BLOG NO LONGER IN USE!

For Danny Monzillo's portfolio and contact information please visit www.wix.com/dmonzi20/monzart

Roughs, Roughs, Roughs!

Here are the roughs for the 3 thumbed pages in the previous post, enjoy!

New Sketchbook

Just got a new sketchbook today! It feels good when you fill one up but starting a new one can be a daunting task. I mean, you don't want the first drawing in a new sketchbook to suck right? I always tend to skip the first page, leaving it blank, just in case the first drawing is a poor one. I don't want to have to look at a sucky every time I go to draw. Anyway, here are some thumbnails for the next three pages of "NSTAN" They are all done on an 8 and 1/2 by 11 page (The second one) in my new sketchbook. Each thumbnail is about 2 and 1/2 by 3 and 3/4. Enjoy!

"NSTAN" pg's 7 and 8

Another progress update. Here are pages 7 and 8 of "NSTAN". The lettering is a little wonky but nothing a paste-up can't fix!

Enjoy!

New Portfolio Website!

For my portfolio and to contact me please visit my new portfolio website
http://www.wix.com/dmonzi20/monzart

No post today. I'm home in N.Y. for the weekend getting ready for an MTV Networks networking event where I'll hopefully get some freelance work. The Next post will be on Wednesday April 18th. Until then folks...

"NSTAN" Chapter 0, page 8

Just finished the pencils for pg 8. I will be inking on the original artwork (So I can cut back on bristol expenses). I did the pencils in non-photo blue so I adjusted in photoshop to get them as dark as I could. Just a little preview for the upcoming web comic.  Stay tuned for more updates, Enjoy!

My Process

Everyone in the comic book industry goes about creating artwork in their own way. There is no "right way" to create a comic page, but this process is starting to work for me. Normally, I start out with the script that I wrote. From there, I do little thumbnails in my sketchbook. Next, I scan all those thumbnails and compose a unified thumbnail in photoshop making sure to adjust panel sizes and placement.

From there, I will print it out in blue-line at 3 by 5 inches I will do a loose rough. (Most scanners will not pick up non-photo-blue. Which is nice and saves a lot of erasing time.

Then I will scan it,  adjust it in photoshop one more time, take reference photos, make an overlay and print it at about 5 by 8 inches. This page is mostly "talking heads" so not as much reference was necessary. Normally I will only do overlays for poses if I find they are stiff or just not working. 

Here is where I focus on Silhouettes. I go over my reference in marker to establish the basic silhouette (just so I can make sure the poses are accurate).  I also finalize word balloon to make sure that the readers eye will move across the page the way that I intend it to. 

Now that I have my basic layout and composition pretty solid and can see that the story is running smoothly,  I use a light box to do a tight rough, also at 5 by 8 inches on 8 and 1/2 by 11 copy paper. 

This is all done before I even start the finished artwork! Next I will probably blow up this tight rough to 10 by 15 and light box over it to do the finished pencils on bristol board (While still making changes and improving the composition but focusing more on lighting and line weight). From there I will do the inks, the lettering and yayyy! finished artwork! I haven't always worked this way (I actually started pretty recently) I am still trying to figure out what works for me. This process may not work for everyone. The only way to figure it out is to try and fail... multiple times and then try and fail again... and again... I think that applies to not only comic books but also to everything else in life. I am still trying to figure out my "style" and I don't expect that something like that will be resolved any time soon. So, fellow artists and storytellers, just be patient. I know I'm "trying" to be.

Process Book, Blog, Process Book Blog?

Danny Monz's Arts will now be a process book blog, which will be updated daily with thumbnails, sketches, concept art, roughs, rants etc... Lately, I've noticed that keeping a process book (whether I'm doing pages or writing scripts) really helps my creative process. It allows me to keep track of my thoughts and write down my frustrations in order to get them out of my head! I stumbled upon this technique when taking Visual Storytellings 1 and 2 (Thanks Larison). So I figured, why not just put it online? I mean everything else in the world is now right? Anyway, enough with the ranting. For my portfolio you can now visit http://monzart.carbonmade.com/ or just scroll down to older posts on this blog. It has been a while since I posted an update for "No Such Thing As Normal" so here are the loose pencils for page 7.

The inks for this page are finished I Will post this project as a web comic, one page update per week upon completion of chapter 0 (Chapter 0 will be a 15 page mini/preview comic). Currently I am working on page 8 of the 15 page mini that will be finished and printed as my senior project. I am also currently writing a graphic novel entitled "Absent Standard" Which I will be working on once NSTAN chapter 0 is completed. Enjoy!

"When The Fat Lady Sings" A short story by Danny Monz

I will not be posting "No Such Thing As Normal" Page 3 on this blog.

I was going to post the black and white preliminary artwork for Chapter 1 Page 3 of "NSTAN"; Instead I have decided to let the previous post be the last page preview until the book is launched. From here on I will continue to post concept art for the project as well as thumbnails, roughs and other updates of that sort. Really enjoying the artwork now as the story is beginning to take off. Just finished writing chapter 2 of the book, the story is really starting to take shape. I can't wait to get to the artwork for chapter 2! I just feel like I always want to keep going faster and faster the more I get further into the story. For the rest of the weekend I will be making my corrections on pages 1, 2 and 3, finishing up and printing "When The Fat Lady Sings" and working on thumbnails and roughs for the upcoming pages.

"No Such Thing As Normal" Page 2

Here is the finished traditional black and white artwork for page two of the project perviously entitled "This American Life", which is now newly titled "No Such Thing As Normal". Anyway, this is just another little preview of what's to come. Enjoy!

"No Such Thing As Normal" Page 1

This is the finished inked page 1 of "TAL". I was planning to use watercolor paint to color this comic but I'm wondering if it would work better in black and white? Let me know what you guys think!

Christmas Card 2011

Finally found the time to post the Christmas Card I made for my girlfriend. The dialogue is an inside joke but I liked the drawing I did on it so I figured I'd post it up.

"T.A.L." Issue 0 pg 1 Finished Pencils

This is the finished pencil drawing for pg 1 of Issue 0. They are quite rough since I will be inking the comic as well and don't feel like adding all the little details twice. This preview is just to give you a sense of the specific look of the comic. The one thing I will say about the story at this point is it is NOT a zombie story. Enjoy!

Danny Monz's "This American Life"

Man being back in Savannah really feels good after a long break! It was kinda hard to get things going artistically immediately after arriving in town with getting adjusted to classes, unpacking and running countless errands on my plate. Anyway I'm so excited to get back to the grind and continue what I started before the holiday break. "This American Life" is a web comic I am working on that Is scheduled to launch in May 2012. Here is the finished black and white artwork for the cover of issue 0. The finished version of the cover will be painted in watercolor and have my company logo on it. I will not mention anything about the plot at this point. I guess you will all have to wait and see!!!

Four finished pages from "When The Fat Lady Sings!"

It has been a long break. It has been very busy this holiday season with all the traveling and what-not I have been doing. Anyway at the end of the last quarter I had completely finished 4 pages from "WTFLS" These pages are not yet lettered and are not in order as to not give away the story. Currently finishing up the other 4 pages in my spare time and will post the story in its entirety upon completion.