Elf-Help 16 again

The final color version of the page is up now, courtesy of colorist Robt Snyder (here). We'll actually be updating this episode one more time in the near future, to fix a typo and tweak some dialogue.

Doing an episode in stages like this has its advantages, since it makes the creation process somewhat transparent, and gives a peek at Robt's coloring wizardry. Here's what I asked for:

Page Five
1/ Close on Wyling looking very sweet and happy as she says:
- -_ _ i …no more than about twenty years.
- - _ i 1Inset Panels on either side show a sample of the boys’ reactions of anger and surprise.

Here's what Martin and Carolina came up with:


I especially love what utter jackasses the kids on the left are, and how their reactions are realistic rather than extreme or satirical on the right. It's a slightly chilling moment, actually.

Here's Robt's flatted version of the image ("flatted" just means he's selected each object and given it its own particular color in preperation for the final pass, where all the flourishes will come in):


Even at this stage, the coloring is already helping to emphasize what the script, and especially the art, are working to communicate. Mistress Wyling is our main focus, appearing not only in the center of the image, but also on top of the inset panels picturing the boys. This last was a great bit of spontaneous intuition on Martin's part, as it lends Wyling a timeless quality, which contrasts the boys who are subject to the ravages of time not only by virtue of being mortals, but also in these two before/after panels themselves.

The boys don't get individual colors, which like all good visual art, speaks for itself.

Here's the final take: comics cartoons sex fantasy


Here, Robt is using realistic lighting to highlight my rather vague "looking very sweet and happy" description for Mistress Wyling. By this point in our collaboration, I think Martin and Carolina understood intuitively that it would fall to Robt to further contrast Wyling and the boys (using not just color, but light itself to sell the scene) and kept Wyling nice and down to earth.

Well guys, if I haven't mentioned it before, you nailed this scene! Thanks again for making Elf-Help what it has become; it is both humbling and inspiring to be part of this collaborative team.