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Savage #3 Pre-Order Cover by Paco Diaz
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From working with my Prismacolor pencils, I know how much work goes into getting the colors the richness and depth I want. It seems as though I spend far more time coloring than I do drawing. Perhaps it's different when coloring on a computer. I don't know. Nonetheless, my sketching experience helps me appreciate the colorist's contributions to comics more.
Consider the page above. At first you might think there's just Nathan Stockman's penciling and inking, with a little colors and shading splashed on. But it was colorist Triona Farrell's job to make those shadows look real. Getting the light sources right is an important consideration. If she hadn't worked so hard on these, the scene just wouldn't seem real and three-dimensional.
I especially love how all those shadows cast by the unseen palm branches enhance this scene.
Writer Max Bemis conveys a lot of backstory on page two. Penciler and Inker Nathan Stockman met that challenge by composing (for the most part) six old-school style panels. What strikes me as I look at the page is how Triona Farrell colored each panel so differently.
In the above panel, Triona colors the sky around the roaring fire orange, and adds light to the surrounding foliage. This washes out the greens a little, like overexposing a photo.
Here we see Kevin practicing his Parkour moves along the rim of a volcano. While the volcano isn't erupting, we can see that it is active. Notice the lava reflecting off the interior, and the steam rising from the center.
Without Triona's coloring, I wouldn't notice that the volcano was active. Nor would I worry about Kevin's health from inhaling all those toxic fumes.
Awhile back, I recreated the Pre-Order cover for Incursion #2 using scrapbook papers, colored pencils, and pens. In the end, I was reasonably happy with my interpretation of the Eternal Warrior. But it looked nowhere near as good as artist Tonci Zinjic's original artwork.
Even though I found the right color paper for Gilad's skin, getting all the shading that covers part of his face proved tough. There were colors within the shading, and areas that were more deeply shaded. When looking at the above panel, I'm struck by how Triona's coloring makes Kevin's face look far more real than my own poor efforts with Gilad.
Page four mirrors page two thematically, with six even-more-old-school style panels. Each for the most part replicates the scenes on the earlier page. But these come after his attempt to befriend his butler. Whereas on page two Kevin looked jubilant, on page four he looks bored. Thus, the panel here, when compared with its page two counterpart, looks darker to emphasize his mood.
The area around the fire isn't overexposed at all.
This scene looks even darker, but the time of day tells you that it's nowhere near nightfall. The way Triona adds color to the crater walls reveals that we're looking up at Kevin from inside the hot caldera. Thus, being so close to the intense light from the lava, the sky looks dark by comparison.
Not only does the dark sky give us a better sense of Kevin's mood, but it also goes with the colors of the fifty pound notes.
I wonder if Valiant pays Triona for her coloring in fifty pound notes?
This final scene, showing Kevin's profile and his Mae doll in shadow, reveals just how much the purple tentacle has blocked the light from shining into his tree house. It helps us realize just how big the creature is. No wonder Kevin is surprised.
Still, language please, Kev. Ladies present!
I really appreciate how much work Triona Farrell put into this issue. Her coloring enhances Savage #3 with the richness and depth Valiant readers demand from their comics. Thank you, Triona!
Dragon Dave
Related Links:
My Eternal Warrior Recreation
