Vampire the Masquerade: Assamites-IN THE RAW!!!
Pencils and Inks Only!
I believe this art to be my best storytelling work. Somehow, this one "flows." If you're an afficianado of sequential narrative, I think you'll agree. No computer colors and no lettering-these are my raw pages before the "assembly line". You can even see the sketchy notes on the side, the "planning". Please enjoy!
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PG2
PG 3 My fave page... talk about "Femme Fatale"...
PG 4 It's important to me that my pages have a sense of design...
PG 5
PG 6 For the friendly neighborhood editor who says, "Hey, show me how you
handle interior architecture..."
PG 7 That's George Bush on the TV screens. But with these two beauties in the
foreground, who cares...?
PG 10 Love the whispy mist in the bottom panel...
PG 11 I like to break up the wide-screen monotony from
time-to-time and toss in a vertical page. And this page screams
vertical...the long ladder, the Bird's Eye of her tossing the rats in
the air, and of course, the long stairs all conspire to insist on a
vertical panel format. Let the story determine the layout is what I say...
PG 12 The long corridor in the second panel is my fave here...
PG 13 I especially like panels 2 and 3 and how they work together.
The heavy blacks of the foot and the toe are literally asking us to
go to the next panel...and we oblige. I also like the mists
surrounding our two trouble makers...
PG 14 I like the presence of Calebros in the 3rd panel and the
mystic energy from our femme fatale creates an informal balance
and sense of design...
PG 15 I absolutely love the composition in panel ONE. The "V"
shape found in the figures draw our eye to the center and the loop
formed by their hands and arms gives a sense of unity and movement.
This is one of my more unique and successful compositions.
I got lucky that day...
PG 16 Panel 1, just one word...Yechhh!
PG 17 Here's a page that let's you know how I handle houses and
interiors, and other domestic goodies...
PG 18 I like the last bottom panel with its Worm's Eye view...the
figures agree in perspective. You somehow know the figure in the
foreground isn't a gigantic figure but only a normal sized person
positioned closer to the camera lens or "eye", and the positive
space inhabits 75% of the panel-a good balance...
PG 30 The second panel is so simple but tells us immediately WHO
is the aggressor and WHO is the victim. The 3rd panel is crisp and
clean and that gun in the face makes the reader unsettled. As for
the "Vamp", she's just a little annoyed and offended and maybe
just a little surprised as indicated by the tilt of her head...
PG 32 That second panel conjures up visions of the nostalgic late-
night snack. Everybody's asleep and you sneak to the kitchen to get
yourself a Hostess Cupcake, your favorite soda and "a Cockroach"???
PG 33 The final panel is both horrific and comical. I think it's the
tongue that adds the comedy...
PG 41 I love the way the elements are placed in panel one-we
get a sense of 3-dimensions thanks to the foreground piping.
And the mousy cutie pie in the last panel...need I say more?
PG 42 This dude looks like a runaway freight train...chooo! Choo!
And by the way, that's not a poorly drawn left arm/hand, it's an
injured limb, in case you're wondering...
PG 43 The first and last panels work for me here. I like the way
the man's shadowed figure serves as a ballet-like design while
the final panel unites the two figures with the spray of
bullets and blood...
PG 44 Never criticize your own work they say, but upon
retrospect, her left thigh looks a little atrophied to me...but the
spirit of the mood is here and the lighting effect of shadow
reversal is a plus...
PG 45 I included this page just for the femme fatales squaring
off. I think they're ticked off that they've met someone as cute
as they are...
Here's my stuff in full color...
Werewolf the Apocalypse: Children of Gaia
Pencils and Inks by Jerry deCaire/Color by Jeremy Roberts
I always strive for a sense of design in my pages and I believe that page number one here, demonstrates that
concern. Virtually every panel I draw has a sort of 75/25 ratio of informal balance. It really doesn't matter if
the 75% or 25% is negative or positive space, what matters is the ratio. Too often pages are only laid out as if
the only comittment to the larger area is with the positive element but never underestimate the power of
epty space-it frames the positive and can emphasize positive elements more than mere size alone can.
Sometimes the story will call for a spectacular panel or two. The story on this page is congested with story
panels and so I compromised those panels to give more weight to the more spectacular panels-in this case, the
first and third panels. Can you see the "letter 'S'" in the first and third panels-making both panels interconnected?
The major panels are nice with their illuminated colors and composition, but I went too far. The other panels
are like postage stamps even while depicting panoramic scenes-not good! I have learned from this one.
At this point the layouts are starting to look better in their more equal distribution of space for each panel. And
if there is a smaller panel, I dedicate that panel to a close-up rather than a panoramic view. Much better! My
favorite panel here is the part where the one crass dude blows smoke in the other dude's face-nasty!
Again, the smaller panels show close-ups. The larger middle panel really comes through nicely thanks to the
colorist, Jeremy Roberts.
This is one of my favorite pages with its free-form composition absent panel lines. That tree pulls it all
together. It took only minutes to ink that with my brush as it just seemed to flow naturally. The splattered ink
gives this an earthy feel as if the Autumn atmosphere is casting leaf debris in the wind. "Artsy" if I say so myself.
I especially like the top 3 panels and how the tree connects with each creating a sequential flow to the story.
The bottom panel is nice too and reminds me of Dorothy the Scarecrow and Tin Man and Lion
reaching Oz just over the horizon.
I guess this page really emphasizes why Joe Gentile refers to me as the "cinematographer of the comics."
Every panel is like a storyboard panel in its horizontal layout and feels like a movie. I especially love the
bottom panel with the atmospheric effects of the cave in the background-there's a real sense of "space."
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PG 21
Here's the remainder of the story with lettering.
How about some Old West?
Cisco Kid: "Hell's Gates" Cover Art
Cisco Kid: "Precious Cargo" Cover Art
These pages below are referred to as "COPPER" quality pages. I you require clearer JPGS without the "Moire Effect", just email Jerry deCaire at jerrydecaire@yahoo.com and he'll send some along...Partner!
I specifically made these pages more "sketchy" than usual to give this piece a more soft and Old West appeal. Nevertheless, I love the compositions here. They more than make up for the absence of detail...
The next two pages are from a separate Cisco story. I just felt compelled to add them here as I am particularly fond of the page design...
Cisco Kid: "The Mission" Cover Art
Cisco Kid: "Holocaust" Cover Art
