Archive for November, 2008
9 items.
I wasn`t sure what to do with the background in the montage scenes, so I made it a flat color. I probably should have done something fancy, but I didn`t think I could pull anything off. Now I missed the chance to figure out how to do something cool, or at least learn what doesn`t work.
This comic was actually envisioned as a one-liner. I saw the guy saying, “This is all one big misunderstanding!” I decided that was too much, so I retooled it many ways (one of my favorites: “AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”) before I realized that this strip would be best served without speech. Understatement is key. Besides, what is the guy doing with a live turkey anyway? Again, understatement, which permits whimsy.
Coloring this one was a lot of fun. I`m not overly excited about how it came out, but I am pleased, which is a rare occurrence. I am a harsh critic of my own work, but if I`m not then I`ll never seek to improve. So, having fun and pleased makes for a feeling of temporary satisfaction.
Check out the shading on the tail…I added a “shade effect” layer, 10% opacity, and used a black brush to give the silhouette of the wing. Actually, it`s subtle enough that you won`t notice it if you don`t look for it, but it`s a favored technique of mine, so the practice was good.
This is a return to the theme of comic
#68, What?!?
. That was one of my favorites for a long time. The style has changed a lot since then, but I was really proud of it at the time. Wow, things are sure a lot different now a year and a fourth later.
David Reddick does
Legend of Bill
in greyscale most days, so I thought I would be clever and do the whole comic by hand, including greys. Instead of testing everything out beforehand, however, I jumped right in with some grey Pitt brushes. Big mistake. The background is nowhere near even, and it`s way too dark. I seriously messed this one up. Oh, well, live and learn, right? I learned I really need to test my tools before diving in to a technique I know nothing about. At least this time I did character models first, which I will scan and show off this week sometime.
UPDATE: I pulled out all the backgrounds and replaced them with a flat grey in Photoshop. Man, that`s MUCH better!
Normally I try to avoid political humor, as all it serves to do is alienate, and I`m here to entertain as many people as possible…But I couldn`t help myself. When I inked it, I wasn`t sure of the outcome…Call it a lucky guess.
Ironically, I worked a pretty good bit on this one. It didn`t take as long as four-panel strips do, but I certainly didn`t phone in this one. I wanted focus on the guy and his candy consumption, so I kept the legs thin and the feet small, exaggerating their proportions. I went too far, however, and they look to small. I didn`t realize the magnitude of the error until it was colored. Oh, well, lesson learned. I like that he`s claiming he has a cold. Not sure why I found this funny, so I hope it strikes your funny bones as well.