"Goodbye, Old Friend" ("Unleashed")
Pencil Marks: Unlike "Kingdom of Heaven", I had a pretty crazy idea for "Unleased". Actually it was more of a gag. I was watching an episode of "Batman: The Animated Series" (great stuff!) and part of the plot was how Batman would go to the spot his parents were murdered every year and place a single red rose on the ground. It was just a powerful sentiment and while the movies and comic books also touch on this, neither has done it as well as Bruce Timm and company did. I was absolutely moved by how extraordinary they handled it that I found myself thinking I wish I could do something just as good. And just like that, insanity took over. What if Erik also lost a loved one?
At first I was thinking about him collapsing in front of a doggie collar in the middle of the road, but after awhile I realized that might be going a little overboard. So I just tried to keep it simple; realizing the shading effects I was asking Tony to handle would be stressful enough. And I've got to say I don't have a single complaint on how he handled it. I'm glad he tried a new approach and I think he captured the seriousness of the moment. Granted, I was going for laughs - but fortunately he chose to go a different direction. And I think it's better for it because if art can't be interpreted in different aspects, then what's the point? - Jake
Paint Smudges: Since the beginning of the Summer Blockbuster Gallery, I've tried to devote myself to trying something new. A new coloring style, a new way of inking, even trying differing drawing styles. For the most part each of my pictures are pretty much alike, due to the fact that by the time I get to the pics, I don't have the time to try different stuff. But when Jake handed me his picture for "Unleashed", I knew that this was my time to try something.
A few years ago I "painted" a picture for the film "A.I.", only because the person who was going to do it backed out at the last minute (one of our guest artists), and Jake and I were thrown for a loop and had to get a finished picture up in less than a week. I took the reigns and painted a quick picture in photoshop. Nothing to go off of, no pencils, no inks, just a painted picture. I liked the pic then, and it has really grown off of me over the years. So years later I knew I wanted to "paint" again. And seeing Erik kneeling at the fallen leash, knowing what Jake had gone through last summer with his own friend, it just popped into my head that this was the one.
Almost everything is painted by hand. I used the "fill" command only twice (for the black and the white) and I went and threw a photoshop effect in there as well. The result is truly one of the more emotional pictures Jake and I have ever collaborated on. Jake was basing this picture on a comic book cover, but even I could see what he was really thinking about. And the painted effect really brings that feeling to the front.
I dedicate this one to Calvin. - Tony