Page 4 of 22 is now 100% inked- this page had some great texturing, with an experimental textured technique that pays homage to the incredible pen and ink techniques of Edward Gorey  since I am a big fan of his parallel line style, I wanted to put my spin on his style of penwork, I think it succeeded in giving this panel a unique look to the rear parts of the shadowed characters.  Stipling and linework added some really detailed facial work on panels 2 and 3 to the foreground characters.  Finally a gradation in the stipled background to focus on the action in panel helped highlight the original pencil work.  I was going to use a manga style “kinetic” background but went in a more traditional direction in the style of the woodcut/old time art of the rest of the story I have been going for since the cover artwork. 

Now the biggest issue of this page was Jessica in Panel #3- I struggled with this, and Nate Stemen and Joe Freistuhler tried to tell me it was off, and while I tried to fix it, I didnt get it, and my good friend Dani Kaulakis really called it out, so I had to do some surgery with Kristen at Jaru to do a new piece of art and then superimpose it over panel 3 to get it right – the original inked panel #3 Jessica was too far gone, but I think the new piece is killer and I’m glad I did th work to change it- thanks Dani and Kristen!!

Im including the original pencils- to the bad first ink on panel #3 and the whole repair process to the new page- enjoy the process!

Page 3 of 22 now is 100% inked- this page ended up being a nightmare of architectural proprtions, T&G shadowed ceilings, wood siding, over head shot of a terra cotta building burning, multiple facial emotion shots and three burning women… and yet – it turned out gorgeous (in my opinion) what do you think?

The tension builds to the coming violence in the inked second page of the “Painted Ladies of San Quentin” – Introducing Jessica Belmont, the Sheriff and the Chinaman.  I kept up the high detail on siding, soffit, wainscoating and cracked plaster.  Note- I added the banditos to the wanted posters in the background of panel #2, we call that “foreshadowing” ladies and gentlemen for the next round of villains, and also let you know by doing this how crooked Jessica and the Sheriff are in the schemes to profit from murder in 1800’s California.  I also was pleased with the extreme closeup of Jessica’s face, I felt it had the right mix of sexy and menace… enjoy! I’ll keep posting pages pencilled and inked as I complete them compadres!