The Bar With No Name (as of yet)

Right, first thing's first: if you haven't yet visited http://il-logic.com/ today, go there NOW and check out the brand-spanking-new strip that's gone live today. Then you can come back here and look behind the scenes. You don't want to be one of those weird people who watches the DVD for the first time with the commentary track switched on, do you?

OK, now we're all on the same page, I present to you the un-lettered version of strip 3, panel 1. This one took me a loooong time; not so much because it's the most complex layout I've done so far for il-Logic, but because this is the first time we've seen the bar, which meant I had to design the place from scratch. I wanted it to be memorable enough that, in future strips, people would know the action was taking place at the bar just by seeing one small element.

Hence the distinctive lamps and archway around the door, the coat of arms with crossed swords, the enormous fish tank, he paintings on the walls and so on... Speaking of the paintings on the walls, the sharp-eyed among you will notice that there's a big blank space behind the fish tank in this image. That's because I digitally composited in my painting 'Sussex Stag' in the finished panel and you're seeing the panel here without any of the Photoshopped in elements.

The other thing I was particularly excited about with this panel was the fact that I got to create a character from whole cloth for the first time. Those of you who have read the FAQ over at the il-Logic website will know that the central cast members of il-Logic are kinda, sorta based on real people Adam knows... so, while he didn't want to restrict my character designs in any way, a rough idea of what these characters should look like was already in place before I started drawing. In this strip, however, I got to design the bartender all by myself, which I got a big kick out of. I hope you like her. As of yet, she doesn't have a name... just like the bar itself.

(Unless, of course, Adam has a name in mind but hasn't got around to telling me yet...)

Oh, as far as the technical side of the artwork here is concerned, other than the digitally composited element of the painting behind the fish tank, I roughed this out very faintly in pencil first and then went in with a brush and ink and produced the finished panel that way. Drawing accurate perspective with multiple elements freehand with a thick brush is not easy, by the way. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that there's a starfish in the fish tank that isn't inked. This isn't actually because I forgot to ink it (my pencils generally don't go into that much detail); it was added afterwards as an afterthought when My Lovely Fiancée™ saw the finished drawing and said 'At least you didn't put a starfish in that tank'. What can I say? I can be a contrary so-and-so when the mood strikes me.

il-Logic and all associated imagery © Adam Di Stefano and Paul D. Selman 2010