Client work · TV and film

Illustration

Drawing in whatever style the script needs — manga, caricature, comic books, fashion, tattoo design.

Midnight Ranger — the character

The art director on Elementary needed prop comic books for a vigilante inspired by a character called the Midnight Ranger. Everything started with the figure itself, drawn on tracing paper for the costume department before a single cover existed.

Front, side and rear, drawn on tracing paper for the costume designer.
Midnight Ranger turnaroundsFront, side and rear, drawn on tracing paper for the costume designer.
Four views of a second figure, including the two of them in a knife fight, so the costume reads while it is moving.
The other man · turnarounds and a fightFour views of a second figure, including the two of them in a knife fight, so the costume reads while it is moving.

Midnight Ranger — covers through the ages

Twelve covers, and the catch was that the books had to span decades. That meant drawing the same character in the house style, the printing conventions and the cover furniture of each era he supposedly came from — right down to the price point, the month, and where the approval stamp sat.

Ten cents, no colour to spare, and an enemy submarine in the Atlantic. The earliest book in the run.
WartimeTen cents, no colour to spare, and an enemy submarine in the Atlantic. The earliest book in the run.
Reference points came first — finding period assets so the drawing could match the artists who would have made it.
1940sReference points came first — finding period assets so the drawing could match the artists who would have made it.
Flat pastel printing and a cover promise, in the manner of the books that ran alongside the space race.
Silver age · the alien invasionFlat pastel printing and a cover promise, in the manner of the books that ran alongside the space race.
Prepare the transformation lasers — sixties covers sold the idea before the story.
1960sPrepare the transformation lasers — sixties covers sold the idea before the story.
Sixties heroes fought villains with animal alter-egos, so the Midnight Ranger got a Lizard Man.
1960sSixties heroes fought villains with animal alter-egos, so the Midnight Ranger got a Lizard Man.
Cover copy, price points and the approval stamp all had to read as period-correct.
1960sCover copy, price points and the approval stamp all had to read as period-correct.
Twenty-five cents by now, and the cover copy has started shouting.
Return of the Mutant GladiatorTwenty-five cents by now, and the cover copy has started shouting.
Seventies books leaned supernatural and psychedelic. Time travellers from Asia fit perfectly.
1970sSeventies books leaned supernatural and psychedelic. Time travellers from Asia fit perfectly.
The line has loosened, the palette has gone hot, and there are two of them on the cover.
Later runThe line has loosened, the palette has gone hot, and there are two of them on the cover.
A city on fire and a villain giving orders. Modern printing, modern trim, no price box on the front.
Issue 649A city on fire and a villain giving orders. Modern printing, modern trim, no price box on the front.
One figure, one lightning strike, nothing else — which is how covers work once the character is famous.
The hero coverOne figure, one lightning strike, nothing else — which is how covers work once the character is famous.
The same character, several decades on, in a house style that had changed completely.
Modern era · New Day DawningThe same character, several decades on, in a house style that had changed completely.
Designing prop comic books for TVYouTubeNearly five minutes on how these were researched and drawn — period house styles, cover furniture, and why a 1948 book cannot be drawn like a modern one.

Midnight Ranger — inside the books

A cover only has to survive a glance. Interiors have to survive being picked up and flicked through by an actor, which means real panels, real gutters and lettering that holds together at reading distance.

Panel-by-panel, inked and lettered, with the sound effects doing as much work as the drawing.
Wartime interior · page onePanel-by-panel, inked and lettered, with the sound effects doing as much work as the drawing.
The torpedo sequence. Silhouette and framing carry it, because there is no colour to lean on.
Wartime interior · page twoThe torpedo sequence. Silhouette and framing carry it, because there is no colour to lean on.
Blown up to two feet by three, so it can hang on a wall in shot and still read.
Lettered page at 24 x 36Blown up to two feet by three, so it can hang on a wall in shot and still read.

Kimiko Tan · 30 Rock, NBC

A body pillow for a character who does not exist, drawn in Adobe Illustrator in a style borrowed wholesale from anime. It had to work as a printed object first and as a joke second, which meant a front, a back, and a version nobody chose.

Character art drawn in Adobe Illustrator for NBC’s 30 Rock. Everyone on set wanted one of the pillows.
Pillow front and backCharacter art drawn in Adobe Illustrator for NBC’s 30 Rock. Everyone on set wanted one of the pillows.
The same figure as a redhead. Not the one that went to print.
The rejected redheadThe same figure as a redhead. Not the one that went to print.
The finished pillow on a director’s chair, which is where prop graphics usually end up between takes.
On setThe finished pillow on a director’s chair, which is where prop graphics usually end up between takes.
The apartment set dressed and lit, with the pillow in place.
On set, widerThe apartment set dressed and lit, with the pillow in place.
The payoff — the pillow in the actors’ hands, which is the only test that counts.
On screenThe payoff — the pillow in the actors’ hands, which is the only test that counts.

Angie · 30 Rock, NBC

Pencil caricature drawn as artwork for a prop, then made into the object itself with propmaster Kevin Ladson. Two drawings, one of them a lion.

Graphite, worked up at size so the line survives being photographed under set lights.
AngieGraphite, worked up at size so the line survives being photographed under set lights.
The same subject as a lion, in brush and ink, with hand-drawn lettering.
TangiersThe same subject as a lion, in brush and ink, with hand-drawn lettering.
The finished piece in Tracy Morgan’s hands. Made with propmaster Kevin Ladson.
The prop, on screenThe finished piece in Tracy Morgan’s hands. Made with propmaster Kevin Ladson.

The cast of Bull · CBS

This one happened backwards. A caricature went on the cover of a prop magazine, the producers saw it, and then they wanted everybody.

The magazine that started it — a cover caricature built to be read in one pass on camera.
The Follower · prop coverThe magazine that started it — a cover caricature built to be read in one pass on camera.
Drawn after the producers saw the magazine and asked for the crew. Six of them, each one recognisable at thumbnail size.
The whole castDrawn after the producers saw the magazine and asked for the crew. Six of them, each one recognisable at thumbnail size.

Sports art · Spike TV

Set dressing for a sports bar, painted in the loose, high-colour manner of the sports artists whose work hangs in rooms like that — then framed and put on the wall.

Broken colour and a lot of motion, so it reads as a painting from across the room.
QuarterbackBroken colour and a lot of motion, so it reads as a painting from across the room.
Same palette, different play. The set needed a wall of them, not one.
Running backSame palette, different play. The set needed a wall of them, not one.
The catch, mid-air, in about six colours.
Wide receiverThe catch, mid-air, in about six colours.
Framed and hung with the jerseys, doing exactly what set dressing should — going unnoticed.
On the setFramed and hung with the jerseys, doing exactly what set dressing should — going unnoticed.

Whatever style the script needs

The job is rarely “draw like yourself”. It is usually draw like a manga artist, or a caricaturist, or a tattooist working in a tradition with its own rules.

A full page of panels in screentone and hard black, built as a mural at wall scale.
Manga muralA full page of panels in screentone and hard black, built as a mural at wall scale.
Vector caricature, dozens of them, all of which have to be recognisable before the eye reaches the caption.
CaricatureVector caricature, dozens of them, all of which have to be recognisable before the eye reaches the caption.
Designs mocked up onto photographs of the actual body parts, with a translation key so the meaning is on the record.
Tattoo design · hands and neckDesigns mocked up onto photographs of the actual body parts, with a translation key so the meaning is on the record.
Skull, daggers and a trident, worked up on the same principle — drawn flat, then wrapped onto the neck to check how it sits.
Tattoo design · second setSkull, daggers and a trident, worked up on the same principle — drawn flat, then wrapped onto the neck to check how it sits.

Drawing it, in real time

A sketchbook page from start to finish, sped up. Most of what is on this page arrives as a finished thing; this is what the hour before it actually looks like.

How I draw glamorous comic book hair1:06Sixty-six seconds of a sketch that took considerably longer — line, volume, then the colour that makes it read as hair rather than shape.
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