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giadrosich — St. Martin's Fire
Published: 2006-06-30 19:21:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 1828; Favourites: 29; Downloads: 91
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Description
Original Size: 10x15Medium: Brush, Quill & Ink
Copyright Notice: 2006 by Bob Giadrosich/Sharayah Press. All Rights Reserved.
Here's the final inks on the cover concept of St. Martin's Fire. In the time since I submitted the finished pencil , Martin has taken on the role of a supporting character in a much larger story set in Brussels.
Part of a six-issue planned series, it springs from quite a few road-trip conversations between my daughter, Brynna, and I as we plummed the depths of lunatic cliches.
Needless to say, it involves, ninjas, chickens, Marty Robbins, The Catholic Church, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Bavarian sidekicks, exploding yarn balls, a senior citizen retirement home modeled after the American T.V. show Green Acres, knitting needles, the C.I.A, Interpole, and Asian Gangs.
Oh, and grandmas. Can't forget the grandmas.
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Comments: 55
Thanks, Rita, for your kid gesture and fave on this one!
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Oo0 so wonderful 
would have faved it if it would stop saying error on page
TTmTT i can't even see fullview...
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Wow Bob! You really have to see the full view to appreciate all the detail and hard work you put into these! AMAZING! The story sounds pretty interesting too! . . . exploding yarn balls, chickens, ninjas and senior citizens. . . sounds great!!
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Thanks, Cheryl. Out of all these different elements came an idea for a manga story which I've slowly been developing over the last year or so. Right now I'm waiting for my art skills to catch up with what I see in my head...
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Usually, something like this will take around 40 to 50 hours, but if I remember correctly, this one took a little longer because of all the lines in the architecture.
I found a great reference photo of an old gothic cathedral in Brussels, and upon comparing the two, I left quite a bit of it out from the finished drawing. I think I was going into "burn out" mode, and just wanted to get it over with, lol!
Thanks so much for your comments!
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Thanks, Thomas. This is actually from a manga that I'm working on that takes place in Brussels. Martin is one of the supporting characters.
I'm thrilled that you enjoy the piece!
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Brussels is my hometown
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Cool! I'll be sending the story to TokyoPop in the next month after I put the finishing touches on the synopsis. Hopefully, they'll like it enough to publish...
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you're very welcome !
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Not only is it a masterpiece because of the details, but it is also funny - I find the Bavarians very funny
Bravo!
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Thank you so much Ridareta. The Bavarians act as Martin's sidekicks in the story line. The reason they dress like that is because they work in the advertising department at the Bavarian Beer Brewery in Holland...
I read once that all good characters much have recognizable "lines" (or silhouettes) in order for people to easily tell them apart from other characters. That's why in comics and animation, so many of them have such different shapes and sizes.
I guess I was exploring that suggestion here, lol!
Thanks for the fave, also!
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your very wellcome. And they are, unmistakably Bavarians
advertising department, that's a good one too
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My first thought when I saw this thumbnail was Wow!
Wonderful use of crisp stark flat black to really make him stand out in the foreground with slender strips leading to the background where the black goes up a notch or two, and then 3 or 4 on the value scale on the church facade. I like the way you have shifted the values on the tall windows in the facade to the value needed to support the mid and foreground.
As far as the grandma's and chickens and ninja's and Catholic Church..............oh well, it's too early in the morning, can't think of a thing to add.
It's a really good picture, good composition with great use of line for both the texture and the spread of values laid out. In your latest drawings it seems certain that you have a strong grasp on your technique and language, and use each picture to see how far you can take it, and what all you can say with it and what different kinds of scenes you can create with it. And then of course there is the storytelling aspect. This defiitely leaves me wondering what is going on and what is going to happen. Is he getting ready to blow the people in the square away, waiting for a cohort, rush into the church after a runaway assasin, get attacked by the 3 men in the midground.....Keep it up, you just get better and better.
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Thanks so much for your kind words, Sandi. This actually started out as a "stand alone" comic cover idea, and then (as ideas are wont to do) kinda slid into a storyline with a much larger context, hence the "grandma's and chickens and ninja's and Catholic Church," ect. I'm gonna be pitching the story to Darkhorse comics as a six issue limited series. We'll see...
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Thanks! As the addage goes, "No pain, no gain!" I'll be talking with them in about a week in San Diego.
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..................I don't believe that. You can have gain without pain. 
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Maybe it's just that I'm a little stubborn, and usually don't learn something the first time around!
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okay, okay, if you're DETERMINED for a little pain...........stubbornness comes in handy for artists. We don't know when we should quite, so we muddle on through until we've got something.
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Grog like pain. Grog need pain. Sometimes, Gorg is a pain!
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Hehe, now why am I not surprised?
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Grog like guns. Grog like big guns. Grog name this gun Vera. Vera is good gun. Vera is big gun.
Awesome picture!
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Grandma's do rock. Especially when they have horns. Or is that goats...
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Oh! Oh! Here it is; the ultimate Grandma Ninja poem. (Don't you love it when you have poetry in English class?)
Grandma ninja went ridin' out one dark and windy day,
Upon a ridge she rested as she went along her way!
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eye ghosts she saw,
Come rushin' through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw.
She kicked her way through flashing swords, though razer sharp they were,
She bopped them on their little heads and then ripped off their spurs!
All the while a giant smile beamed forth from her face,
She knew she had them on the run and used her can of mace.
This Grandma ninja will always be as wild as they come,
She won't ever stay at home or let herself be glum!
She says "no!" to knitting things and sitting in a chair,
Even though she knows she won't become a millionaire.
She has saved the town long before from dark and threatening things,
And has been named the best Ninja from neighboring towns and kings!
She has taken all the honor with a smile and wave,
While fighting all the monsters an' sends them to their grave.
But one such threat has made her use her sharp and witty sense,
Even though it seemed to have impossible defense!
A young man showed with back-up teams of many angry chickens,
When Grandma Ninja fights them back, his pace then swiftly quickens.
Soon her breath is very short an' her muscles tired and worn,
Her ninja sword is dull and her expression quite forlorn!
The young man standing over her laughing very loud,
Proclaiming that her ninja ways were old and unavowed.
It strikes a chord deep within the Grandma Ninja's soul,
Eyes snap open sharply and she pounced with no control!
The young man realized his mistake in making fun of her,
When she hit him on the head, showing her demur.
The man was beaten soundly and the chickens sent back home,
Leaving Grandma Ninja free to leave the town and roam!
Watching closely over things and spotting any trouble,
She will always be close by and be there on the double.
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2007: The Year of Ninja. Grandma.
Woot! The saga continues and expands! Awesome work, Gradiate!
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Part of a six-issue planned series, it springs from quite a few road-trip conversations between my daughter, Brynna, and I as we plummed the depths of lunatic cliches.
Is this not what ALL daughters do on trips with their dads? I know I did. All the time. Lunatic cliches galore! Also, car sickness and shouting.
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btw.. great piece! Both the oversized gun & the pic as a whole
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Thanks Lily! And see, I didn't even mention the trips to Tibet, secret identities, ghost riders, the duck, or the plank of wood.
Wow! What a deal!!
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Thanks, Shannon!
For a while it looked like everything would just fade into a mass of ink lines, and it was only after a little work of thickening some additional brush work and the solid blacks were laid in that it began to seperate a bit.
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oh great! I admire the fact that you can still turn it into a splendid pic when at first it looked like it was going to be one mass of lines. I would have looked at it and said "okay now i just screwed it up" so great! I really admire that!
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"okay now i just screwed it up"
I say that all the time. I just hide the mistakes well!
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hahaha ok well you do it very well! i gotta stop being impatient haha but the comment you gave me the other on how you like to keep improving really inspired me on the drawing i am currently working on. The composition is very different, there are more characters and there is a more detailed backround... well still that could have been more detailed but.. o well 
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I always look forward to your new work!
I apologize if I take a long time to comment on some, but usually I like to look at new submissions and study them, enjoying all the little details and colorations.
Thank you for sharing!
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Oh greatness yes no problem it also takes a long time for me usually. It's great you study them all so closely you really appreciate someone's work.
Wow respect to you!
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Bob, this is utterly brilliant. I can't get over how much detail you include. And I'm glad to hear Martin is going to be about a bit more
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Thanks, Carole!
That's the way that stories usually develop around here. First, an initial concept, and then we string together ridiculous and sublime characters and events, rejecting the ones that seem to make the most sense, until what we are left with is, at the bare bones level, mostly comedy.
After that, we fill in the gaps to fit the parts that we like, and a storyline usually evolves accordingly. Sometimes it work, and...sometimes it doesn't. This one, I think, is a keeper.
Thanks for the fave, also!
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Wow! So many details! I like it! That's really good!
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You're very welcome!
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