Added Black Background, made more sense to me for web...
ArrOOoo!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Kirby Sketch Daily Tuesday Kirby FF
Kirby FF Tuesday Sketch/Sketch A Day
Cross between early Kirby FF and five years into book circa issue 49.
Double for Tuesday Sketch Day and Sketch a Day # 4
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sketch A Day (3) - Cheesecake
Day 3 Sketch a day - Cheesecake - Women's backs have always given me trouble so I thought I'd do one and do it sexxah...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Rogue Alone - Page 14
Rogue Alone - "Rogues Never Says Die" ...though we wouldn't understand her anyway!
ArooOOoo!
The Bare Necessities
There are certain things I do daily that are musts or part of the natural necessitates (The Bare Necessities) of life... I don't have to go too deep into the functions, most are bodily and can be gross at times but ARE necessities.
For some art is a necessity.
(Jason Bradshaw)
(Josh Bauman)
Does it daily and does it good!
What About YOU?!?
Join a group and even when it is not so good keep at it. I'm sure all the masters Kirby, Swan, Toth and Dikto (to name a few) didn't love every drawing they did. But they did it fast and did it regular.
I need it too! Yes. Sometimes even I can find myself floundering without incentive and encouragement and sketch daily is a way I can maintain some semblance of regularity and challenge.
This brings me to Sketch Daily. I signed up to do this because I'm drawing sketch a day and readying myself for Sketchbook Project 2012. The goal of Sketch Daily is to do a sketch in under and hour (I may switch to 30 minutes) for weekday sketches because of the day gig. Here is number one...
I am also a part of the Sketchbook Project 2012 as I just got my sketchbook in the mail.
I may carry it with me on my job for ideas and such though not sure bout this yet. You can join too!
The sketchbook I received is a 32 page brown thin sketchbook (you can use your own but it must be under an inch thick and 5.25 w x 7.25 h (inches). I think I will stick to this book as 32 pages are enough! It was 20.00 including registration and shipping and my topic is Heroes and Villains. They have a whole list of different topics. You can select one, let them select one, or have no topic...
I'm thinking more the real life twists on Heroes and Villains. The day to day Heroes and Villains. For example "Polite man" (who holds the door for everyone) vs Impolite Man/Rude Boy (who cuts lines, passes gasses ad nauseum - or nausea.)
What I'm Reading
I'm still reading Bagge's "Buddy Does Jersey " (it is like 360 pages long!?!)
What can I say I love to "Hate"...
And...
Thanks for the T comments (Twitter/Tumblr and Tacebook)
When you spread yourself on the social media(s) you spread yourself real thick!!!
Sketch today, spread the sketch love!
ArrrOOoo!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Shay Holmes #1
Sketch a day 1 - First in the year series on top of my other stuff to challenge me in perspective, ink and colour
ArrrOOoo!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
All You're Doin to me is Talk Talk
Recently I was tweeting back and forth with my art buddies about where we are headed from here in our cartooning.
Many of us just finished recent projects which included our first complete mini comic while others are professional cartoonists.
The answer most of us gave was web comics. Yes. Web comics. A quick and relatively easy delivery system. I mean you still have to create the comic but at least you shouldn't be too bogged down to get it out there right?
Personal Ease of Use:
It is a fast economical way to get your work out there and it is a way to build a following without having to worry about printing costs, distribution and footing it to promote. Though promotion should still occur.
The other thing is once you have a significant amount of pages complete you can collect them into a book for print (and we all know about those print on demand services).
We bounced around how many weekly updates is a good amount to build your readership.
One comment was three updates a week, another was once a week. I think you need a minimal amount of two updates. Even if one of the updates is showing the work in progress.
Me, Myself, I
I mention this because I have been debating where to go since the completion of "Rogue Alone". I have already started a second story but I am thinking along the lines of a weekly web series in the spirit of "Wednesday Comics" published by DC comics 2 or 3 years ago.
This was a newspaper newsprint style one page per story comic published weekly for 12 or so weeks following various super heroes in the DC universe. Some were excellent (some not) but it was the format that intrigued me. The continuing story and the size of the story...
It is something I am definitely considering...
NoooOOOooo!
So I was kinda gut punched this past week as my art group and favourite comic related podcast Art and Story have decided to call it quits after almost 4 years. It is like your favourite band breaking up. Yes I know they are still friends and going to do an occasional project together down the road but like many things, once the magic is gone it is gone...
Sigh...
Good news for you though because that means all their premium for pay content will soon become free to the public (if it isn't already)
Good luck to the Art and Story crew! Mark Rudolph, Jerzy Drozd and Kevin W. Cross wherever the road takes em!
Speaking of which go and support Mark's latest project a graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon"
When I'm Bummed I read:
Reading Pete Bagge's Buddy Does Jersey (4 smiling howls outta 5)
What is Spilling out of my Ear:
I am sketchin (but nothing of note). Oh, I forgot! I'm actually drawing a comic page of a hockey story...
ArrrOOoo!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Mini Comic Mayhem Part Deux
Teacher Teach Me!
I was thinking that I'd teach you something by my experience. I mean I am a cartoonist now! Right? Well I am going to tell you what not to do when making comics...
Don't bounce from tool to tool on the same comic. I did this and because of this style to style. Before I got to the final inks I had a mish mash of 22 to 36 pages or so of stuff. Compiled stuff and I do mean "piled". The tools used were pencil, Micron pens, Copic markers and Manga Studio (digital) and Art Rage (digital). It is a wonder the book has any semblance of resemblance.
Models Are HOT!
Also Staying on model is tough when you spread a project over 6 months. Especially when it isn't something you draw daily and when switching mediums. Also having a model sheet like animators and professional cartoonist draw from is a great idea. If I would have totally inked this in Manga Studio after drawing it only in pencil that may have been better.
Change is Usually Good:
Also when you draw over 6 months and are not a professional you learn new techniques which effects the look or style you will draw in. I learned new techniques with the tools I was using and that changed the look of the comic. I did redraw some of it while inking and that also changed some of it. Hell I am changing some of it as I post it to clean it up and (hopefully) make it clearer still.
Smaller is Not Always Better (Is it Ever?)
I also decided to change the format of the comic to a more mini size then I originally planned. Mistake. For one, you lose detail when you print smaller and while creating the story and thumbs I was picturing it bigger designing story for panels for a half computer page format, not the quarter page format it ended up being. Cramming in too many panels because of too many pages (especially at stories end).
Speaking of too many pages (again)Yes I fell in the trap of too much to tell in too few pages and then trying to cram it all into (only) sixteen pages.
The Darkness of Influence:
Ah influence. I have spoken to many artists who don't read or listen to music by other artists so that they aren't influenced by it. Yet there are just as many artists who say the opposite. I fall somewhere in the middle. How can we not be effected by what we see and hear around us. The thing is to embrace it - not fear it.
I was influenced as I was making this comic by different things I was reading including Manga, indie comics (with all the different styles). I think it shows on different pages at different times. I tried to go back and clean this up and unify it in the final edit. The paring down of pages. Remember I was at 26 pages at one point and realized it was crazy and i could never getting it done on top of some moments in the story were dragged out and others, well...
You Better Edit Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself!
Ahh editing what an interesting concept and I think what I learned here was better preparation at the story /thumbnail level would have led to less editing at the end.
We All need Exercise!
But this was also an exercise to do things differently and complete something in the process. I was pleasantly satisfied when I completed it!
So much so I wanted to get into another Rogue story and release it in the Fall of 2011 (err maybe Winter 11/12). Hehe. I have a page done and a story idea but my plots and thumbs need more work and I'm defiantly spending more time at this stage!
Well that is it for now. I celebrated completion and shipment by waiting for my fellow cartoonists books to arrive and then reading them all. It was good work done by all!!!
More on my fellow cartoonists next week!
Word of the Week!
Word of the Week is music. I know it can be a distraction for some but for me it is a release. It accompanies me through most of my day and is an accompaniment to my inking process. Though I will say I listened to allot of old time radio while inking Rogue Alone. I will be getting a membership to a station if I can only find out how to put the mp3's on my Zune and my new Samsung phone -f'in Microsoft!!!
I think if more people took the time to create versus consume the World would be a fucking amazing place!
ArrrOOooo!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
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