Hey all

So, after weeks and weeks of intense colouring work (plus some away-from-my-computer time), I'm warming up to my upcoming commission and comic work by doing this little project.

I've been meaning to do a picture of Air Ace (from Astro City, for those not hep enough ) for a while - I love old movie serials and film noir, and the character really appeals to me. So, I decided that I would show the picture I'm doing, and show it in its' various stages of development.

First, here is my initial sketch. I didn't want to have a shot of AA flying, oddly enough - I thought him standing on a building ledge would look more interesting. More in the style of the time.

Actually, that brings up a point. I wanted the figure a little 'stiff' rather than dynamic (which I normally prefer to do) because it would be closer to how characters appeared in those old movie serials. Sounds like a cop-out for not making a lot of movement in the image, but there you go.

After deciding what I liked and what I didn't like from the initial sketch, I went to the final pencilled version here.

I made two significant changes - first, he no longer has his left hand clenched in a fist; it just seemed like he was being menacing or something. (and having him pulling his pistol was already menacing enough...) Rather, now it seems he is reacting to something he is hearing inside the building.

Second, I left out the metal scrollwork in the windows. I'm just thinking I'm going to do something interesting with the light sources there, so leaving it open gives me more options later.

Also, I developed the two major light sources much more in the figure - a hard, intense sidelight on the viewers' right, and a softer, more diffuse light on the viewers' left. Again, just anticipating things I want to do with the colours.

...upon review, I think I might fix that left leg a bit - jhodpurs really screw with anatomy

Okay, here is the slightly revised version.