In late 2014 I was packing my things. I had Failed. I had put one year into honing my craft on doing Comics -
and now i was broke. One Year earlier I had quit doing movies to persue my Passion of making Comics.
I was looking again for a job and luckilyhad found one in Animation, after having to struggle for a couple of month, as a Directors Assistant for an Animated Movie.
And i had to leave my gym and move to the Place the movie was made. I was following the BUFF DUDES on Youtube, because i loved their 80 Retro Style of storytelling and I wanted to be Buffed too - I was really skinny. That was why I was drawing a fullbody workout with barbarians so I could still workout without a gym. And I wrote the Buff Dudes which bodyweight exercise i could include for byceps without dumbbells or anything... and i showed them my drawings.
They loved my artwork and Asked if i wanted to create an animated Episode with them... and I said YES!
(See down below, the first Episode...)
Now we are creating the Second Episode and I wanted to share with you my art and workflow!
This one is called Noob Gains and it shows the story of a guy who is new to "working out" and therefor wants to grab some Quick Gains!
He starts to work out and gets invited into the the PANTHEON OF GAINS^^ (at least in his mind!)
This are the Amazone Godesses... I was inspired by Turbokid, Wasteland Movies and Comics and Old Thor Myths
I started early in my Career drawing on a Wacom Tablet, but my Mentor Ralph Niese Told me, draw pen on paper,
you have to be a little more precise, but you will gain speed and confidence on paper (if you fail you have to restart, and that trains you to be on point - i do love that!)
I drew the mountain troll, inspired by the awesome tabletop game Hordes / Trollbloods and the Barbarian Lord Comic!
The Guy who will animate this (Mark Jobe) marked here for me, where I have to slice the parts and give it a little more "Flesh" so it can be animated and the character can breathe heavily. (Using Photoshop 2 wich is for free / try also Krita)
And this is how the Buff Dudes look as Vikings / Barbarians... I tried to draw Good Pencils and Inks so the Colors could stay simple! (Hands and Heads will be animted, ...the one is shiny, the other more stony)
This is Mount Gainz... i was heavily inspired by frank frazettas illustration for the animated movie Fire and Ice!
The front part will be animated against the back part also called BG = BACKGROUND.
This is how glorious the guy feels when he starts to workout^^ in his mind!
And you will be Welcomed by BRODIN in the holy halls of gains!
I also remeber the Movies from my early Childhood,...and the Mosters animated by Ray Harryhausen! So i thought, i pay my tribute to him and feautre a mix of his creatures!^^
And the Final Enemy must be a dragon!
To keep the coloring simple and production fast i adapted the 63 Colors Marvel used in the 80s and 90s to asure the Colors of the Comics would stay consistent!
This was our first try for an Animated Episode, everything i love went into this... Teenage Ninja Turtles, April, Escape from NY, They Live, Immortan Joe from Mad Max 4, and god know^^ - Have fun! And Watch out for the "Noob Gains" Episode!
I want to put out in the near future a Series on "How to make art / Comics / learn to draw"
in simple Videos... Everybody can do this (with some good tipps!)
see you soon!
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Check out my Comics on: https://tapas.io/DarioCOMICS/series
Or my Stuff on: http://www.dariodidonato.com/