By RON FERDINAND
Sunday
page. I try to keep Dennis Sunday page as sparkling an eye catcher as possible. I'm
still doing my color with prismacolor markers on a color guide and letting
American Color handle the computer end of it. Some of
my pages have a lot of minute detail things going on which require
some nitty gritty little coloring challenges. Thankfully, Andy Olsen and his
crackerjack team do an extraordinary job. I'm really trying to simplify my
layouts a bit and get more into the acting side of things. The cast of
DENNIS THE MENACE is so full of rich personalities and beautifully designed
characters
(thanks to Hank Ketcham) that it's fun to play around with the different
facial expressions and body gestures. I also try to keep the color as
simple and clear as possible to avoid mudiness. Different papers reproduce
the strip in various formats and sizes so that must also be taken into
account. If it's reduced to a quarter page you tend to lose a lot of the
minutiae and the color certainly suffers. It's a delicate balance between
keeping your graphics interesting yet uncluttered. Also, before I even think
about color, I like to make sure my black and white art stands on it's own.
I always say,"Can this be reproduced as is, without color?". The NY Post
used to run the Sunday page on Saturday in black and white which was a good
test. I always look at color as the icing on the cake. With all the computer
tools now available, it's a challenge to remain graphically competetive, but
that's what's keeps this business exciting.
