So here’s a few preliminary sketches I did for El Cuervo. When I came up with the concept over 5 years ago, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to render him. It was only after going through some books like Tintin and Queen and Country that I decided to keep the look of the characters simple, and let the story remain brutal and gritty. It also helped in the drawing process, since it would be tougher for me to flesh out a comic rendered in the typical American style and detail level. Plus, I grew tired of that look – perhaps it was the intake of the 90s that made me indifferent to mainstream comics nowadays.

I liked the way the rounded, simplified version of my new character was headed, so I decided to give him some Astro-Boy styled hair, an Armani suit and a frighteningly calm demeanor.

Finally, I drew some brief action poses to see how he’d look at different angles – especially with that ‘trademark’ hair. I was skeptical at first, since the peaks were going to be a pain in the ass to render correctly, but after a number of practice sketches, I managed just fine.

I’ll add some pencil sketches in the next post. First I need to hook up the scanner.