Mea Culpa, Brian Bolland

Original vs. Replica 
(or Paxton vs. Pullman)

OK, this is a little strange and could almost qualify as shameless self-promotion if it weren't for the fact that, apparently, I've unknowingly become a minor headache to comic art legend, Brian Bolland... 

While checking stats for this Blog, I noticed there were several links from an article on the La Covacha website:

http://lacovacha.mx/noticias/wtf-la-portada-de-the-killing-joke-que-no-es-de-brian-bolland/

After hitting the "Translate to English" option in my Chrome browser (hey, I barely read and write in English, let alone another language), I read through the article "WTF | THE "COVER" OF THE KILLING JOKE IS NOT OF BRIAN BOLLAND" by Alberto Calvo.  It talked about how, many times, my replica of Brian Bolland's "Killing Joke" cover is used on websites in place of original Bolland's work.

WTF, indeed!

He lays out the basic, obvious reasons for this:

     1. It is not obscured by logos (mostly because I dislike lettering so much)
     2. The images are both online and larger in size than most

I'm also sure a lot of it has to do with some one doing a Google Image Search, seeing my picture, thinking they've found it, and grabbing the wrong one.  Y'know, like how people confuse Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman all the time.  Then, some one else sees that picture labelled as Brian Bolland's on their website, grabs it for their own, and the confusion compounds itself,   (Although, I've seen some examples where my signature is rather obvious in the picture, so that's kinds strange... You'd think they'd ask "Who the heck is this 'John Douglas' guy signing his name to Brian Bolland's cover?)

Here is a section from the article (and I will blame any quirkiness in grammar on the translation software, not Mr. Calvo):

When Brian Bolland came to Mexico a couple of years ago as a guest of La Mole Comic Con, he who made me realize that, apparently very popular, image was not its cover, but a recreation was. Some fans who have made use of services bound for filling their volumes of paperback used that image as cover, which no longer wryly funny, because some of them took to sign a copy on the cover of the original artist was replaced by a copy.

http://lacovacha.mx/noticias/wtf-la-portada-de-the-killing-joke-que-no-es-de-brian-bolland/

First, I find it terrifyingly euphoric that Brian Bolland has even seen any of my artwork.  I mean, I'm just a guy in the middle of nowhere, so the thought that one of my artistic heroes--or any comic creator for that matter--would have seen anything I did is almost too bizarre for me to wrap my mind around.  On the other hand, I am mortified if it has caused him any sort of distress, as mentioned in the article.  So, there is a half-eaten worm in that apple, if you will.  Mea Culpa!

While I understand it, I also find the confusion a little embarrassing in the "My version doesn't match nearly enough" kind of way.  I shot the finished painting with a sub-par camera, so the picture is a little blurry in a couple spots, the color is slightly shifted and washed out, and there is even a spot on the top-left where the light from the lamp reflected into the picture.  Sure, I could go back and color correct everything, but that would even cause more confusion, methinks.

I do have to admit, though, when I do stumble across my artwork out in the wilds of the internet, regardless of the context, I'm one step from clutching an imaginary Oscar and saying "You like me!  You really like me!"

All that said, it's kinda weird to read an article about yourself, especially since I had no idea it was being written.  WEIRD!  The world is a funny place, sometimes...

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Oh, and one correction from an otherwise good article: I do **NOT** do cover replicas on request.  They are **HUGE** (20" x 30" / 50cm x 75cm), they take **FOREVER** to do, and it is generally a pain in the butt to try and match someone's style as closely as you can, line-by-line.  I am doing them as a favor for a friend of mine that runs a local comic book shop (speaking of which, I am currently finishing up the next one in the next couple weeks).  That said, if you are an eccentric billionaire with ridiculous amounts of cash to waste and want to have a giant comic book cover replica, please contact me. :-D

Here's a link to the Original Post featuring the creation of the "Killing Joke" Cover Replica.

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Killing Joke - Cover Replica

Batman: The Killing Joke

By Alan Moore and Brian Bolland

Here's the original by Brian Bolland

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Well, I **FINALLY** finished my big project: a 20" x 30" recreation of "Batman: The Killing Joke".

Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and snapped the picture about 10 minutes before I took it out the door to deliver; it looked just fine on the thumbnail preview on my camera, but when I got the picture ready for upload, the colors seem washed out and there was a reflection on top.  Alas, PhotoShop can only manipulate so much before the fixing in one spot completely distorts another.  Sigh...  Oh, well. I guess the pic is good enough for our needs.  :-)

Anyway, for those who are interested, here's the step-by-step:

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STEP ONE:  As I usually do for these cover recreations, I glued down a 22" x 30" sheet of 140 lb. Stonehenge paper (100% cotton rag) to a 20" x 30" hardboard and trimmed off the excess paper.  I then used a mixture of size (glue) and gesso to prepare the painting surface.  I drew out a 2" x 2" grid and started drawing the cover.

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STEP TWO:  After getting the pencils and layout finished, I did some outlines in black acrylic and filled in large areas so I could still see it after I started laying in colors.  It almost looks like a Frank Miller drawing at this point.  Either that or a "Scarface" poster.  :-)

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STEP THREE:  Next, comes the flat colors in acrylic paint.  I choose the color scheme used in the Bolland-colored 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.  And, once again, I must ask if it has really been 20 years since I first bought my copy of "Batman: The Killing Joke", hot off the shelves?  (Of course, I also got the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, as well.)  Time flies...

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STEP FOUR:  I next added some shadows and highlights on the colors.  I tried several times, after LOTS of trial-and-error (mostly "error", alas) to mix the paint for all the changes in value and try to match the air-brush techniques used in the PhotoShop coloring of the color.  Sometimes acrylic can be a bit temperamental, streaky and difficult to blend... and trying to match colors after they dry can be quite a pain.

However, in this case I got an idea to use a drybrush technique, as I don't have an airbrush.  I used a No. 14 round hog-haired brush, dipped it in the paint color you want to use as the highlight/shadow, then brush off most of the paint with a newspaper or some other paper leaving a little bit of paint remaining on the brush.  Then you lightly brush the remaining paint on the picture and slowly build up lights and darks.  In my humble view, it looks a lot like an airbrush effect without actually having an airbrush.

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STEP FIVE:  Lastly, it was time for the linework.  Lots and LOTS of linework.  Almost all lines were done with a No. 3 and No. 4 round brush, with a mixture of black acrylic paint and ink.  I did use an Ultra-Fine Sharpie for some of the straight edge and circle templates used on the camera.

Normally, I also include all the lettering on the cover and the logo.  However, in this case I decided to leave off the logo, with the image of the Joker just holding the camera and saying "Smile!".  It's so iconic, I didn't think many people would miss the logo.  I called it done (FINALLY!), sprayed the painting with an acrylic sealer, and took it in to my pal, Jim. 

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This was done with acrylic paint on 20" x 30" gessoed Stonehenge paper glued to hardboard.

  

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