I have been battling with that same refinement process of getting everything to look clean and over the top like Mark and many other artists do in the latest fusion style.
I won't speak for Mark's methods but, here is how I do it and it may help you out, as I've been there and am working my way out of that same hole...
1. Practice drawing perspective points for objects with the same level of focus and commitment you do for your finished anatomy for beings. Use the basics; sphere, cylinder, cube. Construct simple things, guns, chairs, cars, lamps, clocks, etc.
All of the greats know that without the objects being as detailed as the characters, there is no depth to the image and it isn't going to work because it doesn't look believable to the mind's eye when the reader looks at it. Draw 100's and 1000's of drawings with just different rooms and environments with nothing more than objects in them and detail them as if the furnishings are the main characters for the image.
For anyone dreading the work that comes with perfecting this, know that without that desk, lamp, bookshelf being there and being dynamic, the character is in nothing more than just a room.
2. Draw your thumbnails for your pages and then draw the panels as seperate images, bringing them all together to the completed page individually, by using a light box. You can support your off-page perspective points by layering sheets of paper as well as have a finished line for transfer without all the erasing problems. The main reason however, is that you can layer your art together.
Build your images with an animation style technique of layering. The reason cartoons look so deep is because the characters are moving seperately within the environment, like that of real life.
* Build the room as if it were a real building, complete the structure to the best of your ability.
* Add in the furnishings for the environment as if you were moving into your own house. Put everything in its place as if you know it is going to be used, ( not just for being there for your shot ).
* Detail out each piece of furniture as if it was a main character in the image, as previously mentioned, with out it, it is just a room. For the detailing of the furniture itself, again, you must put i nthe time to make it as fully fleshed out as you would an individual character.
Spiderman can't swing without his webbing and it isn't a bedroom without a bed in it.
* Draw your characters to move within the environment but remember to contain them within the perspective of the image. That will also damage the dynamic illusion of the overall image.
Use your vanishing points to scale your characters properly within your drawings. This is a must. So many people fail to do this and it makes their art look disproportionate. I know, I was one of those artists for a long time. I don't know how many times I've heard " You've got talent but your work isn't polished. "
This topic is the reason. I focused so hard on linework, anatomy and making the characters and objects look good that I lost site of the golden ticket that would let me into the Wonka factory that is mainstream comics due to advanced perspective.
I recommend a book that helped me by leaps and bounds called ' Vanishing Point ' by Jason Cheeseman-Meyer/Impact Publications. It is covering the topic of curvilinear perspective, as well as single and multiple point perspectives. ' How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way ' is of course a classic for this as well.
If you don't have a light box, you can get one for less than $30 at any artst and craft chain or go to
www.madisonartshop.com/arlitr.html to purchase one.
Take a look at the books of artists that have the dynamic that you are looking for and pay attention to the details of their environments. Use your artistic eye to break down the image into layers and seperate the image into it's basic parts. Imagine the vanishing points and see where those corner lines would go, panel by panel.
Lay a piece of paper under your comic book and use a ruler to draw a line from a given panel to see if you can follow where the vanishing point would be...it will give you a whole new..well...pespective on this. You have to learn to layer 3D environment in a 2D world. Practice drawing those environments and bringing them together as individual panel images, which in turn will build you the outstanding pages you desire to have on your work.
Sorry to be so long-winded here. I hope this helps. It sure has helped me. i'm going to be breaking into the pros once I have a few 100 more drawings under my belt of just this process. If you can draw already, moving into dynamic drawing will be a simple but priceless skill evolution for you.
Best of luck.
I'm a fan too lol (I think we all are?)
I'm mostly interested in his BG pieces *drool* - I don't think other artists capture bg as well as Mark does. Jim Lee's awesome with BGs too (what is he not awesome at? lol)
So, Mark, if you could add a tip or two on BGs also. I bought the book you recommended a few years ago (Perspective for the comicbook artist). I understand the technical know-hows, it's mostly practicing. What kinds of things did you do to practice? I can draw basic lines in where things should be to look right, but I can't get passed the simplicity of it. The picture looks odd because it's missing the correct details... I think.
