Jeff Lemire - Mazebook - Issue 3 p13

Jeff Lemire discusses his process on Mazebook on his substack (and uses this page as an example):
https://jefflemire.substack.com/p/mazebook-process-drawing-style

"The two main external touchstones on the artwork for Mazebook were European cartoonists Gipi and Benjamin Flao. Their work has really impacted upon me over the last decade and their influence were really on my mind when working on Mazebook."

"For Mazebook what I did was draw my characters, and the main elements of the panels in ink, and then draw my backgrounds with pencil. Then I watercolored over this with a blue paint I love called Paynes Grey. I’ve been using this same paint and color for years. It gives fantastic texture and moves on the paper really well. I drew the whole book on Canson 90lb Col Pressed Watercolor paper. The texture of the paper is great to work with and gives the ink a nice texture as well."

"As you can see the original artwork for Mazebook, done with these tools, looks a lot different from the printed version. That’s because this was only the first step in achieving the look I was after…"

"After drawing the pages I scan them in and this is where the next stage begins. After experimenting with different things in photoshop the look I settled on was achieved by first turning the artwork into black and white/greyscale. This makes the inked lines and the pencilled lines take on the same quality and color so that they don’t look so different from one another on the printed page."

"Then I punch up the contrast of the drawings to pop the blacks and switch the image back to color in the CMYK setting."

"From there I play with the color balance and push the yellows way up to create this almost sepia-toned/yellow look to the whole thing."

"This is definitely the look I was after. It has a slightly dreamy, surreal veil over the whole thing that suits Will’s worldview completely. In later scenes and pages I will also have pages that are in blue rather than yellow. This was achieved the same way, but just by pumping up the cyan and blue in the color balance setting rather than yellow."

"All-in-all I would say that the artwork in Mazebook is my personal favorite of all the books I’ve drawn. It is the closest to what I see in my head when I plan my stories. I often can’t look back on my books after I finish them, because all I see are mistakes and flaws. But I don’t feel that way with Mazebook. I just really like it. I like the art. That’s not how I usually feel when I finish a book."