Posts Tagged ‘MC’
41 items.
I’m really excited about this story line! I’m also really digging the chance to try something new. I’ll be using the red that’s present to unify some themes and make certain things stand out, so don’t worry: It won’t be showing up in every strip.
This is an example of how a story can just jump into my mind, fully-formed. I desperately try to scribble down every little thought that coalesces before it disappears, fleshing out notes wherever possible, and hoping I get enough to work with. The idea is fleeting, and too soon I’m left with just a pile of barely coherent notes. I spend the next few hours or days reconstructing what I can, as flashed come back to me.
I can’t help but look at the word “sake” and not think of Japanese sake, which allows for a lot of creativity when interpreting sentences which involve it.
This one’s just some fun I had, no reference images. I wanted to continue with the established characters, but I needed a (relatively) quick throwaway strip since I skipped one update and I needed the extra time to work on other projects. I have a lot going on over the next two weeks, including a whole new way of presenting my comics, and I needed the extra two hours.
Why didn’t I play around with brushes earlier? Oh, right, it was already taking me several hours to digitally work a strip. Shading by coloring black at 15% opacity is great, but it doesn’t allow for texturing with color like on the flannel shirt. I have to add another layer for the texture colors, but it’s still faster. plus, the brushes allow for the neat dirt effects. I played with a lot of other things, to give a painterly background to the second panel, but I need more practice with that.
I’ll admit, first off, I’m not proud of the joke. I think it’s funny, but that may just be my sense of humor and regardless it’s definitely not something I would consider “A” material.
That out of the way, I really like how this one turned out. First, the composition worked really well. The tree line is pretty abrupt, but it would have been distracting had it gone beyond the word balloon. The balloon needed space to command to show it was carrying weight.
Also, I used space to hint at some other things. The woman is up on the deck, an ordered, man-built structure. The guy is out there running a wood chipper with trees to his back, brush at his side and chips in front. I tried to convey a progression of order and comfort from the woods at the upper right and the guy’s work clothes to the structure of the deck and the everyday clothes of the woman.
Finally, I really played with brushes today. I tried to do cool stuff with the trees, and got some neat texture with a stipple-style brush. The big surprise, though, was the grass. The secret is that it’s a brush that’s standard with Photoshop. Elements. 3. I imagine it’s still standard, but I wanted to make sure nobody was pulling their hair out running the latest version of CS4 if they happened to drop this one. You can’t miss it: The brush preview looks like grass. I used the one that was a single blade instead of a clump.
That’s why HDMI has so many gotchas, like HDCP. It would make men obsolete if it were designed for full-house HD video / surround-sound audio distribution. Thankfully those engineers at Scratchmoore Industries know what they’re doing. Maybe we’ll see them again sometime.
Though frankly, I’m still surprised women keep men around what with insect sprays and all-in-one TV/DVD players…
These are definitely two competing parts of my personality. I’ve got lots of ideas I think are great, and instead of failing in execution I just fail to execute entirely. Ideas aren’t worth the bar napkin they’re sketched on. On which they’re sketched. Point being, any sci-fi fan (or scientist) worth his (or her) salt knows people have had ideas that are, quite truly, decades to centuries ahead of their time.
If you have a good idea, go out there and try it out. It doesn’t have to be a world-changing scientific breakthrough. Even simple things, like having the idea to do a comic, can put a smile on a face. Even if it doesn’t work out it’s worth failing in execution. Call it a deferred success if it sounds better, but don’t be too afraid (or lazy) to give it a shot.
And for reference, Amazon is selling “Highest Grade” sea salt for $3.95 per pound. Not including shipping, a 160-pound scientist (we’ll assume they’re tall and gangly) would be worth $632.00 in salt, not including tax and shipping.
I’m trying new shading, trying to convey an evening feeling. I’m not sure it came across, but I’m not entirely dissatisfied with the results. I guess that’s good? I put the lobster back in his Hawaiian shirt because I thought it was pretty funny. I get a kick out of drawing the lobster in different clothes, and I got to play with two outfits this arc.
Unfortunately, my art is getting stale. I’ve been on the express train to Talking Headville lately (that’s a metaphor) and I need to do something to jazz that up. Not sure what yet, but I’ll figure it out eventually. Really, I’m improvising this whole thing as I go along, and I’ve managed to make it 246 installments.
I’m experimenting with different background colors to express different emotions. I’m not happy yet, but I’m still learning. I hope it’s evident that they’re sitting in the car. I didn’t want to draw it twice, especially in 1/4 of the strip space. Also, notice that the grass and sky colors are partially desaturated in the rear-view mirror. I did that to hint at the mirror, and it makes the lobster on his bike pop out. I also darkened his jacket so it didn’t blend in with the road as much, though I could probably do better if I played with it more.