with Digital Paintings |
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During the fall of 2009, my life was in turmoil. My wedding was less than a month away and Nancy and I were busy with last minute preparations and travel arrangements. The wedding was going to take place 1,838 miles away in Puerto Rico and, while Nancy was in cloud nine, I was feeling the pressure. In the mist of this setting I got an email from
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An unexpected e-mail. |
Danny's dad,
I could tell you more about Danny, but I rather have him tell you himself. The following description is from his website,
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These are two storyboard panels from my screenplay |
It seems clear to me now that Danny had Hollywood in mind for some time. In fact, we have the same aspirations, that is, to be filmmakers. Another thing we have in common is our joy of crafting stories and turning them into screenplays. This I didn't know then, but his email revealed this shared passion. Danny had written a story dealing with the gods of ancient Egypt and he was asking me to storyboard a few panels.
That last time I had seen Danny at his high school, I was giving a class presentation. The topic was story-boarding and I showed my boards and animatics for
I brought Danny up to date on my wedding agenda but that I would love to read his script. In due time I got a copy and, once I had utter the magical words
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This was my first |
I had recently acquired a
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This is a rare example of one of my high school "collaborative" comic books. I was 17, already an established muralist and really involved in my first passion -the theater. At the time sword and sandal films were big on TV and all my friends and I were into anything with swords. To kill time in school we came up with some interesting stories were invariably our less liked people ended up as villains dying horrible deaths. I would draw these stories on paper and number areas to match a selection of tempera paints. Then my friends had a great time painting each panel "by the numbers". |
When I was in high school -
As is my practice with every project, I began by collecting visual references and immersing myself into the visual minutia of that world. Since the setting of the story was ancient Egypt, I began collecting photographs of Egyptian faces to cast the characters. An individual who caught my attention months before getting Danny's email, was a young Egyptian actor who was already being hailed as the
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I saw him in an Egyptian film and also doing a soda commercial (I think it was for Coca-Cola). In spite of the fact that I can't understand a word of Arabic, I could tell right away that Amr was not only a very good actor, but also one that oozed loads of charisma. He was definitely one of those individuals who transcended the word actor to be called a star.
I wrote to Amr (he has a
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I painted the front page last, but it was the first thing I designed. The |
I love the works of
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The section of the script highlighted in yellow was the source for my panels for the prologue. Same as with film, you need to establish the setting and the mood of the story for the viewer right at the beginning. |
The first thing to keep in mind as an illustrator, is that the artist enhances the story; he or she does not rewrite it. But we try to flesh out the blanks. In a film a writer can say in one line "There is a battle", and then move on with the story. But the director has to flesh out that battle in what may take several minutes of cinematic narrative. For the sample panels of The Citadel, I decided to paint a prologue to the story which Danny described in half a page of script. He tells of a journey across the desert to a distant city. I view this journey as a great opportunity to introduce the viewer into that fantastic and magical world and lay out the visual elements that would make the rest of the narrative even more enticing. It would be cinematic and in glorious desert colors. These are the pages:
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Danny wanted a few more panels with a visualization of the Egyptian gods. So I painted a couple more pages from the script. In the first spread I showed a view of the capital city. In this next sequence, Asim rides to the temple to speaks with the gods. Guards are camping by because the gods are imprisoned in the temple. They confront the intruder before they recognize him as the pharoah's powerful enforcer.
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The following image is a
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After I decide what goes in each panel (as shown above), I look in my project files for any reference image that can help me construct the scene. Notice how they help flesh out the written descriptions. Then I paint each panel making sure the visual style of the spread is consistent. I couldn't stress more the importance of researching anything and everything that will aid to make each painting seem more real and natural. In addition to images, I also have a collection of figurines that include a veritable zoo of animals. These I pose, light and photograph from the desired view point.
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Also important to have in file are images of every type of texture imaginable, from glass to fabric to metals and stone. And lastly, make sure you have facial sketches of your main characters from every angle and elevation. Having a real person that closely personifies a character as you envisioned it is an amazing stroke of luck. You cannot create something from nothing. Even fictional characters have eyes, ears and noses that will require photographic references. Sometimes I even make figurines or facial models with modelling clay. The following sequence of Asim speaking with the gods is the result of all that research, preparation and attention to detail.
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All these renderings were done in
I learned how to paint and manipulate the images as separate elements and then composed them in layers to complete each panel. One of the great advantages of the computer is the ability to manipulate light and color to achieve a variety of realistic textures and effects. The fact that I'm a trained traditional painter cannot be overlooked while studying these panels. It takes time, knowledge and a lot of work to be able to achieve high artistic standards. But like everything, it has to start somewhere. For me, the starting point was all those hours of fun and practice while still in high school, painting those simple comic book pages. After that, reading lots of books followed -and still continues to this day.
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Panoramic view of the city from the temple mount. |
I spend about a month's time completing the panels you have just seen. In the process I got better at digital painting. But still, I didn't have the time I desired to polish certain elements or experiment with other ideas that kept coming to mind. But nonetheless, I was very satisfied with the end result. I even toyed with the idea of doing this for a living, but in the end, this is nothing more than toying around with what I really yearn to do: create films.
Well, Danny is thriving in LA and maybe he will get to make this wish come through for him. He is not afraid to work hard at it and he has a passion for it. Just visit his website and see all the things he has already accomplished. That's the sign of a true artist. As for me, I might also get there though it will be by taking some other road. But for now, I can still have a lot of fun writing, learning, and playing with paint.