DELPHINE Examined

Thank you to Ng Suat Tong for his thoughtful and insightful 7-page (!) review of the DELPHINE series on the (brand new) website for The Comics Journal:

Review: Ng Suat Tong: Delphine # 1-4 « The Comics Journal

Top: Blurry snapshot of original cover art for DELPHINE #4 I took for reference before sending them to the publisher...

The COMIC BOOK BIN concludes its reviews of the DELPHINE series with a look at the final issue...

Sample quote: "The first two issues of Delphine, Richard Sala’s reinvention of Snow White, were sparkling macabre gems. While the third could also be described as such, it was in the third chapter that the story took a turn into darker territory. It was then that the narrative point of view began to ask questions about the traveler’s relationship with Delphine. The readers only see Delphine as she is related to them by the traveler. He is obsessed with Delphine, and that makes everything about his narration suspect, which keeps the readers unbalanced. The bewildering events of this fourth volume race towards a stunning conclusion, one that is quietly horrifying, yet terrifying in its sadness.

The fourth book is a must for those who have read earlier issues, but it will make the uninitiated really want to read Delphine from the beginning.

Grade: A"

Richard Sala's Delphine #4

The COMIC BOOK BIN looks at DELPHINE #3

Richard Sala's Delphine #3

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.

A(nother) Review of DELPHINE --

-- from one of my favorite blogs. Thanks, Curt:

The Groovy Age of Horror: DELPHINE 1-4 by Richard Sala (Fantagraphics 2006-2009)

A Review of DELPHINE

Comics Comics: Delphine review

DELPHINE - The Story Concludes

A gallery of the covers to all four issues of the mini-series DELPHINE. The final issue is in stores this week and all four issues are available for purchase online from Fantagraphic Books (see links).

DELPHINE 4 - Final Sneak Preview!

"Submitted for your approval", as Rod Serling used to say, a selection of random panels from the fourth and final issue of DELPHINE, my mini-series from Fantagraphic Books and Coconino Press. The issue debuts officially this week at the Fantagraphics booth of the San Diego ComicCon. It may also arrive in stores later this week as well, I'm told -- and it is already available to order online directly from Fantagraphics Books (see links), in case you are one of those people who, like me, only steps outside as a last resort!

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 7

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 6

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 5

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 4

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 3

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 2

DELPHINE 4 - Inside Front Cover

DELPHINE 4 - Sneak Preview 1

Find out what happens...

Announcing -- The Final Chapter:

DELPHINE #4 -- Due out this July from Fantagraphics Books