jpg.html)