Von Herling Inking Commences

Now that the pencils to Von Herling have been finished, I’m going straight to the inking.

That stack of bristol board you see? That’s over 100 pages that have to be inked. Luckily, a few pages of art were completed entirely on the computer (thanks to the wonders of Photoshop) so that cuts down a bit on the work.

Making comics is NOT easy work.  The pencils were the easy part.  Now I have to go over everything in ink to make it look presentable to all of you out there (my readers, my wholesaler, potential retailers, etc).

Stay tuned to this blog for more details as I progress on Von Herling.

Be Strong In the Power of the Lord

I needed to do another concept piece to convey to others what Von Herling, Vampire Hunter would look like.  So based on the sketches I did of August Von Herling and Vlad Magnus, I decided to put together a piece to show what my work would ultimately look like.

Pencil drawing

This is the final pencil art done on 7×10 inch hot-press watercolor paper. From here on, I would apply diluted paint.  

In Nomine Patris

While coming up with the basic concepts for Von Herling, Vampire Hunter, I worked out various sketches (some of which I did share on here).  But to convey to others what the final product would look like, I worked on some more detailed concept drawings with inks and paints.  This first one was what I came up with.

“In Nomine Patris”, Ink and acrylic on paper, 7×10 inches

I wanted to show Von Herling in action, but also convey that he was not your contemporary vampire hunter who goes head to head with creatures of the night. He’s more of a guile hero who will wait until vampires are at their weakest and then strike by exploiting their weaknesses.

Diluted acrylic paint was used for the shades of gray while colored ink was used for the holy wafer.  In vampire fiction, holy wafers (also called sacramental bread, communion wafers, communion host, or Eucharist) were used to prevent the deceased from rising as a vampire; they’d be put inside the mouth.  Some media depict wafers placed on a vampire’s resting place to prevent said vampire from sleeping.  Others (such as the 1992 Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola) show the host being painful to the touch for vampires.

As you see, Von Herling always keeps some wafers in his tool bag.  They come in handy in the battle against the undead.

Incidentally, the Latin chanting you see in the image (a portion of which makes up the title) basically is the Trinitarian formula – “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”.

Hilda Smokes

Another one of my sketches with Hilda Otejekker, rendered with ink and diluted wash.

 

Hilda Lights Up

Just another drawing I did with Hilda.

Another drawing with diluted ink and wash.

You have nothing to worry about, readers.  Hilda is a fictitious character so she cannot get lung cancer.

Hilda usually uses a cigarette holder when she smokes.  She prefers expensive fashion cigarettes.

Guitar Sculpture

Here’s another sketch I did while in Austin, Texas.  

 

I found this while walking on Congress Avenue.  So I whipped out my Moleskine watercolor book, sketched it and added in diluted ink with watercolor.

Congress Avenue Street Signs

Here’s another drawing from Austin, Texas.

 

 

 

This was sketched quickly on the spot using diluted ink.  This was done around 3rd Street and Congress Avenue.  From there, I moved onto the grounds of the Texas State Capital…but that’s for another time.

Bridge from South Congress Avenue

The very first sketch I did when I went to Austin, Texas.

 

 

 

This quick sketch was done with a Uniball pen from the bridge on South Congress Avenue.  Watercolors (the colors you see here) were added in soon after.

Under the Water

And now after a brief hiatus…I AM BACK!  Anyway, let’s have a look at some of my Moleskine sketchbooks.

“Under the Water”

 

This was taken from inside my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.  In Foxville, there are many places to go swimming and Richie is almost like a fish to the waters.  He can be frequently found swimming in the lakes and rivers of Foxville.  In addition, his home (Hilda’s mansion) has a luxurious swimming pool that he frequently goes swimming in.

Richie’s silhouette is done with black India ink (Speedball brand) applied with a round number 5 brush.  The lines are done with a Uniball pen.

Hilda, Age 13

Before I post up this week’s drawing, I must apologize to all of your readers out there.  I’m sorry that I did not have a post up last week.  During then, I was in Texas and had forgotten to set up a post through the WordPress.com platform. But I digress.

Last week, I showed an image of Hilda Otejekker, my wealthy heiress, as a little girl.  How about an image of her as a teenager?

 

 

Another one from the sketchbook done in pencil, ink and watercolor.  This is Hilda Otejekker at the age of 13.  She’s entering her adolescence.  This should be apparent by her, um, curves starting to show.  Her hips are getting wider now.  At this age, Hilda still liked to have fun, especially listening and dancing to jazz and rockabilly music.  However, she was also taught much about money and how to manage it by her rich parents.

I’ll have another drawing up next week.