Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Spirit #30 cover sketch

This is the rough that was approved for the Spirit inventory cover.  I don't always fill in the black areas with a marker but the large, contrasting areas were pretty important to the overall design so I wanted a dry run before I moved forward.
Posted by Kevin Nowlan at 12:49 PM

20 comments:

  1. PatrickWedgeMarch 25, 2009 at 1:15 PM

    Sweet stuff! Pretty darn cool. Wondering if I actually like the large face better this way than the feathering on the final version.

    Apples and oranges.

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  2. Kevin NowlanMarch 25, 2009 at 1:38 PM

    That happens to me from time to time. The sketch has qualities that I lose in the finished art. I also like the running Spirit's movement better in the sketch.

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  3. surly hackMarch 25, 2009 at 2:07 PM

    Kevin--Welcome to the log world--your free time no longer exists! Love the art, as always. But tell me, is the Spirit running from himself? Or a giant severed head of himself? Just teasing.

    Now that you're blogging, you can read my limerick blog, currently in "Film Noir Week". I have no spare time either.

    Hilary

    http://limoday.blogspot.com/

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  4. surly hackMarch 25, 2009 at 2:09 PM

    Yeah, I meant "blog" world. Log World was a lumberjack amusement park they had to shut down due to splinters and decapitations. Timber!

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  5. Kevin NowlanMarch 25, 2009 at 2:13 PM

    What a stupid question. Of course he's running from the giant head! The Spirit is brave but he's not stupid. If he had super powers he could turn around and fight it.

    I've been enjoying your limerick blog. I'll add it to my list of blogs on the right hand column as soon as I figure out how.

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  6. surly hackMarch 25, 2009 at 2:24 PM

    The Spirit is running away
    He'll fight but he won't fight today
    His legs feel like lead
    he's filled with a dread
    he can't hold his large head at bay

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  7. dylanMarch 25, 2009 at 3:04 PM

    Hi Kevin,
    Nice to see you've got a blog, I'm a massive fan of your work. Lovely to see you inking Lopez again too.

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  8. Kevin NowlanMarch 25, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    I love it when people who draw better than I do say that they like my work. Thanks, Dylan.

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  9. antonioMarch 25, 2009 at 3:22 PM

    Dear Kevin I am so happy to see you have your place in the blog thing!!

    You know I always admire and love your work!!
    At your disposal as always!!


    JESUS ANTONIO

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  10. Ande ParksMarch 25, 2009 at 4:30 PM

    It's a fantastic cover, Kevin. I have only one complaint... The Spirit would not wear his hat brim turned down in the back. I feel pretty certain about this.

    ;)

    Anj

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  11. Shawn CrystalMarch 25, 2009 at 4:57 PM

    Thanks for starting a blog and sharing all of your awesome work! I can't get enough.

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  12. Mr. KarswellMarch 25, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    Real nice suff Kevin... I love The Spirit and The Goon!

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  13. Kevin NowlanMarch 25, 2009 at 6:02 PM

    Ande: Normally I would defer to you in when it comes to fedoras... but check out this photo:

    http://artofmanliness.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/fedora.jpg

    If it's good enough for Bogey it's good enough for Denny Colt.

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  14. Ande ParksMarch 25, 2009 at 8:25 PM

    Well, the fedora forum I frequent (thefedoralounge.com) has studied that Bogie hat at great length, and I believe it is a standard snap brim, up in the back... it's just hard to see from that angle.

    But, the same could be said of Denny on your cover. I'm going with that!

    Anj

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  15. Ande ParksMarch 25, 2009 at 9:27 PM

    Hey,

    I was just busting your chops about a really lovely cover. After I posted about Bogart's hat, though, I decided to do some serious research.

    I looked at all the Spirit reprints I had lying around, and you drew it exactly right! As far as I could tell, Eisner cheated the hell out of that brim. He almost always drew it from the front and, from that angle, he drew it apparently swooping down in the back.

    When he draws it from the side (very rarely, based on what I have here) he draws it as a conventional snap brim, with the back up. Like I said... cheater!

    Anyway, that's all. Job well done!

    Love the blog, too!

    Anj

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  16. NickMarch 26, 2009 at 5:06 AM

    Great blog, thanks.
    Nick

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  17. Kevin NowlanMarch 26, 2009 at 8:12 AM

    The fedora forum you frequent? Holy cow! Ya gotta love the internet!

    Seriously, Ande, I love the idea of people studying obscure minutia like this. I wish there was a forum on hand lettering but I'm afraid that craft has gone the way of the buggy whips.

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  18. AnonymousMarch 27, 2009 at 5:41 AM

    huge fan of your work! vi love the way you ink other artists and put your style over it, without making them desappear.

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  19. surly hackMarch 30, 2009 at 1:56 PM

    Kevin, there is nothing about fedoras that remotely approaches the obscure or minutiae, especially in the context of The Spirit. ;)

    As you well know, hats were very much part of a man's image and character in those days. Eisner was especially good at using different hats to establish character types. Which makes Ande's observation of Eisner's "cheats" all the more surprising. But Eisner was never a realist documentarian--even in his more sedate later work he was still an expressionist at heart.-H

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  20. saintpepsiApril 12, 2009 at 11:54 PM

    its amazing that you got a spirit cover always loved this comic

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