Comic Artist - Volume 3 2016

Expert advice | Your questions answered

2

Step-by-step:

Jerk your characters

around dramatically

1

This astronaut is being yanked straight
up off the ground by a tentacle round
his waist. He’s bent double, and his legs are
straight. His arms are hanging down and
splayed out a bit, so that his arms and legs
become “arrows” highlighting the direction
in which he’s being pulled. The lost weapon
enhances the feeling of upward movement.

2

The alien’s grip on this astronaut’s
upper arm is pulling him back. He’s
lost his balance, and throws the other
arm outwards to try to regain it. The right
forearm is jerked upwards, spoiling any
controlled shot. The left leg scissors up as
the figure falls back, and the head is tilted
slightly forward in a bit of whiplash effect.

3

One poor chap is being hoisted
upside down by the left ankle. The
arms hang almost straight down (reaching
for the ground can enhance the feel of the
pose) and the right leg is folding down with
gravity as well, causing the body to arc
back. Again, a lost weapon emphasises the
idea of being lifted sharply and suddenly.

Question

I want to depict someone trapped in a bubble,

but don’t know where to start. Help!

Karl Henning, US

Answer

Tony replies

There are a lot of ways for a character

to become captured in a story, but in

most epic science fiction or fantasy

sagas at least one person ends up in

a bubble. It could be an indestructible diamond

sphere, a rubbery balloon bouncing across the

hills, or just a very resilient soap bubble. Every

material has its own set of properties, although

each version will most likely be at least clear.

Whenever you’re painting something that’s

transparent, the main idea is to focus on the

highlights and outline.

If you think about your line of sight from a

bird’s eye view, you’ll notice that it goes through

the least amount of material when aimed directly

through the centre of the bubble. Ergo, the sides

will be more opaque as the sphere turns away

from the viewer (creating an outline of sorts).

Even if the character inside is bending their

prison into something other than a sphere, just

remember that the more perpendicular a surface

is to the viewer, the less visible it will be.

I suggest putting the outline on one layer and

then creating two separate layers for the front

and back of the main surface. This enables

you to manipulate their transparency. Place

whoever or whatever is trapped on layers

between those two and you’ll have complete

control over how opaque the bubble is. Then

paint in the highlights, keeping in mind that the

more shiny the surface is, the more hard-edged

the ref lections will be.

The thicker and more

opaque the skin of the

bubble is, the softer

edges will be on

anything inside.

COLOUR COORDINATING

Avoid using hues that

are complementary to a

translucent surface’s colour

in any object that’s behind

it, because the resulting mix

will be something more dull.

Placing a bright green

jacket behind red cellophane, for instance,

will just make it look grey.

Since the surface of

the bubble is mostly

transparent, use

highlights and

reflections to create

a feeling of depth.

Artist’s

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