Behind the Scenes: Green Lantern brings the Android Invasion!

BEHIND THE SCENES is where we take a look at the early steps taken to create the finished artwork featured on PixelReason. I will always try to include some insights as to why I made certain creative decisions during the process leading to completion and also share some of the techniques I used to create the piece featured. 

(Click images for larger view)

 

Tools: Once again, I used my basic set of "on the go" tools. 9x12 sketch paper with a Pilot Precise v7 (fine tip) Rolling Ball pen (aka my high school pen) and a black sharpie. For PixelReason, I'm trying to keep things relatively fast and simple (...sort of simple).

Point of interest: In comic books, you'll usually create stars by inking an area solid black, then spattering opaque white ink/paint onto the black to make the stars. But I didn't want to do that because I had two things in mind that this unconventional approach would make it easier for me accomplish:
1.) To blend in some great blue gradients into the space sky to give it more depth (instead of just a flat black).
and more importantly:
2.) To use the lines that were used to draw the flying "droids" as green glowing outlines when I colored the piece. If you were to fill in the sky with black, you would lose the "outlines" and I would have nothing to make solid glowing outer lines around the droids. Less work? Yes please and thank you.

So with efficiency in mind, I just took my sharpie and started not-so-randomly-but-still-looks-randomly "dotting" (there's bigger words for it, but who really uses them in real life. PixelReason likes to keep it real) the sky area.

After dotting the sky and then consoling my poorly-treated sharpie, I was able to take the image into  Photoshop and simply turn all those dots into white glowing stars. After that, I turned all the line work for the droids into glowing green lines and then threw some black onto the background and then added blue gradients for depth.

The detail and line work on the droids were kept very very simple on purpose. This was to give the feel of simplicity (almost goofy childishness) that you get when you look at the ever cute and slightly funny looking Android. Then in contrast, Green Lantern (as well as the planet) was made to be much more dynamic (Green Lantern's pose, detail, line weight variation, etc). So you end up getting this great mix-match of serious and playful.

That's what made this piece very enjoyable for me to create. It was a putting together of different worlds to create something really fun.

Hope you guys enjoyed my first Behind the Scenes. If you liked it, please let me know in the comments below!

Green Lantern ©DC Comics. Android ©Google.