Quick on the Draw

There’s a long and involved process that goes into creating a finished graphic novel, and artists Samantha Reveley and David Balan will give the public a behind-the-scenes view of that process in their new multimedia exhibition, Sequentially Speaking: the Art of Comic Books.

The show examines everything that went into creating their new graphic novel, Steelfoot Fin and the Last Oil Well. The futuristic sci-fi Western tells the story of the title character, a free-spirited vagabond with a mechanical leg, as he searches for the last oil well in the world.

“We’re trying to talk about global warming in an interesting way,” says Reveley. “I never liked being preached to, and I just wanted to take the ideas of that global predicament and try to localize it and tell a story.”

The exhibit includes sketches and scripts, insight into how the duo developed its characters, and the final product: a digital comic displayed on an iPad. “Comic creators wear a lot of different hats,” Balan says. “There’s so much that goes into it, and I want to show how much there really is.”

The show opens at Muse Gallery, 356 Main Street in Longmont, with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. and a gallery talk at 7:30 p.m. with the artists in person. The show will stay up through August 24. For more information, visit artslongmont.org and steelfootfin.com.

Fri., July 12, 6-9 p.m.; Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: July 12. Continues through Aug. 24, 2013