General worshiping! ^_^

[Dreleen]

Hi Alan!

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know that youve been THEE single most influentual artist in my life. I adore your style! I first saw your work way back when the first Excalibur issues were still being printed and Ive been hooked ever since. I think the biggest trill for me was that you didnt make your characters the standard cookie cutter figures. Meggan was voluptuous, Racheal was toned and muscular and Kitty was petite. You dont see that often in comics and I respect you for those decisions.

Im also thrilled that you have a website. Words cant explain the excitement I felt when I first ran into it unexpectedly.

I think its safe to say that your Nightcrawlers are the best! They are certainly my favorites! The focus you always portray in the drawings of Kurt eyes always impressed me. Its the human quality that is lost with other artists version of him.

PS Excalibur #16 was also my fav book ever, so much so, that the cover has fallen off... Oh dear...^_^

BTW do you have any tips for tonal shading? My drawings need alot of work in that department. Your inks are so dynamic so Im just wondering if there is some kind of equation to follow when inking. Any sort of process that goes through your mind?

I tip my hat to you Mr Davis! Keep up the good work!

[Ravalox]

Hey Dreleen! Welcome to the Church of Davis! LOL!

And good choice re: Excal#16! For some general trivia, the slavers seen within those pages return in the "X-Men: The End" Book One! I was stunned, shocked, and hooked.

If only we see CB in those stories. Bah.

[Dreleen]

TY TY!

One of my fav panels from issue #17 (I think) was when Meggan was dancing near the bon fire, the moment before Capt kisses her... when they are just staring at each other ...ooo (feels all warm and gooey inside) LOL!

I think all the chars save Kitty and Rach got some lubbins in those issues LOL! Good times ^_^

[Alan Davis]

Thanks for the most flattering compliments, Dreleen.

--do you have any tips for tonal shading? My drawings need alot of work in that department. Your inks are so dynamic so Im just wondering if there is some kind of equation to follow when inking. Any sort of process that goes through your mind?

I seem to have been discussing this topic quite a lot recently and the upshot of much pondering and debate is that I'm afraid I don't have anything very useful to offer. At the risk of sounding weird or evasive, I have never really worried too much about drawing technique. I focus on the story and characters and pretty much let the drawing take care of itself. This doesn't mean I don't think about the structure or surface finish, but not while I'm drawing a comic page. In a practical sense, I regard the most crucial aspect of the drawing process as being the visualisation of what you intend to draw. Not as a collection of lines and rendering but as a three dimensional, living breathing reality. If you can do that drawing becomes a process of transferring that vision to the page with whatever line/shape or tone fits.