My covers for the EC Comics/Oni Press anthology, CRUEL UNIVERSE (with amazing trade dress by @rianhughes ). Process thread incoming!


The issue 2 cover seems to be everyone's favorite so I'm going to breakdown how I did it. Hope it helps with your future artistic endeavours.

With the new issue of Human Target hitting stands next week, I thought it would be a good time for another process thread. This one concerns what I consider the most important element of my work on HT - contrast. I've experimented a lot with the traditional forms of contrast - color, shape, texture, etc but after really studying mid century illustration, I realized that there was a very powerful contrast technique that I wasn't taking advantage of - style contrast.

Here's my variant cover for issue 14 of THAT TEXAS BLOOD (out this week!) by @ChristophCondon & @jacobr_phillips . For you digital artists out there, I thought I'd share a few things in Photoshop that I used to make this cover. I usually start my cover paintings at 200 DPI because A) it helps reduce lag on a lot of the big brushes but also, B) many brushes look better when you're using them at a smaller resolution. Compare these two examples using @kyletwebster brushes.

There is still a persistent myth out there that you can achieve photo realism in art without the use of photo reference. If your goal is realism, here's a thread to remind you that the best artists used reference so you can, too. Let's start with comics. Here's the creator of the Rocketeer, Dave Stevens posing for Cliff Secord himself. Fellow comics artist Doug Wildey was Dave's model for Peavey.

Here's my cover for Tales of the Human Target, an anthology one-shot that drops Aug 23. I handle a lot of design for the HT series but I had no formal training so everything I've learned is thanks to the amazing resources that are available out there. Here's a thread about them. My #1 resource for logo design is Logo-a-gogo by @rianhughes . Rian covers it all, from a general approach to design all the way down to how he handled kerning on a specific logo. Amazing book.

I thought it would be a good time for a process thread about the Photoshop brushes I use for Human Target. I'm not sure anyone has noticed but the cover art solicited for 5 is different than the printed cover. I had no idea how to approach Emra's coat in time for the catalog so I turned it in as is. I also hadn't figured out her hair yet.

Sad to say that, without my approval, Marvel attempted to "fix" several panels of my art in issue two of Elektra: Black, White, & Blood before sending it to the printers. They're not huge changes but I really don't like my art being tampered with. Long story short - 2 months after turning in the finished pages, I was informed by my editor that Marvel's Standards & Practices flagged my art and requested I redraw several panels so that they would be "within tolerance for best representation of Asian characters."

A lot of artists have inspired my interiors on Human Target. Here's a thread of the big ones - maybe they can inspire you on your next project The most obvious influence is Darwyn Cooke. A lot from his Parker books. New Frontier, too. But the work of his I draw the most from for Human Target is issue 3 of THE SPIRIT, colored by Dave Stewart.

Some folks were wondering about the "Apologies to Darcy" on the cover to Human Target 2. That's a reference to Ernest "Darcy" Chiriacka, a mid century illustrator I swiped from for the cover. The man peeking out from behind the woman is a motif I've seen before in 50/60s illustration (this one is Coby Whitmore) but Darcy's was just too perfect not to steal from.

Lots of questions about what inspired my work on Human Target. Here's a thread on the creative genealogy of the book. Hope it helps. It all starts with Fantastic Four. In 2019, I attempted to draw an FF one-shot (written by Gerry Duggan) in the style of 101 Dalmatians and Darwyn Cooke. Wasn't clicking (and I ran out of time) so I abandoned the approach and redrew what I could of the issue. Still liked it, tho.

My cover for issue 1 of Human Target. Process thread below... On the left is the art I did to accompany Tom's pitch for the book. A few months later, I revisited the piece and worked up something closer to the tone and style of my interior art.

My variant cover for issue 16 of Batman Superman. Process thread below... Concept sketch. Inspired by Steve Rude and Fleischer Superman