Carnival of Life as a 2-Page Comic Spread

My last project for my Style and Vision class is a two-page spread based on a song. I choose the same song that I used in the last project as a time saver. This choice also benefits me so that I can show more consistency in my art portfolio.

First Set of Ideas

The song sounded like Von was singing at someone boring who needed to lighten up, like an office worker.

I started with a thumbnail of the second character looking startled and confused as panels surround and point to him with imagery from lines in a segment of the song.

Found the Quote to Use

I went with this other idea of Von shaking the second character as he directs his singing to him. Then for the line, “Thinking that the devil’s gonna getcha,” I imagined a huge horned silhouette of ink wash creeping up on the character.

Reworking the Page Layout

Full Page Sketch

Character Sketches

I wanted the second character’s body shape to easily contrast from Von’s. I drew round, lanky, and square. I combined the best aspects of round and lanky to create this adorable, skittish baby-faced character.

Pencil Sketch

I made the whole spread on a large Stonehenge paper, keeping the two pages together for when I ink wash it. Because it’s too large to scan easily, I used a phone photo of the sketch to test out the speech bubbles and font. Luckily, my handwriting font fits the mood this time!

Ink Line Art

I watched Von’s music videos for references of his hands, posture, and face. I then inked the line art and set it aside for a day or two before I did the ink wash.

Ink Wash Progress

Ink Wash

Scanned

I cut the edges of the spread and scanned it in two parts that I put together in Photoshop.

Digitaly Enhanced

After adjusting the levels, I decreased the light values of Von and the second character to make them look further back behind.

Lettering

For the speech bubbles, I had to make them encapsulate the singing better. I tried going for white text on black but that made the shapes get lost in the darkness of the ink. I solved this issue by applying a white streak.

Carnival Of Life as a Comic Cover

I created a comic book cover for the song, Carnival of Life by my current favorite singer, Von Smith. I love the way he can sing so charmingly creepy. I based my comic cover mostly on this segment of the song, focusing on the, "Moments meant to bend your mind"

In this carnival of life
There's so many rides to ride
Moments meant to bend your mind
Doesn't anybody want to go?

Oh, don't be so serious!
Lighten up! Have a laugh! Have a heart!
­­­So don't be so serious!
And you just might like who you are
Sure, things can go wrong,
but they can still go right
If ya keep on keepin’ on
you can make it through the night
Cause we all belong in this carnival of life
So lighten up! Have a laugh! Have a heart!

Brainstorming and Layout Sketches 

I started by writing down key phrases from the song, and then making thumbnail sketches that illustrate different phrases. I went with the swirling Von Design that encapsulates the mind-bending description.

Pencil Sketch

I started the sketch by tracing over the thumbnail I printed blown up to size.

Traditionally Inked

I added Von’s arms. His normal sized hands on this stretched on body made it more creepy.

First Test

I wanted a wrinkly paper bag texture and a contrasting color scheme of purple and yellow. I looked at images of comic covers and attempted the corner logo and issue number.

Second Test

I took out the corner logo because it wasn’t needed. I moved the text out of illustrator to the Photoshop file so I could apply the texture to it. I made a majority of the image darker to make it creepier.

Final

Those level adjustments and saturation were too much, so I toned down the colors.