Carlos Esquerra's colouring

[marcusninja]

So I just picked up that collection of "The Pit" that Rebellion put out, and loved the hell out of it.  I've never been huge on the overly supernatural stuff in Dredd like the Dark Judges, etc.  This story is just so delicious.

The art, however got me bummed.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE esquerra's work, but the colouring is sooooooooooo bad.  I HATE that airbrushed, mid nineties look (which, admittedly is when the book came out.)  I noticed in the credits that the other two artists on the arc had separate colourist credits, so I assume

[marcusninja]

Sorry for the double posting, I must have pressed a hot key while I was typing or something.  Would a mod mind deleting this one as it's incomplete and the finished post is above?  Again sorry.

[Peter Wolf]

Its been interesting lately when reading the latest SD which was drawn by Ezquerra Snr and Ezquerra Jr.

This is the only example i can think of where a son of an artist has followed in his fathers footsteps in the comic.

How i wish certain other artists had children that were drawing for 2000ad.

[Noisybast]

This is the only example i can think of where a son of an artist has followed in his fathers footsteps in the comic.

What about the late great Jose Casanovas and his aptly-named son, Jose Casanovas Jr?

[Adrian Bamforth]

Yeah I despised computer colouring when it first appeared, especially the gradients where it looked most digital, though it didn't bother me so much in American comics where it was kept simpler. Esquerra's cloning, photos and 3D experiments were pretty bad, and even much later I find he uses the burn tool/shading far too strongly, However, it's not so bad now...and I think together with his son's contribution he's producing some of his best work (I actually like the inking it a bit neater and less rushed, and this way he keeps it all in the family.)

Personally, I think good colouring should look like very good hand colouring, and all on the same page. To this end, I now have a scan of a blank page, complete with a bit of grain and texture, to put over the top of the art to make it look a bit more like it's done with volatile materials.

[Tiplodocus]

Or Jon ROmita and Jon ROmita Jr.

[radiator]

Esquerra's cloning, photos and 3D experiments were pretty bad

That's a pet hate of mine. It can be done well - Jamie Hewlett's work on Gorillaz is a good example of using photographs and illustration nicely together, but when it's clearly done as a time-saving device it sticks out like a sore thumb!

[radiator]

Personally, I think good colouring should look like very good hand colouring, and all on the same page. To this end, I now have a scan of a blank page, complete with a bit of grain and texture, to put over the top of the art to make it look a bit more like it's done with volatile materials.

While I don't agree that all good computer colouring should look hand coloured - sometimes explicitly digital-looking artwork can work really well - I definitely agree with the grain/texture thing and it's something I do myself. I look at a lot of artist's work and think to myself "That would look a lot better with a bit of grain on it!". It ties the image together and helps with banding on gradients, too.

[Emperor]

Esquerra's cloning, photos and 3D experiments were pretty bad

That's a pet hate of mine. It can be done well - Jamie Hewlett's work on Gorillaz is a good example of using photographs and illustration nicely together, but when it's clearly done as a time-saving device it sticks out like a sore thumb!

I must admit, while being a fan of Mr E, one of the recent Mork Whisperer episodes very obviously used the same photograph of the sky throughout the instalment and it was rather jarring. You could argue that in a short scene the sky might not change that much but when the point of view shifted or even when it gave us another location you got the same slice of sky. Prog 1656 - 3 times on page two, once on page 3 (not helped by it being the bottom left panel making three different locations and angles across the bottom of the same page) and once on page 4 (although it is also part of other panels it isn't so noticeable but after having your attention drawn to it, the reappearances do start to niggle).

[Steve Green]

I think Carlos colouring has improved a lot since the early days - I re-read Necropolis over the weekend and the hand colouring on that looks so much better than his transition to computer colouring - where he is now is much closer to that.

In total contrast stylistically, Mandroid is absolutely beautiful - gloomy, understated and perfect for the linework.

- Steve

[Mike Gloady]

THANKS FOR DRAWING MY ATTENTION TO IT, EMPEROR!

Now it's niggling.  

[Emperor]

THANKS FOR DRAWING MY ATTENTION TO IT, EMPEROR!

Now it's niggling.  

Consider it my gift to the world. I'm very... detail-orientated, so it is easy for me to annoy myself like this - I just thought I'd share.