Elf-Help 34

At komikwerks.

(pic)...
Colorless "naked" version for now. I think inker Carolina Cesare really shines in the two panels above: the foreground images are crisp and clear, the backgrounds sketched just enough to let your imagination fill in the details. Too often in comics (and film and prose, for that matter) the creators become lost in trying to perfectly define absolutely every detail. Storytelling is a collaborative medium, requiring the participation of both the creator(s) and the reader, and this page reminds me to always leave a little space for the reader.

Part of the reason Elf-Help 34 is still colorless may be that I'm working colorist Giuseppe Pica a little too hard. Right now he's working on Elf-Help, Old School, and a new submission package called Twilight Precinct that I've been fiddling with for the better part of a year. I need him on all of these projects, though, because when it comes to coloring comics he is, quite simply, the man. His coloring on Elf-Help 33 totally sells the idea that the elves (who are pacifists) have attacked the Amazon Kobold Marauders by firing love potions at them:

Like Carolina, Giuseppe is a storyteller who uses his skills to bring focus to what matters most. The art for Twilight Precinct is hyper-detailed, so the coloring on it needs to focus attention and clarify exactly what is going on (which is no easy task). Here is Giuseppe's solution:

He puts all the focus on the figure in the foreground, and literally defocuses the background. The effect brings a real sense of cinematic realism to the art that grounds the more stylized, OTT superhero action.

Anyway, if this post should make its way to your eyeballs, thanks Carolina and Giuseppe for turning in page after page of great work -- it's always a treat to see what you guys will come up with next. sequel