Art

This area of the site is broken down into a number of smaller ones, mainly to keep things organized. You can navigate to the different section using the links below. And you can always click on the art link in the menu bar on the upper left to come back here.

Comics and Sequential Art

First, this very site contains all kinds of my comic book art; that’s no surprise, of course, because that’s what I do! And, of course, I love comics; it is one powerful medium and it’s amazing how expressive comics can be. And by that I don’t just mean my comics! I’m speaking about comics in general. And I also don’t mean specific English-language comics or even comics from the West. When one steps back and looks at the medium, there are so many wonderful visual artists and writers from around the world using the medium of comics to tell amazing stories. It is exciting to be part of that! I’ve also been honoured by a number of grants and awards over the past few years. Please visit here, here, and here for more information about that.

Second, most of my comic books have their own dedicated mini-sites. WOLF’S HEAD, my most recent comic book series, can be found by clicking here. STARGAZER, my all-ages graphic novel, can be found by clicking here. Please note that The road to god knows…, my very first graphic novel released in late 2009, is now out of print. Each mini-site contains extensive information about each series.

Third, my more recent comic work can be explored by clicking here or by using this label to scroll through everything.

Lastly, a collection of my short stories has recently been published in a beautiful full colour hardcover edition. Titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION, it is making its way to better book stores and comic book shops around the world. And, of course, it’s widely available through online retailers, too. More information about the book, the stories inside it, and photos of the book itself can be found at https://www.vonallan.com/2021/05/Love-Laughter-Loss-Comics-Collection-by-Von-Allan.html

Pin-ups and Other One-Off Illustrations

A variety of other illustrations that I’ve done that don’t fit easily into the other categories. Wizards, kids, and all sorts of other stuff. There’s also a good combination of traditional and digital work; for the longest time I inked with my trusty brush, but I’ve been increasingly moving to inking digitally with Manga Studio EX.

One of the fascinating things about art is that one never stops growing. I’ve grown a lot over the past decade or so, but what continously astounds me is that the growth is always unpredictable. I’ve gone in directions that I never expected and learned things that I never even realized I wanted to know. That’s one of the most exciting aspects of art, regardless of the discipline. If one can keep an open mind, the learning and excitement about learning never stops. It really is amazing, though admittedly this can also be sometimes frustrating!

For those interested, I wrote a longer essay on this (with all kinds of art comparisons) at https://www.vonallan.com/2017/09/on-getting-stronger.html.

Paintings and Colour Work

I used to work primarily in watercolour and goauche, but more recently I’ve begun to do more and more digital painting. I try very hard to view working digitally as just using another tool rather than anything else. Digital does have the major advantage of speed; no scanning, no clean-up, no fussing with colour to get it “just right.” And for comics work, that is really key.

There’s no right way to paint. While I tend to be more partial to watercolour, that’s only one tool in the ol’ tool box. My biggest regret is that I simply don’t have enough time to paint. Since I write, draw, ink, and colour so much of my comics work, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to spend with painting. That can be frustrating at times, but I love comics so much that any sacrifice is worth it.

Oh! Colour theory is huge component of both painting and colouring comics. I’ve explored that in an essay that can be found at https://www.vonallan.com/2021/04/Colour-Theory-and-Comics.html. That essay also has all kinds of examples, too!

Sketches and prelim work

This is a hodge-podge of sketching, thumbnails, and the like. All kinds of different stuff. I don’t generally show a lot of my concept work on this site. I probably should, but that pesky schedule-thing always seems to be a problem.