Comic Ink Studies

Click to enlarge the image.

    Hey pals! I trust you have been doing well. Just wanted to share I little tip I picked up a while back. If you are wanting to practice and improve your line making and inking skills, you can simply use a piece of tracing paper and most types of ink pens. Above, I used one peice of tracing paper to trace and ink over multiple different artists' & inkers' works out of Scott McCloud's book, Making Comics as well as out of numerous comics I own.

    This was very helpful in my understanding of how different qualities of lines were made and which tools that could be made with. The exercise also made the differences in each artist and inker's approach more evident. It was a pretty cool think to try out and I'm certainly going to do more of it. I encourage you to try it out, even if just for the fun of it. Just make sure you have quality tracing paper and the appropriate drawing utensils as to avoid any ink bleeding through the paper onto your comics! (By the way, the date on the studies above is obviously wrong -or else I completed it in the future!)

    I tried to note the original creators of the studies. I'm definitely not trying to take credit for their amazing and inspiring work! If you do try this out, I also encourage you to try it with different styles and subjects. It is really eye opening and great practice! God bless and enjoy the weekend!

The Amplifier- U is for United

  

    This is my latest illustration for The Amplifier. I'm actually not sure if the edition in which it dwells is out yet or not. If it isn't, it will be soon! Just keep your eyes open if you are in the Knoxville,TN area. :)

    We wanted this illustration to emphasize how together, as a community of unique individuals, everyone (and anyone) can join together to make a difference. This idea also applies to helping those impacted by or experiencing homelessness. The Amplifier is already doing a lot to address this particular issue and others that are connected to it. 

These sketches, as well as the final illustration, were done entirely in Photoshop.
Click image to see it larger!

 
    Above are the thumbnail sketches I sent to Leslie Judson of The Amp to get her feedback and help us determine which approach best conveyed the idea we were hoping to communicate to the readers. We went with a variation of number six.

    I hope you all get a chance to pick up the issue and help out your nearest vendor! Thanks for stopping to take a look. God bless!

P.S. This illustration is also in over on my Behance Portfolio page, along with many others!

Adventure Time Comic- Wrapping Jake

Click Images to see them bigger! 

   Hello! I just recently finished coloring this Adventure Time comic I made a little while back. It's not an "official comic" to be published or anything. I just needed to do more sample pages for my portfolio and was also itching to draw some Adventure Time characters! I love that show. Pendleton Ward and his crew are making a very creative and funny series. I may or may not have gotten the first season on dvd (Pssst, I did! My rad girlfriend gave it to me for Christmas!) And now kaboom! is publishing Adventure Time comic books by very talented folks such as Ryan North! Exciting times, guys. I was inspired.

    I thought I would show you all a quick look at how I did this comic. In the fuzzy picture above is my desk. On it you may be able to see that on the far right I have broken the lil story down into thumbnails and dialogue a few times. The page on the far left is one of my pages of character sketches and studies. I also worked out expressions and poses. In the center (sorry it is hard to see,) is the actual page that I drew the comic on. I printed out a sheet with nine panels printed in a light blue that I made using cartoonist extraordinaire, Dustin Harbin's panel grid template. This helped as a guideline while drawing out the comic. When the comic is completed, the scanner doesn't pick up the bluelines, so everything is cool.

Let's take a closer look!

  Here you can see the pencils lightly drawn in the blue guide panels. Well, you can kind of see them if you look really hard. They aren't drawn in very dark which makes them a bit tricky to photograph.

    Here is a close-up of one of the teeny-tiny panels I thumbnailed of Jake and BMO. At this point, getting the story, idea, personalities, and composition was much more important than drawing them well or "on model."

    Above, you can see one of the little drawings I did on the "character study" sheet. I was trying to get a better idea of what Jake would look like in the panel, what his expression would be, and make it actually look like him. Some people do the whole page together like this and call the drawings "roughs." I do that to sometimes, but on this occasion I just drew them out whereever and whenever I thought of them in the process.

    Here, you can see where the last step pays off as I drew the characters and their environment lightly on the actually page. This was done after loosley sketching in their shapes and the dialogue and word balloons in order to get everything spaced out correctly in the compostion.

    And here we have that panel inked (smudges and all!) I used my new Hunt's 102 nib to ink the comic on Bristol board paper. All that was left to do was to ink the panel boarders, erase the pencils, scan, and clean things up in Photoshop. Then what we have is:

After all of that, I began the coloring process in Photoshop. I think it took me even longer to do that than all of the above steps (coloring can be a lot of tricky work!) I hope you all like it and enjoyed a quick run through the process. It was a blast to make. When you read it, it helps to think of John Dimaggio's distinct chuckle when you get to the "haha" in the last panel. :)

This comic is now on my new Behance Portfolio along with more of my comics, if you would like to take a look. Thanks again for taking a look at the stuff here on my website! Have a great rest of the day, pals! God bless!

(Characters were created and are owned by Pen Ward.)

The Racing of the Hares- Part Two

   The time has come my friends to talk of finer things, of gnomes and hares and watercolors and using sticky things! :) OK, gang! I will now continue to show you how I painted The Racing of the Hares. This post has lots of process photos, so I hope you all for give the fact that it is a bit longer than usual!

Images can be clicked to be seen larger.

    Last time, we took a look at the brainstorming, sketching, and planning process. We looked at how I loosely sketched in where each hare was going to go and then tightened up the drawings to include details. I had then practiced drawing the gnomes riding and added them to the image as well.

   After all of that, I used masking fluid to cover the areas I didn't want to be painted yet. Masking fluid is some weird and cool stuff. You can apply it with an old or disposable brush, using a regular brush and washing VERY quickly after with soap, or by using a masking fluid brush. I use some little old dinky disposable brushes and occasionally my color shaper.

   Using the masking fluid, I could paint in the background colors without worrying about needing to paint around the hares and gnomes. It is a big help! I was able to focus on getting those clouds and colors right and trying to show the light just how I wanted it.

    I also worked in the "base colors" for the grass as well. some of the grass would be in front of the legs of the hares so it was better to finish the grass after the masking fluid was removed and the hares had been painted.

   Once the paint had dried for a bit, it was time to peel away the masking fluid. This part is a little bit gross and a lot of fun. I've posted what it all looks like before here.

    It is quite a satisfying feeling to see the "untouched" area against the painted area. Of course, sometimes that crisp line between the painted and non painted areas is not as smooth as you may want or is a bit off so you may have to go back and touch it up like I did.

    It should be noted that peeling up the masking fluid may pick up some of your pencil lines with it in the same way a kneaded eraser would if you were rubbing it on graphite to make it lighter.

   I then worked in a tad more distinction in the blades of grass and painted in the base colors of the hares' bodies and their patches of dark and light fur. I was important to do this in order to get the form and anatomy to a "Three dimensional" or "believable" place.

    Here is a better look at the difference between the hares when the only the light base colors are put down and when more detail and contrast is being built up (the hare on the left.)

    I carefully painted the eyes next. The eyes and noses were probably the first times I started to use watercolor pencils along with smaller brushes to get the painting more precise in the small areas. I may have used them a bit on the ears as well for boldness, but I can't recall.

    Stage by stage, I added more detail and variety to the fur with watercolor pencils and smaller watercolor brushes. Some of the watercolor pencil marks were barely made wet at all. I think I may have left some as dry pencil marks when doing the dark spots and whiskers.

 
    I also painted in the gnome hats by laying in some base color and watercolor pencil shading and then punching up the values and shape over top. A very light base color for the gnomes' faces was also added.

    I used a similar process to paint the gnome clothing and their beards and hair. You've got to be careful when painting a gnome's beard or hat. That's important stuff!

Click to Enlarge!

   In the painting's final steps, I darkened parts of the gnomes while tweaking their colors and adding some more details. I also overworked the the grass and spent way to long on it. The more I did, the worse and further from what I wanted it got. I was finally able to get it back to an "acceptable" place. haha! And not a moment to soon. If I had kept it up, I may have worn out the paper completely! It is always good to know when to stop and leave your work alone mistakes and all!

   You can see more details and colors have been added to the grass in the field to give it some more depth and variety, while it still has an overall brownish purple color to it. This helps it still stay one "mass" when viewed with the figures. I tried to do this because I wanted to make sure that the hares and gnomes were still the focus, despite the hares' similarity in color with the blades of grass.

    I also dabbed the ears of some of the hares with a wet paper towel to carefully lighten them up a bit. They were so dark they didn't look natural in relation to the rest of the painting.

    I also added some rosiness to the faces of the gnomes and darkened some parts of the beards.

    Though I have plenty more photos, I don't have many that show the details, final colors, and tones much better than the last few above and the ones below. I did a lot more little touch ups before it was all over.

Click to enlarge!

    I wanted to have some space between the painting and the glass when it was in the frame, but the old frame I was using was very shallow. One way to address such a problem is to cut slits of wood sized for the back of your frame and attach them to it with wood glue and/or brads. Above is a picture I took with my cell phone as I modified the frame.

 Viola! It was ready to hang on the gallery wall for all to enjoy! This painting and many other gnome paintings can be seen on my Behance Portfolio as well as under the "gnomes" label here on the site. Thanks for visiting this site. I hope you enjoyed a look into the process for this painting and maybe found some of it helpful too! God bless you all! :)

(The Racing of the Hares- Part One)

Couple Portrait in Pencil

Detail of the portrait. (Click images to see them better.)

   I recently had the pleasure of being commissioned to do a graphite portrait of an engaged couple. The portrait was intended to be given as a wedding gift from their friend. Isn't that a cool wedding gift? Anyway, It had been a little while since I'd done a finished portrait in pencils rather than just a figure study or sketch, so I knew I wanted to approach this one with a process that would be a bit more forgiving of my rustiness. This is what I did:

   First, I scanned the color reference photo I had been given as a "gray scale" file onto my computer.

   Second, I used Photoshop to adjust the Brightness, Contrast, and Levels until the tones and forms in the scan were a little bit easier to see than in the original photo and the initial washed out scan.

   Then I printed the adjust scan off at approximately the size I was asked to make the drawing. I then measured away! Since I was a bit rusty and didn't want to take any chance with this drawing, I used the tried and true "Grid Method." I measured and drew a grid on the print out and then did the same on a piece of cut Bristol board paper. Things had to be as precise as they could so that the following steps would save me trouble rather than cause more.

   Each "block" of the grid on the print out had a corresponding block on my drawing's piece of paper. I carefully began to draw the portrait block by block, row by row.

   I only drew in the shapes or "masses" of the different tones of the image in order to lay down a foundation for the forms and shadows etc. At this point is was sometimes easier to think of the subjects as areas of dark and light on an object rather than as people. Then, I could go back and make sure their personalities and likeness hadn't been lost.

   I also used my eraser to lighten the grid so that it wouldn't show up as easily in the final image. The last thing folks want is a picture of themselves with lines through their face -or so I suspect.

   Finally, I went through a series of drawing stages in which I darkened, lightened, sharpened, and softened the areas that needed it in order to make the drawing look a bit more like the image in the original photo. I used my kneaded eraser for much of the softening and lightening. There were also various times through out the process that I still had to adjust the placement or depiction of a nose or a fold of cloth in order for things to look right and the likenesses to remain as accurate as possible. I then erased any remaining grid lines and sprayed the drawing with workable fixative so that it wouldn't smudge as easily. Above, you can see a photo of the final piece. The kind lady who commissioned it had it framed before she gave it to her friends. I hear it went over well. :) I'm glad I could help out!

   Thanks for checking in! I hope you like these occasional looks at my process. God bless you all and have a great week!

Aw Yeah Congratulations!

This one's done entirely in Photoshop. You can click the images to see them larger!

   Have you heard about AW YEAH COMICS? Aw Yeah Comics is a comic shop in Skokie, IL that was Founded by Franco Aureliani, Art Baltazar, and Marc Hammond. Though I've never been to the store, I'm a big fan of their approach and of Art and Franco's amazing work on comics like Superman: Family Adventures, and Tiny Titans as well as their hilarious podcast.

   Imagine how excited I was when I heard that they were starting a Kickstarter in order to fund their own creator owned comic series called AW YEAH COMICS! You may have heard me talking about it on Tumblr and Twitter. They reached above and beyond their goal! You can check out the amazing stuff that happened here. Their going to get to make over a year's worth of comics now! I was happy I could contribute in a small way to their great all ages comics getting made. So exciting, guys! Just to say, "Congratulations" to the whole AW YEAH crew, I put together this illustration of some of AW YEAH's heroes. It's also my take on a great Superman Family cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams. Way to go everybody! Comics for all!!! :)

P.S. Here is the original digital ink version (mess ups and all haha) in case you want to print it off and color it! You know, if ya dig coloring stuff. (I do.) Thanks for checking in and make sure to check out the new, upcoming Aw Yeah Comics!!! :) God bless!

The Racing of the Hares- Part One

THE RACING OF THE HARES, watercolor & watercolor pencils, 20x10inches

   Good Gravy! It's been quite a while since I began posting my watercolors of gnomes that I painted for the alumni exhibit at Carson-Newman University. I haven't posted about them and my process in a while so lets dive into one right now!

Click Images to View Larger

   First, as is usually the case, I began with some loose thumbnail sketches and doodles. I was sketching out all kinds of different ideas for gnome paintings, but I kept coming back to scenes with gnomes riding wild hares.

   If I was going to doing a painting with a hare in it, I would need to become quite a bit more familiar with the awesome creatures. "Familiar" here meaning lots of sketches and studies of them running, sitting, eating and more!

  A large part of my studying the hares was occupied with watching and freeze framing videos of them in the wild such as the videos here, here, and frequently the video here.

   I narrowed my ideas down between two different images. Both would consist of at least some of the gnomes on hares going for a run. I wanted this to look very natural and real, so I got a bit more maticulous than usual as I studied the way the animals' bodies moved as they ran. Above, you can see where I was breaking down parts of their running.

   I also knew I wanted to the painting to, at least in some manner, take place at sunrise or sun set. I didn't know if it would be the focus or merely a suggestion in the painting. I did know that it would mean I needed to practice. I'd gotten a bit rusty at painting skies and landscapes.

   Above and below are a few detail photos of different watercolor sketches I did to further explore the two images I was considering. This stage largely consisted of experimenting with different color combinations and compositions.

   Here is where I tried a step that I don't often do with my watercolors. Once I decided which image I wanted to paint, I drew each hare's position loosely in Photoshop and then arranged them in exactly the composition I wanted. This helped me further solidify the image before I actually started on the watercolor paper.

   I then spread out select studies and sketches as reference and lightly roughed in each hare on the paper (which was already taped to a watercolor board and soaked a bit.) After that, I started to draw in the awesome guys.

  Regal, yet wild. I really dig hares now, by the way. Next, was a very important step: the gnomes!

I began to study the gnomes and how they'd sit on a hare while riding and how high or far back on their necks or heads they would be. Of course, along with photos, I looked to Rien Poortvliet's gnome art for help with lots of this. You may be able to notice some of his work in my studies.

   I think that is all we have time for today, but I hope to post the rest of this one soon wherein we will explore the exciting and terrifying part of the process: Painting! I love it, guys! Don't you? Well I hope you enjoy theses more "in depth behind the scenes" posts. Until the next one, God bless!

P.S. You can see the final image and other gnome paintings in other posts here on my blog and also on my new Behance profile.

(The Racing of the Hares- Part Two HERE)