Category Archive: comicbook

Jun
25
2007

BTGC update 6-07

by

I was reminded by a reader of my log that I have not posted much about my Graphic Novel lately. This is in part that I have been busy with some other projects: Teaching cartooning at a youth center, freelance illustration and graphics, private teaching, etc. So I though it was time to post a work in progress photo.

The above image is a page from Beyond the Great Chimney on 11″ x 17″ velum bristol board and is a combination of mechanical pens, brush pens and gray washes. My goal is to balance the pen and ink work with elements that are strictly painted. This is partially inspired by the work of Charles Vess who’s work always captivates me. I also have been struggling to keep everything simple, something that can be hard to do when you want a detailed world.

I will try to post more work in progress pictures in the next few weeks leading up to Comic-Con 2007. I love feed back, so comment away. It only takes a second to do.

Tag(s): |||||||

2 comments

Jun
10
2007

my 12 hr comic book jam

by

This week I participated in a 12 hr comic book jam with my friends TJ, Larry, and Toni. It’s a halved version of the famous 24 hour comic book challenge. It was on Friday from 11am to 11pm.

The goal was to create 12 finished pages of comic book art for a complete story. I did not achieve that goal, but I was very pleased with what came out of it. The idea of the challenge is to push yourself and to see what you are capable of. I came away feeling that I can do quite a bit.

Below you can see, first, the penciled pages that I had finished 7pm. Then below that are 3 almost finished inked pages. I also did the boarders for all the pages before the end as well, but there not shown.


click for bigger image

In a few of the panels my hero Brennus changes his proportions. But I really liked how cool the inking on him was. I also did very little research, so he might only look like a viking to me.

I think it would be cool to do they every few months, just to keep myself improving.

You can read my 24 hour comic from 2005, the Synthetic Owl, HERE.

Leave comment

May
07
2007

My favorite pens (Zebra)

by


click for bigger image

I have inked most of my comics books with an excellent pen from Japan with the brand name Zebra. It’s the silver one in the photo above. The pen in fantastic since it has a brush tip and the ink can take washes of paint on top. I just bought a thiner point pen from the same brand and I did the above test.

tags: ||||||||||

Leave comment

Apr
26
2007

Watch Steve Rude paint.

by

Steve Rude, the artist behind the comic book Nexus and the Moth, has posted some videos of his painting demos where he does his great Superhero watercolor paintings. The audio is not very good, but it should be fun for us artist and fans of artist folks.

Check it out here.

Steve also does some amazing comic book work, featuring artwork reminiscent of Alex Toth. Check out his new publishing company, Rude Dude Productions.

Leave comment

Apr
26
2007

Colleen Doran’s adistantsoil.com blog

by

I have been enjoying reading artist/creator Colleen Doran’s blog. Colleen is the creator of a Distant Soil. She has been posting lots of interesting links and information on being in the business of being an artist. She also posts lots of fun stuff too and it’s obvious how much she loves the comic book medium. Check it out.

You can also check out her new art gallery at ComicArtFans.com.

Leave comment

Apr
26
2007

Happy Birthday to Albert Uderzo!

by

The artist behind Asterix the Gaul, Albert Uderzo, turns 80 years old today! Three cheers for one of the great world cartoonist. Read more on the official Asterix Blog.

To see some a lot of his art, visit HERE.

tags: |

Leave comment

Apr
23
2007

A bit of S&M at APE (Sam and Max)

by


Click for bigger image

At APE this weekend I had the opportunity of meeting the talented Steve Purcell, creator of Sam and Max freelance police who have been featured in Comics, TV and a classic Lucas Arts adventure game. I loved playing the original Lucas Arts point and click adventure years ago, and they can be seen in a new 3D adventure from TellTale games. I purchased his S&M (Sam and Max) sketchbook in which he signed and did a sketch of Max the rabbit.

Steve is also posting an on-line comic strip at TellTale games which is a lot of fun. Check it out.

Leave comment

Apr
16
2007

Mini-Comic Template Test

by

This mini-comic page was created to as an example for my Mini-Comic class at the Schulz Museum this Friday. The page was done in about 1 hr. I hope the kids in my class will find it useful.

If you want to try the single panel/single page template for your own Mini-Comic, download the PDF at the link below.

PDF TEMPLATE HERE

The PDF file features an actual-size ‘window’ to draw a 5.5″ x 8.5″ page for a Mini-Coimc.

How to use the template:
1. Print out the template on the paper of choice, if you are doing some heavy inking then you might want to work with card stock. NOTE: This template will most likely smear when wet with watercolor or other water friendly paint.
2.Create the artwork. The template is designed to work actual size, i.e. the artwork will fit with out enlarging or reducing it. I like to use a blue pencil first and then go over it with ink or a dark lead pencil.
3. Production. You can then either:
a) Cut out and glue your art to the layout of the pages for the final book. NOTE: It might wise to make a copy first and then use that for the layout(s).
or…
b) Scan the art into a application like Photoshop. To remove the blue lines in Photoshop you can >Scan the art in, in Color >Select the Blue Channel which should make a greyscale image with the blue parts missing >Change the mode to greyscale > Adjust the levels to your liking. Then you can edit in dialog balloons, add color, etc and print it from a digital file.


that is flanked on each side with marks to help you rule to panel boarders for your comic. The blue lines should drop and when you xeorx the artwork or you can remove them as a scanned image in photoshop by scanning it in as a color image and then selecting the BLUE channel and then setting the mode to greyscale.

The file can be used free of charge as long as you can link back here if you found is useful. Please leave comments below.

Here are the two cleaned up pages that I created with the template…(click for a bigger image)

tags: |||||

Leave comment

Older posts «

» Newer posts