Here’s a blast from the past, redone so that this awesome drawing by Steve Montgomery, here in Cincinnati, can get the treatment it deserves.
Back in 1998, I knew several people who had dreams of getting into the comics industry–I had the same dreams. For a portfolio piece, a few of us collaborated on a darkness cover. I had a job at the Sharonville Convention Center with Steve Montgomery, who did the pencils for this drawing. It was easily the best drawing that I ever saw him make.Steve did the pencils, a guy named Aaron L. inked it, and I was the colorist. Looking back, the colors aren’t so great, but at the time I was very proud of this.
To my knowledge, no one I knew ever even got an internship at a comic publisher, but after working in the graphic arts industry for 7 or so years and practicing with lots of my own art, my craft has come a long way, so I thought I’d give this another go, to practice inking and coloring of detailed pencil art.
Below is the original 1998 version of the image. We designed it as a Wizard magazine cover.
Here’s a comparison of the original inks, done traditionally by Aaron L., and the new inks, done digitally by me.
Above: Original Inks by Aaron L. in 1998
Above: New digital inks by JDW in 2007
Thanks for following me down memory lane! Maybe someday I can get my hands on other pro-quality pencils and do some more images like this.
