Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron

Author:Chris Negron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

- 27 -

“Shall we?” Sanderson asks as soon as it’s clear Dad isn’t joining us. We’re about to explore the studio of the world’s greatest living comic artist and he’d rather send emails.

None of us are going to make the same mistake, that’s for sure. As soon as the old man gives us permission with a gesture of his hand, Courtney, Ollie, and I crash into his studio and separate.

The surfaces aren’t just covered with Sanderson’s work. His tools are everywhere, too. Most are the same ones Ollie uses—T squares and French curves, triangles and pencils—but there’s also a laptop with some kind of tablet connected to it. A tall mirror stands right next to an easel. There are inks and brushes and pens on one table, and another computer, a big desktop with a scanner, on the next.

Ollie skips toward the laptop. “This is a Wacom,” he cries, running his hand over the tablet.

Sanderson follows him. “Yep, that’s where I do my Photoshop coloring after scanning—” He reaches out to turn on the power, but Ollie’s already scampering to the inking table.

“And you have a complete Winsor and Newton Series Seven set.” He reaches up to feel the end of one of the brushes. “Sable?” he asks, eyes still wide.

The old man struggles to keep up, following Ollie to the brushes, picking one out and laying it flat in his hand. “I use them for inking my rough layouts. Also these Rapidographs, for the finer work.” He points to a row of pens clamped to the back of his desk.

“You do all that right here?” Ollie asks, touching the tilted table with a fingertip like it’s a hot stove. There’s a page on its glass surface, divided into panels, each containing penciled layouts. The image of Captain Nexus leaps off it. A bloodied, bruised Captain. He seems to be hiding in a cave. Something’s wrong with his hand. It’s from issue #16, has to be. I lean in, trying to identify the rest of the story, but the pencils are too light and unfinished. There are no speech bubbles, no words. It’s not alive yet.

“That’s right.” Sanderson reaches down and flips a switch, and a bright light beneath the glass flares on.

Ollie’s whisper is full of awe. “A light table. I always wanted one like this.”

Sanderson sits on a stool in front of the table. He leans his cane against an easel. “How’d you learn so much about comic art?”

“Geeker.com.”

“Ah, Geeker.” Sanderson sounds impatient. “One of the many reasons I’m not big on the internet.”

“It’s great for fans,” Courtney says. She starts explaining the best features of the site.

“You know, some people on that site would probably pay a lot of money to find out where I work,” Sanderson says when she finishes.

“We would never,” I say.

“No,” Courtney and Ollie add, shaking their heads.

“I know.” He smiles. “Just to be sure.”

Ollie reaches toward the page on the light table. “Can I ask . . .”

“You can ask me anything,” Sanderson reassures him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.