Art of Jonathan Rector

Art of Jonathan Rector
« on: Jul 11, 2011, 06:43 AM »
Wow.

It's been a very long time since I've been on the Void site. Such drastic changes and improvements. My hat tips to all the guys & ladies that made the site, stuck with it, and made it into this beast it is!

Enough back pats ha ha! Let's start the thread off with comics!!

I've been working on quite a few comics over the last little while. Right now I'm working on two super hero books called "The Hero Code" & "The Standard". I'll post pages of those soon.

But first, let's have some fun! I finished a mini comic around 2 weeks ago, and put it on my blog for free. Hope you enjoy the fun little story :)










I would love any feedback what so ever. From "It totally blows" to "fix this or that".
« Last Edit: Jul 11, 2011, 06:45 AM by jar »

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #1 on: Jul 11, 2011, 08:10 AM »
nice to see you back here! I already know some of what you're up to of course haha the mini comic looks awesome!
Kittens wearins mittens

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #2 on: Jul 11, 2011, 09:17 AM »
Hey Angie!

Thanks, and yes, I know some of what YOU are up too as well ha ha!
We should talk to Jamie soon. Get some of those pages posted up here for people to see!

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #3 on: Jul 11, 2011, 05:24 PM »
Nice man, I really like the lines and all the little details. I think it would benefit from having colour though, but its still pretty awesome!

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #4 on: Jul 11, 2011, 05:33 PM »
Oh Man!!!!!!  so nice to see you around again!  as usual, your stuff looks tight.
killing the enemy with cuteness

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #5 on: Jul 11, 2011, 05:55 PM »
Jamie did give me permission to put 3 pages up, I imagine if you asked he'd be cool with you doing the same. I'd put them on http://entervoid.com/board/index.php?topic=10385.135
Kittens wearins mittens

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #6 on: Jul 11, 2011, 06:40 PM »
JAR!  Great to see some of your stuff here again.  I really enjoyed reading this and I thought it was very well thought out.  The only spot that I really had to look at something to know what was going on was the big monster's reveal.  I don't think I could draw that thing from the information provided in that shot, but it's a very minor quibble really.

The other thing I noticed is you seem to have intentionally given the captain three fingers, but he has four when he says "Oh my sweet, asteroid belt!".  Again, it's nothing major but it's just something to keep your eye out for.  I once drew a guy with two left feet for a submission which was kind of embarrassing.  I didn't even notice the fingers until my fourth or fifth time looking at this.

Great artwork.  You've really improved over the years and your work seems much cleaner and your lines seem even more confident than before.  I would LOVE to have another match with you here for old times sake.  I hope you're up for it some time.  Thanks for sharing this!

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #7 on: Jul 11, 2011, 08:46 PM »
These look nice.
Since you asked, there's a few things that irk me about the art. Primarily the movement. The biggest offender is the "giddy up" panel. You've got the character chucking a rock, so you've got his rotation on the follow through & the streak of the rock's path but then also the bird either swooping in & around but then down again, & yet have speedlines showing the bird seeming to wedge in it's wings to a dive but then the whole thing has a dramatic sort of thing to establish the character was running when he threw that thing (that seem to point towards his foot?). It's a lot happening all at the same time & the lines going here there & everywhere end up tripping up over one another. You could simply show the rock's path with the character mid step in the pose without lines (though looking again it's a little odd that he picks it up with one hand but seems to throw it with the other. i mean he could've switched hands but without any sort of wind up between picking up & the follow through of the throw it feels like a continuity hiccup because it feels like it's a quick beat we're not seeing), & the bird gliding with the rock whiffing on by. And since that's ideally the focus of the panel, if you're going to add lines around the panel they should be pointing towards the miss, not the character throwing. It'll also subconsciously give the feeling of the rock leaving the panel in a way as well as all of the character's forward momentum's in the rock now & while it missed the bird, it's still moving (if the rock were in the panel of course). Another, is a few panels later where the arm swings & throws the net but the sweep follows the arm & from that leaves a straight line. Physics don't work like that. The release would've happened earlier & the net would've arched with the swinging momentum. The arm could've been at the same spot the swoop could've just stayed on the net, while arching, & established the effect more realistically. It's things like that I think you need to look out for. Continuity in the sense of number of fingers is another thing, though in some I can't tell if it's an extra knuckle or some other line.

The lettering bugs me. The dialogue seems huge. It could stand to be smaller. Even if this is a mini printing at 8.5x5 or whatever. It's big & I don't think it's clearing the margins enough within the balloons. Like it fits, but it'd read clearer & easier with more clearance. Beyond that, the sound effects & emphatic text looks subpar given the line work. Like the art's nice, you can draw very well, but if you can spend time drawing every ridge & crevice in that establishing shot, why not try writing the text out & having it compliment the line art as opposed to just taking some font in photoshop & just throwing a warp & stroke on it. It distorts the letters unevenly & really takes away from the whole package. I know we're not all letterers, but I look at photoshop text warps i did in my own stuff just a short while ago & grimace. I think the attempt ultimately looks better than the cheap out.

Overall it's nice though. I think color or tones would really seal the deal in terms of clearly blocking everything out, but it's not 100% necessary. Good stuff & keep coming back with what you've got going

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #8 on: Jul 12, 2011, 03:58 AM »
Why did I ever leave this place?

So awesome to hear from you guys and gals again! Thanks so much for the feedback. It's well thought out, and well described.

I do plan on coming back to void, and throwing down a few fights when I have the time. Right now, I'm working on a "semi-reboot." with Fenix. I should have something posted in the next few days. Just cleaning up his design, and working on a new back story, that sort of merges all the past history I've had with the character.

I'm really, really excited about coming back!

Thanks once again you guys! I always appreciate the feedback.

I'll toss another picture in here too, so it's not just a wall of text ha ha!
This is a small wrap around cover I made for the mini:


P.S. Man...I just realised I gave him four fingers AGAIN...terrible.
« Last Edit: Jul 12, 2011, 04:09 AM by jar »

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #9 on: Jul 14, 2011, 06:33 PM »
Finished up the "Reboot" design for Fenix. Now I can work on the origin story, and the relaunch will be all set!

EXCITING!!!


Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #10 on: Jul 14, 2011, 06:41 PM »
Very nice! I feel like his legs could be a bit longer since at that moment he has that kind of cartoony frame going on.
Kittens wearins mittens

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #11 on: Jul 14, 2011, 06:43 PM »
So josep king is supposed to have 3 fingers? Thats pretty sweet. I would really like to see more of him and I really like his design. Fenix seems pretty cool as well but I'm excited to the origin story

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #12 on: Jul 14, 2011, 08:36 PM »
so whos the newest influence?  the finch seems to be pretty much completely gone.  while i miss the detail level, i do like the cleanliness of the work.
pure slackin'

facebook.com/artoftravisearls

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #13 on: Jul 15, 2011, 04:40 AM »
Very nice! I feel like his legs could be a bit longer since at that moment he has that kind of cartoony frame going on.

Thanks :)  I'll play around with it in Photoshop, see what happens. I sort of wanted a "Hulk" like frame. But I totally get what your saying!

So josep king is supposed to have 3 fingers? Thats pretty sweet. I would really like to see more of him and I really like his design. Fenix seems pretty cool as well but I'm excited to the origin story

Yup! Three fingers. I'm working on a book for Jesop when I have some free time. Nothing solid right now. Throwing questions at the character to see what sounds like something to pursue. I'm looking at around 50-100 pages. Manga size (love the format). Then, once the book is completed, I will release it as a webcomic, with a print version near the end. Hopefully, I can get a webcomic started :)

Thanks again! I'm playing with multiple routes right now. Not sure if I should include the demon he had before, or not. I'll have to make a decision by Sunday.

so whos the newest influence?  the finch seems to be pretty much completely gone.  while i miss the detail level, i do like the cleanliness of the work.

Thanks D! Finch....eesh. I know what your saying. He taught me a lot, and it took a very long time to get comfortable going back to an older style of drawing I much prefered. The "cleanliness" comes from working totally in Photoshop. Ever since I made the switch to 100% digital, I have far more control on how busy an image gets.

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #14 on: Jul 15, 2011, 07:33 AM »
Fenix looks great.  My vote's for no demon, just straight superhero since you're going with the Captain Void inspired design.

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #15 on: Jul 15, 2011, 08:12 AM »
Fenix looks great.  My vote's for no demon, just straight superhero since you're going with the Captain Void inspired design.

Thanks man. I'm thinking heavily on discarding the demon. I'm trying to pull in more of the mythology of a Phoenix for this round. The "V" on Fenix's hat is something else, not "Void" anymore.

Again, It'll be filled out when the origin comic is finished.

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #16 on: Jul 15, 2011, 10:10 AM »
Finished up the pose sheet, and Fenix's portrait.

Up next is the pages!



Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #17 on: Jul 15, 2011, 01:28 PM »
awesome to see you back and holy moly big time ups on your skills love the mini comic is great. keep it real man and welcome back.

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #18 on: Jul 15, 2011, 01:50 PM »
I'd love to pit my Dark Avenger archetype character against you, but I have not the skill yet. SOME DAY... . This is some top quality shit right here. I can't wait to see your new story line.
- I yearn for redemption, but I'll settle for a breakfast sandwich.


Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #19 on: Jul 16, 2011, 03:06 PM »
Oh wow, sooo many muscles.

Looking slick and clean, can't wait for more!

Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #20 on: Jul 18, 2011, 06:07 PM »
Thanks guys :)

I haven't had the chance to get back to Fenix stuff yet. Busy work week.
I did take some time the other night to take a break, and throw some colours, to the cover of my mini comic.

If you haven't read the mini comic yet, feel free to read it for free here:
http://jonathanrectorart.blogspot.com/2011/07/jesop-king-hunger-entire-mini-comic-for.html
You can also purchase the mini comic there as well. Enjoy!


Re: Art of Jonathan Rector
« Reply #21 on: Sep 19, 2011, 03:57 AM »
holy hell you're still around!
Loving the new work and the 'reboot' Fenix looks crazy.
Nice new style you got going man
Pee Pee...Pee Pee Vagina!

 

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