Mike Wieringo — in 3D!
Today would be Mike Wieringo’s 63rd birthday.
Amongst his skills as an artist was an ability to create depth in his drawings through composition. There are a lot of examples of this available on his still-preserved (thankfully) art blog. A lot of artists’ sketch blogs are filled with single characters floating in air or head shots of people. They’re kept simple, without backgrounds.
Wieringo did plenty of those, too, but there are a lot of nuggets at his site that show very simple and effective examples of backgrounds and layers used to draw a reader into a page, beyond just stylistic flourishes. The simple thin cloud lines, the outlines of mountains and rubble, and the characters posing at an angle all add to it. (Plus, the cool guns and swords and other random accessories.)
And, of course, how cool would it have been to see his space girl comic, or his fantasy pirate comic, etc. etc.?
I thought it would be fun this year to emphasize that dimensionality by converting a few of those sketches into anaglyph 3D (red and cyan glasses).
Why? Because I really like 3D comics (see my YouTube playlist), and Wieringo’s art blog is always a pure joy to page through. I lose a lot of time a couple times a year scrolling through those pages. This year, I noticed the 3D possibilities there and jumped at the chance.
Below is a gallery of seven sketches that I’ve converted. You’ll find three Tellos sketches in there, a Perhapanauts drawing that was probably a cover, a strong Superman, and a couple of Ringo’s own creations, as well. Enjoy!
If you need a pair of 3D glasses, I always recommend buying a cheap pair of plastic ones. They’re a lot more comfortable than the cardboard ones that come with comics, and they’ll last longer, too. These are the ones I use. (That’s an Amazon Affiliate link. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through that link.)
You can search on “Mike Wieringo” to see lots more coverage of Ringo’s career on this site. I try to do one of these posts every year on his birthday.
