Frank Cho - Genesi di una copertina

L'artista Frank Cho è noto soprattutto per le sue "donnine", ma spesso ci si scorda di dire che è anche dannatamente talentuoso.
Recentemente il disegnatore è stato incaricato di realizzare le copertine della serie Harley Quinn per la DC Comics e ha scelto di raccontarci la genesi di una tavola, in particolare la cover del n. 11.
Senza ulteriori indugi vi lascio alle sue parole.

STEP 1 – I wanted to capture the old illustration look, especially that gorgeous Franklin Booth style. So I sketched out a pose that reminded me of the time gone by, almost like an old wedding portrait.

I always thought the Joker is in essence a knife – straight, sharp and ever so menacing. And Harley should be beautiful with a slight hint of mania lurking behind her eyes. Early on, I decided to make the folds of Harley Quinn’s dress to be the main focus. (Love drawing folds and draperies.)

 

STEP 2 – Once I have the pencil down, I start inking. I always start on the darkest areas of the folds and the shadows first.

I predominately use two pens. I use Micron Pigma pen, size 08, to ink the dark areas. I use Micron Pigma pen, size 01, to ink in the light areas.
As you can see, I vary the line angles and slants to follow the contours of the different folds. This aids in the illusion of depths and highlights of the dress folds.

 

STEP 3 – I started working on the Joker and the curtain drapes, focusing on the dark areas using Micron Pigma pen, size 08.
I continued conturing the folds of Harley’s dress with ink lines, varying the slant of the strokes. I also tighten up the cats and outline them. I decided not to texture the cats and just keep them white which will help them stand out and not get lost in the folds of the dress.

 

STEP 4 – On the home stretch. I’ve finished inking the Joker, Harley and the drapes. Now I have to finish off the couch.
I added in pencil guide lines on the couch, to help my ink lines straight. I later decided to add leafy patterns to the couch which I’ll show you in the final piece.

The funny part was the damn roses and flowers in the vase took a lot longer than I anticipated.

Here’s the final step. I inked in the bat-signal and added the rain effects on the window. I wanted Harley, Joker and bat-signal to be the brightest thing on the illustration, so I didn’t add any texture to their features.
From start to finish, this piece took me about 4 days. But it was worth the effort. :-)

This Harley Quinn #11 variant cover is out this week in all comic shops. I noticed my local comic shops are selling out of this issue with my variant cover so good luck hunting them down.

And with livery….