In a recent poll some people requested to see more sketches and early concept work. I aim to please so today i have some quick sketches and concept art i did for Mythica. This first set of sketches are some early concept drawings for Silvas. Silvas is a character that will be coming into play in the Mythica series very shortly and will be a regular character. He is of Spanish decent and as you may have guessed by the images,wields many blades. As with many of my characters, this character is based off of a good friend of mine, Josh Silvas.
Concept art for Silvas from Mythica by artist Matt Campbell
These first sketches are just that, my first attempt at discovering the look of this character. I sketch quickly and don’t go into too many details. Here i am trying a few costume ideas just to get a launching point. I’m not really happy with any of these designs yet so i am sure i will do several more.
Roughing out a comic page
Concept art for pg 9 issue 1 from the Mythica comic book. Mythica & artwork © Matt Campbell Illustration
Concept art for pg 10 issue 1 from the Mythica comic book. Mythica & artwork © Matt Campbell Illustration
The image on the left is a rough sketch of pg 9 of Mythica. On the previous page there is a big splash page showing Magnus squaring off against this demon. You may have seen this if you have seen the Mythica preview edition. So this next page starts the battle between them. The first panel is a swing and a miss from the demon with it’s nasty hook arm. Magnus ducks just in time. For some added flavor i’m thinking a little chunk of his hair flying through the air to help push the idea of how close the demon came to making contact. The next panel Magnus thrusts his sword into the belly of the beast. I felt this would be a great place for a Frank Miller style silhouette. Then the last panel has the beast come right back at Magnus despite the sword and slamming his head into the wall.
The image on the left has a few panel sketches for page 10. Pinned against the wall in the grip of the demon Magnus has little recourse but to go for the face. I’ve always wanted to do a scene like this. Whenever i have seen people with lots of face piercings i have always thought how dangerous that would be in a brawl. It was because i wanted to do this scene that i designed the demon with eye piercings. Except this demons piercings essentially make it blind as they go right over its eyes. I imagine it’s gotta hurt when they are yanked out as seen in panel 2. The last sketch is just a study i did inspired by some Mike Mignolia art.
So there you have it. Some Mythica concept work and a peek at the early development stages of a comic page.
On a side note i am looking for a letterer for Mythica. Someone who is good with custom made sound fx and knows how to make dialogue balloons flow well and east to read. If you are interested shoot me an email with samples of your work.
