Here's an old image from 1991. I don't remember who shot the photo; it might have been Dad, who managed this Fort Ignition store for a number of years. While looking for a more permanent job, I delivered auto parts to Edmonton garages.
A few Photoshop tricks make the image a little more dramatic, but this result is a far cry from what I initially imagined. I was trying to emulate the great Will Eisner, who created story titles from that flowed from the opening scene; a bridge or a building would spell out "The Spirit," for example. Using opacity, blending options and the text bending tool, I tried to make my title appear as though it were painted onto the truck. Obviously the effect isn't at all believable, but I feel compelled to continue experimenting anyway. While I'm a writer by trade, I'm fascinated by the visual arts and sometimes it's nice to push in more challenging directions.
1 comment:
Will Eisner?! I see where you are going, but baby steps come first, baby steps! I've hammering away at the graphic arts for years, and maybe in another forty to sixty I'll be able to come up with something to match Mr. Eisner. In the meantime as a graphic artist interested in writing, I think I'll come up with the next Blade Runner sequel and write it in the style of Herman Melville.
Still, you've come a long way, Earl, and this piece shows sophisticated technique. How do you feel about the composition? You can manipulate the height of the wall by cropping part of it out or stretching it. That might create a strong negative space that will point to your text. Also experiment with the text sizes. Just like in the comic books, the emphasis words should be big and bold and the filler words smaller. Of course, Mr. Eisner broke all of those rules, but then he created many of them in the first place.
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