Bryan Hitch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Bryan Hitch
Born June 6, 1966 (1966-06-06) (age 45)
Nationality English
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker
Notable works The Authority
The Ultimates
The Ultimates 2
Captain America: Reborn
Official website

Bryan Hitch (born June 6, 1966[2]) is a British comic book artist. Hitch began his career in the United Kingdom for Marvel UK, working on titles such as Action Force and Death's Head, before gaining prominence on American titles such as Wildstorm's Stormwatch and The Authority, DC Comics titles such as JLA, and Marvel Comics' The Ultimates.

Hitch's artwork and designs have also appeared in direct-to-video animated films, television, and major feature films, such as the 2009 film Star Trek, for which he has been praised by director J. J. Abrams.[3]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Bryan Hitch began reading comics at an early age, likening them to his "underage drug habit", and the newsagent in Northern England where he would buy his books his "dealer". The newsagent was next door to a cinema, and as Hitch explains, he could go straight from enjoying Christopher Reeve Superman films and other genre films to the store to buy Superman comics drawn by artists such as Curt Swan and José Luis García-López.[1]

[edit] Career

Hitch broke into the comics industry after submitting "Teeth Like Flint", an Action Force sample story he wrote and drew to Marvel UK, using a style that was fashionable at the time. Marvel UK gave him his first professional commission in May or June 1987, approximately a month and a half after his 17th birthday.[1]

Hitch worked with Simon Furman on Transformers, and later worked with Furman again on Death's Head. He did some work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics during the late 1980s and early 1990s, in particular his run on She-Hulk, but also carried on at Marvel UK. After that imprint closed, he provided the art for an issue of Teen Titans and a couple of series at Valiant Comics before returning to Marvel where he would work with inker Paul Neary. It was in the late nineties that he got a series of high-profile assignments, which would mainly include Neary on inks. At Wildstorm, working with Warren Ellis in rebooting Stormwatch and launching The Authority. This led to a year on JLA with Mark Waid and then another return to Marvel. There the art team of Hitch and Neary would join Mark Millar on The Ultimates, The Ultimates 2 and Fantastic Four.

Hitch's career has also been marked by lateness of books, perhaps due to his high detailing. Examples include his run JLA, which was broken up by fill-in artists, a situation which he blamed on bad scheduling on DC Comics' part. There were also long delays in between issues of The Ultimates, which was due to the birth of his child, two house moves, and an office move. His final issue of Fantastic Four with Mark Millar was also done by fill-in artist Stuart Immonen. Hitch stresses that Marvel was more supportive of him during his tardiness than DC.[4][dead link]

Hitch provided cover artwork for the November 2004 issue of the British film magazine Empire, for a cover feature on comic book movies.[5]

Hitch was a character design artist for Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2 animated films. He also was a character design artist for the video game Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. He was brought aboard the project due to his definitive rendition of the Hulk in The Ultimates. He was also hired by the BBC as the concept artist for the 2005 relaunch of the Doctor Who television series, having particular input into the design of the TARDIS interior set.[4][dead link]

Hitch contributed designs to the starship piloted by Spock in the 2009 feature film Star Trek, for which director J. J. Abrams has praised him.[3]

Hitch's cover to Fantastic Four #554 (April 2008) is featured in the opening title sequence of the 2010 History Channel television series, Stan Lee's Superhumans.[6] That same year, Impact Books published Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comics Studio, examination of Hitch's approach and techniques toward his craft, as well as practical tips provided by Hitch on various aspects of the visual storytelling process, and how to develop a career in the comics field. Studio, which features a foreword by Joss Whedon, contains both past artworks of Hitch's, as well as original artwork produced specifically for the book.[7]

[edit] Technique and materials

Hitch does not consider himself an artist or comic artist, but a storyteller, explaining that illustration for him is simply a medium to tell a story.[1]

Hitch is particular about his studio workspace, which does not contain a TV or sofa, stating that such things belong in the lounge for relaxation. In addition to a large drawing board and extra desk space for his computer equipment and lightbox, he also keeps copious book shelves. Despite using a professional drawing board, he emphasizes that any inexpensive board large enough to hold the paper is sufficient, as he himself mostly uses a piece of roughly cut chip-board leaning on the edge of his desk. He uses an Apple iMac desktop computer, flatbed scanner and Photoshop to modify his artwork digitally.[1]

Hitch begins with multiple rough sketches employing different camera angles on paper with a blue pencil, which traditionally does not photocopy or scan, and then select the desired elements from the rough sketch with a graphite pencil. After picking the initial shapes, he will further emphasize his selections with a red marker pen and other colored pens, continuing to attempt different variations. He will then, depending on how late in the day it is, either redraw the illustration on a sheet of layout paper or use his lightbox to tighten and clean up the drawing, emphasizing that the lightbox should not be a mere exercise in tracing, but an opportunity to refine or change elements in the drawing to make it "clean" enough to be inked. When Hitch transfers the drawing to the final art board, he does initial layouts with a 2H pencil, which feels provides the necessary accuracy and detail, and uses an erasable blue pencil to mark panel frames and vanishing points, which he introduces after the rough stage. He chooses not to put too much time or polish into this stage, preferring to work quickly, lightly and instinctively. He uses a mechanical pencil with 0.9mm 2H lead at this stage for fine outlines and detail work, and a traditional pencil for more organic work, including softer lines, shading large areas and creating more fluid motion. The "best tool of all", according to him, is a traditional pencil cut with a craft knife, which he says can produce a variety of marks, and be used for detail, shading and general sketching. Hitch believes the best results combine both the mechanical and the knife-sharpened traditional pencil.[1]

Regarding inking, Hitch says, "Inking isn't about tracing, or taking someone else's pencil drawing and making it your own. It's about being aware of and respectful about the original artist's intentions. It's also about making your own artistic judgements based on your interpretation of the piece. The skill is then honing your technique to be able to actually deliver a strong, inked piece that is just how the artist wanted it to be." For feathering, Hitch uses a size 0 sable brush, which he says provide a wider range of sensitive marks then synthetic brushes, despite being softer and harder to use. For more free-hand hatching, Hitch uses a Gillott 1960 dip pen, though he prefers to use more solid areas of black to large amounts of rendering.[1]

[edit] Bibliography

Interior comic work includes:

[edit] Covers only

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hitch, Bryan. Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comics Studio, Impact Books, 2010
  2. ^ "Bulldog Bulletin", The Incomplete Death's Head #11 (November 1993), Page 32
  3. ^ a b Abrams praises the design work Hitch contributed to Star Trek on the DVD commentary track for that film.
  4. ^ a b Encarnacion, Jonathan (2008-08-12). "The Concepts Behind Bryan Hitch". Silver Bullet Comics.com. http://silverbulletcomics.com/news/story.php?a=569. Retrieved 2008-03-28. [dead link]
  5. ^ Empire magazine; November 2004
  6. ^ Stan Lee's Superhumans, History Channel, New episodes page. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  7. ^ Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comics Studio at Amazon.com

[edit] References

[edit] External links
Creators
Initial characters
Enemies
Other
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bryan_Hitch&oldid=475445148"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages