2000 AD Covers Uncovered: Dan Cornwell tests his pens for 2000 AD Prog 2345
16th August 2023
Every week, 2000 AD brings you the galaxy’s greatest artwork and 2000 AD Covers Uncovered takes you behind-the-scenes with the headline artists responsible for our top cover art – join bloggers Richard Bruton and Pete Wells as they uncover the greatest covers from 2000 AD!
This week, Dan Cornwell’s back on the cover with a very impressive and mean-looking Dredd for Prog 2345, out on 16 August. And it all came about because of a pen test…
DAN CORNWELL: The proverb ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ I believe sums up this cover.
I seem to spend a lot of time (more than I should) searching for the perfect tool, the perfect pen or paper – that will finally elevate my work to higher professional levels. But you soon realize it’s not the pen or paper (though they can help) that does that, it’s you. I’m still searching though.
Artists love finding new pens.
Anyway, this cover came about because of that hunt. The pen I use is a Pilot Pocket Brush Pen (Pilot Shunpitsu Pocket Brush Pen) which, unfortunately, is no longer available here in the UK. So, I went on a mission to find a suitable replacement. Tombow, Pental, etc. etc. but I could never find one that I liked as much as my Shunpitsu pen. They’re cheap disposable brush pens with a rubber brush tip and water based ink. Many artists don’t like them, but I do.
After months of searching I was looking at an empty one I had (I have about 40 empty, never threw them out, thankfully) and decided to take it apart to see if I could somehow refill it. After about 45 mins I managed to Frankenstein it. Now I have a lifetime’s supply of pens, and all I need is to buy the ink to fill them.
This image was done using the Frankenstein pen. I wanted it to be a cover quality image as it would be a proper test of the pen.
I decided to draw Dredd. I know! Crazy! What a curveball. Who could have guessed?
First up was the composition – I wanted to do a slightly beaten-down Dredd, yet still enough in the tank to give you a good daysticking. I also wanted a slightly low angle so you’re pov is like you’ve just been beaten down by Joe.
Unfortunately, I never scanned the pencils as this wasn’t intended to be a published piece.
Next I inked it with the Frankenstein pen. Thankfully it worked better than I expected. I added some slight ink textures with dry brushes, sponges and other textures.
Next, I scanned it and cleaned up the image...
Then I added the flat base colours. I wanted a muted tone to this Dredd so I used a less saturated palette. I had always envisaged this image to have a white background, so Dredd himself would be front and centre and the sole focus of the picture.
Lastly, I added shadows and highlights along with some brush textures and dust and scratches. I moved my signature over as it would work better for cover blurb if Matt wanted it.
Job done.
I was very pleased with how it turned out and sent it to Matt and asked if it was of any use? He liked it and said he could use it as a cover for the prog. All very fortuitous. As is my comic career some might say.
Dan’s comic career is in no way fortuitous – don’t ever let him tell you that. He’s worked his way up and his talent shone through. And that’s the reason why he’s become one of the great modern-day Dredd artists already – just as this cover shows!
Thanks to Dan for sending that one along – amazing what happens when you’re just testing out a pen, isn’t it? You can find 2000 AD Prog 2345 wherever you pick up your weekly dose of Ghafflebette comics, including the 2000 AD web shop from 16 August.
For more of Dan’s excellent covers, you should go look at the Covers Uncovered for Prog 2217, Prog 2241, Prog 2277, and Prog 2279.