It has been a while since anything has happened with the OXYGEN project. Occasionally I would get a chance to draw another panel but it wasn’t enough to be able to realistically make significant progress with the book to reach a point where it would ever be published. Then something changed.
The Lockdown that has occurred for us all created a silver lining. I had to decamp from studio to home with minimal equipment. One desktop computer and my Cintiq (drawing tablet). Most of my work is as a storyboard artist. I was busy drawing ‘Dennis&Gnasher’ using my storyboard software when it suddenly occurred to me that I could draw panels for OXYGEN that way. I did a test and the results were amazing. Within two weeks I completed all the panels for the first chapter!
This is really satisfying and has lit a huge fire under the project. Colouring is in progress and I am already starting to thumbnail the second chapter. I have also restarted the Patreon page I had for it and am uploading news and short videos of me talking about the project. Please check it out. Most of the content is free but there is the opportunity to support it if you choose. You can find it at patreon.com
So this is weird. Like many people I get email notifications about stuff. One popped into my inbox from Indiegogo. One of the items on the email was about a new home camera security system. Looks pretty awesome but I was struck by the shape. Remind you of anything? Pure coincidence obviously. Not only that, but the name too. Then I scrolled down the page and saw the following image. Spooky eh 😉
You can check out this awesome little device on Indiegogo HERE
As the drawing of the panels slowly creeps forward on the new book, I thought I would pause and see what they might look like coloured up. As many of you will know, when I ‘coloured’ HORIZON I used a particular style that I had developed while working as a concept artist in the games industry. This time around I thought I would use a similar process but simplify it a bit. My intention is to make OXYGEN a colour book. HORIZON was deliberately cool in its tones and deliberately black and white for most of it. I didn’t want to have colour interfere too much with the subtle emotions of the piece. OXYGEN is a slightly different feel. I want very vivid, almost surreal colours for this one. I am sure you will see the Moebius influence on this. I was always open about the influence that Moebius had had on HORIZON and it is showing through on this book too. It feels like such a natural way to go with it and a very natural way for me to work. Flat slabs of colour with a few gradients, highlight and shadows. Anything more would probably over decorate it.
This scene seems to be the test piece that I have used for a couple of things now. It feels good to me. Might even offer it up as a print. Let me know your thoughts on that.
Work is going well on the book. Lots of thumbnails and test pieces. Once I have thumbnailed a few of the opening scenes I will get started on finished artwork. All being well I will have some early stuff to show at ThoughtBubble and maybe even launch the Kickstarter campaign. Needless to say, if you are interested in being part of the Kickstarter campaign say now so that I can get a sense of it.
So before I dive into drawing the panels I need to really know who the characters are and what the world is. Like HORIZON, OXYGEN has a very limited cast and a distinct environment. Nonetheless, anything that appears in it needs to be designed. There are some things that can be designed when I get to them but its always good to nail down the main things. Last post had a couple of turnarounds but this time, a couple of early sketches for other stuff. No big secret that this is a Science Fiction book. Well sort of. Below are a quick sketch for the ship that our hero travels in and the Stasis Bay where he makes the journey.
Writing is cracking on and I am going to start roughing out the first chapter very soon and do a couple of sample panels. Will post when they are done.
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