John G.

Jun 16, 2009

Topic: Arts | Tags: , ,

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Each artist has a certain regiment they follow to create new work, but very few of them are willing to document it, share their process unless directly asked. John G’s blog caught my eye because he visually and verbally shared his experience with creating for new clientele, the challenges and the success of the final product.

He’s clear that layering is important because it allows for, but also thwarts any mistakes. John lays down some groundwork with pencils and loose sketching, he tightens the illustration up with paint and ink, then finalizes the fine details with Micron pens. For his well controlled splatters, he just uses a toothbrush, and occasionally whiteout, which creates a textural effect many other comics lack. The splatters simultaneously work as a grainy gritty element and as the old school dot graphics while his colors add movement. John must have been professionally trained, very few artists nail ‘use of space’ as well as he does. He will box in the illustration, but then allow his characters to extend their limbs into the white border which gives them a breath of life and defiant, powerful attitude.

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John has certainly got his finger on the pulse of upcoming events. For commissioned works, he’ll often incorporate different genres like film noir, or as he calls it “punk noir” and others look similar to paintings by Derek Hess, thick, rugged lines. Like the image above, where he’s used himself and his feline friend Rider as the models. I’d offer up Tank Girl as his influence, but who wasn’t influenced by her? He also experiments with typography, a portion of the project often neglected by illustrators. We’re looking forward to seeing more John G around.

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