tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365013462024-03-14T11:19:26.499-04:00comic toolsTutorials and interviews about the art and craft of making comics.Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-48992074301320128732014-07-25T10:41:00.001-04:002015-08-26T15:30:44.906-04:00Fact Checking the Kolinsky Sable Brush Ban<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZHk62YtZoLKf_lGA6R6j_dBbI2cD-bv1pPihZFAnKer7gys8o80g6ATwyKiNJQrdQTEMQpniRUW-PwTuwnIupdQfHnrTbegifuy0KcfHfBpj7Ydl-ZKOcnlTIKOeDn_K9DA_TQ/s1600/Sable+brush+ban+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZHk62YtZoLKf_lGA6R6j_dBbI2cD-bv1pPihZFAnKer7gys8o80g6ATwyKiNJQrdQTEMQpniRUW-PwTuwnIupdQfHnrTbegifuy0KcfHfBpj7Ydl-ZKOcnlTIKOeDn_K9DA_TQ/s1600/Sable+brush+ban+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kolinsky sable paintbrushes, a favorite of
many comics artists, have recently become difficult to obtain in the U.S. due to
a mysterious import ban. But what's really going on here? And is artists' hunger for sweet, springy sable brushes sending these adorable weasels the way of the dodo? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In a word, no<span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">—</span>but the actual answer is more complicated than that. I pored over pages and pages of confusing legalese to try
and get to the bottom of it, and here's what I've found so far: </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kolinsky sable brushes
are made from the tail of the Siberian weasel, also known as the kolinsky or
kolonok, which is a ferret-sized mammal from the weasel family. A quick glance
at Wikipedia and a few other sites indicates that the Siberian weasel isn't
endangered, and is even considered a pest in some areas. So why ban the brushes?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">All U.S. trade
in products made with animal or plant materials gathered from the wild are
regulated by an organization called <a href="http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.php" target="_blank">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora</a> (an awkward mouthful, hereafter known as CITES</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">).
This is an international trade treaty with a <i>very</i> wide reach whose "<span style="color: #1c1c1c;">aim is to ensure that international trade in
specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the
species in the wild." (Wikipedia)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">CITES is
separate from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN_Red_List" target="_blank">ICUN conservation status</a>
(which is that little indicator that appears under every animal's Wikipedia entry). So even animals that have low-risk conservation status may still be regulated
under CITES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">From the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/international/cites/how-cites-works.html" target="_blank">U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service</a></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">:</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The
backbone of CITES is the permit system that facilitates international
cooperation in conservation and trade monitoring. Permits are issued only if a
country’s Management and Scientific Authorities (in the case of the United States,
the </span><a href="http://www.fws.gov/"><span style="color: #6e8a9c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">) determine that trade is
legal and does not threaten the species’ survival in the wild. The use of
standardized permit forms, allows inspection officials at ports of export and
import to quickly verify that CITES specimens are properly documented. They also
facilitate the collection of species-specific trade data, which are used in the
creation of annual reports. These data are used to determine trends in trade
and ensure that trade in wildlife is sustainable. This trade monitoring has
created a substantial body of information on the management and use of CITES
species worldwide."</span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">CITES
certificates are needed at every <span style="color: #1c1c1c;">import, export,
and re-export point</span>; so if your brush is made by artisans in Italy using weasel fur from China, then both the Chinese fur supplier and the Italian
brush company will need CITES certificates to confirm that the materials used
were collected in an appropriate manner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Siberian
weasels are one of the 35,000 species of animals and plants covered by CITES
regulations, and recently, several shipments of Siberian weasel hair were exported
to Europe with invalid documents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
countries that received these shipments are now unable to issue valid CITES
<b>re-export</b> certificates for brushes manufactured with materials from these
specific shipments, and so these items cannot be lawfully imported into the U.S....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">…and I am
betting that once this illegal weasel fur made its way into the supply chain,
there was no way to tell which brushes may have been made with it, which has caused huge headaches for the companies effected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to a
series of emails from Windsor and Newton published on <a href="http://arcanepaintworks.blogspot.com/2014/01/importing-kolinsky-sable.html" target="_blank">Arcane Paint Works</a> (from
which much of this information was gathered), </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"the
CITES Management Authority in China is working to ensure that shipments
of Siberian weasel hair are accompanied by valid CITES documents in the
future."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Who knows how long that will take? But if
all of this information is correct, the shortage should be short term. The
population of Siberian weasels is currently quite robust, and organizations
like CITES exist to keep it that way. </span></div>
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-23622439104605001162014-04-15T19:42:00.002-04:002014-04-15T19:42:51.567-04:00Comic Sans vs. WATCHMEN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkNrG_KP9CxsTAuaaci6f3CjKY8aGYUeX4HQKN7eWKCznnfp80KgUF_ED28M8jmabyiDIBZFwoz619mTXSxhdAxAWciZYGfDW1bFCALtMKRkvfYZ4NR02c2NCVWF_RZhUZeAaAg/s1600/comicsanswatchmen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkNrG_KP9CxsTAuaaci6f3CjKY8aGYUeX4HQKN7eWKCznnfp80KgUF_ED28M8jmabyiDIBZFwoz619mTXSxhdAxAWciZYGfDW1bFCALtMKRkvfYZ4NR02c2NCVWF_RZhUZeAaAg/s1600/comicsanswatchmen.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Or: what a difference good lettering makes. <br />
<br />
The web is having fits this week because a designer named Craig Royznski decided to make an <a href="http://comicneue.com/">updated version</a> of Comic Sans called Comic Neue. At this point, hating Comic Sans has become as tiresome as using Comic Sans. I think the new version is an improvement, but even though he has made it available for free, it won't solve the main
problem with comic sans- namely, all the less-than-tech-savvy people who
see it in a drop down menu in whichever office program came with their computer and pick it <i>simply because it's there</i>. <br />
<br />
Anyway, it got me thinking about the original Comic Sans, which was based (rather loosely) on the lettering in the Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. Curious, I decided to swap the lettering in a random panel from Watchmen, and see how both comic sans, and its newly made-over counterpart stood up to the original. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheddbC5-LIsMWzEthrhZ80d01iXKYN33PDYw7UwqS-9U43Nd-buXcYZNmtn03JiXVB7TMlJEYPRuJ-75qfBD-djIlx-3VbSpRgJCQXs4pfBY3SD0R0Qc8HKme57Llqhffqz_fkfQ/s1600/comic+sans+vs+watchmen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheddbC5-LIsMWzEthrhZ80d01iXKYN33PDYw7UwqS-9U43Nd-buXcYZNmtn03JiXVB7TMlJEYPRuJ-75qfBD-djIlx-3VbSpRgJCQXs4pfBY3SD0R0Qc8HKme57Llqhffqz_fkfQ/s1600/comic+sans+vs+watchmen.jpg" /></a></div>
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The difference between the original lettering and comic sans turned out to be more subtle than I expected. Printed small, the cutesy irregularities that make comic sans so bothersome at poster size become less noticeable. Still, you can see how much more tense and lively the original lettering is. </div>
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Even though Comic Neue <a href="http://bechster.dk/2014/04/09/comic-neue-font-alternativ-til-comic-sans-typografi/" target="_blank">looks much cleaner</a> as a font for fliers and documents, it looks completely lifeless on a comics page. Re-designing comic sans was a PR coup for Mr. Royznski, but it has even less to do with actual comic lettering than the original. </div>
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Here is a comic sans comparison in a slightly larger panel:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIob1f73rdBDO2iFctOlPsFzKt5zslEay4NR0rrGQY82zEoQFaBzwFDnstyshyphenhyphenRZyxNxG1gDd-t24ly2_gpHtFtIDUqDMDdK-clKmzdM6tOa516ZRZ8rHq9DKeZP_BuPo3D7OHg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-14+at+10.17.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIob1f73rdBDO2iFctOlPsFzKt5zslEay4NR0rrGQY82zEoQFaBzwFDnstyshyphenhyphenRZyxNxG1gDd-t24ly2_gpHtFtIDUqDMDdK-clKmzdM6tOa516ZRZ8rHq9DKeZP_BuPo3D7OHg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-14+at+10.17.36+PM.png" height="640" width="542" /></a></div>
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The original lettering has a more distinct slant, which gives it movement that the packaged font lacks. When you layer them on top of each other, you can see just how subtle the difference is.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwbzCt6IGL-8CqWsKL9aCsw4QUn9Jj3p5qzfLOLYiUXnfk7bPeWh7k2YQ8R3l8kmHeUUSotvyVvB0G1y2DKLj2go1yCoXkJCpVyJJbmZEbnVuhhObImI2b7Qyq44T0z1SF9pgSA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-14+at+11.08.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwbzCt6IGL-8CqWsKL9aCsw4QUn9Jj3p5qzfLOLYiUXnfk7bPeWh7k2YQ8R3l8kmHeUUSotvyVvB0G1y2DKLj2go1yCoXkJCpVyJJbmZEbnVuhhObImI2b7Qyq44T0z1SF9pgSA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-14+at+11.08.08+PM.png" height="371" width="640" /></a></div>
But those tiny descrepancies in shape are the difference between lettering that feels like a natural part of the story, and lettering that feels like subtitles, pasted on as an afterthought. <br />
<br />
So download Comic Neue for your Grandmother, buy your lettering fonts at <a href="http://www.blambot.com/" target="_blank">Blambot</a>, and go read this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/aug/12/dave-gibbons-watchmen-interview">amazing interview</a> with Dave Gibbons. <br />
<br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-38464661514668315482014-03-30T19:55:00.001-04:002014-03-31T19:07:50.583-04:00On Creating a Comics Font<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l1emPlaJtNyWC95enXdtZBmhQM8D7jGzrb6uUVaqyzFlZstvCZ7nWYR970hhUZowsdOEba4YYIHM3uxhXR89LYslwlWAn6DpVwQCe9ypekRC3DSvvSJkuZT_tCMhISms67aIcA/s1600/piekos-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l1emPlaJtNyWC95enXdtZBmhQM8D7jGzrb6uUVaqyzFlZstvCZ7nWYR970hhUZowsdOEba4YYIHM3uxhXR89LYslwlWAn6DpVwQCe9ypekRC3DSvvSJkuZT_tCMhISms67aIcA/s1600/piekos-2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
A great article on boingboing <a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/01/30/creatingafont.html">about the process that Nate Piekos (of blambot) used to create a font based on the Elfquest comics. </a>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-36892655681088604502014-03-19T13:14:00.000-04:002014-03-19T13:29:02.501-04:00MoCCA Festival!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s-D2iraw9Ld2H0xBcRSvfBJQERlODJ85QsPwN8i_0WaWF6VjvE2vXBruZj4rAcvEu020KSaKSFaRjQc6RwNRFO1uMsa7VgRYpC4kx8zOSmfE3k5UVjUwA84RVTrCm7Q-VZpb6A/s1600/tumblr_inline_n22rq04Lhs1rdc7wo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s-D2iraw9Ld2H0xBcRSvfBJQERlODJ85QsPwN8i_0WaWF6VjvE2vXBruZj4rAcvEu020KSaKSFaRjQc6RwNRFO1uMsa7VgRYpC4kx8zOSmfE3k5UVjUwA84RVTrCm7Q-VZpb6A/s1600/tumblr_inline_n22rq04Lhs1rdc7wo.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
Happening this April 5th and 6th in NYC!<br />
<br />
<b>About</b><br />
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Arts Festival is an annual event that takes place over a weekend in New York City, hosted at the 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Ave. The Society of Illustrators has been organizing the event since its acquisition of the Museum in 2013. <br />
<b><br /><u>For Participants</u></b><br />
<br />
<b>Who can participate?</b><br />
The mission of MoCCA is to promote the understanding and appreciation of comic and cartoon art. They take pride in promoting independent comics, and there are a mix of artists, publishers and institutions represented.<br />
<br />
<b> How do I get a table?</b><br />
Applications go out in August. Everyone is welcome to apply as long as they are selling some sort of printed comic book, graphic novel, zine, ect. <br />
<br />
<b>How much does it cost to exhibit?</b><br />
During standard registration half tables range from $210-$290, full tables range from $330-$420. Early-bird prices, student prices and Society of Illustrator Member prices are all reduced.<br />
<br />
<b>Technical stuff</b><br />
<i>Are tables provided? </i>Yes<br />
<i>What size are the tables?</i> A whole table is 6' and a half is 3'<br />
<i>Are chairs provided and how many per table?</i> Two chairs are provided for whole table, 1 chair for half.<br />
<i>Are there setup restrictions? Union rules?</i> We are not union. The Society staff will set up the Exhibitor Hall on Friday morning, and artists can then set up their merchandise on Friday afternoon. <br />
<i>Is there security at night?</i> There will be security the entire time that we are in the space, including night. <br />
<i>Are there electrical outlets for booth use?</i> Electrical outlets are very limited and we do the best we can to provide one when requested.<br />
<i>Height restrictions on signage?</i> Signage should not exceed pipe and drape, which is 8 feet high.<br />
Can you bring food/water? You can bring food and water, but there will also be options available in the "MoCCA Eats Cafe".<br />
<i>Can things be hung from ceiling?</i> Nothing can be hung from the ceiling, it is a few hundred feet from the ground and would take a scissor lift to reach.<br />
<i>Is there a freight entrance?</i> There is a freight entrance that is open to exhibitors and vendors only. <br />
<i>Can books/merch be sent ahead to convention site?</i> Books and merchandise must be sent to the Society before hand. Nothing can be sent to the convention site. <br />
<i>Any lights/sound regulations?</i> There are strict lights/sound regulations in place.<br />
<i>Is there wifi in the building and is it free? </i>Wifi is not available to the general public.<br />
<b><br /><u>For Guests</u></b><br />
<br />
<b>How much does it cost to attend</b>?<br />
Tickets cost $5 per day and can be purchased at the door. <br />
<br />
<b>What kind of events will take place?</b><br />
There will be on-site programming on both Saturday and Sunday. There will also be live demonstrations by artists in the Wacom Demo Lounge. The Society has organized the first annual Comic and Cartoon Art Week during the week of April 1-6 (more info here). Events include lectures, panels, book launches, parties, and the Festival. There will be the opportunity to meet many artists. <br />
<br />
<b>What kind of items will be available for sale?</b><br />
Books, art, collectibles and more will all be available. Artists, fans, and the public will be attending the Fest. <br />
<br />
<b>Tips</b><br />
With the exception of early Saturday morning, we do not anticipate large lines. There is no cosplay, and the exhibitor hall is handicapped accessible. There is also a Kids Zone for guests and their families. <br />
<br />
<u><b>Social Media</b></u><br />
Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MoCCAFestNYC">@MoCCAFestNYC</a><br />
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/moccafest">facebook.com/moccafest</a><br />
Tumblr: <a href="http://moccafestnyc.tumblr.com/">moccafestnyc.tumblr.com/ </a><br />
General Info: <a href="http://www.societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event.aspx?id=10561">societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event</a>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-77784793742675238542014-03-14T20:14:00.001-04:002014-03-14T20:14:30.396-04:00Gem City Comic Con<div>
A while back, I sent out some questionnaires to a whole bunch of convention organizers as part of a project that I will introduce shortly. The answers were great, and I'm happy to be able to share them here!</div>
<div>
<br /><b></b></div>
<div>
One of my first respondents was Jesse Noble, who runs the gem city comic con, which is happening this <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601032409" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">April 5th and 6th in Dayton, Ohio. </span></span></div>
<div>
<br /><b></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_058k2CdVUuf6WXX_vxlFNm_IlWIQyH9LBGLsTzFSgrUl95ZIrfnkmBBiXh5shE6Hzw4j5KCI8PAhubJhN6i4N_GbbW8QPDKrdSfbcDI32987A8ZHsgKz8Yh07FL19CcyDU0fA/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_058k2CdVUuf6WXX_vxlFNm_IlWIQyH9LBGLsTzFSgrUl95ZIrfnkmBBiXh5shE6Hzw4j5KCI8PAhubJhN6i4N_GbbW8QPDKrdSfbcDI32987A8ZHsgKz8Yh07FL19CcyDU0fA/s1600/logo.png" /></a></div>
<div>
<b>What is the history of this event? </b></div>
<div>
I started the
convention in 2006 to help me sell a collection that I bought on a lark. My
expertise in the matter was nil.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Where is it located?</b> </div>
<div>
Dayton, Ohio! It started in the Wright State University's Student Union we are now in the Nutter Center arena.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Who runs it? </b></div>
<div>
For good or bad I do. With help from some friends.</div>
<div class="im">
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Is it associated with a particular store, museum, school, or organization? </b></div>
</div>
<div>
We have a number of sponsors. Bell book and comic, Super-fly comics, Teleproformance, Fearless Readers online.</div>
<div class="im">
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Are any famous or notable artists involved in the planning?</b></div>
</div>
<div>
No, but <a href="http://markwaid.com/" target="_blank">Mark Waid</a>, and Christy Blanche (<a href="http://www.supermooc.org/" target="_blank">Supermooc</a>) have been very helpful over the years!<div class="im">
<br /><b>Who can participate?</b> </div>
<div class="im">
Everyone. We do not discriminate, but if Marvel wanted to set up a booth, I would sell them one.</div>
<div>
<br /><b> How do I get a table?</b> </div>
<div>
We
don't really have a official panel. Creator Tables are sold on a first
come basis. Contracts are on the website until all the tables are
spoken for. That said, if you are a jerk I might be sold out when you
call. We tend sell out VERY early. The 2014 show was sold in July. <div class="im">
<br /><b>How much does it cost to exhibit?</b></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="im">
<div>
Creator
tables cost $40 before <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601032407" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Jan 1</span></span>, $50 after. You get one table two chairs two badges.</div>
</div>
<div>
Vender spots are $400 before <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601032408" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Jan 1</span></span> $450 after. The space you get is roughly 10'x10' with two six foot tables two chairs and two Badges.</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i><b>Technical stuff</b><br /><i>Are tables provided?</i> Yes</div>
<div>
<i>What size are the tables?</i> 6'</div>
<div>
<i>Are there chairs provided and how many per table?</i> Two per booth or creator table </div>
<div>
<i>Is there security at night?</i> Yes</div>
<div>
<i>Are there electrical outlets for booth use?</i> limited</div>
<div>
<i>Height restrictions on signage?</i> No</div>
<div>
<i>Can you bring food/water?</i> Sure</div>
<div>
<i>Can things be hung from ceiling?</i> It's 100 feet tall, but yes.</div>
<div>
<i>Is there a freight entrance?</i> Two truck bays and roll in from the parking lot.</div>
<div>
<i>Can books/merch be sent ahead to convention site?</i> There is a docking fee, but yes.</div>
<div>
<i>Any lights/sound regulations?</i> Only if people complain...</div>
<div>
<i>Is there wifi in the building and is it free?</i> Yes and yes</div>
<div>
<i>Is the building air conditioned?</i> yes<br /><br /><b>How much does it cost to attend?</b><br /><i>What is the ticket price?</i> $8 single day and $15 weekend in advance, $10 and $18 at the door.</div>
<div>
<i>Are tickets difficult to come by?</i> Not unless the printer runs out of ink.</div>
<div>
<i>Are
there volunteer opportunities that will get you in for free?</i> Yes but I
tend not to ask for volunteers, enlisting an army of friends and
family instead. <div>
<br /><b>What kind of events will take place?</b> </div>
<div>
We have panels, costume contests, venders, gaming tournaments, Creators, a charity auction. No media guests.<div class="im">
<b><br />What kind of items will be available for sale?</b></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
comics, toys poster t-shirts, art, non-sports cards.<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<b>What kind of customers are your exhibitors trying to attract?</b> </div>
<div>
People with money!</div>
<div>
<div class="im">
<b> </b></div>
<div class="im">
<b>Tips</b></div>
<i>Is there a giant line?</i> No, we move them through fast. about 5000 a day. </div>
<div>
<i>Should you get there early? </i>Nah, just come on out when you're ready.</div>
<div>
<i> Is cosplay out of place or will you fit right in?</i> If you enter the cosplay contest you get in free! </div>
<div>
<i>Are
there restaurants nearby</i>? It has the same 25
restaurants as any other mall district in America, but about 10 miles away there are 60 great little places
you can eat at.</div>
<div>
<i> Is it handicapped accessible or kid friendly?</i> Both. We keep the aisles wide. And we love kids so much I had two!<div>
<br /><b>Social Media</b> </div>
<div>
Web: <a href="http://gemcitycomiccon.com/" target="_blank">Gemcitycomiccon.com</a></div>
</div>
<div>
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gem-City-Comic-Con/207364214907" target="_blank">Gem City Comic Con</a></div>
<div>
Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/GemCityJess" target="_blank">GemCityJess</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-45429699656600665182013-08-05T12:05:00.004-04:002015-04-18T15:45:40.360-04:00Arthur Rackham: Illustrator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV3qw-hq0LyBWHC62o6kJsltCiH9aCaGfTd9MAyACjHkvOhUjkuAitYmUEK8ItxNhI5IDewFiSxRIm5Qu3FjiYrosQ7is-iF4PyMZOBNpPTuDEhcUcKopARXVh_li5Ju1y3xHOQ/s1600/rackhamheader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV3qw-hq0LyBWHC62o6kJsltCiH9aCaGfTd9MAyACjHkvOhUjkuAitYmUEK8ItxNhI5IDewFiSxRIm5Qu3FjiYrosQ7is-iF4PyMZOBNpPTuDEhcUcKopARXVh_li5Ju1y3xHOQ/s640/rackhamheader.jpg" height="282" width="640" /></a></div>
Arthur Rackham was one of the most famous "Golden Age" illustrators and went on to become an inspiration to a varied group of creative thinkers, including C.S. Lewis, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/17/2" target="_blank">Gulliermo del Toro</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/07/tim-burton-frankenweenie-interview" target="_blank">Tim Burton</a>. Rackham created rich and believable fantasy worlds by applying a realistic style to fantastical subjects. His faeries, trolls, and animals all seem just one shade shy of human.<br />
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<br />
Rackham made his living as an illustrator for 47 years, and worked on dozens of books, but <i>Rip Van Winkle</i>, his first artistic and commercial success, was not published until 1905, when he was almost 40.<br />
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<br />
The story of Arthur Rackham's career is one of steady progress. He attended the Lambeth School of Art part time while working a day job as a clerk, then went on to work as an illustrator for a paper called the <i>Pall Mall Budget</i>, then switched to the (equally dull-sounding) <i>Westminster Budget</i>.<br />
<br />
"...for the next seven years or so I worked as hard as I could out of business hours (9–5) to equip myself as an artist – not being able to embark on a professional career till I was nearly 25, & then for many years getting the barest living from my profession & having to do much distasteful hack work."<br />
-Derek Hudson, <i>Arthur Rackham, His Life and Work </i><br />
<br />
For the most part, the work he did for these papers had little to distinguish it from the mass of utilitarian Victorian news illustrations generated before photography rendered them obsolete– but inklings of his future work could be seen in drawings such as "The Influenza Fiend."<br />
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His drawings show masterful control of watercolors and a tight, muted palette. He is known for his treatment of wood: the grain in beams of fairy-tale cottages; the gnarled, expressive trees.<br />
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Rackham worked at a time when printers were switching from woodblocks to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photozincography" target="_blank">photo zinc process</a>. Where previously the engraver would often reinterpret the artist's original lines to suit his own style or tools– sometimes gluing the original artwork directly to the woodblock as a template– this new process allowed the work to be reproduced identically, and left original drawings unharmed. This is meaningful, as the sale of original artwork was an important source of income throughout Rackham's career.<br />
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In contrast to the fairy tale worlds he drew, Rackham led a fairly conventional life. He was a Luddite and a family man, by all accounts happily married to his wife, Edyth, whose own paintings were well recognized in her time. Their studios were next to each other, and some credit her with helping him introduce color to his work.<br />
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His particular working method is described in Fred Gettings' 1975 biography, <i>Arthur Rackham</i>: <br />
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"Rackham would begin his pictures by sketching carefully with a soft pencil the broad outlines of the composition either working on card, or on a good quality, slightly textured, paper mounted on card… into this he would work his figures or emotive points of interest. This method of working– from established mass to to details within the mass– remained with Rackham throughout his life." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OGJ-xZVpeWhgpWd73w-djf5PsrKlj_g5hBKTwex4-ILz2MQPgfvhC3RPXvWzRloubx_-ryC2uKdDrI015OMUBrZ0ALOMJuJpxEaGVQDYgaZPS4gSyHT0pYFj72XemnmAYOikpA/s1600/4647139483_2a7bc7f252_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OGJ-xZVpeWhgpWd73w-djf5PsrKlj_g5hBKTwex4-ILz2MQPgfvhC3RPXvWzRloubx_-ryC2uKdDrI015OMUBrZ0ALOMJuJpxEaGVQDYgaZPS4gSyHT0pYFj72XemnmAYOikpA/s1600/4647139483_2a7bc7f252_o.png" /></a></div>
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"…into the general mass of the pencil drawing he would then work in pen and indian ink, and once the basis of the drawing had begun to emerge in ink, he cleaned off the pencil drawing beneath..."<br />
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He finished with an allover wash of color (usually sepia), then gradually intensified the colors with thin layers of watercolor– never gouache, as was commonly used at the time. Any lines which were washed out in this process he would trace once more with ink to keep them crisp in reproductions. He started out working at twice the intended reproduction size, and then started working a little larger as he earned more income from selling originals.<br />
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Rackham brought his fanciful style to a broad range of subjects. He illustrated operas by Wagner, and plays by Shakespeare. He cultivated a friendship with J.M. Barrie while working on <i>Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens</i>. He even illustrated an early edition of <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174262" target="_blank"><i>Goblin Market</i></a>, a poem so loaded with erotic symbolism that it was reprinted in <i>Playboy</i> in 1973.<br />
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It is a testament to how well-regarded Rackham was in his day that he was asked to illustrate new editions of <i>The Wind in the Willows</i> and <i>Alice in Wonderland–</i> two books which were already quite well known for their illustrations.<br />
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Some of the illustrations he originally published in
black and white were later republished in color. But you can see here
how the color is not necessary for definition of the subject- the
linework stands quite well on its own. <br />
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Part of the difficulty in
researching his work was that many of his illustrations were
oversaturated for reprints or the web; it is difficult to find digital
images which faithfully reproduce his intended hues. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59oXbcR8Wlv8k5J4e7z4jTn1dBaqlnEkz1WukmEYsTW_EEul9FI8rc3a2WL4J4GWYn4wcSVwA6nNH6o-ZZ7dxypSwwv2V2SLjnAmxck5oP4_T6_d0F-quKWXct0ZaCsENjRnPTQ/s1600/261802.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59oXbcR8Wlv8k5J4e7z4jTn1dBaqlnEkz1WukmEYsTW_EEul9FI8rc3a2WL4J4GWYn4wcSVwA6nNH6o-ZZ7dxypSwwv2V2SLjnAmxck5oP4_T6_d0F-quKWXct0ZaCsENjRnPTQ/s320/261802.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a><br />
Sales of fine illustrated books lagged in England after WWI, but in the US, the market was booming. And luckily, his original artwork continued to sell briskly despite England's economic malaise. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59oXbcR8Wlv8k5J4e7z4jTn1dBaqlnEkz1WukmEYsTW_EEul9FI8rc3a2WL4J4GWYn4wcSVwA6nNH6o-ZZ7dxypSwwv2V2SLjnAmxck5oP4_T6_d0F-quKWXct0ZaCsENjRnPTQ/s1600/261802.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Rackham worked at the peak of his ability right up until his death in 1939. He finished the illustrations for <i>Wind in the Willows</i> while suffering from cancer, driven in part by his lingering regret over having had to turn down the project 20 years prior. <br />
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Derek Hudson's book contains this lovely anecdote: <br />
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"Slowly the drawings for <i>The Wind in the Willows</i> neared completion. The last drawing of all to be finished was that of Rat and Mole loading their boat for a picnic. Rackham's daughter remembers his great exhaustion and the extreme difficulty he had in getting it done. When he had, as he thought, finished it, he suddenly discovered there were no oars in the boat. Barbara (His daughter) tried to persuade him that this was a detail that did not matter, but he insisted that everything must be right, and with great labour he altered the drawing and put in the oars. After he had done this, he lay back on his bed and said: 'thank goodness, that is the last one'. And so it proved in every sense."<br />
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<i><br /></i>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-46287461071525668992013-07-22T21:30:00.003-04:002013-07-22T21:30:36.036-04:00The ABC of it: Why Children's books matter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/abc-it?hspace=1" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQmlLMLow-TfOOmFm7ujvbw3xubjX8qeanpmLzOWrY9l4oUI6katCA6nwcz50eEj3F4NIGDYH0m7Cksojt_vE8aBN43fQGZyQ9DhGe4erB1KNLl1YWeU_MaGNDlecyxs6zEbQ0Q/s640/ABC+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Attention everyone in the NYC area! The New York Public library has launched an exhibit on the history of children's books and their illustrations at its main branch in Bryant Park. Many of the items on display are pulled directly from the library's fantastic collection of rare books and artwork, providing a glimpse at some of the delicate and irreplaceable tomes which are usually locked away in a climate controlled vault.<br /><br />I loved this show (despite the absence of a few of my favorite artists), and will definitely be returning a few times before it closes next March. The curator, Leonard S. Marcus, does an admirable job of tackling such a sprawling subject in a way that is visually interesting to both adults and small children. There are picture books from Brazil, comics from India, and a few hilariously moralistic tomes from the early days of print. There is original art by Sir John Tenniel (Alice in Wonderland), and W.W. Denslow (The Wizard of Oz), as well as real-world artifacts that appear in famous stories- the stuffed animals that inspired the Winnie the Pooh stories, and P.L. Travers' parrot handle umbrella (Mary Poppins had one of a similar design). The show touches on some interesting ideas, such as the influence of Eastern art on Western illustration (and vice versa), or the way children's books in the 1950's and 60's adapted to be in direct competition with comics (which were the scourge of librarians at the time). It left me wishing the show was large enough to warrant an in-depth exhibition catalog!<br /><br />There are a handful of comics included in the exhibition, but I had mixed feelings about the way they were presented. I don't know that I would classify <i>Blankets</i> as a children's book, and Will Eisner's <i>Contract with God</i> is definitely aimed at an older, more sophisticated, audience. But I'm glad to see that comics were represented, and I enjoyed the novelty of seeing a paperback copy of Blankets in a formidable glass display case next to a Hokusai manga from 1817. <br />
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This exhibit made me want to see a deeper exploration of the role of comics in the children's market. <br />And while it's true that many comics aimed at children or young
adults lack the literary recognition and critical acclaim achieved by some the books featured in this exhibit, that is certain to change soon. New
Yorker editor Francoise Mouly has started a much-lauded imprint
dedicated to comics for children, and you couldn't hope for a better
literary pedigree than that.<br />
<br />So definitely see the show! It's free, it's air conditioned, and there are several shelves of books to read as part of the exhibit. And if any of you attend, I'd love to hear your opinions on the show in general, and the presentation of comics in particular! Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-65526041438549861802013-07-12T08:50:00.001-04:002013-07-12T08:52:09.308-04:00How to Scan Your Comics - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMos6DKy_DQT13Jev2xXaUGtm38EfDC8OocHLj6GYI7Ii1yw4543lQIDvSF_mzrslb9oMVX2ySC-cO536Rd5d_1iL58jION1Max-e1UDEs9M0nUTGvqJWCjTD0jpYTcsrJqwufA/s1600/scan+header_1023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMos6DKy_DQT13Jev2xXaUGtm38EfDC8OocHLj6GYI7Ii1yw4543lQIDvSF_mzrslb9oMVX2ySC-cO536Rd5d_1iL58jION1Max-e1UDEs9M0nUTGvqJWCjTD0jpYTcsrJqwufA/s640/scan+header_1023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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For part one, I'm going to start with the basics: scanning black and white line art to create a bitmap for black and white reproduction. <br />
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A bitmap has only two color settings, black, and white. You may be thinking, "great! my drawing has only two colors, black and white", but the transition from paper to print isn't always that straightforward. You know all those photographs of movie stars with <a href="http://www.pinstripemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/anne-hathaway-see-throughShirt-170x170.jpg" target="_blank">alarmingly sheer black shirts on</a>? Well that shirt probably <i>looked</i> opaque until someone shined a very bright light on it. A similar principle is at work with your scanner. That scanner can only see your image as it looks when a very bright light is shining on it, and this light will highlight any inconsistencies in the thickness of your ink, creating
mottled patches in areas that should be all black. Your goal is to take
your scanned greyscale image, and decide which of those grey pixels should be
white, and which be black.<br />
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For this example, I have chosen an antique image which is tiny, dark, and complicated, which will require a bit of fiddling before it looks good (as you'll see below).<br />
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It is possible to scan directly to bitmap - plenty of artists do, but you run the risk of losing a lot of detail. In a direct-to-bitmap scan, you are allowing the scanner to make artistic decisions for you. I tried it with the image at left, and <a href="http://www.comic-tools.com/p/housebw.html" target="_blank">this</a> was the result- not exactly ideal. <br />
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Your minimum print resolution for line art should be between 1000 and 2000 DPI. 1200 is standard, 800 is doable, but at that point some eagle eyed readers will start seeing pixels. <br />
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So <a href="http://www.comic-tools.com/2008/12/this-week-erase-your-fucking-pencils.html" target="_blank">erase your pencils</a>,
dust off your art, and prep your scanner. I don't want to make any
extra work for myself, so I remove any dust or fingerprints on the glass
with a lens cloth (an old t-shirt will work in a pinch), or blast it
with a bit of compressed air. If the scanner bed is really dirty, it can be cleaned with a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol on a low-lint cloth.<br />
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You'll want to scan in grayscale at highest DPI your computer can manage- preferably a bit higher then your final print resolution. Through trial and error, I eventually settled on 2,400 DPI for most images, but that's because I'm a maniac with a pile of external hard drives to store all my massive files. If you're reproducing your artwork at a 1:1 ratio, then can scan directly to your desired print resolution, but often the print size is going to be smaller than the actual artwork, and you can eek by with less. Make sure your scanner is set to jpeg, the scanner was designed primarily
for photographers, and will default to the much larger TIFF file if I'm
not paying attention. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivFA89CzWMF5ufHiKeGyuU_t1byRCAS9JnogeBfHuh4w-ooH5zzg_x0eqZmqjawdjKbEAZUfOB8XVM9Z_5KHl_U17PVFetEDrAD4NItR3md5BxEWZmvbifDCqzv009_zxl2my6w/s1600/house+scan+selection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivFA89CzWMF5ufHiKeGyuU_t1byRCAS9JnogeBfHuh4w-ooH5zzg_x0eqZmqjawdjKbEAZUfOB8XVM9Z_5KHl_U17PVFetEDrAD4NItR3md5BxEWZmvbifDCqzv009_zxl2my6w/s640/house+scan+selection.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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As you can see, my scanned image came out much murkier than the original.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseIoaPTuRSPqN-GXGa11jmQ784hkHZrjmxKMQ3dQO91pJhP-xplenVdkCl_BE4GoZp7pqiMD0sbaSPhGSzZBMU_v18wgAffhU2qf78PmbnL-TxP3oaiec4dTfj8BKyFut6RjQLQ/s1600/woodshouse_scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseIoaPTuRSPqN-GXGa11jmQ784hkHZrjmxKMQ3dQO91pJhP-xplenVdkCl_BE4GoZp7pqiMD0sbaSPhGSzZBMU_v18wgAffhU2qf78PmbnL-TxP3oaiec4dTfj8BKyFut6RjQLQ/s320/woodshouse_scan.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v2aq_Lsqe0X2aPjsOMIzovXvskx5HZHXpmkuedKAsWlHY5Cpljoh82esdTbeh0A_BvwrOb2bkeaCQQET5psjR1MLDwtB58mofirxN7Ni5pxgFlnjnHMctndyhQ2hkdGH3xLA-A/s1600/housephoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v2aq_Lsqe0X2aPjsOMIzovXvskx5HZHXpmkuedKAsWlHY5Cpljoh82esdTbeh0A_BvwrOb2bkeaCQQET5psjR1MLDwtB58mofirxN7Ni5pxgFlnjnHMctndyhQ2hkdGH3xLA-A/s320/housephoto.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photograph of original image</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now that you've scanned your images; I want you to stop, put down the stylus, and save yourself a new version of the file (I usually label them "scan" and "edit").<br />
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In fact, if you are in the midst of scanning the masterwork that took you 3 years to write and 8 years to draw, pause now and burn a bunch of CDs to mail to trusted friends (then repeat this process again with the final print files). Everyone has a hard drive horror story, and you'll be glad to have the extra backups if your hard drive expires after you've sold half of the original pages. <br />
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Now, open your duplicate copy in Photoshop, and make sure it's still in grayscale.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHWvvJfEys7U9_HBmLCgblwMIkYSdu7MVVOYJOJTG29c5z3Wz6B9KGy6Mw_HoHZpcGiyftDEZAv_Y9rnskdOQqu9_9oVQBjvP4C0x764TdBpHoaYgKg-kwomZ2xvGXDvYyUd1bQ/s1600/house-+levels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHWvvJfEys7U9_HBmLCgblwMIkYSdu7MVVOYJOJTG29c5z3Wz6B9KGy6Mw_HoHZpcGiyftDEZAv_Y9rnskdOQqu9_9oVQBjvP4C0x764TdBpHoaYgKg-kwomZ2xvGXDvYyUd1bQ/s640/house-+levels.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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For this time I am working entirely with levels, so hit command+L to bring up the adjustment panel, and start nudging the black and white arrows closer to each other. Start with very small adjustments, zooming in and out as you go.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRoE1mbwgUVk0DtWH5C5rRW0RYz4FjqmU6kqkXMQaaVLWBv1bVblHOe5hWCSUIea2bERvUUk3KjxJtsOBGX78kyAUpmIHnpSD5xiZ1rJDGjB99fR7t2q5TJbWsewUqh7hti5prg/s1600/branches_inprogress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRoE1mbwgUVk0DtWH5C5rRW0RYz4FjqmU6kqkXMQaaVLWBv1bVblHOe5hWCSUIea2bERvUUk3KjxJtsOBGX78kyAUpmIHnpSD5xiZ1rJDGjB99fR7t2q5TJbWsewUqh7hti5prg/s640/branches_inprogress.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshots of the work in progress, click to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Keep an eye out for potential problem areas like fine lines, or dark areas with white highlights. You can zoom <i>way</i> in to see how some of the fine lines are doing. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpY_Z2-aL4lipCwIwXj0KFGwvWgquTNuuudPvK5r-rE9WlfRZDN00Mah6iBt8sQcTjAlMcFodd_RnCjP8MQ3I0RIOiQI-K0fM9WX_n5eX2E-GrcCtSta1DBDfdn4XpO2-YP3M7w/s1600/close-up1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpY_Z2-aL4lipCwIwXj0KFGwvWgquTNuuudPvK5r-rE9WlfRZDN00Mah6iBt8sQcTjAlMcFodd_RnCjP8MQ3I0RIOiQI-K0fM9WX_n5eX2E-GrcCtSta1DBDfdn4XpO2-YP3M7w/s640/close-up1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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At a certain point, those minor adjustments will become almost imperceptible on your screen, and at that point you can start getting more bold, and really move those sliders around. <br />
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When you are happy with the result, SAVE it, and re-size the image to your desired print size and resolution by going to "Image" > "Image size". Here I decided on around 8"x11" at 1,600 DPI. Leave the "resample" drop down alone for now, we'll revisit that later. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjiCcvoM_ZLYKmx0r9BZf3QvaUNoWUxjb2o_m0oXRxdvd3UoqpYS4yW3EAHKZf6SRbWACzQsDlbB-z28Qv5apl57kQyH-UbULLX9xg3g-yPa9xJDa6OZzKijo6wofKppSBE47OA/s1600/resize.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjiCcvoM_ZLYKmx0r9BZf3QvaUNoWUxjb2o_m0oXRxdvd3UoqpYS4yW3EAHKZf6SRbWACzQsDlbB-z28Qv5apl57kQyH-UbULLX9xg3g-yPa9xJDa6OZzKijo6wofKppSBE47OA/s640/resize.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once your image is the appropriate size you can convert it to a bitmap. Go to "Image" > "Mode" > "Bitmap", and the output settings in the dialog box should already match the resolution of your jpeg. Not click on the "Method" dropdown menu and select "50% Threshold". Hit ok, SAVE your bitmap and you're done!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0G0ODDJA4bNco8ljzqrHdXdh7ZbzC52pwx3TYCRC5WSHICQBFT1bOrqsat7gJnPPL7tf89P8AUV9H3-5nmpEWzuqLhKDHMASKtAPF3cEAmkbpfgIPw0lczRuI96cAtCHttj7nOQ/s1600/bitmap+conversion.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0G0ODDJA4bNco8ljzqrHdXdh7ZbzC52pwx3TYCRC5WSHICQBFT1bOrqsat7gJnPPL7tf89P8AUV9H3-5nmpEWzuqLhKDHMASKtAPF3cEAmkbpfgIPw0lczRuI96cAtCHttj7nOQ/s640/bitmap+conversion.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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click to enlarge the images below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZJ1uVBoUShIqA0F9-PbuUd-BF5LStVnO8Qo2hGZyMnZ1DjNsGGbtLNiyrdM4C05ZDO_3SuLSmae5DnchufWpBZXx_4wGNUp7DNTgzFYETsjPTfj9QsDNAMLMsGUjt9Ct0pFTPg/s1600/woodshouse_scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZJ1uVBoUShIqA0F9-PbuUd-BF5LStVnO8Qo2hGZyMnZ1DjNsGGbtLNiyrdM4C05ZDO_3SuLSmae5DnchufWpBZXx_4wGNUp7DNTgzFYETsjPTfj9QsDNAMLMsGUjt9Ct0pFTPg/s400/woodshouse_scan.jpg" width="286" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBKwlvVqNARwmPdfO8k-qf4YgnTgCYXL71hbP6oz_iK-kQpVspssU_qI7PUlfHADpKMBMV2mh5W6LulG7GaljFNIlCOeLX6Vk4C1Jxzqtzm8V0revclazWaP-etWsl0QrWt1B0g/s1600/woodshouse_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBKwlvVqNARwmPdfO8k-qf4YgnTgCYXL71hbP6oz_iK-kQpVspssU_qI7PUlfHADpKMBMV2mh5W6LulG7GaljFNIlCOeLX6Vk4C1Jxzqtzm8V0revclazWaP-etWsl0QrWt1B0g/s400/woodshouse_final.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0G0ODDJA4bNco8ljzqrHdXdh7ZbzC52pwx3TYCRC5WSHICQBFT1bOrqsat7gJnPPL7tf89P8AUV9H3-5nmpEWzuqLhKDHMASKtAPF3cEAmkbpfgIPw0lczRuI96cAtCHttj7nOQ/s1600/bitmap+conversion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-57403975521999039772013-07-11T09:33:00.000-04:002013-07-11T11:27:21.745-04:00Website redesign, plus new URL!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr8tU7CNfRKTYjyPeEfy8fcOk1I_0w-YGY1wziefH8nmXaJ-e6UjwRbAwo5j7fKnk5xtIftrXzr3rOeaFI3wxsAa3qfBK6H_OUnxQ08CApEo-zEtfyuv9JUZUo4p3oD6gH9iQLg/s1600/redesign_welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr8tU7CNfRKTYjyPeEfy8fcOk1I_0w-YGY1wziefH8nmXaJ-e6UjwRbAwo5j7fKnk5xtIftrXzr3rOeaFI3wxsAa3qfBK6H_OUnxQ08CApEo-zEtfyuv9JUZUo4p3oD6gH9iQLg/s640/redesign_welcome.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We're back!<br />
<br />
I've spent the last few weeks tinkering with the website- changing the color scheme, putting up a new header, and shifting the whole thing over to a new url: www.comic-tools.com.<br />
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Feed settings should stay the same, but please let me know if you have any issues!<br />
<br />
I will be back later this morning with an introduction to scanning your artwork for print. Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-81031457105993326982012-07-14T09:25:00.006-04:002012-07-14T09:54:10.813-04:00Comic Tools: Latex Masking Fluid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkcOcnrp9zqkTOL5NxLkpNwiIaPbaVjqMV04eyVIc_MMcAWS8pITpmNoejfFrp4rQtj_uXSwoqioCvTVeftXCBKjPalSG0WMrZhr6alIiO_FFCVWgAvb1vB1YAcIrYmpXyDXWtg/s1600/IMG_9849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkcOcnrp9zqkTOL5NxLkpNwiIaPbaVjqMV04eyVIc_MMcAWS8pITpmNoejfFrp4rQtj_uXSwoqioCvTVeftXCBKjPalSG0WMrZhr6alIiO_FFCVWgAvb1vB1YAcIrYmpXyDXWtg/s640/IMG_9849.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Watercolor resist is basically just a tiny bottle of tinted liquid latex. There are a number of ways to mask out areas of watercolor and ink
drawings, but I like the way the resist leaves natural brush lines
around and inside the masked area. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwUAkx1gkcEeTBCZMaqxX78ESwU6sLolKlUeH_htv9_N8gsNg9lSE96STOpzNp1tvGIXhifExo16i3Ada_KjM0YvtnItsrZucMDq4yjdzUzdQYIeDetEFA8UIKpOOhJCKhq8SlQ/s1600/IMG_9850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwUAkx1gkcEeTBCZMaqxX78ESwU6sLolKlUeH_htv9_N8gsNg9lSE96STOpzNp1tvGIXhifExo16i3Ada_KjM0YvtnItsrZucMDq4yjdzUzdQYIeDetEFA8UIKpOOhJCKhq8SlQ/s320/IMG_9850.JPG" width="254" /></a></div>
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You'll need: a bottle of "Art Masking Fluid" (I used Windsor and Newton, above), and some cheap, relatively stiff, paintbrushes. Paint the resist onto the page, in a medium thick layer, the thinner the coating, the more difficult it is to pull
it up and peel it off. This latex is tinted so that you can see where you've painted.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWckQnwvvtkCcjNIwEBdAjSZLm3-J5uMLe7SbNdtarr6vrOeQGj0vtHCd123r_9BTim4BHlDNI7VfuDRXQ8QtLwLg0dcPgIRbWcjmQXRJDEmquhBnzb-9AgOYvgKPlYS6flAvVA/s1600/IMG_9845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWckQnwvvtkCcjNIwEBdAjSZLm3-J5uMLe7SbNdtarr6vrOeQGj0vtHCd123r_9BTim4BHlDNI7VfuDRXQ8QtLwLg0dcPgIRbWcjmQXRJDEmquhBnzb-9AgOYvgKPlYS6flAvVA/s640/IMG_9845.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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When you are done painting, <b><i>immediately</i></b> dunk the brush in warm water. If the latex is allowed to dry on your brush for even a moment it will turn the bristles into a horrible, gummy, mess.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VolyUD3aWWwVRdvIX2AelhIoxtu1yxwQNGWZDJ0iJ9lkadkC5fTVxqhh69I2gJH07E1VulpW49OEAd4JpvO6m9HL9d803DQ3w0kcgqHC9v5vhgcaQg91QyLn3PJS3kOZW28afQ/s1600/IMG_9843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VolyUD3aWWwVRdvIX2AelhIoxtu1yxwQNGWZDJ0iJ9lkadkC5fTVxqhh69I2gJH07E1VulpW49OEAd4JpvO6m9HL9d803DQ3w0kcgqHC9v5vhgcaQg91QyLn3PJS3kOZW28afQ/s320/IMG_9843.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brush-ruining gunk. </td></tr>
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You can dry the brush on a paper towel before you use it again, so as not to water down the masking fluid, but it's always best to err on the side of rinsing the brush too often. You'll still want to use cheap, disposable, brushes for this, because no matter how careful you are, the latex will start to build up in the bristles after a while.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIr4XCnyBdDul4xijNX2qUrRRL96tt8k983BHHGbYRY3gdhD8KJ3Xq8TKcq2mTDE9zs-NBgBwt0OecMGEdEZFvTmEbzYyi2T9h7pwqHvToegQbOR4Skyh2hxEkC0NmwdegO_XCg/s1600/IMG_9847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIr4XCnyBdDul4xijNX2qUrRRL96tt8k983BHHGbYRY3gdhD8KJ3Xq8TKcq2mTDE9zs-NBgBwt0OecMGEdEZFvTmEbzYyi2T9h7pwqHvToegQbOR4Skyh2hxEkC0NmwdegO_XCg/s640/IMG_9847.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Allow the resist to dry completely, then paint over it with watercolor, ink, or gouache. Once the paint is dry, you can carefully peel up the resist. The results are kind of magical. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FuD0PU2rqO1dh76Ctw_MEvUrDzRsUArHjFRtEL_MefIlVcC17TtQdYkOr2UQFMk0jjWZVwQG453_oFVrH_d4Yii5pNWOm_l6hvmSd-v4M_b9U_dUycqkSQPeHILgDQ9zw5oCcQ/s1600/IMG_9852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FuD0PU2rqO1dh76Ctw_MEvUrDzRsUArHjFRtEL_MefIlVcC17TtQdYkOr2UQFMk0jjWZVwQG453_oFVrH_d4Yii5pNWOm_l6hvmSd-v4M_b9U_dUycqkSQPeHILgDQ9zw5oCcQ/s640/IMG_9852.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the fun part</td></tr>
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Try to peel, not rub, whenever possible. Rubbing at the page can cause any pigment that is sitting on top of the resist to transfer to your fingers, and from your fingers to the blank page below. If you find you need to rub off the smaller areas, the best way to keep stray pigment at bay is to wipe your wingers frequently on a slightly damp paper towel. If you're really concerned about staining your masked areas, you can wait until the piece dries, then clean up the resist areas with a small brush and some fresh water. But I rarely have the patience for that.<br />
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You can use the resist to cover an already painted area, as long as the paper is fully dry. Any dampness in the paper will cause the resist to fuse with the paper and become very difficult to remove.<br />
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Above, you can see how you get a nice continuity to your brushstrokes when you're using the masking fluid. It would be useful when blocking out characters against a cloudy sky, or to create clean areas next to any kind of splatter texture. I searched around online to see who had made amazing use of this technique, and found <a href="https://naea.digication.com/rhsart/Art_3_-_Water_Color_Resist">a few</a> <a href="http://mibou-art.blogspot.com/2010/06/masking-fluid-test.html">interesting</a> <a href="http://watercolorjournal.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/mypaintings-194.jpg">results</a>, but I bet you guys can do better. Send along any images and I will post them later!Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-34213319029280851822012-07-07T15:02:00.004-04:002012-07-14T08:53:38.749-04:00Interview with: Josh Bayer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Comics:</b><i> ROM</i>, <i>Raw Power</i>, <i>Bike Rider</i>, <i>The Fighter</i> <b>Anthologies:</b> <i>Rub The Blood</i>, <i>No Me</i>, <i>Secret Prison</i>, <i>Cake</i>, <i>Digestate</i>, <i>Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever</i> #2, <i>Lazer</i>, <i>Komicaze</i>, <i>Carrier Pigeon</i>, Yeti. <b>Editor:</b> <i>Suspect Device</i> vols 1 and 2<br />
<b>Website:</b> <a href="http://www.joshbayerart.com/">http://www.joshbayerart.com/</a><br />
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<b>How did you start working on comics?</b><br />
My dad came home with an issue of RAW. He always supported comics in a weird way. He grew up reading them, he loved Will Eisner and Lil' Abner. At the time, RAW was being distributed all over the place because MAUS was so big. It was in this issue, I think it was Issue #9, where I saw some comics by Marc Beyer. He had this great, sort of primitive style, and I started drawing comics with the same kind of flattened look. I was 17 and I was great (laughs)! I was 18, 19, 20 and I was still doing it, and somehow I kind of lost the thread, I figured out a different studio practice, started doing more gallery-ready art. <br />
As my 20's petered out I wanted to get back into comics because that was my childhood dream, and I couldn't do it anymore. I had to go back to school to figure out how make comics again. In 2005 I was 35 and taking my first comics course.<span id="goog_1043022598"></span><span id="goog_1043022599"></span><b> </b><br />
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<b>What kind of materials were you using when you first started making comics?</b><br />
My early stuff was all ebony pencils and ball point. Somebody gave me an ink set for my Bar Mitzvah– have you ever seen those cartoons where Charlie Brown trying to write a letter using calligraphy pens? The whole joke is that Charlie Brown can't even write "dear pen pal" without it exploding. That was my experience with nib pens when I was a little kid. SVA kind of guided me into using the nib pens properly, and so now I use those a lot, but also brushes, markers, all kinds of things. <br />
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<b><br />What else changed about your work at SVA?</b><br />
There was definitely a shift that happened a couple weeks into my first "Comic Book Hot House" class with Matt Madden, Jessica Abel and Tom Hart. Matt was a real hardass about students getting their work done. I remember one night when I was at home and I had a bunch of work to do. I started analyzing why I was putting it off, and I realized comics are my favorite thing to do. I tell my students that sometimes, "think about why you're avoiding the work. Is it just garden variety fear?". There was a conversation that I was having with myself that I changed, telling myself, "this isn't work, it's not labor, it's fun".<br />
That's one of the things that changed, but it also helped just having somebody demonstrate how to get beyond some of the basic stumbling blocks. Like when you're ruling borders with a nib pen and the ink gets sucked underneath the ruler, so the borders get splotchy. My ruler has quarters taped to the underside, which lifts it up off the paper and keeps the ink from getting trapped. Before, things like that would make me feel like fate was against me. It helps when you understand that it's a universal problem with a simple solution. <br />
The hardest part for me was learning that I had to blueprint out the pages. I had this voice in my head saying, A) "you're able to draw in your sketchbooks free-form without any underdrawings so you should be able to do it on the comic page", and B) "even if you can master that, it's going to take away all the spontaneity", and having somebody open that dialogue and say that yes, it's going to take away some of the spontaneity and it's a trade-off. You can always learn to put that spontaneity back into the work. <br />
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<b>So you use blue pencil?</b><br />
No, I'm talking about blue print in the metaphorical sense. I don't really use blue pencil that much, I just mean my underpencils. <br />
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<b>Do you work mostly on your own stories?</b><br />
Yeah. I worked on a collaboration for a few years with my best friend, a comic called Bam Bam and the Barbarians. It's a great script, but it's on hiatus, I got sidetracked by other projects. I worked on developing a comic that was based on a screenplay that my brother wrote, but that project is also on hiatus. I tend to finish stuff more when it's all my own creation. I think I kind of stumble into doing successful writing pieces, and it for me it's always dependent on stitching together a lot of pre-existing ideas. <br />
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<b>Do you start with the visual ideas? Character designs, or an image you really want to use?</b><br />
It's simultaneous. It seems like we all have this idea of what creation is supposed to be, and what writing is supposed to be. And when I am with my students, I'll sort of trick them into doing it. I just did this assignment where I had them all do comics based on childhood dreams. I got the idea from a Corinne Mucha comic about how when she was a kid she dreamt of flying, and she woke up thinking she could fly for an entire week. It's a great assignment because the dream will have happened long enough ago that you'll have no choice but to make up the details. You can't illustrate those memories directly. <br />
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<b>But at the same time it's got a clear start point. </b><br />
While they're working on it, I encourage them to let the ideas marinate, think about what was going on inner lives when they were young. So after they do a few pages of the dream I have them "wake up" and then show a little bit of what their life was like at that time. I did something similar when I made ROM, which was a 25 page adaptation of a old Marvel comic, the sort of thing I might have read as a kid. The whole time I was thinking, "1982, I was 12, this is what my neighborhood was like, this is what my bedroom was like". So when I was done with my riff on the superhero comic, I added the kid based on myself as a framing device. <br />
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<b>You teach at 3rd ward?</b><br />
Yeah, I'm super proud to be there. <br />
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<b>What are the students like?</b><br />
Most of them have an art school background so they've been some of my favorite classes to teach because it's so similar to my own background. But they tend to be young, 20's 30's and 40's, and there isn't as much diversity as there is at the other schools where I teach. At Educational Alliance, where I've taught for 5 years, it's more racially diverse, it's more age diverse. I've had 70 year old students there, and I've had 13 years old students. <br />
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<b>Do you find that the people at Educational Allaince are familiar with comics in a different way? Do they have different reference points?</b><br />
Actually, a lot of times it's the 70 year old coming in with a copy of Epileptic. I've heard that the demographic is changing at other schools as well, there are a lot more female students, a lot more diversity. Comics are out there now in a way that they weren't before. People are reading reviews of Persopolis in Time magazine. <br />
When I was 12, I found an American Splendor collection at my local library, and I never forgot the boldness of his choices. There's one story where he's looking right at you for 16 panels in a grid. Just talking. That really stuck with me. Libraries were super important in my development as a cartoonist. My dad was a Librarian and I used to go hang out in his office, and read books about cartooning. There were two Smithsonian collections, and a book called Great Comic Book Heroes by Pfiffer. Those books weren't easy to get back then, and I was lucky my dad had an interest in comics.<br />
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<b>So how do you do the coloring, it looks like you're doing a couple of different things?</b><br />
Right now I'm doing watercolor on my pages and then using gouache on top of it. I'm also doing another project in color where I'm using zipotone. I just had a breakthrough on how to clean up my pages in Photoshop, and I'm hoping that will give me a new lease on life in terms of that program. I've always had a problem with my pages getting greasy and thumb-printed, I carry them around a lot, I do them in sketchbooks, and I've started to notice that the pages get really grimy. <br />
In the past a lot of my teachers warned me away from doing my colors on the inked page. Mastering that has been a steep learning curve. I go back and fourth between new techniques and my old way of working. That's how it was when I was learning how to use a nib pen. I made it sound like it was an easier transition than it was. My teacher showed me how to use it, and then I had a few days where I thought, "I can't do this, then pens are just fighting me too much" and I'd go back to using the micron again for a while. It's been like that with coloring too, I'm not a tech-y guy, I went into grad school in my 30's, on the tail end of the technological revolution. There were all these 20 year olds I was going to school with, and I felt like, on a scale of 1 to 10, they were a 5 or a 7 with Photoshop, and I was a 1. Now I'm a 3, and gradually coming up to 3.5 or 4. I just discovered the magic eraser tool. <br />
So I'll use Photoshop when it's a simple coloring job, with flat colors. I use a variety of things when I'm coloring right on the page. When I did fine arts, color was one of my strengths, so it's been about narrowing the gap between doing what comes naturally to me and doing it it a way that makes the images look really beautiful when they come out of the printer. Gary Panter and Laura Winestein, both have really raw styles, and both told me that they do their work with the colors on different layers when the it's meant for reproduction. That way they keep their blacks really black. but then there are cartoonists, like Vanessa Davis, who once said the idea of keeping the blacks really pure seems almost fetishistic, for her it's ok to have the blacks get a little gritty. <br />
<b><br />What techniques did you use to make your fine art pieces? </b><br />
I threw everything at those. They're on huge sheets of paper, and I would do them with a lot of oil painting and layers, glazes, gluing things to the page. When I was just starting out, my bother really encouraged me to use oil sticks. He thought that I was going to be a Basquiat type of artist, and encouraged that in me. My brother was my school for a while, I didn't go to school for art, but he had, and he was like my mentor. So with the big pieces, I'd use oil stick and then let them dry, then I'd go back into them with paint pens and markers, because you wouldn't be able to finesse the line with the oil stick; couldn't get little feather lines. I wanted to keep it raw and honest– but that got frustrating because I couldn't embellish the line, couldn't polish it. I went through a transition where my work was caught between the styles, then I smoothed it all out. I'm still smoothing it out. <br />
So now I'll use an ink wash, then oil paint, then oil stick, then paint pens, then maybe some more oil paint, and then more paint pens, and red and black china marker. I'd fake it a little with colored pencils to make it look like I'd sketched underneath the original line. <br />
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<b>Are most of your fine art pieces really large?</b><br />
Most of them. But those art pieces were a full time thing for me. These days I'm focused on comics. <br />
I make these one page drawings that I give away to people who buy my comics. I have to do them really fast; I don't pencil first, I use a thicker line, and in a way it's like this idealized type of art. A really honest drawing. When I first offered to do it on my website, I thought, "Oh God, every time I get an order I'll have to do this", but it's ended up being my favorite part of the week in terms of drawing. I always learn something about what makes a successful piece of work when I'm done. I think "Why does this work even though I spent just four minutes on it, when in the last two weeks I've spent 17 hours doing zipotone and polishing work on this Henry and Glen comic". I can do really fast, successful, work when I need to, but I've also developed this incredibly time-consuming way of making art. <br />
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<b>What are you using for those Drawings?</b><br />
I mostly use Crayola watercolor markers on those are the backing boards you use to store comics. They're great to draw on because they have a really smooth surface. <br />
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<b>What kind of paper are you using to draw your comics? </b><br />
It's Croquis, you can carry this pad with you, it's portable, and that encourages you to draw. <br />
I read this interview with a former Navy Seal, and they asked him how he got through boot camp, and he said "I changed the conversation I was having with myself". It's about base, ground-level transformation. Transforming the way you think about yourself, and the way you think about what you're doing. <br />
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<b>You talked about that earlier, that you changed the conversation that you were having with yourself about getting work done. </b><br />
Yeah.<br />
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<b>And it was that easy?</b><br />
Not at all. But there's a point where you remember that [your thoughts] are an important component. I don't read a lot of books on positive thinking or anything, but that being aware of that process has helped me. Saying consciously, "I am going to stop feeling this way about making art, and thinking this way about making art; I'm going to think about it in a new way". <br />
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Cheat Sheet:<br />
<b>Pens: </b>Semi-flexible nib pens, Crowquills, Paintpens, Cross fountain pens, microns. <br />
<b>Brushes:</b> Roundtip watercolor brushes, Pentel or Elmers brushpens.<br />
<b>Ink:</b> Yasutomo Ink<br />
<b>Paper:</b> Croquis, Smooth Vellum Bristol; Stonehenge; Transparent Bond paper<br />
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<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-51376910849304537602012-06-30T09:50:00.005-04:002012-07-02T23:59:05.393-04:00Interview with: Jess Fink<br />
Be Aware: This post contains images that are NSFW.<br />
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<b>Comics</b>: Chester 5000, We Can Fix It<br />
<b>Making Comics Since:</b> 1997<br />
<b>Website:</b> <a href="http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/">http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/</a>, <a href="http://jessfink.com/kwe/">http://jessfink.com/kwe/</a><br />
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<b>What did you start out using when you first started drawing comics</b><br />
I think I just used to draw on printer paper, that was the only ridiculously large supply of paper lying around. I started drawing in lined notebooks, stuff like that. in High school I would carry around a big binder with loose sheets of paper in it; I would draw comics on that, and then I would staple them together and make my friends read them. <br />
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<b>Did you go to school for art?</b><br />
Yeah, I went to School of Visual Arts<br />
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<b>I didn't realize that. I also went to SVA. </b><br />
You too?<br />
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<b>I went for photography, but ended up hanging out with cartoonists a lot. </b><br />
That's what I hated about that school, nobody from different majors really hung out much. I know people now who were in the animation program at the time I was in the cartooning program, and I'm like, "I guess we could have been friends in school, but we never met".<br />
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<b>When did you graduate?</b><br />
2002.<br />
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<b>That was a ways before I went there anyway. </b><br />
I had friends who were photography majors. I was amazed by how much money everything costs. It's a lot of money for equipment, and film, and processing.<br />
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<b>Cartooning is great because the ceiling for really top notch tools is a lot lower than it is in other disciplines. </b><br />
A lot of people swear by really really cheap tools– it's whatever you feel comfortable with.<br />
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<b>What kind of tools did you try in the past did you just pick specific a set of tools and stick with them? things or did you go through a bunch of tools before you found what works for you?</b><br />
When I was in school, most of our professors would tell us to use nibs, so I used a nib for a while. I had <a href="http://www.tomhart.net/">Tom Hart</a>, who was an awesome teacher. He really encouraged us to try different things before we settled on something. I used a brush for a while, and I did a lot of comics with a nib, but it got really frustrating, because I was always pressing too hard. I would fuck it up. I basically just wanted a pencil that would ink. I finally settled on felt tip, and then I started using microns, and I've just kept using those. Most people think microns are the crappiest things, they run out of ink really fast, and the tip gets destroyed, but they're the only thing I feel safe using.<br />
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<b>You get a very consistent line with a felt tip. </b><br />
When people use a brush they like that it's not consistent, they have a pencil drawing, and then they use the brush to transform it into something else. I can't do that, I like to have a lot of control over my lines.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you use microns of different sizes?</b><br />
I mostly use a 03. I work really really small. Most of my pages are only six inches tall. I like to work really tiny. If I have to do a super tiny little background I'll use an 01, for regular panels I use an 03, and I use an 08 for the borders. I used to use a rapdiograph. I used to use copic multiliners because you can refill them, but the tip still wears out, so refilling them only gets you so far.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CjQjXS2wsxJOzXBKe7eyeSsAbIDduMaEsF4h_4CxXRkzCxamgOuGfZ3jWbsOgeVuxJ-UOV7W4r8lKJMusDRUc7PWv0cogMS4YqEw1iV1qNdrfYVdKN17kGGULk9IMTTLXdHVRA/s1600/ActualSize_Chester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CjQjXS2wsxJOzXBKe7eyeSsAbIDduMaEsF4h_4CxXRkzCxamgOuGfZ3jWbsOgeVuxJ-UOV7W4r8lKJMusDRUc7PWv0cogMS4YqEw1iV1qNdrfYVdKN17kGGULk9IMTTLXdHVRA/s1600/ActualSize_Chester.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>How many microns do you go through in the course of a comic?</b><br />
Oh my god, so many.<br />
<br />
<b>Can you venture a guess?</b><br />
Oh gosh, let me think. I think an .03 will last me 8 pages before it starts to die.<br />
<br />
<b>Wow. </b><br />
I have microns all over the place because they'll usually still have a little ink in them, but I can't use them for comics because the tip is busted. <br />
<span id="goog_1710427640"></span><span id="goog_1710427641"></span><span id="goog_1710427642"></span><span id="goog_1710427643"></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dead Microns</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I wish there was something I felt better using because it's so wasteful. I have so many pens. I used to draw caricatures, so I have this giant stash of sharpies and prismacolor markers that I'll probably never use again.<br />
<br />
<b>What kind of paper do you use?</b><br />
I used to be really bad and just do comics in my sketchbook. All the first pages of Chester 5000 were in my sketchbook. I have them in a portfolio now, and they're all cut out in odd shapes. I used to do everything in the easiest possible way. In the past few years I've been forcing myself to get more professional about it. Now I work on big sheets of watercolor paper. I don't use the expensive stuff, everyone loves Arches (watercolor Paper), and it is beautiful paper, but I don't like the away my ink wash works on it, so I use the cheaper Canson paper.<br />
<br />
<b>I wanted to talk to you about your ink wash, what's your technique?</b><br />
I made this little set for myself. It's just five little canisters glued to a wooden board and they each have different levels of ink and water in them. It's like a gradient starting at the top with a skin tone level, down to a super-thick black at the end. So I can just pull from that and paint with it.<br />
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<br />
<b>Do you have specific formulas for the ink wash or are you eyeballing it?</b><br />
I just eyeball it, I have a giant bottle of ink and i use test papers. I use higgins ink, but I'm not too picky about it.<br />
<br />
<b>Then you do the color tint in Photoshop?</b><br />
yeah, I work with the levels and then the hue saturation. I have a batch action I just drag onto new scans.<br />
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</div>
<br />
<b>What about when you're coloring other illustrations? I noticed you have a couple of full color comics, and some of the prints that you're selling, is that all digital?</b><br />
I do work digitally sometimes, I used to use flash all the time. A lot of my Threadless designs were in flash.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7n79dW-aLRWHTa45QKD-Y8O0iOSC47XpAPD9-mx_vknqP0F5S1lZAwnbZ2H7bom1PA-orWbWyf8rK9iqVnXCD3sF6L1sjF-jWTguIDa8usHBAA8KtEpkoBMuvvcRvV-FVd6jTA/s1600/636x460tank_girls_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7n79dW-aLRWHTa45QKD-Y8O0iOSC47XpAPD9-mx_vknqP0F5S1lZAwnbZ2H7bom1PA-orWbWyf8rK9iqVnXCD3sF6L1sjF-jWTguIDa8usHBAA8KtEpkoBMuvvcRvV-FVd6jTA/s400/636x460tank_girls_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cookie Loves Milk on <a href="http://www.threadless.com/product/342/Cookie_Loves_Milk">Threadless</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>instead of Illustrator? To do vector graphics?</b><br />
Yup, when I went to school they taught us how to use Illustrator. But I couldn't just draw with it, I had to make a shape– it was more like sculpting. I just wanted to use a pencil and draw, and I got that from Flash. I never learned how to animate it, but I used it all the time. I haven't worked in vector in a long time, so now I mostly use Photoshop at a really high resolution.<br />
<br />
<b>There isn't a whole lot of text in your comics so far. </b><br />
yeah it's silent<br />
<br />
<b>Can you talk about that decision at all?</b><br />
I really liked these books called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_bible">Tijuana Bibles</a>, they're just these really dirty comics people used to sell in the 20's,30's and 40's. It was illegal to sell porn, so people would just draw these dirty little comics and sell them from their coat pocket on the street. They're hilarious, sometimes it's a completely new character, new story, and sometimes it was Greta Garbo, or Betty Boop– just about anybody. I think there was a Mussolini one, a Babe Ruth one.<br />
<br />
<b>Are those mostly silent? the tijuana bibles?</b><br />
They're not, but they're just tiny black and white cartoons, and I wanted to do something small and simple like that. Then later I got into silent films and other stuff from the 1920's, because the style of the Tijuana Bibles is very much from the 1920's. Then I started thinking about the 1800s and the industrial revolution, and maybe I could do something that felt like a silent film but was set back then.<br />
<br />
<b>In the <a href="http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1921">your interview with Sequential Tart</a>, Suzette called it "steamporn". </b><br />
(Laughs)<br />
<br />
<b>Was she the first person to use that, or was that something you self-identified?</b><br />
Lots of people have called it steampunk porn, there's no "steam" in it, it's just a robot!<br />
<br />
<b>Do you thumbnail your work beforehand? or are you making things up as you go along?</b><br />
For the first half of Chester I had and outline for the story, but as far as thumbnailing it and writing it, I just made it up as I went along. I knew that there were points I wanted to hit– a point A, and a point B, and an ending. Now I'm trying to be more efficient and adult in my process, so I've started writing outlines for everything, and thumbnailing in advance.<br />
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<br />
<b>You've worked on a couple of other comics recently?</b><br />
Yeah, I used to do dirty comics for Fantagraphics anthologies. I started doing some autobiographical stuff, I did a piece for The Smut Peddler recently. I also have another book coming out from top shelf, that I did a while ago.<br />
<br />
<b>You're talking about We Can Fix It?</b><br />
That should be out next year.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EqGg5Yxu_9g08faSLledjpA1Sax3UKShxAh59THkO0Vw9IGwDORzVoD-q51cxrvYPank7JkWGkUPvbuXLrhOTtwyJNvybZ2c9nq1MotI2eZtR0cpCE8rCa3-CxsiLCMR024c7Q/s1600/ChesterPage37_stepbystep.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EqGg5Yxu_9g08faSLledjpA1Sax3UKShxAh59THkO0Vw9IGwDORzVoD-q51cxrvYPank7JkWGkUPvbuXLrhOTtwyJNvybZ2c9nq1MotI2eZtR0cpCE8rCa3-CxsiLCMR024c7Q/s640/ChesterPage37_stepbystep.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pencils, Inks, and color</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>How is it as a cartoonist living in Troy?</b><br />
It's really cheap! It's super cheap to live here and it's really cute. I really love Troy because it's so Victorian.<br />
<br />
<b>I was surprised by how nice the architecture was when I went there. </b><br />
I used to live on Long Island, and when I moved out here, I didn't realize that everything on Long Island is fairly new, like people started living there in the 1930's. There are no Victorian buildings, they just didn't exist.<br />
<br />
<b>What ended up bringing you to Troy?</b><br />
My boyfriend came up here, and I pretty much realized that there was no way for me to have any kind of life on Long Island because it's so expensive. There are a lot of art people in Troy, and we have a nice art center. There's also a comics collective that my friend, <a href="http://tjkirsch.blogspot.com/">TJ Kirsch</a>, started up. He goes to the local conventions, which are usually just dudes with cardboard boxes full of comics.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>That's kind of how Albuqeurque has been for the last ten years, the comics scene there is just starting to get off the ground. </b><br />
I think it's hard to get comics people together. Because there are so many forms of art where it's easy to congregate around it, like dance troupes, or people who make sculptures out of Bicycles– there are a lot of those in Troy. Cartoonists are all going to be in rooms by themselves, drawing.<br />
<br />
<b>I've always gotten the sense that there is a lot of community in cartooning, it's just online, of it meets twice a year at conventions. </b><br />
Yeah exactly. I have friends here who do comics, but it always feels like there's more of a community online. It's a solitary art form. I love having an online community, especially since I work from home.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you do as a day job?</b><br />
I just do this, I quit my job at a video game company 2 1/2 years ago. I've just been freelancing since then, I sell a lot of jewelry and t-shirt designs.<br />
<br />
<b>I am always excited when I hear people can make a living doing what they love. </b><br />
But I wouldn't have health insurance if it wasn't for my boyfriend.<br />
<br />
<b>Does he make comics?</b><br />
He works at a video game company, but he also makes a comic called <a href="http://kafkaskoffee.com/">Rutabaga</a>, you should check it out.<br />
<br />
<b>How did you get the show at the museum of sex?</b><br />
The curator, cartoonist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Yoe">Craig Yoe</a>, contacted me about it, so then I got in touch with the museum.<br />
<br />
<b>It was a group show with other erotic cartoon artists?</b><br />
I probably would have crapped my pants if I'd thought about it too hard because there was a <a href="http://tomoffinlandfoundation.org/foundation/touko.html">Tom of Finland</a> across from my drawing. There was old playboy stuff, Tijuana Bibles, some Anime but not a ton, and then they had more modern stuff. It was an awesome show.<br />
<br />
<b>How did you end up getting Chester 5000 published?</b><br />
I had printed copies of We Can Fix It and the Chester book, to sell at SPX one year. Top Shelf has always been my favorite publisher. I've read Blankets, and Goodbye Chunky Rice is one of my favorite comics of all time. I just loved everything they were putting out, but I never really thought about Chester for them because it's like, "it's dirty, who's going to publish this"? Lee Walton (of Top Shelf) had read my work before, then Chris Staros (who runs the company came by my table), and I gave him copies of both books. A week later he called me and wanted to publish them. They're really nice people. And surprisingly, they like porn.<br />
<br />
<b>How did you start promoting your webcomic? Did conventions play a big part in that?</b><br />
Not really, it's really just word of mouth. I took out ads through <a href="http://www.projectwonderful.com/%29">Project Wonderful</a> too. It was created by Ryan North (of <a href="http://www.qwantz.com/index.php">Dinosaur Comics</a>), was basically thinking about regular people who want to take out ads of have ads on their comics. You can use Project Wonderful to place ads on different sites. Most webcomics I read now have Project Wonderful ads on their site. It's a pretty good way to get awareness out for your comic. <br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-16360349209763503162012-06-23T13:49:00.002-04:002012-06-23T13:54:07.540-04:00Good advice, part 2I'm having technical difficulties this week which prevent me from bringing you your regularly scheduled content. I've got a great interview with Jess Fink, creator of the sexy (and NSFW) webcomic, <a href="http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/">Chester 5000</a>, coming up shortly, but in the meantime, enjoy some more words of wisdom plucked from previous interviews!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/matt-haley-comics-superman-returns_17.html">Matt Haley</a>:<br />
Create your own comics and put them on the web, instead of trying to get a paying gig right out of art school, there aren't any, and you'll get a lot more notice for your creations than drawing someone else's characters. Draw every day, even when you're sick or you have homework. Get kicked out of class for drawing comics. learn to like staying inside. Stay away from caffeine, drink green tea instead. Exercise. Invest in gold.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/ryan-dunlavey-comics-action.html">Ryan Dunlavey</a>:<br />
Always look for new drawing tools that make things easier or faster or better looking than what you’re already doing. Use a Wacom tablet if you’re going to make art on the computer, even just coloring.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/adrian-tomine-comics-optic-nerve.html">Adrain Tomine</a>:<br />
I know a lot of artists who use tools that I can’t stand and achieve beautiful results, so I guess it’s good to just try a lot of things. I used to think that if I “solved” the mystery of what were the “correct” tools, I’d suddenly be drawing like a pro, and that obviously wasn’t the case. I also think it’s good to not be stingy when it comes to art supplies. I used to try to save money by using cheap paper, for example, and any monetary savings were far surpassed by wasted time, frustration, etc...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/hope-larson-hopes-studio-comics.html">Hope Larson</a>:<br />
Never throw anything away. Tools that used to drive you crazy may prove ideal later on!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/hope-larson-hopes-studio-comics.html">Grant Reynolds</a>:<br />
When you're just getting started it's more important to make as much work as possible than to worry about whether that work is good or not. What I mean is, all the stuff like style and storytelling will figure itself out in time. The more you just do it, the more quickly and easier it will come. Experience, more than anything else, is going to make you better -- not what pens or paper or other materials you're using. And when you're finished with it don't put it in your desk, put it out. It's important to get feedback, and to see your comic as a finished product. Put it somewhere like Quimby's Comics to sell. It'll make you feel good, y'know.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2007/02/mk-reed-my-studio-wedged-between-china.html">MK</a>:<br />
Don't go out and buy a $20 brush when you don't know what a $2 brush is like. Buy the cheap stuff and upgrade when you've gotten better with them. Then when you get a better brush, you'll know what the difference is & won't kill some expensive stuff with your crappy beginnings & lack of care. <br />
Give yourself a nice setup to work in. It makes it much easier to stay at your desk when you have a place for your tea, an audiobook loaded up on your stereo, and a stack of bristol right next to you. Also it gives you fewer excuses to get up.<br />
Listen to audiobooks, especially long books that would otherwise take you a while to read. Music is too easy to get up from, but good stories are harder to take a break from. <br />
Set a realistic schedule & stick to it, but don't let yourself get burnt out. Take breaks when you need to, but don't get lazy. <br />
Be a shameless self promoter.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2007/05/kevin-colden-in-time-since-kevin-sent.html">Kevin Colden</a>:<br />
Forget everything you've read here and find your own damn tools. That's half the fun!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-10780641334974103442012-06-16T11:20:00.000-04:002012-06-16T11:22:29.906-04:00Writing for Comics: An interview with MK Reed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
<b>How did you first get interested in writing comics?</b><br />
I first
got into comics by doing stuff for the daily paper at college. Some of
the comics in the paper were great, <span class="st">Nicholas Gurewitch, who does</span> the Perry Bible Fellowship, was
running his comics in the paper at that time, but there was also a lot of stuff that wasn't
so great. I looked at it and thought "I could definitely do that".<br />
<br />
<b>Was it gag strips?</b><br />
Gags, slice of life, serialized stories, there was a crazy range of work. It was like webcomics, only on paper. <br />
<br />
<b>And after that, you spent a couple years drawing and self publishing your own work? </b><br />
<i>Cross Country</i> is the only comic I self published as an actual book.
There were also a lot of mini comics, and two longer stories before that
that I'm not completely embarrassed to show people now, years later. <br />
<br />
<b>How did you transition from writing and drawing to writing comics for other people?</b><br />
In
2007, after I had started work on <i>Cross Country</i>. My friend and writing
partner, Greg Means, wanted a longer story that he could serialize in his
magazine, Papercutter. Greg and I threw around a bunch of ideas I was
working on at the time, but <i>Americus</i> was kind of a shoe-in from the
beginning, since Greg is a librarian, and the story deals with books. It's
very library centric. But he knew my time was tied up with working on
<i>Cross Country</i>, so he suggested getting another artist involved. Greg
knew <a href="http://www.oneofthejohns.com/">Jonathan Hill</a> from around Portland, and when I saw his work I
thought, "he's amazing, and we have to get him". <br />
<br />
<b>How did it get picked up by First Second?</b><br />
I knew a few of
the people at First Second from the NY comics scene, so I went by their booth at the New York
Comic Con, and when I told them I was a writer, they said I should send them something. I submitted the
first four chapters of <i>Americus</i>, which had already been drawn, and they
were very interested in it from the start. <br />
<b><br />How do you write your scripts?</b><br />
I always spend a lot of time working out details before I sit down and
do
any writing. I start out with a general outline, that includes in all
the moments that are
important to the story, so I can figure out roughly how long it's going
to be. Then I break that outline down into chapters, and the chapters down
into pages.<br />
I write everything in Google docs. When I'm working with collaborators, it's easier to have the project
online, so that I can be certain everyone has the most recent
version. Each script contains dialogue, directions for the acting, and
panel descriptions. When I started out with Johnathan I would give him
basic page layouts and thumbnails as well, but then
he'd come back with something that looked so much better
than what I'd come up with, and eventually I just let him work it out on his own. <br />
<br />
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<b>What's different about the way you work when you're writing without a collaborator?</b><br />
Mainly?
It takes me way longer. The nice thing about working with a writing
partner is that you have someone to be accountable to, someone to make
sure you finish things on time. <br />
<b><br />Do you miss working on your own comics?</b><br />
I'm still working
on my own side projects. I'm serializing <i>About a Bull</i>, which is set in
Ireland. It's going to be really long and it's taking me forever, but it
fills my need to draw, and to work on something that's all my own. I
have other small projects as well, but I tend to put them on the back burner
whenever someone wants to collaborate. <br />
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<b>Do you read a lot of prose books, or mostly comics?</b><br />
I draw
inspiration from other comics, but books and movies too. It's helpful
to see stories told in different forms, to see different ways of
handling common scenarios. Exposing yourself to a broad range of
influences is really helpful during the idea phase. But it's really
about letting yourself be bored. <br />
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<b>How so?</b><br />
I spend a lot of time in front of books or
screens, and on the subway I'll listen to podcasts. But it's
helpful to spend some quite time just thinking about the story. I get a
lot of writing done in the shower, It's where all my problems get
solved. I can't tell you how many things have clicked together when I
stopped paying attention, when I was looking out the window on train
rides or car rides. Just being able to let your mind water is an
extremely good way to let things come together. <br />
<b><br />What happens when the artist when they're doing something in a way that wasn't what you envisioned?</b><br />
I've
been pretty lucky in the artists I've worked with, we've been able to talk about things pretty openly. When the drawings aren't right sometimes it's just because I left out
some basic information in the script. By the end of <i>Americus</i>,
I had a better sense of what I needed to write for Johnathan, so there
were fewer corrections. <br />
<b><br />Can you tell me anything about your upcoming book?</b><br />
The
working tittle is <i>The Cute Girl Network</i>. It's about a girl whose friends are trying
to convince her to break up with her boyfriend, who's kind of a dumbass.
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<br />
<b>And you and Greg are working on that together?</b><br />
Yes, we
finished writing it two years ago, and we've worked on a couple of
projects since then. We've finished a second book that <a href="http://www.wiegle.com/">Matt Wiegle</a> is drawing. I'm also working with <a href="http://fareldalrymple.com/">Farel Dalrymple</a> redoing one
of my older stories, once he finishes his current project. <br />
<b><br />How did First Second end up picking up TCGN?</b><br />
When we were working
on <i>Americus</i> they seemed open to doing other projects, and when I sent
them the script they really liked it. I've been lucky in that sense. <br />
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<b>Any other advice for people who are interested in writing for comics?</b><br />
Go
be social and meet people at conventions. These people will give you
feedback, and help build your network. All the opportunities I've gotten
have just been from getting to know people in the indie
comics scene over the course of several years. <br />
<b><br />Do you think it's as easy to break into the scene now as it was ten years ago when you were just starting out?</b><br />
It's
easier to break in, but harder to get attention. The scene was much
smaller in 2004 than it is now, and there's a new class graduating from SVA every
year full of all these amazingly talented kids. When the internet was a
smaller place it was easier to get noticed in the webcomics world. But
even now, sometimes you just need the right person to mention your blog to their
50,00 followers. <br />
<b><br />And there are more people reading comics right now. </b><br />
It's a real Renaissance in comics right now. There's just so much good stuff out there.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-20566644696679061192012-06-09T16:17:00.003-04:002012-06-16T11:21:55.794-04:00Interview with: Joe Flood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Comics</b>: Don't Eat The Electric Sheep, Hellcity, Orcs, The Cute Girl Network (upcoming)<br />
<b>Making Comics Since:</b> 1999<br />
<b>Website:</b> <a href="http://www.kneedeeppress.com/">www.kneedeeppress.com</a><br />
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<b>How did you start working on comics?</b><br />
I went to SVA intending to study painting, but when I got there, I found myself really inspired by the the members of <a href="http://www.meathaus.com/">Meathaus</a>, <a href="http://fareldalrymple.com/">Farel Darymple</a> in particular. They were upperclassmen at the time, and self publishing work that was really different from anything I'd seen before. At the time, I knew nothing about independent publishing, and it was great to see these guys releasing their own work. When I graduated in 2002 I took a full-time job at an art supply store and saved up so I could self-publish my first series, Don't Eat The Electric Sheep. I worked on that for about five years until I switched to longer stories. <br />
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<b>Did you know much about indie comics before you came to SVA?</b><br />
Before? No. My inspiration was all coming from comics like Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side, Sunday comics page stuff. <br />
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<b>No superhero comics at all? </b><br />
No not really. I had a cousin who read Spawn and The maxx, but I never owned any of the books. I never went to comic stores. <br />
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<b>I always kind of took you for an action-indie guy because of the way you draw. The storytelling reminded me so much of stuff like the Ninja Turtles. </b><br />
I liked the cartoon version of the TMNT, but didn't read the comics until later. I worked at the SVA library, and pretty much read everything in their graphic novel collection. That's when I first saw Tank Girl. The stuff I did with Cricket and Frankie in the sewer came out of a mash-up between Tank Girl and Ninja Turtles. <br />
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<b>Tell me about your process, how do you thumbnail?</b><br />
I thumbnail the whole book in advance, on a templates that I create and print myself. I generally keep a 1/4" margin between the panel border and the cut edge of the page, and I like to take that into consideration when I'm thumbnailing. I do all my work on cheap copy paper, in two page spreads. I work at actual size, so if the final book is 6"x9", the paper I'm thumbnailing on is 12"x9". My thumbs are pretty detailed; my goal is the make my thumbnails so tight you could read them almost as easily as the finished book. Once I'm done, I scan the thumbnails and add text and sound effects in photoshop, then email them to my editor and publisher for revisions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DHoYeiL4oZgJdqzcztTOJFfx1aX-vdZ_6J_HB7LwRMjnn4ufHzbIhx8vZMAZeXMHXf8M8y3w__XBccxieCp0wTrYYoIvoYAGgQj2p_qdzyCFSTIozNGqMW5t5Wm9v_Jv8XobCg/s1600/CuteGirlNetwork_Street_Corner.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DHoYeiL4oZgJdqzcztTOJFfx1aX-vdZ_6J_HB7LwRMjnn4ufHzbIhx8vZMAZeXMHXf8M8y3w__XBccxieCp0wTrYYoIvoYAGgQj2p_qdzyCFSTIozNGqMW5t5Wm9v_Jv8XobCg/s640/CuteGirlNetwork_Street_Corner.jpg" width="442" /></a><br />
<b>How about pencils?</b><br />
I work at a larger scale when I'm penciling and inking. I use 15"x20" 2 ply plate Bristol board, the smoothest I can find. I plot out the drawings from the thumbnails almost exactly, two to a page, just like they'll be in the final book. Working this way eliminates surprises. I know that every page turn will be exactly the way I want it to be for the reader. <br />
I use a 7mm HB lead in an Alvin mechanical drafting pencil. I like the 7mm lead because it's nice in-between size, not too think or too thin, and I only use Alvins, because they're indestructible. It's the only type of drafting pencil I've ever owned that's never broken on me. They're made in Germany, and mostly metal. I've stepped on them and had them come out fine. Mechanical pencils are more efficient because you don't have to stop and sharpen them. I like working with wood pencils, but I tend to press to hard with them, which makes it difficult to <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-week-erase-your-fucking-pencils.html">erase the pencils</a> later. I like the line quality in pencil drawings a lot, but when I'm working, I'm careful not to to fall in love with my pencils, because they're meant to be temporary. Destined to be inked over and erased.<br />
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<b>Inks and brushes?</b><br />
I only use Dr Martens high black star hi carb ink. The high carbon content means it really sticks to the paper when I'm erasing my pencils. Other inks I've used in the past would fade, so that I'd have to go over all the fine lines again. I use Raphael size 1 Kolinsky Sable brushes, which are pretty small, so sometimes I'll use a #2 for larger areas. I also use Tashikawa Spoon Nibs and Crow Quill nibs. It depends on the project. Over the years I've found myself using the brush more and more.<br />
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<b>That seems to be an overall trend in comics now. </b><br />
Well, everyone loves the brush. It's very much in vogue thanks to guys like <a href="http://pulphope.blogspot.com/">Paul Pope</a>, <a href="http://www.deanhaspiel.com/">Dean Haspiel</a>, trying to bring back that old-school Jack Kirby style. <a href="http://www.dootdootgarden.com/">Craig Thompson</a> too, and <a href="http://www.fantagraphics.com/charlesburns">Charles Burns</a>, you're seeing brush work everywhere. Primarily, I use Photoshop and a Wacom tablet for coloring. Sometimes is use water color, or, very rarely, gouache. But for the books I'm doing not, at First Second, I work with a professional colorist. <br />
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<b>And lettering? </b><br />
I use a <a href="http://www.blambot.com/">Blambot</a> font called Lint McCreed. They have a ton of free fonts, but I paid for this one, because it looks most like my own handwriting. The $20 fee covers anything I self publish, or publish through an indie publisher. I use the same font at first second, but McMillan, the parent company, pays the additional licensing fee.<br />
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<b>Your process is so involved, what's your time frame like?</b><br />
It takes about 2-3 months to thumbnail a 150-175 page book, the pencils I do 2-3 pages a day, because that's when I'm really going in and using reference and making sure to get the details right. That part takes about 6 months. Then the inks are done in around 4.<br />
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<b>I wanted to talk to you a bit about working with a publisher. You started out writing your own works and self-publishing, do you miss it at all?</b><br />
No. <br />
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<b>The self publishing or the writing?</b><br />
Both, because I can never finish anything. There's something really great about being handed a story with a beginning, middle and end. weather it's a prose piece or a screenplay, or a comic book script broken down into pages and panels. There's no guesswork. No wondering where the story is going to end. If I have to write something I'll start drawing it as well, I'll jump the gun and draw before I've finished the writing. <br />
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<b>You never wrote a script out in advance?</b><br />
Never. I don't like to type and my handwriting is atrocious.<br />
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<b>When you're working on someone else's story, is there a particular format you like best? </b><br />
They all have their benefits; prose stories have more great descriptive language, which gives me some context and an idea of what the writer was thinking. You have a lot of freedom with a movie script because the rythm of it translates well into page turns, reveals, etc… Working with a comic script is great because so much of the work has been done for you, but it's also a little confining. As a comic artist you are set designer, costumer, makeup, set design, cinematographer. You're in charge of continuity. When you work from a comic script that's already broken down into panels, part of that directorial role has been shifted to someone else. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZ0-dninNEyfau-efocV65OB0M2X_HSpWMBHvo4WkZMOYCBDooQgONYvy9Bl8wbBfLhlkf1-gMXoD-PADPsA29Rc69E9sR_PYAc1Rt0D6biSxxF1HPRyUULqgmWlJLFkvUC2xWg/s1600/Orcs-pg-142-143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZ0-dninNEyfau-efocV65OB0M2X_HSpWMBHvo4WkZMOYCBDooQgONYvy9Bl8wbBfLhlkf1-gMXoD-PADPsA29Rc69E9sR_PYAc1Rt0D6biSxxF1HPRyUULqgmWlJLFkvUC2xWg/s640/Orcs-pg-142-143.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Thanks for sharing Joe!<br />
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<b>Cheat Sheet:</b><br />
<b>Thumbs: </b>Pencil on printer paper with pre-printed digital margins. <br />
<b>Pencils:</b> 7mm HB lead in an Alvin mechanical drafting pencil. 2 ply plate bristol. <br />
<b>Lettering:</b> Lint McCreed Font by Blambot<br />
<b>Inks:</b> Raphael size 1 Kolinsky Sable. Will use #2 for larger areas. Tashikawa Spoon Nibs and Crow Quill nibs. Dr martens high black star hi carb ink. <br />
<b>Color: </b>Photoshop and Wacom tablet. Sometimes water color, gouache very rarelyEmilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-42369504908547592692012-06-02T18:04:00.000-04:002012-06-02T18:04:06.524-04:00Interview with: Koren Shadmi<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
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<b><b>Comics:</b> <i>In the Flesh</i>,<i> The Abaddon</i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #232323;"><b>Website:</b> <a href="http://korenshadmi.com/"><span style="color: #1355cc; text-decoration: underline;">korenshadmi.com</span></a></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">,</span><span style="color: #232323;"> <a href="http://abaddoncomic.com/"><span style="color: #1355cc; text-decoration: underline;">abaddoncomic.com</span></a></span></div>
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<b>Making comics since year of:</b> 1990</div>
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<b>Art education/schools attended:</b> School of Visual Arts</div>
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<b>What did you first use when you were making comics?</b></div>
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I grew up in Israel, where I worked with cartoonist Uri Fink. He was a mentor to me, and so I just used whatever he used at the time - which was Alvin pens for inking, they were pretty awful in retrospect None of it was archival so all of the drawings I have from those days have faded to a gray-brown color. We colored everything with pantone markers. </div>
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While serving at the army I started making comics for myself rather than for clients - and for that I switched to inking with nibs and an inkwell. I switched to brushes when I came to the US and started studying at SVA. Now I use Rosemary Kolinsky's brushes; they've held up really well for me, and I like them far better than the Windsor and Newton 7 series. There wasn't much of a comics community in Israel when I was first learning to draw. I took classes in Israel, but mostly learned from working with Uri, so when I came to the New York I was introduced to a bunch of new ways to work. </div>
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<b>Was there a big difference in what supplies were available when you were working in Israel? Is the selection any better now? Or do you bring supplies with you when you travel?</b></div>
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All the stuff that's available here is available there, and if it wants you could mail order it or now get it from the internet. It's a matter of knowing what to use that makes the difference. when i travel I usually just take my wacom and ink digitally, since I don't want to carry a jug of ink in the suitcase.</div>
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<b>How do you ink your comics now?</b></div>
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I actually don't ink most of my work these days. I use a 0.9 2b lead, the thickest you can get– so the line gets soft, and a bit messy. I end up doing a lot of clean-up afterwards on the computer but I like the look of it. I found that something was lost when I went over the pencils with ink. I preferred the delicate quality of pencil line. This style has worked particularly well for The Abbadon because it has an almost ghostly quality. Nothing looks too permanent. For a long time inking was a product of necessity. In the 30's and 40's, when printing presses were really bad, you needed these thick black lines so that people could see what is going on and the reproduction would be clear. The techniques used to print comics now are much more sophisticated, so I don't think inking is always a must.</div>
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<b>And so many people are viewing comics online on high resolution monitors. </b></div>
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That too. </div>
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<b>What about thumbnails?</b></div>
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My thumbnails are very loose, and I only make them for next 3-4 pages. And once I've drawn the thumbnails I have to use them right away, because an sometimes even an hour later I don't know what I'm looking at. There will be a circle in a square and that's it. Sometimes I just draw it in as I go, and don't thumbnail at all. </div>
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<b>Did you script out the whole story in Advance?</b></div>
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I started with an idea of the plot, a rough script. Working with a project that wasn't completely scripted out in advance means that there have been a lot of small changes over the course of the story. I've been working on it for two years so I've had time to really think about it. </div>
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It's such a huge project that I've also had to find ways to keep it interesting for me– there are a lot more naked ladies in part two. I think that's part of why so many people get into comics by drawing superheros, it's fun to draw muscular men and sexy women. But the art is definitely in service to the story in The Abbadon. I recently drew 12 pages of dialogue because that was what was necessary to advance the plot. so the story is still more important than 'drawing something fun'. </div>
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<b>Are there any concessions you make to the webcomic format? Anything you change to make it read better from week to week?</b></div>
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Not really. It's not a gag comic, there aren't a lot of little endings. It's a difficult comic to break down, but it's more important to me that the read well when it's all finished. There's an almost entirely black page in part one because it was necessary for the pacing. Sometimes people get angry about stuff like that in the comments.</div>
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<b>How about the color? </b></div>
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use watercolor textures in photoshop. Used two color palettes to differentiate between the flashbacks and the main story. I hand-color a lot of my illustrations with water color paints, but for The Abbadon I've needed to streamline the process and maintain a consistent palette, so I use the same background texture for each page - and do a lot of the additional coloring a top of it in Photoshop.</div>
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<br /></div>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-48372343649058328172012-05-26T12:47:00.000-04:002012-06-23T13:50:11.076-04:00Good advice, part 1<br />
Greetings readers!<br />
<br />
I'm filling in for Matt while he is off the grid this summer, working with the <a href="http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/mcc/">Maine Conservation Corps</a>. I am working on getting a few Bernier-style tutorials together, but in the meantime, I will be posting a series of tool-and-technique focused interviews.<br />
Long time readers may remember that this blog started out as a weekly survey, curated by <a href="http://www.mkreed.com/">MK Reed</a>, that focused on tools and working methods.. I recently took a look through the archives, and found a few pieces of great advice from past interviewees, some of which are compiled below.
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<br />
I will be back next week with an interview with cartoonist and illustrator <a href="http://korenshadmi.com/">Koren Shadmi</a>, in which we talk about the joys of penciling, buying art supplies in Israel, and part two of his webcomic, <a href="http://abaddoncomic.com/">The Abbadon</a>.
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<br />~Emily
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2007/02/karl-christian-krumpholz-comics.html">Karl Christian Krumpholz</a>:
"Well, the complaint I hear the most from other artists that are just starting out (and I was guilty of this as well for a time) is that they get stuck on one page. They aren't happy with their results, so they obsess and redraw their comic over and over again. My view is to get over it. Move on. You will improve. It's more important to finish the work and get it out there then to fret on it's not perfect. It will never be. I cringe looking at my earlier work. Even the stuff being published now."
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2007/05/pat-lewis-comics-claws-come-out-due-nov.html">
Pat Lewis</a>:
I enjoy reading about artists' tools as much as the next dude, but don't let anyone make you feel guilty for how you work. The results are all that matters, and odds are any shortcomings you may have are probably the result of your skill level rather than what kind of pen you use (at least, that's the case with me). No matter how weird or unorthodox your methods, I guarantee there's a professional artist out there doing great work with an even crazier way of working.
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/alec-longstreth-alecs-studio_14.html">Alec Longstreth</a>:
"It doesn't matter WHAT you draw with, as long as it reproduces properly. Do some tests with a scanner or a photocopier and figure out what looks the best and feels the best for you!"
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/debbie-huey-comics-bumperboy-loses-his.html">
Debbie Huey</a>:
"Be aware of how some tools may wear out your drawing arm/hand more than others. If your arm or hand begins to feel funny or a little numb from drawing, STOP. Take a break, and stretch everything out. It is a scary feeling when you realize what would happen if your arm gets messed up!"
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/liz-baillie-comics-my-brain-hurts.html">Liz Baillie</a>:
You may not think your pages are worth saving now, but you never know what the future will hold. Take very good care of all your original comic pages and try to use archival tools whenever possible. And don't cut up your original art for any reason (I made that mistake once... it's a long story, don't do it).
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<br /><a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/matthew-bernier-comics-out-of-water.html">
Matthew Bernier</a>:
"…good tools do help. It's true that a great artist can make good comics with the worst pen available. But- I could never get the exact kind of line I get out of a good brush with a bad brush. Bad tools slow you down, break your rhythm, harsh your mellow. I pay good money so that I can know for certain that any problems I have at the drawing table are my fault and not my tool's."Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122346287885706187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-81886686398785458432012-05-19T07:51:00.001-04:002012-05-19T07:51:10.208-04:00Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
I have a new job doing trail work for the Maine Conservation Corps this summer. I didn't know whether I'd be able to get back home on breaks to do posts, but as it turns out I'll be residential, so the answer is no. I'm gonna try and coordinate with some friends to post stuff in my absence just to keep new stuff in the feed, but in the meantime if you have a question for me I can be written to here:<br />
<br />
Matthew Bernier, MCC Team Member<br />
c/o Baxter State Park<br />
64 Balsam Dr.<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Millinocket, ME 04462</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">My address will change in June when I get stationed elsewhere, but I'll let you know when that happens. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Have a good summer! </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">-Matt </span></span>Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-36295386851605819012012-04-22T22:41:00.002-04:002012-04-22T23:07:42.680-04:00<b>This week: 3mm lead holder battle</b><br />
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So finally, a comparison between two of the cheapest currently available 3mm lead holders. There's the Graffiti, given to me by Comic Tools reader Alberto, and the Koh-i-noor, which I bought on Amazon.<br />
<br />
First, a word on why I'm using these, when I already have a perfectly good 2mm lead holder, and more leads for it than I could use in several years. As I'm developing a style of drawing for this book I'm working on, I'm being led towards a method involving colored leads. I want erasable leads, and not a lot of colored leads are erasable. If you like thin leads like those in a mechanical pencil, several readers suggested the <a href="http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Color-Eno-Mechanical-Pencil-Lead-0.7-mm-Soft-Blue/pd/1476">Pilot Color Eno leads</a>. Reader Greg H had this to say about them:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I can back-up that recommendation for the Pilot Color Eno soft blue. I
got hooked on the col-erase pencils while working in animation, but
started to look for something that wasn't so hard and waxy. The Pilot
leads have a softness that makes them pleasurable to sketch with and
they erase beautifully. Aside from Jetpens, you may find a supplier on
ebay. <br /><br />Stay away from the Uni color leads if you're the least bit ham-fisted like me. They snap repeatedly. </i></blockquote>
Pilot is a great company and with so many similarly enthusiastic recommendations I'd say that if erasable colored leads for your mechanical pencil is what you want, those are what you should buy. They come in different colors, btw.<br />
<br />
But I'm starting to really shy away from thin pencil tips, which is why I like my lead holder. I can go pointy or blunt like with a pencil, but I don't waste all the lead that you do with a pencil. (Yes I know they make special cigarette holder type dealies for when pencils get short, but why pay for the wood and extra assembly?)<br />
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Here's where we get to <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2012/04/col-erase-leads-there-arent-any.html">this post from two weeks ago</a>, wherein I dissected out the lead of a Prismacolor ColErase pencil to put into my lead holder and found that it didn't fit.<br />
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So, if you are an insane person like me, and you have a wood pencil lead (which is usually 3mm), and you don't want to just use the damned pencil, and instead you want to use it's lead in a lead holder, these are your two cheapest options.<br />
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1: Graffiti<br />
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I thought the shortness of this thing would bug me. I figured either it would be awkward to hold, like knives with small handles can be, or that it's balance would be all messed up. I also worried that the thickness would make it feel clunky and imprecise to draw with, the way those things you put on pencils to help ease carpal strain can. In fact, this tool is quite the fleet and natural in hand. The fatness is actually up in your hand, not at your fingertips, and your precision feels just the same as if you were using a fine pencil. Yet because of the fatness farther back, your grip is eased and comfortable. The taper towards the back hits right about where the webbing of your thumb is, so there isn't thick wood hindering you when you swing the pencil about into different grips. And the length is such that my tiny hands can actuate the lead feed ball without moving my hand up the shaft. </div>
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What affects it's performance the most, and is what in my opinion would divide people over these holders, is the weight. It's VERY light, and what that means for me is my hand will get ahead of itself, especially when using harder leads, and lead me to be less precise with my marks. I've found I love it for thumbnailing, but it's a bit of a nuisance for more detailed drawing. </div>
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One last thing, it lacks an integral sharpener. I don't care because I prefer a knife sharpened pencil point, but if you're not so good with a blade it could be trouble, as it won't fit into a lead pointer. </div>
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<a href="http://www.greerchicago.com/shop/?act=product&product=286&color=3">If you want one, you can buy one here. </a></div>
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2: Koh-i-noor </div>
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I loved this the second I touched it. I was worried about the lack of <a href="http://www.norcorp.com/Portals/60349/images//knurling.png">knurling</a> near the tip, but it turned out that just like with pocket knives, a textured handle often hides the sin of poor ergonomics. This pencil is weighty, metal, and confidence inspiring. It's not so heavy that it's hard to draw with, which I was also worried about after having had a past lead holder that was. But the weight does affect the drawing- the weight of the pencil will make a mark, and when you draw circles and straight lines it steadies your hand with a reassuring pressure that make precision drawing seem easier and less scary. I found myself not needing to hold my breath as much when drawing straight lines or precise curves. On the other hand, if you try to sketch all crazy fast it's intertia will inhibit you, slightly. I've found that I like this holder for finish pencils.<br />
<br />
It has an integral sharpener in the lead feed button, and it works well. The pocket clip is VERY robust. You aren't going to lose it.<br />
<br />
If you want one, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Koh-i-noor-Black-Metal-Holder-Sharpener/dp/B005AFLE1Y/ref=pd_sbs_op_1">you can buy it here</a>. <br />
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<br />
Remember the <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2012/03/this-week-getting-details-right-last.html">entry I did awhile back</a> where I linked to some articles about how piss-poor movie Hawkeye's archery form was? <a href="http://blog.davidaja.com/2012/04/hawkeye.html">Well David Aja seems to be doing the opposite of that</a>. Almost comically so. <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=hawkeye&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Nb6UT8STHKSF6QGmioydBA&biw=1660&bih=862&sei=N76UT8unEM636QHdnPGoBA">Google basically any drawing of Hawkeye</a> and these look cooler than whatever bullshit he's doing in those, I'll tell you that.<br />
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Remember that <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-week-on-comic-tools-oblique-nib.html">entry I did awhile back</a> about Oblique nib holders? Here's <a href="http://www.pigeonholepress.net/">Dennis Pachenko</a> using one: <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'm using a Hunt Imperial 101 nib with an oblique nib holder. For the bigger letters I'm using C5 and a C6 lettering nibs. The Hunt 101 is very flexible for some line weight variation, but thicker than the Hunt 102.</i></blockquote>
I'm really intrigued by the simple and effective way Joseph Lambert conveys Hellen Keller's mental picture of herself and her surroundings in his <a href="http://www.submarinesubmarine.com/2012/03/annie-sullivan-book-is-available-now.html">comic biography of her teacher, Annie Sullivan</a>. It's one of those effects only possible in our wonderful medium.Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-13379493977210571732012-04-14T21:22:00.005-04:002012-04-14T22:58:04.117-04:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">This week: World, meet Elizabeth. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuLi-NZm1ZbtDvlRchCtWL79kMkO-ppSd3AjMjCq8GrleOqAkM75jFo9vD37rp-SwAvt8Q9Jp5lkA6jlQU2XVYqxH9htIdtKFqgerV_rmYj5Pa3Gef1EQcSoCwH8D1MXgOQyi/s1600/DSC05758+copy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 221px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuLi-NZm1ZbtDvlRchCtWL79kMkO-ppSd3AjMjCq8GrleOqAkM75jFo9vD37rp-SwAvt8Q9Jp5lkA6jlQU2XVYqxH9htIdtKFqgerV_rmYj5Pa3Gef1EQcSoCwH8D1MXgOQyi/s400/DSC05758+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444211388528594" border="0" /></a><br />I got the lead holder I ordered, but it shipped from the Czech Republic and arrived a lot later than I thought, so I have not had time to properly test it. So instead I thought I'd share with you a milestone I had this week.<br /><br />As either a nerd who reads everything too thoroughly and retains everything, or as a stalker compiling facts about my life, you may be aware from past entries that I basically didn't draw anything for almost a year and a half, and that I am nonetheless working on a book written by a friend of mine. I've mostly been doodling and doing character design while my drawing hand slowly regains it's lost abilities and my mind remembers dozens of lost tricks. I've mostly been working on one character, the female lead character, Elizabeth. Some of you have probably had the experience,when designing characters for a story, that there's always at least one character whose likeness escapes you. You can't quite capture their glance, or the line of their jaw. You draw face after face and the expressions on them aren't the expressions your character would make. (By the way, something that goes a long way to solving that, and this is one of those tricks I forgot with disuse, is whenever you draw a character's face, think the thought they're thinking at that moment. Same for the whole pose, actually. Think the thought they're thinking, and your picture will look like a character existing and doing, and not like a posed wax figure.) I had actually captured her general appearance my first time out, in this quick sketch:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHBOBv9kF1RsdYDcHyEzZk5jzuwDRvGKEAO26Dk_6w06uC4SXA5CRNiwYqt8S1y82Yq8lvPCmdVz4UdUJ6VJaspxgHBoS-ZdLPKUlgleebdKJ2O03pNravzXul6lgyXObILFA/s1600/DSC05735.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHBOBv9kF1RsdYDcHyEzZk5jzuwDRvGKEAO26Dk_6w06uC4SXA5CRNiwYqt8S1y82Yq8lvPCmdVz4UdUJ6VJaspxgHBoS-ZdLPKUlgleebdKJ2O03pNravzXul6lgyXObILFA/s400/DSC05735.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444182860677570" border="0" /></a>But in this sketch she looks menacing, troubled. And she actually smiles a fair amount in the book. But she's not a character to whom smiling comes easily; it wouldn't be her expression at rest. The other tricky thing about her is, her face is designed around animal features, a reflection of her true nature. And although she'll never look as animal as she does in these sketches,<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuNq1UNWqYl8ClQJq6Qu_fZuW85i-daZwoQkkznLC_3afSHSkVyALtqUUVA_vODGksvU7afZkLSGvrexLVSmlKnx4mXDmR1mSLk6XDAeoLQhKD-G_nwt7Uens5fS1PbwIBiN7/s1600/DSC05746.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuNq1UNWqYl8ClQJq6Qu_fZuW85i-daZwoQkkznLC_3afSHSkVyALtqUUVA_vODGksvU7afZkLSGvrexLVSmlKnx4mXDmR1mSLk6XDAeoLQhKD-G_nwt7Uens5fS1PbwIBiN7/s400/DSC05746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444203583971458" border="0" /></a>I do want to be able to subtly make her more or less animal in some scenes. All the non human characters will share this general design attribute.<br /><br />So my quest was, take that first drawing and find out what she'd look like smiling. That proved to be difficult. In the end I'd do 202 drawings, all unsuccessful. Many, like these, looked good as drawings, but simply weren't her:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjgVi1XSLUaoS8ZJLS05Fx2v9YtCF6gR_W2XAJIfiwJ0kQQGr7HTWWI-K7V1XTdQ-rsCzdyOeNRhIj95q7nS1KvjNmpCgS-ab0MG9Lo5sRJTR5MAduo21F7M-cck9yPwn6w-k/s1600/DSC05743.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjgVi1XSLUaoS8ZJLS05Fx2v9YtCF6gR_W2XAJIfiwJ0kQQGr7HTWWI-K7V1XTdQ-rsCzdyOeNRhIj95q7nS1KvjNmpCgS-ab0MG9Lo5sRJTR5MAduo21F7M-cck9yPwn6w-k/s400/DSC05743.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444198255872130" border="0" /></a>The problem with character design is, you're trying to capture the likeness of someone you've never seen until you draw them. I finally started making small drawings that almost looked like her, like these,<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxwcV9m4O5rd0ZzagcG3hbkYym_Hgra_6AkD-lbYln9Xf2f6jX8TsMvJMiH68d38Axd_f9p3dHmeA1nndxmkQHePfcP-a0HSmKV4lXftbD3Ci-45MauhdUvXEnCnsfMd0TaoU/s1600/DSC05740.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxwcV9m4O5rd0ZzagcG3hbkYym_Hgra_6AkD-lbYln9Xf2f6jX8TsMvJMiH68d38Axd_f9p3dHmeA1nndxmkQHePfcP-a0HSmKV4lXftbD3Ci-45MauhdUvXEnCnsfMd0TaoU/s400/DSC05740.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444187408210530" border="0" /></a>So I decided to go bigger. That led to this drawing. And there Elizabeth was, finally smiling at me: (at Daniel, actually.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTGyXOut2oLKFsCjz7M2_kg_x_cdWQqEMtziGaYXMLdKMg6gBlHOhsmwuSYwORmK12hkNYK3CBaBz6P_EaU6fqhe8f30x3luXlvGe0Ln8OvZfALPMU44AIBLFC0XzqOdJbo_X/s1600/DSC05758.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTGyXOut2oLKFsCjz7M2_kg_x_cdWQqEMtziGaYXMLdKMg6gBlHOhsmwuSYwORmK12hkNYK3CBaBz6P_EaU6fqhe8f30x3luXlvGe0Ln8OvZfALPMU44AIBLFC0XzqOdJbo_X/s400/DSC05758.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731444366663841826" border="0" /></a>Now, by no means is this a good drawing as a drawing. It's lopsided, fails <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-mirror-is-most-important.html">the mirror test</a>, and is far, far too overwrought. But none of that matters because this isn't a finished drawing, it's a sketch, and it's the sketch in which Elizabeth finally revealed herself. I can now imagine her making any expression at all, striking any pose at all, in the way Elizabeth would and no one else.<br /><br />The title image is just this drawing photoshopped a bit to show more of what I see when I look at this drawing: I always see my inks when I look at my penciled drawings, even rendered ones.<br /><br /><a href="http://twitpic.com/99oi2a"><br />Kate Beaton's Katniss</a> is the best Katniss.<br /><br />I love it when Craig Thompson <a href="http://www.craigthompsonbooks.com/2012/03/25/hi-jack-and-hi-at-us/">posts about pages that would have been perfectly good and shows how he pushed them to make them amazing</a>.<br /><br />I get such a kick out of this drawing by <a href="http://www.samhiti.com/">Sam Hiti</a>:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6Me7NYd-0K4s5XHqWt5Vb1xE-5WDFY2fVQhtxrN6XQv0BiozElqZWPzfxWlR_7LJrnbbpKfDVYZISfck51b6rPjxk5vbizq9y0uHAGmZ3zVcA9fmwvPwJkXGWbCRTrLQ74R0/s1600/tumblr_m1pxmsUOmF1qluwub.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 321px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6Me7NYd-0K4s5XHqWt5Vb1xE-5WDFY2fVQhtxrN6XQv0BiozElqZWPzfxWlR_7LJrnbbpKfDVYZISfck51b6rPjxk5vbizq9y0uHAGmZ3zVcA9fmwvPwJkXGWbCRTrLQ74R0/s400/tumblr_m1pxmsUOmF1qluwub.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731453882654117474" border="0" /></a>Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-77373597036073658052012-04-07T22:35:00.004-04:002012-04-07T23:22:20.893-04:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Col-Erase leads</span><br /><br />There aren't any.<br /><br />Let me back up.<br /><br />So, many of you don't pencil with graphite pencil that requires erasing afterwards. Many of you use blue pencil, or red, or whatever. Because we have scanners now you can use just about any color you want to. Well anyway, one gripe many have with colored pencils and colored mechanical pencil leads is that if you DO want to erase them, they don't erase well, if at all. The reason is the wax binder they use. You can buy the fabulous Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils, but if you're like me and you both loath pencils and prefer lead holders, you're SOL because they don't sell just the leads, they only sell pencils.<br /><br />Well you know me, that just wasn't going to do at all. So my first thought was, I'll just split the pencil open, carefully remove the lead, and put it into my lead holder. Well, getting it split open worked great...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FGLj9IiPpuXWRCHuuuLsL3evZzRp5X55FNydVLSPLezrEtU2f9ifjM56r1kwrzqi0liev4VBQ8KdXWUeckmBudiZZHwMye4I16n2XEk1n_jLyCs5kR-6zQrlpHxlHcxp3Eha/s1600/DSC05617.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FGLj9IiPpuXWRCHuuuLsL3evZzRp5X55FNydVLSPLezrEtU2f9ifjM56r1kwrzqi0liev4VBQ8KdXWUeckmBudiZZHwMye4I16n2XEk1n_jLyCs5kR-6zQrlpHxlHcxp3Eha/s400/DSC05617.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854111900828754" border="0" /></a>...and then I found out the lead inside is 3mm wide and my lead holder is 2mm. Wouldn't fit. And there aren't a lot of 3mm lead holders on the market. So, I put out the call to see if anyone had one to spare. No one wrote back for a bit with what I needed, so <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Koh-i-noor-Black-Metal-Holder-Sharpener/dp/B005AFLE1Y/ref=pd_sbs_op_3">I bought this one on Amazon</a>, which is still on it's way. But in the meantime, Comic Tools reader <a href="http://cartoonsketching.blogspot.com/">Alberto</a> dug up one of his Grafitti 3mm lead holders, and graciously sent it along to me, along with a ton of other goodies. Look at this load!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDumCmBw1_qc1mY0vPIdCRZWzN2IaaKUNYKr0XFyhVHA5x70i0L6rVvXsD4To-gwbGBLH1U0Z7VvX8VHNKQe05ICj0x4PfsdiZDUGHlcjW2-Gqo2bwnNHuB6HZ18LoENPkS4I/s1600/DSC05682.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDumCmBw1_qc1mY0vPIdCRZWzN2IaaKUNYKr0XFyhVHA5x70i0L6rVvXsD4To-gwbGBLH1U0Z7VvX8VHNKQe05ICj0x4PfsdiZDUGHlcjW2-Gqo2bwnNHuB6HZ18LoENPkS4I/s400/DSC05682.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854121242215410" border="0" /></a>Included in the package was, appropriately, a non-photo blue pencil,<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KJCpLiZcWwOgkTudHRiF0W1DA8OGBESEtsNTukGKfmORnnsP1ikt3N_nCtMhjhJ2mQtWFkd69AmbcMazhSUcqMxKnQGooWj-KJ6I7rQmiiSQlnVBFLwgMeLlmBS6-3ou0kxS/s1600/DSC05711.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKpRFxQvfZVc_j3ghKAOsbiIC6TosX1UAXFe-3ZQskgc4MLh97ArVOlEcx5f0d_cC9ChXgHQIyyxEljR8JMTXi652gEY0Gu79YeqW5YOn1ZqgiRZzbZTxx14_lI2GiI8UfN4a/s1600/DSC05705.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKpRFxQvfZVc_j3ghKAOsbiIC6TosX1UAXFe-3ZQskgc4MLh97ArVOlEcx5f0d_cC9ChXgHQIyyxEljR8JMTXi652gEY0Gu79YeqW5YOn1ZqgiRZzbZTxx14_lI2GiI8UfN4a/s400/DSC05705.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854981167004114" border="0" /></a><br />a whole bunch of leads in various unusual packages, including this flippy door one,<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeddBMzIyRtz1aUvH5lTjHEBKa3L4ahV-0TfqjZAszJuJnGi74x5UMfJeuSOL2Nr3F2lKKDw3hG-EQlL1NGEFAaSYhHY8CR34YXog4HEDIgI9-RiAyLKXFGAKiUxR3yry6PG88/s1600/DSC05696.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeddBMzIyRtz1aUvH5lTjHEBKa3L4ahV-0TfqjZAszJuJnGi74x5UMfJeuSOL2Nr3F2lKKDw3hG-EQlL1NGEFAaSYhHY8CR34YXog4HEDIgI9-RiAyLKXFGAKiUxR3yry6PG88/s400/DSC05696.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854128540329042" border="0" /></a>this wooden one,<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTTe4hRL1apjur0JaGcwgqWSPMbXJBrEwpry3RNVVXgBOT95awwjdGx6ndk5U3FFltSnodo0eb40M5YzaumYQeGcGoBEuw36Te1r_UndzlnJiLfZgS2imuR-FrDQtOQHRgcj8/s1600/DSC05721.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwSBgmBSzcbrqeuNGmvXUBQRMeteTCIsmzCBJES6CoQddkK8f2wcdf_V2rXmCF07VuZn0c_ttV67xF-lXqUV2r-NRUiO4D3TjmJSC_9ufoj_Bc7cD0akQYUg0q8WbY0DOSzkW/s1600/DSC05700.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwSBgmBSzcbrqeuNGmvXUBQRMeteTCIsmzCBJES6CoQddkK8f2wcdf_V2rXmCF07VuZn0c_ttV67xF-lXqUV2r-NRUiO4D3TjmJSC_9ufoj_Bc7cD0akQYUg0q8WbY0DOSzkW/s400/DSC05700.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854138998610162" border="0" /></a>and this very unusual pack of short leads in what I can only describe as a cardboard blister packet:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJjAG2bxobOmJjD2ojMCWK2TO6Seoebm_eZRy5lVfC-F_cS7BQLHh8TqJv5kxlWBE1yWQksEy4oU-9vYfzSPjTEqHx0RfRHksha5VBNcrBkqlxuLz-8CnzlewzrPFNyFi4XYq/s1600/DSC05701.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJjAG2bxobOmJjD2ojMCWK2TO6Seoebm_eZRy5lVfC-F_cS7BQLHh8TqJv5kxlWBE1yWQksEy4oU-9vYfzSPjTEqHx0RfRHksha5VBNcrBkqlxuLz-8CnzlewzrPFNyFi4XYq/s400/DSC05701.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854147003083874" border="0" /></a>He also sent the replacement guts for two sizes of Staedtler Marker.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KJCpLiZcWwOgkTudHRiF0W1DA8OGBESEtsNTukGKfmORnnsP1ikt3N_nCtMhjhJ2mQtWFkd69AmbcMazhSUcqMxKnQGooWj-KJ6I7rQmiiSQlnVBFLwgMeLlmBS6-3ou0kxS/s1600/DSC05711.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KJCpLiZcWwOgkTudHRiF0W1DA8OGBESEtsNTukGKfmORnnsP1ikt3N_nCtMhjhJ2mQtWFkd69AmbcMazhSUcqMxKnQGooWj-KJ6I7rQmiiSQlnVBFLwgMeLlmBS6-3ou0kxS/s400/DSC05711.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854982660949426" border="0" /></a>So here is the extracted lead, and the pencil to fit it:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FGLj9IiPpuXWRCHuuuLsL3evZzRp5X55FNydVLSPLezrEtU2f9ifjM56r1kwrzqi0liev4VBQ8KdXWUeckmBudiZZHwMye4I16n2XEk1n_jLyCs5kR-6zQrlpHxlHcxp3Eha/s1600/DSC05617.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64eWzelxH9Oud8zpZ2MHoN2xflEeCqm3EjO90uCN_WYnk3NjjFTNuMteTzKPTn5FtwCqRTAtgVpcpbpYeBoLIL4a380loCg9rmrTyox84JGfpePTI7O6nHuEz34h-ZQdWFmOR/s1600/DSC05717.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64eWzelxH9Oud8zpZ2MHoN2xflEeCqm3EjO90uCN_WYnk3NjjFTNuMteTzKPTn5FtwCqRTAtgVpcpbpYeBoLIL4a380loCg9rmrTyox84JGfpePTI7O6nHuEz34h-ZQdWFmOR/s400/DSC05717.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728854994576046930" border="0" /></a>And here they are together. Exactly what I wanted!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTTe4hRL1apjur0JaGcwgqWSPMbXJBrEwpry3RNVVXgBOT95awwjdGx6ndk5U3FFltSnodo0eb40M5YzaumYQeGcGoBEuw36Te1r_UndzlnJiLfZgS2imuR-FrDQtOQHRgcj8/s1600/DSC05721.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTTe4hRL1apjur0JaGcwgqWSPMbXJBrEwpry3RNVVXgBOT95awwjdGx6ndk5U3FFltSnodo0eb40M5YzaumYQeGcGoBEuw36Te1r_UndzlnJiLfZgS2imuR-FrDQtOQHRgcj8/s400/DSC05721.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728855002171994738" border="0" /></a>So what I'm gonna do next week is review the two lead holders against one another, since they're actually still both for sale, and see which comes out on top.<br /><br />In the meantime, my great thanks to Alberto, you are too generous!<br /><br />Oh, and it looks like someone <a href="jessethorn.tumblr.com/post/20596030033/jesse-was-the-first-person-i-have-ever-heard-in">tipped Jesse off </a>about my <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2012/03/this-week-bullseye-podcasts-are-staple.html">attempt at fundraising for his podcasts</a>. Thanks, whoever! See you next week!Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-81559939659838429552012-03-31T19:21:00.004-04:002012-03-31T20:37:19.802-04:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">This week: Bullseye</span>!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGh1V3xhaIK6pavG_xfbko04ZnHtzGuazMfFB875Pz7N0wI5f3OWWtDWV8dmfB2HHiZxGVZsLaHg3UBfqYyleK-4rL3-C93eUEb_59p1HSuzGekV8xswiZtJyWek4Em72xPat/s1600/DSC05653.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 323px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGh1V3xhaIK6pavG_xfbko04ZnHtzGuazMfFB875Pz7N0wI5f3OWWtDWV8dmfB2HHiZxGVZsLaHg3UBfqYyleK-4rL3-C93eUEb_59p1HSuzGekV8xswiZtJyWek4Em72xPat/s400/DSC05653.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726222681284664418" border="0" /></a><br />Podcasts are a staple for many cartoonists, whether as a free source of quality media for people who can't pay for cable, or as something to listen to while working. They've also become culturally important. I'd wager that if I made reference to an episode of Savage Love, This American Life, or Radiolab it wouldn't go over too many of your heads. For those of you who do listen to these podcasts, they're likely more than just entertainment for you. You've probably gleaned some real philosophy and life lessons from their content, or heard things that inspired you creatively. Well, for years now the family of podcasts created by Jesse Thorn for <a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/">MaximumFun.org</a> have been one of the most important cultural parts of my life, perhaps none moreso than Jesse's podcast formerly known as The Sound of Young America, <a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/bullseye">now known as Bullseye.</a><br /><br />Since he was 19 at UC Santa Cruz, Jesse has been doing some of THE best interviews I have ever heard in my life. First of all, he interviews people I find interesting- artists, musicians, authors, comics, directors, and yes, cartoonists from time to time. But most important is the kinds of questions he asks and the answers those questions get. Jesse was the first person I have ever heard, in my life, give a non-retarded interview with a rapper. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but Jesse is a walking encyclopedia of rap and hip hop, both musically and historically. So whereas most interviewers would ask something ignorant and wearying like "So your lyrics are really violent. Why is that?" and get a dumb, tired answer like "Yo we jus keepin it real, nowwadimean?", Jesse will be like "When listening to the fifth track of your debut album I couldn't help but be reminded of a Philedelphia based funk group I like, and as it turns out I read that you actually lived in Philly with your aunt for two years when they were playing, and I was wondering if there was any connection there?", to which the rapper would then reply with an extremely interesting story about their family life at the time, what the underground Philly funk scene meant to them as a young man, and what about it influenced them musically.<br /><br />Jesse asks extremely perceptive, well researched questions about the art people make and how their lives, and the art around them, shaped their art. He likes especially to talk about how and why creators mature, both artistically and as people. Everyone he interviews acts like they've waited their whole lives to be asked questions like this. God knows I'd waited my whole life for someone to ASK questions like this.<br /><br />All ten years of the show are available, online, for free. The archives are searchable. All the new shows are free, you only need subscribe. Ten years of interviews with the best creators of our time, probably the best interviews they ever gave, free.<br /><br />And that isn't even to mention all the great comedy podcasts Jesse and his team put out, including <a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/jordan-jesse-go">Jordan, Jesse, Go!</a>, <a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/judge-john-hodgman">Judge John Hodgman</a>, and more. Every week I get about 3 hours of new, high quality media, free. And did I mention that it's all made in Jesse's living room? And that it's all paid for by donors?<br /><br />I am one of those donors, and since this week Jesse is in the second week of his annual pledge drive, <a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/donate">I'd like to make you all into donors too</a>.<br /><br />Here are the episodes he's done with cartoonists, that I can remember:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/kate-beaton-author-hark-vagrant-interview-sound-young-america">Kate Beaton</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/charles-burns-cartoonist-and-illustrator-interview-live-philadelphia-sound-young">Charles Burns</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/11/podcast-new-york-stories-with-bill.html">Roz Chast</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/2010/11/30/gassy-penguin-steve-wolfhard">Steve Wolfhard</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/gahan-wilson">Gahan Wilson</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2008/06/podcast-ariel-schrag-cartoonist-and.html">Ariel Schrag</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/jordan-jesse-go/jordan-jesse-go-episode-211-bogus-tony-millionaire">Tony Millionaire</a><br /><a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/dan-clowes-comic-artist-wilson-interview-sound-young-america">Dan Clowes</a><br /><br />Give them a listen. And if this show seems worth it to you, if you like it enough to subscribe to it, then please do the right thing and<a href="http://www.maximumfun.org/donate"> become a donor</a>. You can give as little as two bucks a month, though there are gifts with higher pledge levels. The money goes straight to making shows. They're not NPR produced so there isn't even THAT middleman. I will send a hand written thank you note to any Comic Tools readers who become donors, and I will do a sketch on it if you become a donor over the ten dollar a month level. But really, after listening to these, you'll want to thank me. And Jesse, of course.Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-14654352746081405492012-03-28T20:41:00.002-04:002012-03-28T20:44:24.024-04:00Does anyone have a<span style="font-size:100%;"><span id="btAsinTitle"> Caran D'ache Fixpencil 3mm lead holder and/or Grafitti Pin Head 3mm lead holder they'd be willing to sell/donate?<br /></span></span>Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-61248647696962791512012-03-25T22:16:00.004-04:002012-03-25T23:34:02.155-04:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">This week: The perfect pen?</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2BnJauuFCRu4HH-PMtxIVoAIDj6p73IO8wN2LNEkJDjPkQGJljIuI30e_o_FlpO6ZGIsZFIamt_kx_APvvZDmq5FhxdK67_N0WpaV-CGePnV1Q9XeyjzMX2QBMSuYdr-TpwH/s1600/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%25281825-1905%2529_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_%25281879%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2BnJauuFCRu4HH-PMtxIVoAIDj6p73IO8wN2LNEkJDjPkQGJljIuI30e_o_FlpO6ZGIsZFIamt_kx_APvvZDmq5FhxdK67_N0WpaV-CGePnV1Q9XeyjzMX2QBMSuYdr-TpwH/s400/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%25281825-1905%2529_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_%25281879%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724030089111245266" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://sarahglidden.com/">Sarah Glidden</a> says this may be the perfect pen. From <a href="http://sarahglidden.com/the-perfect-pen/">her review</a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"Well, the search is over. I found the perfect pen. Let me rhapsodize about the <a href="http://www.jetpens.com/Platinum-Carbon-Desk-Fountain-Pen-Super-Fine-1-Carbon-Ink-Cartridge/pd/3851">Carbon Desk Fountain Pen</a>. I will need no other pen now. Its waterproof, has a fine line, the ink flows perfectly, and it only explodes and gets ink all over my fingers every once in a while."</blockquote>Additionally, from her facebook post about it:<br /><span></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span>"...and I did not mention that I found this pen by describing my perfect pen to the guy who works in the pen and ink section of Senellier, the greatest art store in the world, and that, with a twinkle in his eye, he held up the pen and said 'this is what you are looking for.' I took the pen and tried it out on a scrap of paper, mesmerized by the lyricisim of its line. 'Yes, this is exactly what I was looking for!' I exclaimed. I turned around, smiling, to thank him, but there was no one there. 'Maybe it was all a dream," said the pen.'</span>"</blockquote>I haven't bought and tested the pen yet, but Sarah draws on the go all the time, hopping country to country and drawing prolifically. She's field tested the thing better than I ever would for a review. Waterproof fountain pens aren't just hard to come by, they essentially don't exist. The Japanese were the first to develop pigmented ink ground to finely it wouldn't clog a brush pen, which is why all good brush pens with waterproof fade proof ink are from Japan, and I presume that technology has something to do with the ink in this pen. You canNOT just go shoving regular drawing ink into a fountain pen. Years ago I used a cheap ass, old broken plastic fountain pen for lettering, that I modified to (sort of) allow it to use brush pen cartridges with minimal clogging. It was one of my favorite tools. It did eventually clog, though, and that was that. I wonder if this tool would fit that role? <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2008/11/this-week-pointed-sticks-im-terrified.html">I currently use pointed sticks for lettering</a>, as some of you may recall.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://radiomaru.tumblr.com/post/19636786709/hi-i-wanted-to-know-how-did-you-first-break-into-the">This is a great interview</a> with long time super friend of Comic Tools Brian Lee O'Malley. He's asked how be broke into the business, and he lays out the events of his career from it's very beginning to show that he did not "break into" the biz, but just like everyone else, he built up a body of work over a period of lean, agonizing years, until finally a combination of whim and luck blew a part of the enormous ember he'd created into flame.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"In late 2008 and into 2009 I actually made money off of comics - see, each book comes out and people talk about it and some people heard about it for the first time so they go buy the first book, then if they like it they have to buy the other books. Doing a series adds up over time, if you can keep it up and stay semi-popular. ... There is no advice here, there’s no “breaking in” tips, that’s just how it happened for me. A little bit of talent, a lot of perseverance and hard work, a lot of luck."</blockquote><br />In reference to <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2012/03/this-week-getting-details-right-last.html">last week's post</a>, <a href="http://jevanlee.deviantart.com/art/Hawkeye-Redesign-182721394">boy did this artist ever get the bow form right</a>! And look how badass it looks!<br /><br /><br />By the way, if you're the sort of person who wastes your employer's time by surfing the web at work and you're mad that I posted an image above that might not be appropriate for the environment where you shouldn't be web surfing in the first place, you should take a look at <a href="http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=4149">this post by Warren Ellis, which perfectly captures how I feel about the matter</a>.Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36501346.post-89050330837990386212012-03-25T19:26:00.004-04:002012-03-25T23:35:44.687-04:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Hi new people! </span><br /><br />For any regulars who didn't see my facebook post or tweet about it, Heidi at The Beat <a href="http://www.comicsbeat.com/2012/03/21/the-poor-archery-of-hawkeye/">wrote a post</a> about <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2012/03/this-week-getting-details-right-last.html">last week's entry</a>, specifically in regard to the articles by Jim MacQuerrie I posted last week regarding three current cinematic archers. (By the way, it turns out Jim is also a cartoonist. <a href="http://www.jimmacq.com/">Here's his site</a>.) I'd like to welcome the new readers and fill you in on what this blog is.<br /><br />Comic Tools blog is a resource, first and foremost. The blog was started by writer/cartoonist MK Reed (who just put up a new chapter of her comic About a Bull, based on Celtic legend, <a href="http://aboutabull.com/ch03.html">go see</a>.) Comic Tools blog began as an interview blog. MK is a very social person, very amiable, and much more developed in her writing than her art, though I rather like her drawings myself. She decided that the way she'd find out about drawing tools and techniques was to ask people whose work he liked, and she figured as long as she was educating herself she'd educate the world while she was at it, so she made a blog of it. Here's an <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2006/11/hope-larson-hopes-studio-comics.html">old post by MK, surveying Hope Larson</a>, a longtime good friend of this blog.<br /><br />Eventually for various reasons MK couldn't work on the blog anymore. By this time I was an ardent Comic Tools fan. Mk had started branching out from the rigid survey interview into posts about tools. I LOVE process and craft stuff, it's sort of my thing. MK had even linked to a few posts from my personal blog. When MK decided her time at Comic Tools was at an end she asked if I wanted to keep it going. I said yes absolutely.<br /><br />For awhile I hewed pretty close to the format MK had established, interviews and tool info interspersed with illustrative pictures and links to interesting articles or websites.As I became more comfortable as this blog being my thing I started doing tutorials. I love tutorials. I can't decide whether I like reading or making them more, but goddamn do I love the passing on of hand skills with illustrated text. Some were strictly about physical tools, like <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2009/03/this-week-what-is-this-thing-and-what.html">how to use ruling pens</a>, or<a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2009/01/brush-care-ive-had-friends-complain.html"> brush care</a>, or <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2009/03/this-week-how-to-get-perfect-white-out.html">how to keep your white out from ever drying out</a>. I built the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20G4RrtJLadHZU3JsHjnh22R-Dsw_K7hHjb2UkiQCFX-Ldl8H7I_OL1yM8sxCO0HN04Ad0HldDwojevzNPjdxypXPFeP6wSCTtzJGpyTFM8_SI47qXYp2oQZjdAe27_hMuAsi/s1600/DSC04297.JPG">camera mask</a>, which allows me to take POV photos of both of my hands at the same time, so when readers go to replicate a technique it looks to them just like it did in the pictures.<br /><br />Other posts used a more expanded definition of tools, to include not just physical tools, but mental tools. Little bits of craft that can be implemented immediately with little or no practice, which will instantly improve someone's art, regardless of their style or level of ability. <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-week-balloon-shape.html">This post on Balloon shape is one of my favorites.</a><br /><br />I was working on a major book project at the time that required me to really beef up my ability to render somewhat naturalistic figures, and I found that when I went looking for good anatomy resources for comic drawing, there basically were none. Human anatomy texts basically tell you "Here is a box. Here is a picture of every muscle, vein, and ligament in the body. And here is a useless visual metaphor for how some parts move by George Bridgman. Now just draw the box and then fill in perfect anatomy." The very best human anatomy resources for artists, the guides by Andrew Loomis, still basically say "Here's some basic shapes, now just lay perfect anatomy over them." <a href="http://comictool.blogspot.com/search/label/anatomy">That's when I did the anatomy posts</a>, which I'm most proud of of anything I've done here. I am the first person, to my knowledge, to create a system for drafting or checking anatomy for comic drawing. My basic shapes can be used with no further additions to position and correctly proportion any humanoid character, no matter how cartoonish. If you take them a step further, merely by adding a few dots and connecting some lines, you have a good enough skeleton to check really basic non-realistic anatomy on, especially helpful with weird poses or characters you can't quite draw on model yet. Finally, because all of the basic shapes are based on real skeletal features and not boxes approximating body masses, you can hang muscles off them, with as much or as little realism as you like, very easily.<br /><br />Those posts, and the tool posts, started to bring in a pretty big readership, enough that I had a brain pool to draw from. I could ask my readers, which include many professionals, for help with topics they knew that I didn't, and in comments readers will chime in with incredibly useful information, which I'll then post. Readers have done whole posts for the blog, in fact, even photo tutorials.<br /><br />I'm the current author of Comic Tools blog, but what this really is is a centralized, free, one stop resource for information about making comics, most especially the sort of information I don't see available anywhere else. I hate how difficult it can be to find basic craft information about comics, even in colleges. Again and again it's like artists have to learn from scratch. How would it be if science were that way, for goodness sake? The goal of this blog is, and will continue to be, a one stop resource for knowledge about the craft of making comics, drawing from an enormous brain trust of artists we've interviewed, readers who are most of them working professionals, and every post, article, and book I can lay my hands on. When someone is just starting with brushes and has no idea how to use them, or wonders what a lettering nib is, or wonders what Jim Woodring uses to make his distinctive lines, they should know Comic Tools Blog is here with the answers, and if we don't already have it, we'll find out and post it.Comic Toolshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06956709507368856261noreply@blogger.com0