Another look at Dustin Nguyen’s cover process
The first time we did this, it went over so well, it made perfect sense to extend the invite to Dustin to discuss the process behind another BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM cover. So, take it away, Dustin:
1- Thumb #2 of the 5 approved involved showcasing Robin as well. Robin has always been tough for me, every time i drew Tim Drake, he was too young, but now- Damien is young, so this works well for me. This one was very Toppi inspired as well and a bit more experimental than i normally do, but i felt the grit was important.
2- Knowing i will soak this paper up a bit, i also opted to go with the 300lb hotpress, it's smooth enough for the quill and can take a beating from my pencils. The rough basically lays down the more simple elements, making way for placement of logo, bar code, etc. In next stage,i do add on quiet a bit and change many things when i start to finalize for painting.
3- unlike going in digitally for coloring like in the previous cover, i lay down paint before i go in with inks. This is done mostly because watercolor usually paints itself and painting first helps me decide where to laydown holding lines and any rendering i'd like to add. this also helps keep the ink from getting faded or bleeding when washes are layered down. Sometimes, i do reverse the process to get fades and certain effects, but in this cover i wanted more textures in the colors while having crisp black lines.
4- finally, the inks are put down using a variety of quills and brushes, scanned in and then adjusted to bring in the right amount of saturation and hues.
Very cool. Thanks again, Dustin!
