Notes on the original art for DELPHINE

The DELPHINE series was always intended to be printed in sepia tones. However, I created the original art using blue washes, which, for some reason I found allowed me to "see" the values - from light to black - more clearly than when I was working with brown washes (yes, there was some early hit and miss experimenting). Working with blue washes seemed easier on the eye and each panel appeared more spacious and atmospheric in shades of blue. As one of my art teachers pointed out many years ago, "blue is the color of infinity". Perhaps it is this quality that made it easier for me to see the range of values as I painted.

When I painted in browns, the darks never seemed dark enough and the light areas seemed too close to the medium range. At worst the brown washes would appear flat and solid -- which I knew wouldn't necessarily be the case in the printed version (especially with the warm cream colored paper). When I realized I was beginning to overwork panels to make them "finished", I went back to blue and did the rest of the art that way. (I realize that this may just be a personal quirk -- but I've learned that "going" with personal quirks when they show up is often a good idea!).

I then scanned all the art myself and adjusted the color from "full-color" blue and black to the duotone of brown and black. In order to fit the art for each page on my scanner, I divided each page into three (with the exception of a few pages that had larger panels) -- each painting representing one of the page's three tiers.

I'm posting a few examples. Many more can be viewed (and are, in fact, for sale) at the Comic Art Collective --

Comic Art Collective - Art by Richard Sala - Original comic art from top artists

I've recently added new batches of tiers from DELPHINE #1 and #4 there, which haven't been offered for sale before. Each is done in watercolor & ink on 7" x 12" Arches watercolor paper. If you are interested in purchasing any: prices for individual tiers are sixty dollars each and buyers can use Paypal if they wish. You may either click to purchase art on the CAC site or write to me directly at richard@richardsala.com and let me know which pieces you are interested in. That's a faster way to do it sometimes. (The CAC guy - Mr. Jeff Voris -- is truly a saint, and it's less work for him if you write me directly). Any purchased art will be neatly signed, just outside the panel.

I have other art for sale on the site, as well, at a variety of prices. But I decided to keep all the Delphine tiers fairly affordable and set one price instead of deciding if this tier should cost more than that one.

Thank you to those interested in the process for reading all this shop talk -- and my apologies if the notes devolved into something resembling a sales pitch! Just wanted to cover all bases! And I'm a lover of original comic art & illustration art - and all their "imperfections" - myself.