STALAG-X - Human characters

          I present here the first concepts (from 2006) for the main human characters of Stalag X series , I´m doing for my new publishers in Australia Gestalt Comics

  
       Color tests (2006) are made by my colorist Max.

STALAG-X - Alien races: the Kraals

   

 
             I present here the first designs for one of the alien races of the Stalag X series, I'm doing for Gestalt Comics my new publishers in Australia.

          This I show here are studies of the heads of the different breeds of Krael, reaching the final versions that are what we are using in the pages of the series.
     These test events are colored by my colorist Max (most of the concept art of the series were made in 2006).

     

 
   
         Here are the full length versions, with details of the uniforms & weapons of Krael warriors.
      The concept of the color will change a bit in the current version.

              Soon I will show the human characters in the series.
           Here is the link to the previous Stalag X posts:

                http://mikeratera.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Stalag-X

 

STALAG-X - Ships

      I show here some concept art for the elements of my new series STALAG-X, written by Kevin J. Anderson & Steven L. Sears, for my current publishers Gestalt Comics.

     These drawings are the concepts for a fighter of the Kraal alien race (you guessed it: they are the villains of the series !). As you can see, this design has to look clearly alien, not human.

          
             And here the concepts for human transport ship, we see in the opening scenes of the series.

            Coming soon: the Kraal alien race concepts !

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              More information about "Stalag-X", go to the blog of Kevin J. Anderson :    
                                 http://kjablog.com/?p=3077

              GESTALT comics : http://www.gestaltcomics.com/


        

DAN SHAMBLE, ZOMBIE P.I. - E-book Cover

I just made this illustration for the E-Book cover of  "DEATH WARMED OVER", the first novel of the cycle of novels "Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I." written by Kevin J. Anderson, the writer with whom I am also working on the series "Stalag-X": http://mikeratera.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Stalag-X

This you see here is the final assembly with the fonts and background has been added behind the character.

 These are the covers for the previous paper versions of the first two novels "Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.":

And here I will show you the steps for this illustration:

1 - The previous sketch, drawn from the ideas of Kevin & the "Dan Shamble" references I have, with lighting and volumes defined in the drawing, which will be very useful for color later.

2 - Once the sketch has been approved by Kevin, this is the line version at which to paint with photoshop. I made ​​some adjustments with respect to the sketch version. The line is a pencil, here I do not use ink.

3 - This is the first color version, done by Yuri Shepherd.

4 - And this is the final color version, after some final modifications to soften the stronger lines, made ​​in collaboration with Nuria Sayago ( My huge thanks to Nuria !)

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For more information on the novels "Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.", go to the blog of Kevin J. Anderson: http://kjablog.com/?p=3215

Yuri Shepherd colorist blog: http://yurishepherdcolorista.blogspot.com.es/

Nuria Sayago colorist portfolio: http://nuriasayago.carbonmade.com/

New serie: STALAG-X

     I'm working on my new serie STALAG-X, a history of Space Opera genre, which began to organize in 2006 with the writer Kevin J. Anderson (author of the latest saga "Dune" into a novel, and many other titles, including several novels "Star Wars").
    Finally, six years later, we found an editor for the project ... that is becoming quite big that I have taken quite some time.
    Given the nature of the project and the market to which it is addressed, related posts STALAG X will make you directly in English.
   This first post is just to introduce the team that will work on the series, and explain a little what all this.
   These are the credits of the series and the team working on it:

        STALAG-X
        serie of 6 numbers in comic book format, which is also published as a graphic novel compilation.

       Written by: Kevin J. Anderson & Steven L. Sears
       Art by: Mike Ratera
       Covers art: Dave Dorman

      Editor: GESTALT Comics, the Australia's premier graphic novel publishing house.

       Links:
          
            Kevin J. Anderson: http://kjablog.com/
            Steven L. Sears:      http://www.pondalee.com/myworld.htm
            Gestalt Comics:      http://www.gestaltcomics.com/
            Dave Dorman:        http://davedorman.wordpress.com/

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     Fair to say that this will be a great adventure for me, next to these two writers and making my way into a new territory in Australia and the Anglo-Saxon public !  
    Soon you will see here the concept art for the characters of the serie !    

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       I leave here the presentation of the project and explanation of its origin, by Kevin J. Anderson. Source: http://kjablog.com/?p=3077  ( from the blog of Kevin J. Anderson):

        I am very pleased to announce a major new science fiction graphic novel, STALAG-X, a project I’ve developed with Co-Executive Producer and scriptwriter of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (among many, many other things). Gestalt Comics, the largest comics publisher in Australia, will be publishing the graphic novel.
       STALAG-X is a gritty story of human soldiers trying to survive in an alien concentration camp, and one mysterious prisoner who calls himself “Joe Human.” He cannot allow the vicious aliens to win ... but because of his own dark past, he doesn’t dare allow himself to be rescued either.
      I’ve known Steven Sears for most of my professional career, and we’ve wanted to work together for a long time. We developed ideas over the years as pitches for TV shows, but when we hit on STALAG-X, we knew this was The One. Steven’s background is in writing and producing film and television, which meshed very well with my background in writing comics. We have already completed the first three (of six) scripts, and are working on developing STALAG-X as a television or film property as well.     
    Enter Gestalt. Steven and I had the idea developed for STALAG-X, but last year when I was one of the guests of Supanova touring Australia, I got to know Wolfgang Bylsma, publisher of Gestalt Comics. In fact, I got to know him as a friend before I knew what he did for a living. As I looked at the Gestalt publications, I grew more and more excited: these were high-quality books, not cookie-cutter comics, and even eclectic. Gestalt seemed like it might be a good home for STALAG-X.
Later, at San Diego Comic Con, I showed Steven some of Gestalt’s books, and he was equally impressed. We both agreed that we wanted to talk with Wolfgang about this project, so we met with him, let him look at the material. As we had hoped, Wolfgang was hooked, and soon thereafter we all decided we wanted to work together.
    Since we were at San Diego Comic Con, I suggested the legendary Dave Dorman as our cover artist. Dave did all the covers for the Young Jedi Knights series, as well as my short story collection DOGGED PERSISTENCE, and we have been friends for a long time. I talked with Dave, told him the idea behind STALAG-X, and he also agreed to hop aboard.
    We had already worked with comic artist Mike Ratera to do concept sketches, and Gestalt has just signed Mike as the interior artist. As you can see from the samples below, his work is incredible and powerful.
   We don’t have a release date yet for the first issue, probably sometime in late fall. I’ll keep you up to date, and I hope you’ll follow the series. STALAG-X is one of our best ideas.
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Dédicaces SEFFANA VAMPIRIQUE ( 3 )

        Dédicaces Seffana Vampirique, faites en festival avec la collaboration de Nuria Sayago aux couleurs.

        Bien sûr c´est Seffana la protagoniste des dessins !

        On vous montre une petite choix par ici: Seffana version Mad-Max, Seffana en Jessica Rabbit, Seffana en Black Widow, etc...

LE GARDE RÉPUBLICAIN

            Voici ce pinup LE GARDE RÉPUBLICAIN, ma version du personnage crée par mon ami Thierry Mornet et que va être publié d´ici uns mois avec Hexagon Comics .
            La mise aux couleurs est de Nuria Sayago.
      Allez voir par ici son new Portfolio-on-line en coloriste : http://nuriasayago.carbonmade.com/


            On vous montre par ici la version crayon foncé, aux textures & lumière...

     ... et la version trait finale N&B, avant colorier...

PAGES - STORYBOARD

      Voici plusieurs storyboards pour plus d´un des projets qu´on a essaié pendant la saison.
      Même si ce sont des projets abandonnés, dont il vaut mieux pas trop en parler, on peut profiter pour vous montrer le travail préliminaire avant décalquer en planche finale: les storyboards.    
     On travaille bcp les ombrages, lumières & textures, surtout que pour donner le maximum d´info aux coloristes. Bien sûr, sur la planche finale on fait que le trait épuré, sans les noirs & gris.

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     Varios storyboards hechos en algunos proyectos preparados durante la temporada.
      Aún tratándose de proyectos abandonados, de los que no hay que hablar mucho más, me parece interesante mostrar por aquí el trabajo preliminar antes de calcar las páginas: los storyboards.
     Trabajo mucho los volúmenes, sombras e iluminación, sobre todo para dar el máximo de información posible a los coloristas. Aunque en las páginas finales dejo el trazo lo más limpio posible, sin negros ni grises.

PORTFOLIO-ON-LINE

                 Je viens de créer ce beau PORTFOLIO-ON-LINE. J´espère que ça va être utile en samples de mon travail le plus récent en dessinateur/illustrateur, ainsi que le travail que plusieurs coloristes ont fait avec moi, aux derniers ans. Voici le lien du Portfolio ( et bonne visite ! ) :

                            http://mikeratera.carbonmade.com/
                
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                 Acabo de crearme este PORTFOLIO-ON-LINE, que espero me sera útil para muestras de mi trabajo reciente como dibujante/ilustrador, así como el trabajo que varios coloristas han hecho conmigo. Aquí el link del Portfolio ( ¡ y buena visita ! ) :

                            http://mikeratera.carbonmade.com/