Category Archives: scarecrow

The Gang, with Color

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I think I’ve mentioned once or twice that I don’t consider coloring to be one of my strong suits. I think I can do it well but it does require a lot of trial and error on my part for me to feel like I’ve done it well. I’m a noodler. I like gradients and detail. Just laying down flat colors and calling it good is hard for me.

Flat coloring is faster than gradient, layered color, however, and I’m trying to speed up my processes. For the current incarnation of Oz Squad I’m just doing flat colors. So, even though my fingers are itching to add shadows and highlights, I’m calling this done.

Urrrghh.

Some of the Gang

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I started this illustration a few years ago. With Oz-Squad.com getting put together I figured that now was a good time to finish it. I’d originally intended it as a promo illustration for the Oz Squad comic revival. Now I’ll be using it as the illustration on the intro page of the website. I did the last of the inking and scanned it in on Friday. If all goes well I’ll have it colored in time to post that version on Monday. If all goes really I’ll have the text of the introduction finished as well and they can both go up together.

Scarecrow – The Years Take Their Toll

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In the first few issues of the original Oz Squad comic, the Scarecrow isn’t in good shape. He’s depressed and somewhat suicidal. How else would you explain his smoking habit?

His outlook improves but only after he experiences a kind of a breakdown. And a change of clothes. For some individuals, more than others, how one looks really is how one feels.

Andrew Murphy, the first Oz Squad artist, gave the Scarecrow a face that had three dimensions. He had eyes, a nose and a mouth with teeth. I’ve always preferred the idea that the Scarecrow’s face was painted on. When he talked, the paint moved. I think that’s cool and creepy at the same time.

The Scarecrow, a Century (and Change) Later

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Spot illustration #4 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.

The last century has been hard on the Scarecrow. He’s lost friends. He’s been torn to pieces on more occasions than he’d like to remember. Unfortunately for him he remembers every one of those occasions. He can’t forget anything. Not even the trivial stuff. Fortunately, however, he’s not human so he’s able to cope in ways that a meat person couldn’t. He’s able to put on new faces to fit new moods. This is how he looks in the current incarnation of Oz Squad.

The Scarecrow, Fresh off His Post

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Spot illustration #3 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.

The first person to join Dorothy on her trip to see the Wizard was a Scarecrow. He was stuck on a pole in field. Dorothy helped him down. The Scarecrow decided that a brain would do him good and that the Wizard might provide him with one and off they went. He and Dorothy have remained best friends ever since. 

Today’s illustration shows the Scarecrow as he looked on the day he first met Dorothy.

Coloring Oz – Scarecrow 3

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The next step after finishing the art on paper is to scan it into Photoshop and start coloring. I lay down color under the scan of the illustration. To begin with I just lay down flat areas of color without any shading or tones. Without the illustration layer the color looks like this:

Coloring Oz – Scarecrow 1

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2010 was a crap year for getting work done on Oz Squad. It was a crap year for getting much art done period but the Squad suffered the most. This sketch is one of the threads I’m finally picking up after far too long. It’s a piece of a project that Steve handed me last year and I dropped after getting just a tenth of the way into it.

My hope is that 2011 will be the year I finally finish the outstanding Squad projects and get new ones moving. I also hope that the earth doesn’t get hit by an asteroid and that all bad men come to bad ends.

Anyway.

I meant to scan this piece in the sketch stage but forgot so we’ll get started here with the inks. This is the Scarecrow, the first companion that Dorothy picked up on her journey to see the Wizard. He’s been through a lot of hard times since Dorothy pulled him down from his pole. He’s been through a lot of good times as well. He hasn’t forgotten either.