rrrrrrrico rrrrrrenzi!

okay...

before we go any further with our "pin-ups on parade", i think this would be a good time to stop and give some solid props to our colorist extraordinaire, rico renzi. while rico didn't do the coloring on all of these magnificent pin-up pieces for our upcoming trade, he did do most of 'em! and, just as importantly, rico's the guy who lined most of these beautiful pictures up, asking several of his friends if they'd be interested in doing something for our book.
and we're thrilled that he has such talented friends...

but more of that later. this is about rico.

so more than doing all that, rico is the colorist on our book. when craig and i were putting this thing together, i naturally left the art choices to craig who, without too much deliberation, said that rico was our man.
now there are rare times when i'm writing that i actually surprise myself, many times when craig sends me the pencils that he surprises me, but when it comes to the colors it seems like rico ALWAYS surprises me! his color choices are incredibly unique, unconventionally vibrant...and deviously well-thought-out. rico not only sees the pictures, he sees the story; something very rare in colorists these days. he studies the script and uses his unique palette to add to the story that we're telling, utilizing color to bolster the suspense, the humor, the drama. he brings our gang to life in ways that no other artist could.

it might seem that i'm going on about color more than i should, but i think that it's one of the overlooked aspects of comic book storytelling. when it's done right, it can make your story sing. done wrong, it can actually destroy it. (i know, i've been there.) and rico, of course, makes it sing.

and just to give a couple examples of my favorite ricos; check out page 14 of perhapanauts 4. when craig drew it, it was scary. when rico colored it, it was terrifying! the dark browns and purples and reds all seem to be there just to make those bright yellow eyes burn! you can feel her, that half-bodied bitch, just hanging there in the air above arisa.
two pages back, i had asked, in the plot, for the aswang to screech down on arisa out of the dark, black shadows. rico knew better and lit up the background with orange, backlighting her to horrifying effect! genius!
another rico favorite of mine is the cover to perhapanauts 2. craig and i were just transfixed by the amazing choices/samples that rico sent over and when it was done...it's just brilliant! we love it so much, we're using it as our banner for upcoming shows (which >ahem< actually, rico is making for us too...)

anyway, just thought i'd take a mo' to point out our unsung rico. next time you finish reading another perhapanauts, take a second look through at what rico brought to it. great stuff!

more pin-ups next time!
todd