Jason Lenox

The classic “Hero riding off into the sunset” marks the last image I’m doing of Elijah Holman for this story- great character, fun story arc.  I’ll miss the old white haired bastard with his long beard and two six guns as he leaves us passing the Lord’s judgement on the Villain, Jessica Belmont, who with a tad of exposition we show her in chains with her hair cut short looking up at the hangman’s noose that meets her on the final page after this penultimate group of images!

From a layout standpoint, this really ends up being a farewell pinup at the top of the page leading into two images at the bottom moving the story into the final phase of ending the narrative. At the same time it leads into killing the last living villain before the reveal of San Quentin Prison at the very end, it’s simple and powerful, and the image of Elijah seems very “Old Testament” in my opinion.  There isn’t a huge “explosion” with this guy at the end, and the artwork conveys that calm sense of his being and how he chooses to end the conflict that has engulfed him and his town in a non tradition “action hero” way.

From a technical standpoint, big alterations on the horse and Elijah’s anatomy from the pencils- see the changes?  And lot of tweaks on Jessica in the final two panels- from the butt and chains to the hands and especially her eyes… now they are looking up- foreshadowing a noose!.  I was happy with the back lighting on the top panel with the contours on his clothing and stippling on the horse, and really pleased with the shading on Elijah’s face.  The striped prison jumpsuit looks cool too, in my opinion, from the stippling.

On one minor note, I made her prisoner # on her shirt my Son Blaine’s birthday, so there you go little dude, an Easter Egg for you!

As usual- I’ve included the pencils, line work and final inked rendered page for review and analysis below. 

One more page to wrap- lets get it done!

We see a broken Jessica Holman running to the Sheriff’s side- and she is devastated from the loss of her lover/co-conspirator.  One of the things the reader can determine is the question of her emotional state- is it based on a real connection with the dying Sheriff, or a realization her plot has failed and she will be arrested or killed?  And we see the judgement and mercy of Elijah Holman to walk away from killing a “defenseless” woman…

From a layout standpoint, overlapping elements again dominate the main panel with the huge hand of Elijah in the foreground, and the raw emotion Jessica shows next to a dying man… and the bottom panel, just conveys the death of the redeemed sheriff and Elijah follows the way of the lord- “love thy enemy” … this layout is still, on purpose, to convey a lack of action. Also I really worked to not add too much to the grass behind Jessica to let her figure dominate that space and to shade away from her, to highlight her emotion/face/rage/anger fill the reader as the POV comes from behind Elijah directed to her.

 From a technical standpoint, move Jessica’s right hand to better effect below the Sheriff’s head, and really got more solid blacks and contouring into the mix to really keep that old school engraving look together, and build some drama with my use of lights and darks.  Really pleased with the inks to build Jessica’s emotional face, and dress texture. Also note the stipling and heavy line work under the sheriff to have the blood pool overlaid with shadows to show he is a bit lifted up by Jessica’s hand.  This was an added benefit of moving her hand- see the improvement from pencils to final inks on that one element.  It really improved the figures.  Also a slight change on the Sheriff’s right arm placement, and his left hand is now in a more natural position from the original pencils to the ink- these also really improved the page as well.

As usual- I’ve included the pencils, line work and final inked rendered page for review and analysis below. 

Jessica reveals that she is a stone cold killer, and makes her move to eliminate Elijah Holman once and for all, but one thing ruins her vicious strike.. the Sheriff has a conscience, and gets in the way of the bullet, saving Elijah at the price of his own life, but will it redeem the Sheriff’s soul?  Jessica has a visceral reaction to her plans unraveling…

From a layout standpoint, overlapping elements of the three principal characters dominate the main panel, and tight and gorgeous profile of a screaming Jessica.  I felt I really brought emotion to the four faces on the page.

From a technical standpoint, I used contouring to great effect with stippling as the choice of texture for flesh.  Just falling in love with my insane textures for hair, it takes a long time, but you can’t help but get lost in the long odd textures of that black hair spilling down Jessica’s shoulders!  The large change from pencils was the sheriff’s right arm placement- the gun that led into Jessica’s face was a tangent causing nightmare- so it had to go, I was pleased with the new arm/hand and lack of rifle.

For me this page was another tough challenge- it seems like the closer I get to the end the harder each step takes- I’m going to do whatever it takes to get this monster under control and finish strong!! I’ve included the pencils, line work and final inked rendered page for review and analysis below.

A showdown, and a Flashback from the Sheriff- gives the reveal that Elijah Holman was a preacher before (now a skilled gunslinger), and we learn that Jessica Belmont doesn’t care- and in her words “Elijah Holman can meet Jesus!”- the last few pages lead to an explosive finish as we continue to raise the stakes!

From a layout standpoint, this page was HARD- look at the changes from pencil to final inks- added panels, extreme changes etc. etc.  but dammit- it works!  Thank god I get some great advice from people to make changes to make my work better.  The flash back middle panel serves as a stark contrast to the top and bottom.  One of the tougher pages I have done so far.

From a technical standpoint, I used alot of solid blacks – this is for the mood of this page going bad as it moves forward and to switch up the style a bit to not get too predictable- a touch of Frank Miller in the bottom panel?  It really highlights the detail work in the middle panel on both sides and acts as a solid frame for the wonderful inks in the background of Jessica at the bottom with Elijah’s dark frame all around her.  I loved the contours of the hand at the top, and the religious banned in the middle and Elijah’s hair in the foreground at the bottom.

For me this page was like a wall to get past when I pencilled it and was a barrier in the inks- It was hard, like the wall you hit creatively to get to the finish- I’m sniffing the end of the project now! I’ve included the pencils, line work and final inked rendered page for review and analysis below.

Elijah- our hero- is now out of bullets, out of friends, injured and on the ropes with an enraged and armed Jessica Belmont with the Sheriff in tow.  The two plotters  having just dispatched “El Alacran” with a shotgun blast to the back,  aren’t in a forgiving mood after telling Elijah Holman to leave town, advice he told them he couldn’t follow… murderin’s still a sin….

From a layout standpoint, this page was my pinup for Jessica and Sheriff- I wanted to give them that one nice (almost) full page to really show them off.  Also to establish that Jessica was the “Gangster Bitch” and in charge of the relationship as the dominant one, and the Sheriff was the passive one following her orders as she pulls the strings over all of San Quentin.  This is also in keeping with the reveal of her as the top villain of the story- you were never quite sure until now if it was her or the Sheriff in charge.  Also, Im keeping up the theme of Elijah’s eyes being hidden, he’s building up to something that’s been bottled up- a secret perhaps?

From a technical standpoint, I had alot of fun layering and texturing Elijah in panel #1- especially the texture on the beard and gun.  The main pinup had some fun shadowing effects with the ruined building and El Alacran’s body.  I used stipling to really build out Jessica’s dress, and had fun with the skin tones on her arms, the hair texturing, and her facial features which were a struggle to get that combo of “hot” and “psycho” on a slightly off profile point of view.  Finally I was really pleased with the Sheriff- from his hands, to folds of fat on his face to the wood and metal on his double barrel shotgun.

For me this page worked from a story telling standpoint, character establishment and as a technical piece- I’ve included the pencils, line work and final inked rendered page for review and analysis below.