Page 13- Action, Style, Motion, Camera Angles and Fluid Motion.

This page is something I am really proud of in the original execution, and I am really happy with the inks which took the pencils to a new level.  In particular the head shot panel – keeping track of a shattered skull is not easy!  The final panel with the blood arc from the face is also a highlight for me in finding motion in still life. 

I also really kept the camera moving from an odd yet complicated overhead establishing shot- to the smoking bandit’s “chest up shot” to Elijah’s dive under a hail of bullets- to the Chinaman really getting his run on in the top center panel.

Story wise-‘ this page is maybe 5 seconds of action, but it’s a great quick run to page 14…..

Page 12- Changes Changes Changes– from the Chinaman in panel #2 being almost totally changed to Elijan next to him being signifigantly altered…  At least the decapitated Injun is still in the front row!  This page was a tough one- part of using odd angles (like panel two- ugh!) to have unique visuals makes getting it all right that much tougher, but this page turned out well all the same when the inks dried! And I used a large black area in panel two on the bottom of El Alacran’s sombrero- which for me is uncharacteristic on a character, but this worked for some unknown reason. I just love the showdown in panel 3 being foreshadowed- now this was also a nod to page #2, panel 1 (see single panel below final inked page)- where Chinaman’s shadow is alone 10 pages earlier, now he is teamed up with his former enemy, Elijah Holman- thus two shadows, and a different (armed!) hand in the top foreground of Elijah shows that the new unlikely partners are ready for some deadly action with El Alacran’s band of killers!

Page 11- 50% of Painted Ladies of San Quentin- in the bag… The page has three action packed panels- the biggest challenge- getting INJUN done just right- I changed his body, I changed his face, and I changed his head- and it all worked.  Dude looks intense, just like the hand to hand killer I wanted him to be, and Chinaman, dude is a stone cold killer with a sword- I love how we just see him motionless after the quick decapitation in panel two.  For me this page just worked- and the tweaks on the face in panel one with the change in torso layout and waist height made it work, and panel two had a few tweaks to get that scream being “cut off” just right -no pun intended!  The final panel’s silent recognition of the two former enemies while INJUN just takes that kinetic energy falling off the page sets the stage for the next act with El Alacran’s Men….   

Pencils, progress inks, corrections on inks and final inks included below.

This page had several challenges to bring it to inked completion.

#1- getting the space right- where is INJUN in realtionship to El Alacran, to Elijah to the Chinaman- the top panel lays that out well and then shows us El Alacran coming into the scene.

#2- Getting the El Alacran Gang done right- there are a slew of small changes from pencils to final inks, but it looks solid and kep tthe character designs and overall menacing look good witht he larger pinup panel at bottom.

#3- Inks- Lots of overlaying textures and shapes in the bottom panel- it was a tough row to hoe, but the overlapping elements work to build a 3-D space while not having any visual issues- primarily eliminating tangents- what is a tangent- well Ryan Pancoast gives a great explanation here. 

Overall-  I felt the inks worked with the pencils to keep the style theme and mood together, and the page also kept the story moving ahead-

Page 9 – 100% done and ready to color….

So another insanely complicated piece to ink fraught with tough spots – Injun’s left hand still haunts me… but the final product nailed it- from the characters far off in the background, the tough to ink tassel leather pants, the rubble on the demolished building, it all worked.  And we moved the story, added some tough and different angles, and went from closeups of Chinaman and Elijah to some wide angle shots- a really hard page, but it paid off artistically and in moving the story forward appropriately.  I changed the wood rubble to a rope in the final inks, thanks to Dave Sharpe for the push to do this- nice change, it works.

Included are pencils, and a middle ink, with only basic lines, no shading or rendering for comparison.

Page 8 of PLOSQ- 100% inked and ready to go to color…

Still on a page a week schedule, and this page was ambitious, maybe one of my most ambitious pages yet- the angles, shading, stark changes in perspective, motion and close ups (really digging the fist and outfit of Chinaman in Panel #1!) really have this 3 panel set moving and pushing the action between Chinaman and Elijah, and introducing INJUN, my one man killing machine!  Enjoy the inks, and prior pencils and lets keep this story moving to completion!