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Topic: Dinner at Eight - 05.19.07 Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Joe Zhang
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:38am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Alfred looks somewhat sinister with the domino mask. 
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Mark Waldman
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Joined: 16 August 2006
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:39am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I agree with Corey, the little things make this one especially exceptional.  Just more proof comic books fans are getting cheated not having a monthly book or books by JB to look forward to.
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John Angelo
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Joined: 08 January 2007
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:39am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Wow JB, I love this!

I find my composition eye floating all over and being directed by patterns and shapes, and whatnot.

Spidey is coming in from out of the dark cityscape and onto the scene of a lighted rooftop. The candles and rooftop lines direct me back to the top of the page towards Alfred. I'm looking at the radio/CD player and the food he's preparing and I my eye wants to go back to the table. The arrangement of the plates directs my eye to the other dinner attendants who are framed nicely by the forground candle and dark line of the elevated portion of the rooftop.

 

I love this composition! NIcely arranged!!!

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Mark Spiridakis
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Joined: 28 March 2007
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:40am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

 

Potential Alternate Subtitles:

"When Heroes Dine"

also

"There Shall Come A Dinner"

 

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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:44am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Is there some secret or tip you can give us for laying out perspective grids JB? 

***

This may be something you have already figured out for yourself, but one of the thngs I try to impress upon young artists when asked is that perspective is all about the horizon lines on which the vanishing points are set.

These are not literal horizons, of course (tho it is important to note that, in level shots, the actual horizon is always at eye level). In the piece above, there are three main vanishing points, and so all the object oriented to those points obey the same horizons. In other words, the only way an object would not, in some way, be within a grid of perspective lines all converging on those three extablished horizons is if that object was twisted in space -- like, say, the plate Alfred is holding.

Here's a very simple illustration:

As you can see, the red lines obey the same horizon as the others, even tho their vanishing point is several inches off the "page". The blue lines represent an object that is twisted -- in this case, tipped toward the viewer -- relative to the established plane.

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Shaun Crowell
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:45am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Wow great attention to detail! Love the perspective.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:52am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

…the furniture you can see in the windows of the apartments across the street!

I mean honestly--who else but JB would think to put something like that in there?

***

There are three basic mistake young (and some not so young!) artists make when drawing nocturnal cityscapes.

•They draw "crossword puzzle" buildings, which don't pay any attention to the architecture involved. Usually this can be seen in the missing thickness needed for the floor/ceiling breaks between stories. Also, it turns up in the way they black out windows, often knocking out a single window in a row. That would be a very small room! (One to watch out for, too. If you are drawing a building such that you can see two adjacent sides, and you knock out a corner window, knock out the window 'round the corner next to it, too!)

•They rule the lines. Good in the pencils, but I always encourage artists (who ask!) to freehand their cityscapes as much as possible. Seen at a distance, especially at night, the windows of office and apartment towers are not sharp. Atmospheric hazing "blurs" them, and freehand lines capture this better than hard, ruled lines.

•They don't put anything in the windows. This does not have to be great details. Just little random blobs that indicate books, or plants, or bowling trophies. It breaks up the line and adds to the all-important verisimilitude





(The white "framing" on the windows here is a Photoshop artifact, and NOT something you need to draw!!)

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Paul Greer
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Joined: 18 August 2004
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:52am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

What a fun piece. I love Alfred keeping his identity (and Batman's) secret with the mask.
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Stéphane Garrelie
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Joined: 05 August 2005
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Great!
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Bill Wiist
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Joined: 17 April 2004
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Posts: 1555
Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:57am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

For my money, JB draws the best Spider-Man ever.
I'd love to own this commission. Definitely has put it into my mind to one day commission a Spider-Man/Black Cat from him!



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Matt Reed
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 9:59am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

As I peruse the board this morning, I keep coming back and looking at this commission.  It's fantastic.  I love it.  Really great natural feeling to it.  Everyone is actually ::gasp!:: smiling.  I wish I could see the next page or two to find out what this interesting collection of characters would be talking about.  This has got to go in the top ten of my favorite JB commissions.

How did this one come about?  Did the client request this specific setting?

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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 19 May 2007 at 10:02am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

The customer asked for the four figures (I threw in Alfred as a freebie) on a "date". I asked if he wanted them just "hanging out" together, or "Lady and the Tramp" on a rooftop. He really liked the latter idea, so --- voila!
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