Daniel Hillyard on the kinetic art process behind THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2
As he displayed in previous 12-Gauge bombshells PLASTIC and ANTI, Daniel Hillyard is a master storyteller. The versatile artist veers through a variety of angles and perspectives, conveying momentum whether he’s addressing tense conversations or chaotic dance-club brawls. Both of those scenarios occur in the second issue of THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE, a direct sequel to the 2004 jam comic, THE RIDE, about detective Samantha Vega getting vengeance with the aid of a ‘68 Camaro. After spending 15 years in jail, Vega now works security for an erotic club, bonding with the quirky workers while trying to regain a sense of purpose long lost. Written by Doug Wagner, colored by Laura Martin, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire, THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE continues the 12-Gauge legacy of hard crime and concussive action, buoyed by Hillyard’s inspired layouts and emotional expressions. The artist walks through his process on two of BURNING DESIRE’s most stirring pages, contrasting Sam’s violent day job with the playful innocence of the club bartender’s daughter, Annabelle.
Hillyard walks through his process in the feature below.
LAYOUTS
When sitting down to draw comics, the first stage is layouts. These are small, rough versions of how the major elements of a page will come together. Pages 6 and 7, of issue 2, are an interesting set to look at because they went through some revisions.
When getting the script from [writer] Doug [Wagner], there are a lot of things to consider. I begin with the panel borders first, laying out the beats for the scene and how I think they should read. On my first attempt, I let some of these considerations fall to the wayside, as I wanted to try out an idea. My original plan was to have the action panels and the more nurturing panels share a common composition and character poses, so they would mirror each other.
Then I send the layouts on to Doug and we have a chat about it. Doug and I are always critiquing each other's work and pushing each other to be the best storytellers we can be. Ultimately we agreed the scene wasn't working so well this way, so it was back to the drafting board.
Daniel Hillyard’s initial and final layouts for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 6
Daniel Hillyard’s initial and final layouts for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 7
PENCILS
This is the more straightforward step of the process. Most of the character poses and even expressions are already in place from the layouts stage. From here, I add details and work on fleshing everything out
Daniel Hillyard’s pencils for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 6
Daniel Hillyard’s pencils for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 7
INKS
Again, this stage is pretty straightforward. I try my best to use line weight to bring figures forward or push them back in the composition. Details are refined further, and the black areas like shadows hair and Vegas top are filled in.
With this page (and any other that includes glitter), the spray dots that are my interpretation of glitter are left on separate Photoshop layers. This way it makes it easy for colorist] Laura [Martin] to transform them into those little metallic flecks that are impossible to clean up.
Daniel Hillyard’s inks for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 6
Daniel Hillyard’s inks for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #2, page 6
THE FULL PROCESS FROM LAYOUT TO INKS
Daniel Hillyard’s full process from layout to inks for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE, page 6
Daniel Hillyard’s full process from layout to inks for THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE, page 7