UPDATE [9/17/2021]: I'm updating the first few pages of this issue in preparation to print some copies, and this is the first thing I have "remastered". I am by no means an experienced digital painter and I was certainly feeling my way through the coloring process as I went. I definitely think it's an improvement on the old one.
Since I started showing the comic to people, a lot of them asked “Are you going to color it?” I had initially thought maybe I’d print up a few photocopied mini-comics in black and white and so I’d never really given any thought to what colors Steamroller Man’s costume would be! I started to think of steamrollers and other construction equipment, caution tape, traffic signs – anything that said “WATCH OUT!”
I decided to color the cover to this issue as an experiment. I wanted to create a very retro feel, something that looked like a comic you found at a garage sale.
You did a very good job making this look as 60s as possible. You even included some wear and tear lines! That's some impressive attention to detail my man!
Thanks very much! I love the look of vintage comic book covers, and definitely want to capture that for Steamroller Man. Each webcomic "chapter" is planned like an issue of a physical comic, and will start with a new cover illustration!
The wear-and-tear lines were drawn on using a Frenden FX brush - unfortunately I can't remember exactly which one, but I basically made the brush tip a really small size, and used a color that was similar to yellowed, aging newsprint. I looked at an old comic for reference to see where the paper was the most worn.
Since I started showing the comic to people, a lot of them asked “Are you going to color it?” I had initially thought maybe I’d print up a few photocopied mini-comics in black and white and so I’d never really given any thought to what colors Steamroller Man’s costume would be! I started to think of steamrollers and other construction equipment, caution tape, traffic signs – anything that said “WATCH OUT!”
I decided to color the cover to this issue as an experiment. I wanted to create a very retro feel, something that looked like a comic you found at a garage sale.