Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Sensei Sakai

Someone recently posted a scan of page 21 from issue #93. As I looked at it, I frowned at how poorly the values were represented. The blacks were at least a value lighter than they should have been and the scan shifted the color to a warm tone.

While it was a poor representation of standard black-and-white illo, it did give me an idea:

Have you ever considered giving Usagi an "old world" feel by having the story printed in sepia ink on a warm toned specialty paper ? Sure, it wouldn't be suitable for a typical UY issue; But, it might be something to consider when the opportunity for something special arises.

I thought of substituting a blue ink for black in the printing, but not sepia.

Stan Sakai wrote:I thought of substituting a blue ink for black in the printing, but not sepia.

Well, I suppose with the right color of blue on a warm-toned paper, the color-contrast would be pleasing and give the art more "snap." It worked well for Hokusai and Hiroshige.

I don't know...Stan does amazing things with shadow in his panels, I don't think sepia would convey the right atmosphere when it comes to shadowing and mood.