[ewhite]

It is that time again Tribe Members. It's time for another amazing coloring challenge!! This time we have some amazing art from one of my most favorite stories by one of my most favorite artists, Steve Bryant.

Click on the above picture to download the file

You may (and if you don't...you should) know Steve from his work on his books Athena Voltaire (for which he was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2005), Ursula Wilde (which is currently being drawn by my good friend Jun Bob Kim) and/or his work on 24: Cold Warriors. Scheduled this year he's also set to release the comic adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Canterville Ghost. His classical style is deeply inspirational to me and it's a thrill for me to work on art work. Steve has presented up his take on the Rocketeer. I love that story and design or the characters. Plus...any story that centers around a flying daredevil beating the hell out of some Nazis is always Aces in my book! Steve has really outdone him self with this amazing piece and I can't wait to see them start to come in colored.

HiFi Coloring Challenges have no deadline and no expiration date. If you are still working on a previous challenge...don't worry about it. If you've come across this thread months from now you're still welcome to participate. These challenges are just here for us to be able to improve our skills at coloring by utilizing the Hi-Fi Color For Comics book. If for any reason the link to the artwork does not work, PM me and I'll help you out.


~there is no emoticon of a rocket...so this mustache man will have to do!

[kevinjconley1]

first off, hats off to Steve Bryant for this homage to Dave Stevens coolest creation! I'll probably catch hell coz the background is too warm, the highlights in (Bettie's) hair are kinda extreme, and I had a hard time with the color holds, and the montage-how to focus each part of the poster without disturbing the main shot of the Rocketeer? I hope I accomplished this!
I left the bottom edge of the image washed out of color to remember Dave Stevens and Bettie Page, if in bad taste will edit.



-Kevin Conley

[Aconic]

Honestly, I know next to nothing about the Rocketeer, I've never even seen the movie. I will have to change that soon.

That said, I did some research, but really wasn't so sure how to approach this image in terms of what I wanted it to feel like. So, I just sort-of went for it and made decisions as I went along. Especially that doghouse building. Wasn't sure what to do with that at all - and probably should spend a little more time with it.

I look forward to any comments you may have.

This post has been edited by Aconic: 19 October 2009 - 02:23 AM

[Aconic]

Hi Kevin,

Solid work as always! I especially like how you rendered the faces, Cliff has some really nice character features in the lips and chin. He reminds me of some actor, but I can't think of who - which is probably a good spot to be in for rendering faces.

Also, I personally think leaving the lines in (and the white border) was a fantastic idea design-wise, and gives the piece a sophisticated feel - like a print or poster.

I don't mind the warmth of the piece at all, I'm just not sure about the flatness of the background. It works above the Rocketeer, but I am less sure under him. But as I write that, I do feel it makes sense in the context of the reference to Dave Stevens' art.

Two areas I do wonder about though are 1. the texture in the blue sweater. It looks very similar to the dog building to me, and so I read it more as marble or concrete then wool. and 2. A few of the blue cuts on the girl's face and on the Rocketeer's helmet don't quite feel right. They read a little flat and I'm getting hung up on the lighting.

Just some thoughts, I hope they are helpful. But I definitely dig your take on the piece and your design choices were great.

Cheers.

This post has been edited by Aconic: 19 October 2009 - 02:27 AM

[kevinjconley1]

Thanks for the comments, A! Not sure about the lighting/cut errors-on the main image I lit as if he was heading towards a light source straight on, with the cool side behind him-glow from rocket beneath right arm and torso-the bottom left image I lit from left above, with the cool side on the right below, same with the bulldog, the final image I lit from above, with cool side below-the texture application to the building, sweater and road were all different past ins-I tweaked some flaws with Bettie-thought Steve had her lips pursed, as if blowing a kiss-so tried to light that way-but may have failed. I went with Steve's guides to frame the image, and just left the bottom inch uncolored.

I like your image! It has a painted feel with a style similar to a good friend of mine that paints, John Rocca. Looking forward to the next challenge!

[leonard.bulos]

nice work! the color came out great. the fire of his jet pack is a nice bright color as it should be. how the light hits everything is awesome!

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Looking good. Can't wait to see more.

[kirisute]

heres one from the noob! LOL


tried to get the light sources a bit better on this one, but struggled with the various faces etc...tried to keep the main rocketeer more complex and saturated to focus attention.
gave it my best shot though and im happy with the result overall....

[alphatrope]

First attempt at coloring in a long while. I did some digital coloring in the mid nineties until Mike Grell called me up and yelled at me for ten minutes before realizing I wasn't the guy he was angry with. Then the company I was doing colors for went belly up.

[steveart81]

Finally got some time to finish this up.