Ross Hughes Art Thread

**RHughes** · 11-09-2006, 08:39 AM

I got permission to show a couple pages from this book. We'll be shopping it around very soon, and it will hopefully be picked up by Alias (*fingers crossed*). There is still time for corrections before we make any for print, so any crits will definitely be appreciated.

Art by Harold Edge

Colors - Ross Hughes (Me!)

**Rik Levins** · 11-09-2006, 10:26 AM

Overall, very nice art and beautiful coloring.

A few things I find confusing, though. Maybe if the scans were larger they'd make more sense to my aging eyes.

We have a big guy picking up...something...(a leg? Is it a man or just part of one?) from a pile of rubble. Then he throws...something with a streak of red. There's a cloud of dust/debris behind him, dark brown (I'd go with a lighter color if it's a cloud of dust). Then we see an explosion on a skyscraper, with a big red thing in front of it and another dark brown cloud. I assume it's the thing (person?) that was just thrown smashing through the building, but I can't figure out what the red thing is. (Motion lines? I'm not sure. If so, they should probably be white or light yellow.)
Next, the...object...is smashing through more buildings. Just FYI, if you depict something flying from left to right in one panel, it's better to have it still going left to right in the next, otherwise it just looks subtly wrong. That panel might look better flipped horizontally.

I guess my main complaint here is that we never get a good look at the person or object he's throwing. It (he?) may have been clearly shown on previous pages, but it's still better to show the entire thing (person) at least once on THIS page, so we know for sure what (who) it is.
For example, panel two could be a downshot emphasizing the object (person) flying right at us, and the big guy down below on the ground making a throwing motion.

Then the big guy approaches a another guy on the ground...looks sort of like he's descending into a crater, but I'm not sure. Emphasis on the fact that he's standing in a puddle, and the other guy smiles.

Next page, the guy on the ground grabs a power line and, I assume, sticks one end of it into the puddle. At least, I think that's what he's doing, we can't actually see the puddle from this angle.

Sure, we can figure it out, but as my editors at Marvel used to beat into my head, always SHOW the important details, don't leave it up to the readers to guess.

Also, since three panels back we saw that the big guy has thick-soled boots on, my feeling in looking at this panel is that this trick probably wouldn't work.

A better way to lay this out would be to show that the big guy is standing in water deep enough to COVER his shoes, and to clearly show the power line inserted into the water.

I also can't quite figure out what the rootlike things surrounding the big guy are supposed to be, and although he's grimacing, he's not otherwise showing any discomfort in his stance. This panel would also work better if he was arching backward, his body language showing that he's being electrocuted and it hurts.

Page three, perfectly clear, although (VERY minor nitpick), the cops look a little too casual. If I were a cop, I would probably notice a superhero carrying an unconscious giant long before he got that close.

I assume the purple marks on the hero's face are bruises from a previous fight. When he takes off, he leaves a red trail behind. Is he jet-powered, and therefore gives off some sort of fiery exhaust? If so, then that's fine, but if not it would probably look better white or light yellow.

I hope some of this helps. This is very nice, professional-looking work, and I wish you the best of luck with it.

**Gumbo Maximillian** · 11-09-2006, 03:03 PM

That is definately some beautiful coloring, the art in general is alright, I think it got covered pretty well already by the previous post.

Though I think the red streak is supposed to be his cape leaving a "trail" sorts as he is flying across the page so as to guide the eye.

**RHughes** · 11-10-2006, 06:34 AM

Rik,
Thanks for taking the time to look at this and give me your thoughts. I agree I've still got some things to work out with some of the colors. Specifically, the dust cloud. I agree it came out way too dark.

These are pages 2-4 of the book. Page one depicts the hero much more clearly than this one, but I agree that taken individually, the pages can be a bit confusing. Also, the "root-like" things are poles that were holding street signs, lights, ect. These were also established on page 1. I'm not the artist (just a lowly colorist :) ) so I can't really make some of the changes you suggest on my own, but I'll be sure to pass them along.

It's a bit of a stretch, but let's just say the guy is being electrocuted through the water that is being sprayed on him from the fire hydrant rather than through the puddle of water he's standing in. That or he bought his shoes from Wal-Mart and they aren't insulated. :D

I also agree about the need to flip panel 2 on that first page to help the flow. I'll suggest that and see if they don't mind if I correct it.

The streaks were supposed to be the cape leaving a trail, but I guess I need to go back and give it some more attention.

Thanks again for giving me your thoughts on it. I really appreciate it.

Ross

**RHughes** · 12-01-2006, 06:24 AM

Ok, so I went back and re-tooled these a bit. I may still go back and play around, but I'm generally happy with them, so it will depend on my schedule if I can get back and play, I guess.

I tried pushing the buildings back and made the windows look like windows. I also lightened the dust clouds. I wasn't really going for "mud" and that seemed to be what everyone was calling it. :)

I also added a bit more of a blue hue to the villain in the electrocution shot. I played around with some color holds on it last night and couldn't quite get the look I wanted, so I settled for this. Again, if I've got some time, I might go back and play with it some more.

**RHughes** · 12-01-2006, 06:52 AM

This was a pin-up that was used in Emissary #5 (my first time being published!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!), although a slightly different version was used in the final printing that had a yellow hue to the background characters.

Art by Ben Jones

Inks by Tom Schloendorn

Colors by me

**Jaye** · 12-04-2006, 07:38 AM

Congrats on being published!

And beautiful work, the colors contribute a lot to this.

**RHughes** · 12-04-2006, 08:28 AM

Thanks, Jaye!

**dtgooden** · 12-04-2006, 11:45 AM

Good Job, and good work on getting published. That's always a thrill and I hope it keeps coming.

**RHughes** · 12-04-2006, 01:23 PM

Me too. :)

Thanks!

**SmittyX** · 12-04-2006, 04:40 PM

That's a solid piece! Worthy of publication, to be sure.

**RHughes** · 02-26-2007, 05:51 AM

I colored this promotional piece for the upcoming Fallen Justice mini-series.

Lineart by Harold Edge

**RHughes** · 03-27-2007, 07:40 AM

This is the cover for the upcoming mini-series from Cary Kelly called Fallen Justice. I had originally went with a golden look for the masks, but Cary asked to see what it would look like in a metallic silver. I've got to say, I think I like it better in silver. What do you guys think?

Lineart by Harold Edge
Colors by me.

**cleofus1** · 03-28-2007, 04:37 AM

i can't tell you why...but i like the gold...
beautiful work tho...:p

**RHughes** · 03-30-2007, 09:56 AM

This is a logo design I came up with for the Photo/TV Group of NASA. I work for United Space Alliance during the day, and while I was attending one of the seemingly endless amounts of meetings I have to go to, they put out a call to have a logo developed so that they could make patches and hats and such with the logo on it. The final version most likely won't include the contractors on the sides, but I figured I'd post the original so my company could get some props. :)