(Above)
2000AD Prog 1757
"Flight of Angels!"
As always it kicks off with a brief from Tharg, who wanted Angel Zero on her glider, zooming at the reader - guns blazing. BLAM!
I knew John Burns was drawing the strip, so I started to think about the strips he did for Look-In but, as I didn't merely want to imitate Johns superlative style (one of the finest comic draughtsman right now) - I wanted to be sympathetic to the artwork and story - that led me to Arnaldo Putzu, cover artist for Look-in magazine.
Me and my sister used to get Look-in when we were children and, while I never knew his name at the time, I LOVED his covers.
(Above)
Arnaldo Putzu at his best...
Using his bold use of colour as my starting point I ran up two thumbnails based on the brief:
(Above)
Two similar but different treatments,
colour was the driving force on this piece.
Tharg liked the one on the right here, but he made sure I kept her eyes on the reader in the final piece - a small but VERY important point for many covers.
It's the eyes that can grab the viewer.
Now, the reference shot - here I am rolling about on the floor to get an idea of how you'd hold the guns if you were in that position. I look daft, I know - but you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette. And I sure look like a stupid egg...
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Posing can be fun, rolling around on
the wooden floor - just be
careful of splinters.
From there I hit Photoshop hard and painted up the final piece you see below.
(Above)
The full artwork minus cover furniture.
Here's a detail of the piece so you can see it close-up - hopefully the eyes are fixing you with their gaze...
(Above)
"Look into my eyes... "
And with that, Tharg was happy, I was happy, so we're all happy! Right?
Another fun cover for the Galaxies Greatest Comic, it really has to be one of the best gigs in the Universe!
2000AD Prog 1757 is in the shops now! - you'd be crazy to miss out ;)
Until next time, my fellow Earthlings!
