The Last Unicorn #2

Howdy everybody,

Here's my second cover for The Last Unicorn series being published by IDW. The second issue had a lot more to go on than the first issue, not to mention it was about more than introducing the characters, so I had a chance to put more of a narrative into it.


The crux of the story involves a traveling freak show of sorts, lead by the evil witch Mommy Fortuna and her bumbling wizard manservant, Schmendrick.

I didn't have any reference to go on for Mommy Fortuna, who likes to collect strange and exotic animals for her show. I envisioned her to be adorned with jewelry of all kinds, flowing silk and velvet. In my mind, I was thinking of a "glamorous" version of the "trash lady" from Labrynth, but I've been told by more than one person that she reminds them of the old witch from Spirited Away, who I agree she does resemble.


Anyhow, after I finished the initial sketch, I showed it to a colleague of mine, Joe Suitor, who suggested that I enlarge the Unicorn. Initially I resisted, but he was right, so I went into Photoshop to do the dirty work before taking it to inks.

Thanks for reading!

Frank

Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo + Serenity Cover

Hey guys,

I don't have time for a more elaborate post this week, but here is something that might be somewhat useful to you.

April 16-18, I'll have a table in Artist's Alley in the upcoming Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo. I'm looking for someone to split the table with, so if you or someone you know is a comics illustrator get in touch with me soon!
fstockton@gmail.com

Also, I did this cover for an upcoming Serenity one-shot. Still waiting to see it with the final logos on it.
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Have a good week,

frank

Tangled In Blue

Several weeks ago, Justin Long of Orange Coast Magazine emailed me to offer a feature in the magazine about the relationship between drugs and surfing culture. I grew up in the part of Southern California where the story takes place, so I was pretty happy to do the job.

These first two images are of the amazing layout that Justin did with the illustrations. I think it's one of the finest jobs someone has done laying out my artwork to date, and am happy that he's given me the OK to post them here. You can click on either one of the spreads to see the illustrations enlarged.



I wanted to be a little more subtle but still have an emotional impact on the opening illustration. This can be a really tricky thing, since people are usually flipping through a magazine pretty quickly. I was pretty adamant about not wanting to show any obvious drug references, but was also concerned that the surfboard leash wrapped around the figure's wrist would be too subtle. Fortunately, Justin agreed that this solution would work.



I re-drew this basic pose several times, but it wasn't working. I could have just toughed it out, but I decided to totally scrap this pose and start over. It's a tough thing to do sometimes, because you usually want to stay somewhat close to your initial sketch, and it's easy to get lost in trying to make it work. You have to art direct yourself a lot of the time, though that's sometimes very hard to do.



Finally, I came up with a pose for the underwater figure that I was happy with. The illustration before this point was starting to make me really anxious, but when I had the insight to switch it up, I knew I could do a good job on it, and could focus on the colors.



Lastly, here are some screen shots I took while trying to work out the color.

Thanks for reading!


frank

Star Wars Part II

Howdy!

The recent release of the Star Wars Galaxy 5 card set means that I'm officially allowed to post my other contribution to the set on my website!



Here's the text I wrote up for the back of the card:

Between ESB and ROTJ, Luke withdrew to his former Master Obi-Wan's hut in Tattoine to complete his Jedi training in solitude. For this piece, I chose to illustrate the moment of him completing the construction of the light saber he would eventually use to defeat Darth Vader and rescue his father with.

It's been months since I did this piece, but I've grown to like it more and more as time goes on.

By the way, I'll be at the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo this April 16-18 with a table at Artist's Alley. If you can make it, be sure to stop by and check out all the cool stuff I'll have to offer there.


Take care,

Frank