Lawrence's technique is liquid gouache on thick Canson or Lavis cardboard, somewhat satiny, not matte. So he paints over the drawn page. And he uses a small brush, a 2 or 3 for the figures and probably a 4 to 8 for the backgrounds and larger surfaces. And he probably uses a color wash (a soft watercolor layer to guide him through the areas beforehand). He doesn't tone the vignettes, because that would be noticeable in the final result. If you want to imitate his style, forget about putting a base color as I see, since this way of doing things is the one used by almost all digital artists and that's why they seem like brothers in style. You should paint using a watercolor brush to fill the areas subtly and without losing the shine or the white tones, since it's the white paper itself. Little by little you use darker colors and you raise the illustration. But with brush number 2-3. Sorry man ))).
Wow, cool! Thanks for the detailed advice. I will definitely try it. The Photoshop Watercolor drops a lot at once, so after a few strokes all the white is gone for sure. I'll have to experiment with thinner brushes like you mentioned or the transparency as well.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 At one point, years ago, I was offered the opportunity to continue Storm after Lawrence's death and I had to prepare a faithful adaptation using gouache or acrylic. In the end, the Dutch publisher Big Balloon opted for a very different style, more comic-like and with an artist from the same city in Holland: Dick Matena. That's why I know how he worked. Regards
@@carlesdemiguel2979 Wow, that's legit! After seeing that interview in 1986 at the Dutch Comic con I was sure Liam Sharp would have continued, since he was kind of prepped for that. Checking your ArtStation now, awesome stuff, and you're one of the Chameleons who can do many styles. Cool!
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Maybe it was proposed to him like it was to me. In fact, Liam was going to ink my Warhide drawings for Marvel UK. Cancelled project after 2 issues. After a couple of Dick Matena albums, the continuation was commissioned to two Dutch artists as well: Romano Molenaar first and then Jorg De Vos. A few were done and then it was closed. I think Molenaar did a Red Hair story in just one issue. Thanks if you like my different styles
@@carlesdemiguel2979 After making this video I found Romano Molenaar's first Storm in an old Eppo I had, and he stuck closer to the painting style there. I understand him wanting to make it his own after a while though, that also speeds up the process I assume. Thanks the background info!
Don Lawrence was by far my favorite artist growing up! Staying up all night and secretly reading my dads comic books. I was stoked to see more people appreciating how intricate and detailed his work is!
1:37 I'm primarily a digital artist (been drawing digitally since 2013) but I also only use like 5 brushes (cube brush, knkl chalk, hard ink and 2 custom ones I've made myself) Ive deleted all the others as I never use them
"Fail Forward" right? ;-) And as long as there is even just one small part that worked, like a fold or one muscle shading, I feel energized to try again.
Oh wow, I didn't know those but they look awesome. Gotta love that old sci-fi, like the first Star Wars New Hope promotion poster that had less to do with the movie, but more with Frazetta.
I didn’t grow up with storm, but I went to cartoonist museum in London with a friend, who introduced me to his work, museum had some of his trigan empire pages and some Karl the Viking then I set about trying to find his books , storms are hard to find in English in uk sadly but I got 2 at least, his work is amazing there used to be some vids of him working on RUclips but they vanished now. He should be more well known that’s for sure
Yeah! Trigie (in Belgium) also classic! There's still a clip of him painting over pencils, making a cover, on youtube, just like Alex Ross does. Awesome stuff.
European comics, especially bd and fumetti, are the best kind of comics that excists!! Every single one of them is an art study of its own with well writen realistic human characters. Compare to them most manga and mainstream american comics are trushes
@@zzodysseuszz Berserk, Vinland saga and Vagabond are the only manga worth reading. And why? Because their creators treated them not as merchandice (as the rest manga are treated) but as a work of fiction with a well written story and characters with humanity
Nice! I always thought he used mixed media. thus that hatching effect is a result of using prisma colors. Is there actually a challenge? i would love to take it. specially since my recent stuff has returned to this type of art.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Darn! it was long ago! When i first got in contact with Storm was through Spanish anthology comics, HM style, around the 90's, and even then those were kind of old.
It was through Zona 84 and Cimoc that I met a lot of the artissts and works of that era, but they are very hard to come by. By the way, who influenced who here. I see a lot of Frank Thorne's Red Sonja on Storm's Red head character. but more than once i have been surprised to find the influences to be backwards to what I originally expected.
True, the colors are spot on. Isn't it funny how fans kind of expect a Don copy for Storm, but for other comics its expected that the next artist does his own thing. Thats how good Don was right? we juts want more.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Exactly. Before Romano Molenaar and Jorg de Vos took over, there was an attempt to continue with Liam Sharp, who already had helped Don with finishing his last album. The fans hated it. One of them said it clearly: "Don didn't make comic characters, he created real people of flesh and blood."
@@anthonyfarshaw8619 Wow! Are those released? In a Dutch Comic Con video from the 80s Liam said he copied a whole Storm album stroke for stroke to study the style. I reaaaaaally want to see those as well.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Some special editions of "Storm" include some of Liam's work. But he never made a full album because of the negative reactions.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Overigens is het grootste probleem dat je hebt met het nadoen van Don's stijl het gebrek aan contrast en consistente verlichting/schaduwen. Daardoor lijken jou tekening in verhouding overbellicht. Het doet me ook denken aan wat ze in het engels pillow shading noemen. Maar ik moet je eerlijk bekennen dat ik het zelf ook niet veel beter zou kunnen. Ik ben veel meer thuis in de klare lijn en de moebius-esque arcering dan in de stijl Don, Frazetta en de andere zulke artiesten. Iemand die het wel goed kan en enorm goed uitlecht is James Gurney. Gurney heeft gewerkt met Frazetta aan de cult klassieker Fire and Ice door Ralph Bakshi. Gurney heeft zelf ook een RUclips kanaal dat ik niet genoeg kan aanraden en zijn Boeken Imaginitive Realism, en Color and light for the visual artist zijn beide werken die ik regelmatig nasla als ik met tekeningen in de knoop kom. Veel success
@@johannaderee4763 Wow, dank je wel! Ik ben Gurney nu aan het bestuderen. Die achtergronden van Fire and Ice zijn inderdaad magistraal. Heb je ooit de tekenfilm Jan Zonder Vrees gezien in de jaren 80? Ook super mooie achtergronden, Disney meets Hieronymus Bosch. lol Ik had nog niet van pillow shading gehoord maar het google image voorbeeld is inderdaad wat ik nog niet onder de knie heb. De regels van de slagschaduwd. Ik weet wat doen nu ;-)
Storm is in the style of Frank Frazetta,aka Conan book’s illustrator…..Why are you giving the copy cat such kudos? He literally copies Frazetta style and composition.This new copycat does not have the gravitas of Frazetta .
Who wouldn't want to draw like Frazetta ;-) I'm fine with that though, cause Frazatta wouldn't have had time to draw Storm, and I loved reading Storm. Pretty sure Frazetta tried to be as good as John Singer Sargent or other masters painters. If you're interested in my take on copycats please have a look at my "Roger Cruz NOT JUST the POOR MAN’s JOE MAD !" video. Short summary: I don't mind :-)
No, Storm is not in the style of a Frazetta Conan. Also, he's from the same time period as Frazetta so no doubt both of these artists were inspired by Hal Foster.
Lawrence's technique is liquid gouache on thick Canson or Lavis cardboard, somewhat satiny, not matte. So he paints over the drawn page. And he uses a small brush, a 2 or 3 for the figures and probably a 4 to 8 for the backgrounds and larger surfaces. And he probably uses a color wash (a soft watercolor layer to guide him through the areas beforehand). He doesn't tone the vignettes, because that would be noticeable in the final result.
If you want to imitate his style, forget about putting a base color as I see, since this way of doing things is the one used by almost all digital artists and that's why they seem like brothers in style. You should paint using a watercolor brush to fill the areas subtly and without losing the shine or the white tones, since it's the white paper itself. Little by little you use darker colors and you raise the illustration. But with brush number 2-3. Sorry man ))).
Wow, cool! Thanks for the detailed advice. I will definitely try it. The Photoshop Watercolor drops a lot at once, so after a few strokes all the white is gone for sure. I'll have to experiment with thinner brushes like you mentioned or the transparency as well.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 At one point, years ago, I was offered the opportunity to continue Storm after Lawrence's death and I had to prepare a faithful adaptation using gouache or acrylic. In the end, the Dutch publisher Big Balloon opted for a very different style, more comic-like and with an artist from the same city in Holland: Dick Matena.
That's why I know how he worked. Regards
@@carlesdemiguel2979 Wow, that's legit! After seeing that interview in 1986 at the Dutch Comic con I was sure Liam Sharp would have continued, since he was kind of prepped for that. Checking your ArtStation now, awesome stuff, and you're one of the Chameleons who can do many styles. Cool!
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Maybe it was proposed to him like it was to me. In fact, Liam was going to ink my Warhide drawings for Marvel UK. Cancelled project after 2 issues.
After a couple of Dick Matena albums, the continuation was commissioned to two Dutch artists as well: Romano Molenaar first and then Jorg De Vos. A few were done and then it was closed. I think Molenaar did a Red Hair story in just one issue.
Thanks if you like my different styles
@@carlesdemiguel2979 After making this video I found Romano Molenaar's first Storm in an old Eppo I had, and he stuck closer to the painting style there. I understand him wanting to make it his own after a while though, that also speeds up the process I assume. Thanks the background info!
Don Lawrence was by far my favorite artist growing up! Staying up all night and secretly reading my dads comic books.
I was stoked to see more people appreciating how intricate and detailed his work is!
Awesome! Cool Dad with great taste ;-)
1:37 I'm primarily a digital artist (been drawing digitally since 2013) but I also only use like 5 brushes (cube brush, knkl chalk, hard ink and 2 custom ones I've made myself) Ive deleted all the others as I never use them
I just moved them to the top. I like having all the options there ;-) Like the spatter and line brushes for snow or rain.
I love how confident you are to try that style is super hard. I’ve would have been instantly in my head thinking that it’s not good enough 😅
"Fail Forward" right? ;-) And as long as there is even just one small part that worked, like a fold or one muscle shading, I feel energized to try again.
Nice art, Retro! I didn’t know this artist, but I loved their style.
Thanks! That's real European Retro for you.
Love this. Reminds of the old six from Sirius comics
Oh wow, I didn't know those but they look awesome. Gotta love that old sci-fi, like the first Star Wars New Hope promotion poster that had less to do with the movie, but more with Frazetta.
I didn’t grow up with storm, but I went to cartoonist museum in London with a friend, who introduced me to his work, museum had some of his trigan empire pages and some Karl the Viking then I set about trying to find his books , storms are hard to find in English in uk sadly but I got 2 at least, his work is amazing there used to be some vids of him working on RUclips but they vanished now. He should be more well known that’s for sure
Yeah! Trigie (in Belgium) also classic! There's still a clip of him painting over pencils, making a cover, on youtube, just like Alex Ross does. Awesome stuff.
In all honesty you are such an amazing artist, God bless you. Subd❤
Wow, thanks for the kind words!
European comics, especially bd and fumetti, are the best kind of comics that excists!! Every single one of them is an art study of its own with well writen realistic human characters. Compare to them most manga and mainstream american comics are trushes
Very true. They also come in A4 size and really good binding. Meant to keep for ever and read again and again.
Nah most manga are amazing american comics is bad
Berserk has it beat.
@@zzodysseuszz Berserk, Vinland saga and Vagabond are the only manga worth reading. And why? Because their creators treated them not as merchandice (as the rest manga are treated) but as a work of fiction with a well written story and characters with humanity
Nice! I always thought he used mixed media. thus that hatching effect is a result of using prisma colors.
Is there actually a challenge? i would love to take it. specially since my recent stuff has returned to this type of art.
I think the search was probably about 25 years ago.. lol Would be cool though, what a challenge.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Darn! it was long ago! When i first got in contact with Storm was through Spanish anthology comics, HM style, around the 90's, and even then those were kind of old.
@@danrend4986 Yes and then there's the whole Trigie series even before that. What a body of work.
It was through Zona 84 and Cimoc that I met a lot of the artissts and works of that era, but they are very hard to come by. By the way, who influenced who here. I see a lot of Frank Thorne's Red Sonja on Storm's Red head character. but more than once i have been surprised to find the influences to be backwards to what I originally expected.
@@danrend4986 That's always cool, like when you find out Blade Runner was influenced by Moebius.
No one can replace Don Lawrence... but Apri Kusbiantoro comes VERY close!
True, the colors are spot on. Isn't it funny how fans kind of expect a Don copy for Storm, but for other comics its expected that the next artist does his own thing. Thats how good Don was right? we juts want more.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Exactly. Before Romano Molenaar and Jorg de Vos took over, there was an attempt to continue with Liam Sharp, who already had helped Don with finishing his last album. The fans hated it. One of them said it clearly: "Don didn't make comic characters, he created real people of flesh and blood."
@@anthonyfarshaw8619 Wow! Are those released? In a Dutch Comic Con video from the 80s Liam said he copied a whole Storm album stroke for stroke to study the style. I reaaaaaally want to see those as well.
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Some special editions of "Storm" include some of Liam's work. But he never made a full album because of the negative reactions.
@@anthonyfarshaw8619 Thanks! I'll track those down.
Well shoot. Now I have something else I want to buy.
Yup, my favorites are, - The Twisted World - The Robots of Far Sied - The Return of the Red Prince
Check up Kriss De Valnor. Giulio de Vita is hidden Gem.
Oh cool, I remember Thorgal from my youth as well but hadn't seen the Wisher spin off. Thanks!
Roodhaar heette Ember in het engels.
Woops! Voelde inderdaad raar om het te zeggen ;-)
@@retrosuperheroart2202 Overigens is het grootste probleem dat je hebt met het nadoen van Don's stijl het gebrek aan contrast en consistente verlichting/schaduwen. Daardoor lijken jou tekening in verhouding overbellicht. Het doet me ook denken aan wat ze in het engels pillow shading noemen. Maar ik moet je eerlijk bekennen dat ik het zelf ook niet veel beter zou kunnen. Ik ben veel meer thuis in de klare lijn en de moebius-esque arcering dan in de stijl Don, Frazetta en de andere zulke artiesten. Iemand die het wel goed kan en enorm goed uitlecht is James Gurney. Gurney heeft gewerkt met Frazetta aan de cult klassieker Fire and Ice door Ralph Bakshi. Gurney heeft zelf ook een RUclips kanaal dat ik niet genoeg kan aanraden en zijn Boeken Imaginitive Realism, en Color and light for the visual artist zijn beide werken die ik regelmatig nasla als ik met tekeningen in de knoop kom. Veel success
@@johannaderee4763 Wow, dank je wel! Ik ben Gurney nu aan het bestuderen. Die achtergronden van Fire and Ice zijn inderdaad magistraal. Heb je ooit de tekenfilm Jan Zonder Vrees gezien in de jaren 80? Ook super mooie achtergronden, Disney meets Hieronymus Bosch. lol Ik had nog niet van pillow shading gehoord maar het google image voorbeeld is inderdaad wat ik nog niet onder de knie heb. De regels van de slagschaduwd. Ik weet wat doen nu ;-)
wait ....English artist??? he is Germany
I think Storm was very popular in Germany as well, and translated in German, but I'm pretty sure Don is from England.
Storm is in the style of Frank Frazetta,aka Conan book’s illustrator…..Why are you giving the copy cat such kudos? He literally copies Frazetta style and composition.This new copycat does not have the gravitas of Frazetta .
Who wouldn't want to draw like Frazetta ;-) I'm fine with that though, cause Frazatta wouldn't have had time to draw Storm, and I loved reading Storm. Pretty sure Frazetta tried to be as good as John Singer Sargent or other masters painters. If you're interested in my take on copycats please have a look at my "Roger Cruz NOT JUST the POOR MAN’s JOE MAD !" video. Short summary: I don't mind :-)
No, Storm is not in the style of a Frazetta Conan. Also, he's from the same time period as Frazetta so no doubt both of these artists were inspired by Hal Foster.
@@dannycruz5446 Another new name for me, Hal Foster, I love going down the rabbit hole like this!