Sorry about the delay again. Shit hit the fan last night in a bad way, next post will have to go up Friday.
-MK
November 28, 2006
November 27, 2006
Noa Liberman
Comics: Several Ones on hold, had to quit having fun to make homeworks :(
Website: stuff can be viewed via Devart: http://noakrank.deviantart.com or my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos
Making comics since year of: Ever since I was a tiny little kid. about 10 years old for fun, since highschool as a dream job
Art education/schools attended: Now studying in a College Called Shenkar at Israel, A big college for design - the only place with Illustration program
Tools
Pencils: I usually use a mechanical pencil by Faber Castell, 0.7 points, no less, although I sometimes use 2b faber castell pencils and plain ol' yellow pencils. I like faber castell a lot because they are avialable everywhere here, make wonderful things and not so expensive.
Inks: winsdor newton indian ink black pen... but I hate using ink.
Brushes: none. Don't like it.
Pens: Ooh, this is where the fun begins. I usually use faber castell's PITT series, who make a 4 peice set for artists and illustration, consisting of 4 great pens with black indian ink - S, M, F and a great brush pen which I adore. I also use rapidographs from time to time, but they are too mechnical for me.
Paper: Sometimes Cartridge, Usually very thick a4 papers of good quailty and random brands.
Lettering: On my own, I have neat handwriting ;)
Color: I used to color comics with pantone markers, but sadly I am broke and thus I moved into computerized colouring which actually gives me the same results in less time and effort.
Layout/ Composition: Dozens of them, this is still my rough points.
What tools you'd never use, and why: pencils less then 0.7 - because they are awful and not as fun to use as the thicker ones
inking with a brush - because I'm sloppy, but I'd like to use it...
someone else's font or handwriting as lettering - because thats one of the thing that make your comics your own
crappy light-weight paper, pilot pens, plain markers - because good art and comics needs some money ;)
Comics: Several Ones on hold, had to quit having fun to make homeworks :(
Website: stuff can be viewed via Devart: http://noakrank.deviantart.com or my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos
Making comics since year of: Ever since I was a tiny little kid. about 10 years old for fun, since highschool as a dream job
Art education/schools attended: Now studying in a College Called Shenkar at Israel, A big college for design - the only place with Illustration program
Tools
Pencils: I usually use a mechanical pencil by Faber Castell, 0.7 points, no less, although I sometimes use 2b faber castell pencils and plain ol' yellow pencils. I like faber castell a lot because they are avialable everywhere here, make wonderful things and not so expensive.
Inks: winsdor newton indian ink black pen... but I hate using ink.
Brushes: none. Don't like it.
Pens: Ooh, this is where the fun begins. I usually use faber castell's PITT series, who make a 4 peice set for artists and illustration, consisting of 4 great pens with black indian ink - S, M, F and a great brush pen which I adore. I also use rapidographs from time to time, but they are too mechnical for me.
Paper: Sometimes Cartridge, Usually very thick a4 papers of good quailty and random brands.
Lettering: On my own, I have neat handwriting ;)
Color: I used to color comics with pantone markers, but sadly I am broke and thus I moved into computerized colouring which actually gives me the same results in less time and effort.
Layout/ Composition: Dozens of them, this is still my rough points.
What tools you'd never use, and why: pencils less then 0.7 - because they are awful and not as fun to use as the thicker ones
inking with a brush - because I'm sloppy, but I'd like to use it...
someone else's font or handwriting as lettering - because thats one of the thing that make your comics your own
crappy light-weight paper, pilot pens, plain markers - because good art and comics needs some money ;)
November 22, 2006
Manuel Aguilera
Comics: Beware of Doug (Lemon Icecream:Coming Soon)
Website:www.manuelaguilera.net
Making comics since year of: 2003
Art education/schools attended: BFA in Graphic Design form IFAC in Miami
Tools
Pencils: Office Depot Standard Click Pencils .5 lead. I'm starting to get into col-erase blue pencils for the forthcoming webstrips. It'd stop me from having to actually erase.
Inks: I used Higgins' Black magic for a while but I got over having to prep inks and then waiting for the company to change the formula and having to find a new mix. Now I just go straight for the Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen. I do hear good things about speedball though.
Brushes: Farber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, I buy them by the gross.
Pens: Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen size: M, S & B
Paper: Hot press Strathmore Bristol 14/17 for comics making and cut in half 8.5/14 for comic strips.
Lettering: All done in QuarkXPress for comics and Photoshop for Strips. Blambot has the best comic fonts on the market. And for those just starting out they have good ones for free. I use Mighty ZEO for all of Doug.
Color: Photoshop for the comics work and Guache for illustrations
Layout/ Composition: I write a simple bulleted list of things I want to do with the story then start drawing on copy paper full sized. I draw very rough with no real erasing and rough the dialog and ballons in as well. Those roughs get scanned in, the lettering, ballons and pannels all get done in Quark. At this stage I'll make edits as needed, juggling pannels around making figures bigger or smaller to fit text. These pages get printed out and traced and inked onto final boards.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen size: M, S & B onto 11/14 (same as my sketchbook) Strathmore Bristol. I also carry a Winsor-Newton compact watercolor tabs set that comes with a brush pen looking thing that has it's own water supply.
What tools you'd never use, and why: diping ink mostly because it's more work than it's worth mixing and letting it evaporate. Coldpress Bristol because it bleeds. Non-waterproof ink because you never know when it'll rain or you'll have the urge to watercolor something. Watercolor paper because it's bump and I don't like drawing on it or how it scans. I don't have a tablet YET but I hesitate to use it because eliminating the pen and paper will end the market for selling original pages.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Always experiment and give things a try. If you use a lot of modern tools give the old ones a try. That goes backward too, new doesn't always mean bad. Next time you walk into your art store buy something totally new and try it out...something great could happen.
Comics: Beware of Doug (Lemon Icecream:Coming Soon)
Website:www.manuelaguilera.net
Making comics since year of: 2003
Art education/schools attended: BFA in Graphic Design form IFAC in Miami
Tools
Pencils: Office Depot Standard Click Pencils .5 lead. I'm starting to get into col-erase blue pencils for the forthcoming webstrips. It'd stop me from having to actually erase.
Inks: I used Higgins' Black magic for a while but I got over having to prep inks and then waiting for the company to change the formula and having to find a new mix. Now I just go straight for the Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen. I do hear good things about speedball though.
Brushes: Farber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, I buy them by the gross.
Pens: Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen size: M, S & B
Paper: Hot press Strathmore Bristol 14/17 for comics making and cut in half 8.5/14 for comic strips.
Lettering: All done in QuarkXPress for comics and Photoshop for Strips. Blambot has the best comic fonts on the market. And for those just starting out they have good ones for free. I use Mighty ZEO for all of Doug.
Color: Photoshop for the comics work and Guache for illustrations
Layout/ Composition: I write a simple bulleted list of things I want to do with the story then start drawing on copy paper full sized. I draw very rough with no real erasing and rough the dialog and ballons in as well. Those roughs get scanned in, the lettering, ballons and pannels all get done in Quark. At this stage I'll make edits as needed, juggling pannels around making figures bigger or smaller to fit text. These pages get printed out and traced and inked onto final boards.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): Farber-Castell PITT Artist Pen size: M, S & B onto 11/14 (same as my sketchbook) Strathmore Bristol. I also carry a Winsor-Newton compact watercolor tabs set that comes with a brush pen looking thing that has it's own water supply.
What tools you'd never use, and why: diping ink mostly because it's more work than it's worth mixing and letting it evaporate. Coldpress Bristol because it bleeds. Non-waterproof ink because you never know when it'll rain or you'll have the urge to watercolor something. Watercolor paper because it's bump and I don't like drawing on it or how it scans. I don't have a tablet YET but I hesitate to use it because eliminating the pen and paper will end the market for selling original pages.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Always experiment and give things a try. If you use a lot of modern tools give the old ones a try. That goes backward too, new doesn't always mean bad. Next time you walk into your art store buy something totally new and try it out...something great could happen.
November 21, 2006
Diego R. Jourdan Pereira
For over 10 years Diego has worked as a professional illustrator, comic-book artist, and cartoonist for companies such as Simon & Schuster Publishing, Felix The Cat Productions Inc., Mirage Group, Blue Dream Studios, Mongoose Publishing, and MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research among others.
His work has been published and exhibited the World over, in countries like Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, England, Korea and the Ukraine, and graced household characters ranging from Felix The Cat to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, he currently resides in Santiago, Chile, but the one thing Diego loves more than drawing is traveling abroad at the first chance he gets!
Comics: Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ed's Terrestrials.
Website: http://www.warmtoastcafe.com/art/diegojourdan, http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/eds
Making comics since year of: 1996
Art education/schools attended: F.I.T. Computer Typesetting and Design.
Tools
Pencils: Two Pentel 0.7 tech pencils, one with blue refills (structure), the other w/ soft 'B' black lead refills for pencil finishes (though sometimes i skip directly to inking)
Inks: Copic and Micron Pigma markers ( 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 ). Faber Castell PITT Brush pens.
Lately i've been increasingly inking using simply my Graphire4 WACOM Tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Paper: Standard copy/printer paper (yeah,i'm cheap).
Lettering: www.blambot.com
Color: Graphire4 WACOM Tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Layout / Composition: I study all the classics, but specially Milton Caniff, Hugo Pratt, Carl Barks, Mauricio de Sousa, Roberto Fontanarrosa, and Hank Ketcham.
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: I've tried everything and anything. In the end i set for what gives me reasonable quality and speed. Way things are going by 2007 my art will by fully digital.
What tools you'd never use, and why: I think you need to use them all before choosing which one suits you better for the type of work you're trying to achieve. In my case i do commercial work that need be pulled fast and be pleasing to the eye at the same time.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Try everything, work hard, have fun!
For over 10 years Diego has worked as a professional illustrator, comic-book artist, and cartoonist for companies such as Simon & Schuster Publishing, Felix The Cat Productions Inc., Mirage Group, Blue Dream Studios, Mongoose Publishing, and MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research among others.
His work has been published and exhibited the World over, in countries like Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, England, Korea and the Ukraine, and graced household characters ranging from Felix The Cat to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, he currently resides in Santiago, Chile, but the one thing Diego loves more than drawing is traveling abroad at the first chance he gets!
Comics: Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ed's Terrestrials.
Website: http://www.warmtoastcafe.com/art/diegojourdan, http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/eds
Making comics since year of: 1996
Art education/schools attended: F.I.T. Computer Typesetting and Design.
Tools
Pencils: Two Pentel 0.7 tech pencils, one with blue refills (structure), the other w/ soft 'B' black lead refills for pencil finishes (though sometimes i skip directly to inking)
Inks: Copic and Micron Pigma markers ( 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 ). Faber Castell PITT Brush pens.
Lately i've been increasingly inking using simply my Graphire4 WACOM Tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Paper: Standard copy/printer paper (yeah,i'm cheap).
Lettering: www.blambot.com
Color: Graphire4 WACOM Tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Layout / Composition: I study all the classics, but specially Milton Caniff, Hugo Pratt, Carl Barks, Mauricio de Sousa, Roberto Fontanarrosa, and Hank Ketcham.
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: I've tried everything and anything. In the end i set for what gives me reasonable quality and speed. Way things are going by 2007 my art will by fully digital.
What tools you'd never use, and why: I think you need to use them all before choosing which one suits you better for the type of work you're trying to achieve. In my case i do commercial work that need be pulled fast and be pleasing to the eye at the same time.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Try everything, work hard, have fun!
November 20, 2006
Cameron Chesney
Comics: "How To See The Aura", "Daphne", "Jodi's House", story "Professional Help" in True Porn 2
Website: www.cameronchesney.com
Making comics since year of: Many when I was in my teens in the mid 80s, now at a slow pace since 2001
Art education/schools attended: Alberta College of Art & Design (Calgary, AB), School of Visual Arts (NYC)
Tools
Pencils: I still love to use a wood-clenched pencil, and I used to just buy boxes of the cheapest brands I could find. A while back I read an article about how some animators in California love to use Tombow Mono pencils which are made in Japan. Its funny becuse you wouldn't think there was that much of a difference, but I won't use any other pencil now, except for the occasional non repro-blue (Color-erase). If you haven't tried them, you should give them a shot. They glide across the surface and produce great marks.
Inks: I prefer to use Dr P. H. Martin's "Tech" waterproof drawing ink. The P.H. Martin's "Black Star" is also very good, but the "Tech" is better. Very hard to find, so buy a big bottle when you do. I usually have to search it out in the internet. I hope they keep making it, because most of the commercially available drawing ink is crap. Seriously.
Brushes: Since I was young, every single cartooning "how to" book I read mentioned the Winsor Newton Series 7 Sable brush. How expensive it is and the purity of the line you can get from it if you practice with it and take care of it and clean it after every use. It's all true. I use a # 4 mostly, and sometimes a #3. I managed to talk an art supply store into selling me a Series 7, #7 for $60 because it had been on their shelves for so long. I can't believe the thin line I can get from it (not to mention the giant thick one). If you've never got the hang of using a brush to ink your comics, you owe it to yourself to take a serious break from the pen and learn how to use it. You won't believe how much your work will improve...
Pens: One of my good friends used to work in a lab at an art school, and as they began renovating the workshop she came across a huge tub of old (from the 60s, but never used) pen points, and knowing my love for them, gave me the entire tub. I was elated. I can't tell you how superior they are to the ones you buy today. Even if they happen to be the same style. Something must have happened to the quality of the metal or something. My favorite pen to use from this tub is a Joseph Gillott's 170 or the 290. I only have a few dozen of them left, so I try and take very good care of them. Of the modern pen-points that you can still purchase today I like the ever-popular Hunt 102 crowquill, which is incredibly flexible. Recently I have tried using the Deleter brand pen points which are made of very fine steel, and are available imported from Japan via the internet. They are really wonderful, and really worth checking out.
Paper: Strathmore Bristol. I have been drawing very large lately, so I have been buying large sheets of the Strathmore 500 series. I like the cold-pressed board because sometimes I like to watercolor my originals, after I have obtained a high-quality scan of the finished Black & White. I have also experimented with washed black tones on white after looking at the work of Jack Cole (his pin-ups). I use a lamp-black watercolor (Winsor Newton) to apply the wash, after mixing 3 different tints on my palatte (a 25% a 50% and a 75% grey tone). Even though comics are an art made for reproduction, I see no reason why we can't treat our originals with the same respect that we treat a painting. I love looking at cartoonists originals, in a gallery or wherever they may be.
Lettering: I will use a Speedball lettering pen A-5 most of the time for my large size work, but I have also used a Rapidograph .4 when I am working smaller. Lettering is the area that I really need to work on the most. Sometimes I will use a computer font, but I prefer to hand-letter.
Color: Working as a Graphic Designer for a number of years I learned how to flat color using Photoshop on a Mac quite early on. I still really prefer the look of a handcolored reproduction if time allows...
Layout/ Composition: For this I will usually just sketch out on one of those yellow legal pads, using a pencil or sometimes a black marker. If I'm having trouble with a drawing, I will try and work it out on tracing paper, and then transfer it to the Bristol when ready.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): I haven't done many conventions at all as a professional, but I would use a sketchbook with nice paper in it that can easily be removed. Probably draw with pencil, then a permanent marker...
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: As I kid I loved to draw directly to finish with a ballpoint pen, but as I got older I became curious as to how comics were "Professionally Made", so I sought out as many "how to" books as I could find. Most of my knowledge about "tools" and techniques came from very good books. One book that I recommend still, even though it is very outdated and out of print, is Ken Muse's "The Secrets of Professional Cartooning". It is a book mostly for the "strip" artist, but there is a plethora of information there about tools, techniques, and methods. If you have some $ to spend, search on E-Bay and see if you can track down the 3 volume "Famous Artists" Correspondence Course circa the mid 1950s. These volumes are FULL of "old school" gems that are in print nowhere else. While you're at it look for the "Famous Artists" Cartooning Course from the late 60s. You might not have to pay that much for them, and you can always make a copy for yourself and sell the originals back on E-Bay, getting most of your money back. Again, the material is dated, but still contains many useful bits of information that you are not likely to find anywhere else. I would have killed to have read this stuff in my early years. I wish I had. Speaking of excellent books, if you haven't read Scott McCloud's book Making Comics yet, you really, really should.
I have also been using my Mac more and more to create digital images, using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and my scanner. I started doing it several years ago when I was working in the NY garment industry doing licensed Disney characters via Adobe Illustrator for screen print output. I got very good at manipulating vector paths to simulate a fine ink line. If you would like to learn more about using Adobe Illustrator to create your comics I recommend reading some of Alberto Ruiz' tutorials in Mike Manley's "Draw!" magazine.
All in all though I still very much prefer comics done with the traditional pen & Ink on paper. I am very excited by the changes happening in the comics scene these days, with so many young people creating and publishing their own stuff. Its great to see so many women creating excellent comics work. Now is a great time to be creating comics.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Ballpoint pen. Because it is non-archival and will diminish with time. Non water-proof ink or markers... Keep your originals as permanent as you can. You'll be glad you did 30 years later...
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Work hard and often, but don't forget to live. Do it because you love it. And support your peers.
Comics: "How To See The Aura", "Daphne", "Jodi's House", story "Professional Help" in True Porn 2
Website: www.cameronchesney.com
Making comics since year of: Many when I was in my teens in the mid 80s, now at a slow pace since 2001
Art education/schools attended: Alberta College of Art & Design (Calgary, AB), School of Visual Arts (NYC)
Tools
Pencils: I still love to use a wood-clenched pencil, and I used to just buy boxes of the cheapest brands I could find. A while back I read an article about how some animators in California love to use Tombow Mono pencils which are made in Japan. Its funny becuse you wouldn't think there was that much of a difference, but I won't use any other pencil now, except for the occasional non repro-blue (Color-erase). If you haven't tried them, you should give them a shot. They glide across the surface and produce great marks.
Inks: I prefer to use Dr P. H. Martin's "Tech" waterproof drawing ink. The P.H. Martin's "Black Star" is also very good, but the "Tech" is better. Very hard to find, so buy a big bottle when you do. I usually have to search it out in the internet. I hope they keep making it, because most of the commercially available drawing ink is crap. Seriously.
Brushes: Since I was young, every single cartooning "how to" book I read mentioned the Winsor Newton Series 7 Sable brush. How expensive it is and the purity of the line you can get from it if you practice with it and take care of it and clean it after every use. It's all true. I use a # 4 mostly, and sometimes a #3. I managed to talk an art supply store into selling me a Series 7, #7 for $60 because it had been on their shelves for so long. I can't believe the thin line I can get from it (not to mention the giant thick one). If you've never got the hang of using a brush to ink your comics, you owe it to yourself to take a serious break from the pen and learn how to use it. You won't believe how much your work will improve...
Pens: One of my good friends used to work in a lab at an art school, and as they began renovating the workshop she came across a huge tub of old (from the 60s, but never used) pen points, and knowing my love for them, gave me the entire tub. I was elated. I can't tell you how superior they are to the ones you buy today. Even if they happen to be the same style. Something must have happened to the quality of the metal or something. My favorite pen to use from this tub is a Joseph Gillott's 170 or the 290. I only have a few dozen of them left, so I try and take very good care of them. Of the modern pen-points that you can still purchase today I like the ever-popular Hunt 102 crowquill, which is incredibly flexible. Recently I have tried using the Deleter brand pen points which are made of very fine steel, and are available imported from Japan via the internet. They are really wonderful, and really worth checking out.
Paper: Strathmore Bristol. I have been drawing very large lately, so I have been buying large sheets of the Strathmore 500 series. I like the cold-pressed board because sometimes I like to watercolor my originals, after I have obtained a high-quality scan of the finished Black & White. I have also experimented with washed black tones on white after looking at the work of Jack Cole (his pin-ups). I use a lamp-black watercolor (Winsor Newton) to apply the wash, after mixing 3 different tints on my palatte (a 25% a 50% and a 75% grey tone). Even though comics are an art made for reproduction, I see no reason why we can't treat our originals with the same respect that we treat a painting. I love looking at cartoonists originals, in a gallery or wherever they may be.
Lettering: I will use a Speedball lettering pen A-5 most of the time for my large size work, but I have also used a Rapidograph .4 when I am working smaller. Lettering is the area that I really need to work on the most. Sometimes I will use a computer font, but I prefer to hand-letter.
Color: Working as a Graphic Designer for a number of years I learned how to flat color using Photoshop on a Mac quite early on. I still really prefer the look of a handcolored reproduction if time allows...
Layout/ Composition: For this I will usually just sketch out on one of those yellow legal pads, using a pencil or sometimes a black marker. If I'm having trouble with a drawing, I will try and work it out on tracing paper, and then transfer it to the Bristol when ready.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): I haven't done many conventions at all as a professional, but I would use a sketchbook with nice paper in it that can easily be removed. Probably draw with pencil, then a permanent marker...
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: As I kid I loved to draw directly to finish with a ballpoint pen, but as I got older I became curious as to how comics were "Professionally Made", so I sought out as many "how to" books as I could find. Most of my knowledge about "tools" and techniques came from very good books. One book that I recommend still, even though it is very outdated and out of print, is Ken Muse's "The Secrets of Professional Cartooning". It is a book mostly for the "strip" artist, but there is a plethora of information there about tools, techniques, and methods. If you have some $ to spend, search on E-Bay and see if you can track down the 3 volume "Famous Artists" Correspondence Course circa the mid 1950s. These volumes are FULL of "old school" gems that are in print nowhere else. While you're at it look for the "Famous Artists" Cartooning Course from the late 60s. You might not have to pay that much for them, and you can always make a copy for yourself and sell the originals back on E-Bay, getting most of your money back. Again, the material is dated, but still contains many useful bits of information that you are not likely to find anywhere else. I would have killed to have read this stuff in my early years. I wish I had. Speaking of excellent books, if you haven't read Scott McCloud's book Making Comics yet, you really, really should.
I have also been using my Mac more and more to create digital images, using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and my scanner. I started doing it several years ago when I was working in the NY garment industry doing licensed Disney characters via Adobe Illustrator for screen print output. I got very good at manipulating vector paths to simulate a fine ink line. If you would like to learn more about using Adobe Illustrator to create your comics I recommend reading some of Alberto Ruiz' tutorials in Mike Manley's "Draw!" magazine.
All in all though I still very much prefer comics done with the traditional pen & Ink on paper. I am very excited by the changes happening in the comics scene these days, with so many young people creating and publishing their own stuff. Its great to see so many women creating excellent comics work. Now is a great time to be creating comics.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Ballpoint pen. Because it is non-archival and will diminish with time. Non water-proof ink or markers... Keep your originals as permanent as you can. You'll be glad you did 30 years later...
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: Work hard and often, but don't forget to live. Do it because you love it. And support your peers.
November 17, 2006
Matt Haley
Comics: Superman Returns movie adaptation, Who Wants To Be A Superhero tv series
Website: http://www.matthaley.com
Making comics since year of: 1990
Art education/schools attended: none
Tools
Pencils: F hardness 2MM lead holder, .3 and .5 F or 2H hardness mechanical pencils or Corel Painter 9
Inks: Higgins black india ink, china marker or Corel Painter 9
Brushes: Winsor Newton sable brushes or Princeton round brushes
Pens: Copic multiliners of various sizes
Paper: DC paper, or 2-ply Bristol board, kid finish
Lettering: hire a professional
Color: Photoshop CS and Corel Painter 9
Layout/ Composition: non-photo blue pencils or Corel Painter 9
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: Began drawing comic for DC in 1990, have used the same kind of pencils until I started inking my own work 6 years ago. I picked up digital art at the same time, and feel more comfortable working digitally than by hand, but I refuse to give up drawing and inking. I love inking, and have a lot more respect for the craft now that I am a novice inker.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Swimsuit magazines for swipe.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: 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.
Comics: Superman Returns movie adaptation, Who Wants To Be A Superhero tv series
Website: http://www.matthaley.com
Making comics since year of: 1990
Art education/schools attended: none
Tools
Pencils: F hardness 2MM lead holder, .3 and .5 F or 2H hardness mechanical pencils or Corel Painter 9
Inks: Higgins black india ink, china marker or Corel Painter 9
Brushes: Winsor Newton sable brushes or Princeton round brushes
Pens: Copic multiliners of various sizes
Paper: DC paper, or 2-ply Bristol board, kid finish
Lettering: hire a professional
Color: Photoshop CS and Corel Painter 9
Layout/ Composition: non-photo blue pencils or Corel Painter 9
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: Began drawing comic for DC in 1990, have used the same kind of pencils until I started inking my own work 6 years ago. I picked up digital art at the same time, and feel more comfortable working digitally than by hand, but I refuse to give up drawing and inking. I love inking, and have a lot more respect for the craft now that I am a novice inker.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Swimsuit magazines for swipe.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: 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.
November 15, 2006
Lucy Louise Knisley
Comics: Stop Paying Attention, My Addiction, Contributing Artist to "The Worst Stuff, Like Ever"
Website: www.stoppayingattention.com
Making comics since year of: 2002
Art education/schools attended: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Tools
Pencils: Pink, Col-Erase lightfast pencil. The pink is pale enough that it is easily eliminated digitally, and is easy to differ from any blue guide-lines.
Inks: Windsor Newton waterproof black, although it's hard to find these days.
Brushes: Right now I'm into the sorta cheesy brushes you can buy at craft stores. They have these big, squishy finger holds on them, which makes even the skinniest, 000 brush feel nice in your hand, and not cramp up.
Pens: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, or the superfine PITT pen from Faber-Castell.
Paper: Aquabee, large-sized grid bond layout. It makes the straight and intersecting lines easy, and the pink pencil shows up nicely against the grid. Or smooth bristol, for supersexy illustration kinda stuff.
Lettering: I have a font of my handwriting from Fontgod.com, but I generally use brand new Faber-Castell Pitt pens, in superfine, to letter.
Color: I've recently been using scanned watercolor pages, combined with the clone-stamp tool in photoshop. It's a nice combo, I think.
Layout/ Composition: Teeny thumbnails in bic pen, to dimensions on graph paper.
Convention Sketches: Pens belonging to the cartoonists with whom I share a table, and who are trusting enough to leave their pens out for my nefarious use! Then I give them back and buy my own.
Tool timeline: I used to be big into sharpies, I think because I often didn't draw on paper (read "the walls of my art room). I think I liked the lightheaded effect that the fumes had on my artwork, too. Micron pens were next, but they irritated me because I'd wear them out in a day. Their ink was too transparent, and the line too shaky. I started using the PITT pens about three and a half years ago, and I still love them. I started using inks and brushes about two years ago. Last Summer I finally bought myself a much-coveted Pentel brush pen, like Hope's, and have loved it, and used it constantly, ever since.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Rapidographs! I love them, when they're working, but I've destroyed about five rapidograph pens over the course of the last five years, and ruined many a clothing item in trying to clean them out so they'd be usable again. Those things clog immidiately, and smudge like crazy.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: The best way to find out about tools is to chat with a group of comic artists. At my first convention, I saw people whipping out pens I hadn't known existed, and now these are some of my favorite tools!
Comics: Stop Paying Attention, My Addiction, Contributing Artist to "The Worst Stuff, Like Ever"
Website: www.stoppayingattention.com
Making comics since year of: 2002
Art education/schools attended: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Tools
Pencils: Pink, Col-Erase lightfast pencil. The pink is pale enough that it is easily eliminated digitally, and is easy to differ from any blue guide-lines.
Inks: Windsor Newton waterproof black, although it's hard to find these days.
Brushes: Right now I'm into the sorta cheesy brushes you can buy at craft stores. They have these big, squishy finger holds on them, which makes even the skinniest, 000 brush feel nice in your hand, and not cramp up.
Pens: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, or the superfine PITT pen from Faber-Castell.
Paper: Aquabee, large-sized grid bond layout. It makes the straight and intersecting lines easy, and the pink pencil shows up nicely against the grid. Or smooth bristol, for supersexy illustration kinda stuff.
Lettering: I have a font of my handwriting from Fontgod.com, but I generally use brand new Faber-Castell Pitt pens, in superfine, to letter.
Color: I've recently been using scanned watercolor pages, combined with the clone-stamp tool in photoshop. It's a nice combo, I think.
Layout/ Composition: Teeny thumbnails in bic pen, to dimensions on graph paper.
Convention Sketches: Pens belonging to the cartoonists with whom I share a table, and who are trusting enough to leave their pens out for my nefarious use! Then I give them back and buy my own.
Tool timeline: I used to be big into sharpies, I think because I often didn't draw on paper (read "the walls of my art room). I think I liked the lightheaded effect that the fumes had on my artwork, too. Micron pens were next, but they irritated me because I'd wear them out in a day. Their ink was too transparent, and the line too shaky. I started using the PITT pens about three and a half years ago, and I still love them. I started using inks and brushes about two years ago. Last Summer I finally bought myself a much-coveted Pentel brush pen, like Hope's, and have loved it, and used it constantly, ever since.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Rapidographs! I love them, when they're working, but I've destroyed about five rapidograph pens over the course of the last five years, and ruined many a clothing item in trying to clean them out so they'd be usable again. Those things clog immidiately, and smudge like crazy.
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: The best way to find out about tools is to chat with a group of comic artists. At my first convention, I saw people whipping out pens I hadn't known existed, and now these are some of my favorite tools!
Adrian Tomine
Comics: Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Summer Blonde
Website: www.drawnandquarterly.com
Making comics since year of: 1988
Art education/schools attended: University of California, Berkeley (BA in English)
TOOLS
Pencils: Sanford Turqouise 4H, Pentel 0.3 mm lead (4H), Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic lead holders
Inks: Dr. Ph. Martin’s TECH waterproof drawing ink (black), Rapidograph Universal waterproof india Ink (black)
Brushes: Winsor & Newton Series 7, size 3 for regular inking, size 0 for white-out corrections
Pens: Hunt 102 nib, Koh-I-Noor Rapidographs (sizes 00 – 2.5)
Paper: Strathmore Bristol, 500 series, 4-ply, vellum surface
Lettering: Ames lettering guide, Rapidographs
Color: sometimes watercolors, but usually computer
Layout/composition: National Brand engineer’s computation pad
Convention sketches: various Micron pens
CRUCIAL BONUS TOOL – White-out/Corrections: regular White-Out (with brush applicator, not that weird foam tip), Pro White, and white adhesive labels, cut with an X-acto knife
Tool timeline: Too much to list here. Let’s just say my starting point was all the tools listed in the “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” book, and I’ve sort of been refining by trial and error ever since.
What tools you’d never use and why: I can’t foresee myself ever using one of those Wacom tablets for the computer, but what do I know?
Advice: 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.
Comics: Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Summer Blonde
Website: www.drawnandquarterly.com
Making comics since year of: 1988
Art education/schools attended: University of California, Berkeley (BA in English)
TOOLS
Pencils: Sanford Turqouise 4H, Pentel 0.3 mm lead (4H), Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic lead holders
Inks: Dr. Ph. Martin’s TECH waterproof drawing ink (black), Rapidograph Universal waterproof india Ink (black)
Brushes: Winsor & Newton Series 7, size 3 for regular inking, size 0 for white-out corrections
Pens: Hunt 102 nib, Koh-I-Noor Rapidographs (sizes 00 – 2.5)
Paper: Strathmore Bristol, 500 series, 4-ply, vellum surface
Lettering: Ames lettering guide, Rapidographs
Color: sometimes watercolors, but usually computer
Layout/composition: National Brand engineer’s computation pad
Convention sketches: various Micron pens
CRUCIAL BONUS TOOL – White-out/Corrections: regular White-Out (with brush applicator, not that weird foam tip), Pro White, and white adhesive labels, cut with an X-acto knife
Tool timeline: Too much to list here. Let’s just say my starting point was all the tools listed in the “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” book, and I’ve sort of been refining by trial and error ever since.
What tools you’d never use and why: I can’t foresee myself ever using one of those Wacom tablets for the computer, but what do I know?
Advice: 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.
November 14, 2006
Alec Longstreth
Alec's studio.
Comics: PHASE 7, The Dvorak Zine
Website: http://alec-longstreth.com/
Making comics since year of: 2000
Art education/schools attended: Oberlin College (Theatre/Computer Science), Pratt Institute (Illustration)
Tools
Pencils: Mechanical Pencil (save the trees!) with hard lead 4H or 3H, which erases completely with a white Staedtler drafting eraser. I will sometimes bust out the non-photo blue lead if I am penciling something extremely complex (a 2-color "layers" effect makes things easier to visualize).
Inks: Speedball Superblack India Ink in three containers with varying strength: "weak" (watered down with Higgins india ink) which runs smooth for nibs, normal right out of the bottle for brushes, and SLUDGE (water evaporates out of the ink over time) for filling in black areas with a larger brush. When the weak thickens, I move it to the brush jar, when the brush thickens I move it to the sludge jar.
Brushes: #2 synthetic watercolor brushes--yellow handle (Cornel?) These last the longest for me and are stiff enough that the tips don't get ruined too fast. I use a modified foam cork (from a wine bottle) carved and with a hole through it, to make the brush easier to grip.
Pens: Dip Nibs! I've moved away from the 102 Crow Quill nibs as they are too finicky, demand too much cleaning and often splatter. Instead, I do all of my crosshatching with the Hunt 513EF "mapping" nib. Since most my art is shrunk down, it has the same crowquill feel, only a little thicker, so it moves around a little more easily. B1, B5, B6, C3 speedball nibs for various tasks such as panel borders, lettering, word balloons, etc.
Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph #2 (.6mm) for all sketchbook work as well as lettering on quicker Comics. I also use the biggest one for panel borders when I'm away from my ink jars.
Pentel Japanese Brush Pen - For sketchbook stuff and non-pro illustration work (website stuff, etc). Has cartridges that last
fairly long, but ink turns grey under erasing.
Paper: Strathmore Bristol (yellow cover) Smooth Finish (wooden blocks) for pen & ink nib crosshatching style, Vellum Finish (colored balls) for brush work.
Lettering: More and more my rapidograph, but I still use a B6 nib for my best work that I rule out and everything.
Color: Photoshop
Layout/ Composition: InDesign
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): Rapidograph /Brush Pen
WHITE OUT: I started using those Bic White-Out pens but then moved to little tubes of opaque white gouache. Now I use PRO-WHITE which rules!!! Remember, you can reactivate it with a little water, so just glop some onto a scrap piece of paper or something!
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: Started with ballpoint pens, moved to rapidograph, then to dip nibs, then from 102 crowquills to 513EF mapping nibs, then to brushes. Mostly just trying to find the style and look that felt the best for me.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Ballpoint pens, microns, any kind of marker - NOTHING is as black, or holds up as well as india ink!
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: 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!
Alec's studio.
Comics: PHASE 7, The Dvorak Zine
Website: http://alec-longstreth.com/
Making comics since year of: 2000
Art education/schools attended: Oberlin College (Theatre/Computer Science), Pratt Institute (Illustration)
Tools
Pencils: Mechanical Pencil (save the trees!) with hard lead 4H or 3H, which erases completely with a white Staedtler drafting eraser. I will sometimes bust out the non-photo blue lead if I am penciling something extremely complex (a 2-color "layers" effect makes things easier to visualize).
Inks: Speedball Superblack India Ink in three containers with varying strength: "weak" (watered down with Higgins india ink) which runs smooth for nibs, normal right out of the bottle for brushes, and SLUDGE (water evaporates out of the ink over time) for filling in black areas with a larger brush. When the weak thickens, I move it to the brush jar, when the brush thickens I move it to the sludge jar.
Brushes: #2 synthetic watercolor brushes--yellow handle (Cornel?) These last the longest for me and are stiff enough that the tips don't get ruined too fast. I use a modified foam cork (from a wine bottle) carved and with a hole through it, to make the brush easier to grip.
Pens: Dip Nibs! I've moved away from the 102 Crow Quill nibs as they are too finicky, demand too much cleaning and often splatter. Instead, I do all of my crosshatching with the Hunt 513EF "mapping" nib. Since most my art is shrunk down, it has the same crowquill feel, only a little thicker, so it moves around a little more easily. B1, B5, B6, C3 speedball nibs for various tasks such as panel borders, lettering, word balloons, etc.
Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph #2 (.6mm) for all sketchbook work as well as lettering on quicker Comics. I also use the biggest one for panel borders when I'm away from my ink jars.
Pentel Japanese Brush Pen - For sketchbook stuff and non-pro illustration work (website stuff, etc). Has cartridges that last
fairly long, but ink turns grey under erasing.
Paper: Strathmore Bristol (yellow cover) Smooth Finish (wooden blocks) for pen & ink nib crosshatching style, Vellum Finish (colored balls) for brush work.
Lettering: More and more my rapidograph, but I still use a B6 nib for my best work that I rule out and everything.
Color: Photoshop
Layout/ Composition: InDesign
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): Rapidograph /Brush Pen
WHITE OUT: I started using those Bic White-Out pens but then moved to little tubes of opaque white gouache. Now I use PRO-WHITE which rules!!! Remember, you can reactivate it with a little water, so just glop some onto a scrap piece of paper or something!
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: Started with ballpoint pens, moved to rapidograph, then to dip nibs, then from 102 crowquills to 513EF mapping nibs, then to brushes. Mostly just trying to find the style and look that felt the best for me.
What tools you'd never use, and why: Ballpoint pens, microns, any kind of marker - NOTHING is as black, or holds up as well as india ink!
And lastly, any advice you'd like to give: 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!
November 13, 2006
Bryan Lee O'Malley
Comics: "Scott Pilgrim" series, etc
Website: www.radiomaru.com
Making comics since year of: 2001 (professionally)
Art education/schools attended: No art school, and I gave up on university (was taking Film Theory)
Tools
Pencils: Col-Erase in various colours. I like light blue and green to draw pages, and tuscan red, indigo, and other dark colours for sketchbook stuff (and thumbnails). I use those foam pencil pillow things to help my grip. I never liked mechanical pencils much because I like a softer lead. The Col-Erase pencils are nice because they're soft, but they don't smudge, plus you don't actually have to erase before you scan.
Inks: My favourite was the Koh-i-noor drawing ink with the yellow label, but lately I've gotten a lot of dud bottles (too watery to use), so I've switched to the Pelikan kind that Hope uses.
Brushes: Series 7 #2, but now I want to try this Raphael 8404 that Jim Rugg is on about...
Pens: I need to learn to ink with nibs one day, but for now I use a lot of crappy pens to fill in little details, like these cheap Pilot tech pens that I buy in bulk at Staples. I also have some various Japanese cartridge brush pens that someone brought me from Japan, but I don't use them too much. My other favourite is the Faber Castell Pitt pen (size S, and the brush pen) which I use for ruling borders and some other stuff.
Paper: Just the usual Strathmore bristol in the yellow pads, smooth.
Lettering: I stopped hand-lettering for the most part because it hurts my wrist, so now I just use Comicraft fonts or whatever. One day I'll get my own font made.
Color: When sketching I often use a Faber Castell Pitt brush pen for a colour tone. I also have become fond of watercolours. Mostly I colour in Photoshop, and I've used Painter once or twice and would like to use it more in the future. I've had my 6x8 Intuous 2 tablet since 2001, and it's pretty indispensable at this point.
Layout/ Composition: I do thumbnails just in pencil in my sketchbook. I used to print out sheets of proper-sized thumbnail templates, but I find it's faster to do it in the sketchbook now, and I can eyeball the page proportions well enough. If I switched to a radically different page format, I might print out some more templates. I do my thumbnails only about an inch and a half high, because I can't stand the idea of drawing them any bigger if I'm just going to redraw them later. I still find that my thumbnails have a disturbing resemblance to the final pages, even down to the scribbled facial expressions.
Check out Scott Pilgrim thumbs.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): When signing and sketching in books, I exclusively use a Pigma Graphic 1 plus a Faber Castell Pitt colour brush pen for a tone (and using two different colours to sign a book always seems to make people strangely giddy!). For larger sketches I use a black Pitt brush pen or a sharpie or whatever I have around. I also like these Staedtler Triplus pens, which come in some interesting colours.
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: I think when I got serious I started using a brush, because I equated "brush" with "serious". I used really bad, cheap brushes for years, until I got a good one and realized that the bad brushes had been holding me back. I've also been using the Col-Erase pencils since before I got serious, so I guess I haven't really changed my tools all that much.
What tools you'd never use, and why: I don't really like Microns and that type of thing, but for no real reason. Just personal preference. I get mad at people for using them, though.
Comics: "Scott Pilgrim" series, etc
Website: www.radiomaru.com
Making comics since year of: 2001 (professionally)
Art education/schools attended: No art school, and I gave up on university (was taking Film Theory)
Tools
Pencils: Col-Erase in various colours. I like light blue and green to draw pages, and tuscan red, indigo, and other dark colours for sketchbook stuff (and thumbnails). I use those foam pencil pillow things to help my grip. I never liked mechanical pencils much because I like a softer lead. The Col-Erase pencils are nice because they're soft, but they don't smudge, plus you don't actually have to erase before you scan.
Inks: My favourite was the Koh-i-noor drawing ink with the yellow label, but lately I've gotten a lot of dud bottles (too watery to use), so I've switched to the Pelikan kind that Hope uses.
Brushes: Series 7 #2, but now I want to try this Raphael 8404 that Jim Rugg is on about...
Pens: I need to learn to ink with nibs one day, but for now I use a lot of crappy pens to fill in little details, like these cheap Pilot tech pens that I buy in bulk at Staples. I also have some various Japanese cartridge brush pens that someone brought me from Japan, but I don't use them too much. My other favourite is the Faber Castell Pitt pen (size S, and the brush pen) which I use for ruling borders and some other stuff.
Paper: Just the usual Strathmore bristol in the yellow pads, smooth.
Lettering: I stopped hand-lettering for the most part because it hurts my wrist, so now I just use Comicraft fonts or whatever. One day I'll get my own font made.
Color: When sketching I often use a Faber Castell Pitt brush pen for a colour tone. I also have become fond of watercolours. Mostly I colour in Photoshop, and I've used Painter once or twice and would like to use it more in the future. I've had my 6x8 Intuous 2 tablet since 2001, and it's pretty indispensable at this point.
Layout/ Composition: I do thumbnails just in pencil in my sketchbook. I used to print out sheets of proper-sized thumbnail templates, but I find it's faster to do it in the sketchbook now, and I can eyeball the page proportions well enough. If I switched to a radically different page format, I might print out some more templates. I do my thumbnails only about an inch and a half high, because I can't stand the idea of drawing them any bigger if I'm just going to redraw them later. I still find that my thumbnails have a disturbing resemblance to the final pages, even down to the scribbled facial expressions.
Check out Scott Pilgrim thumbs.
Convention Sketches (when different from illustrations done in the studio): When signing and sketching in books, I exclusively use a Pigma Graphic 1 plus a Faber Castell Pitt colour brush pen for a tone (and using two different colours to sign a book always seems to make people strangely giddy!). For larger sketches I use a black Pitt brush pen or a sharpie or whatever I have around. I also like these Staedtler Triplus pens, which come in some interesting colours.
Tool timeline, starting from when you began drawing in any serious way until the present, and what spurred the changes: I think when I got serious I started using a brush, because I equated "brush" with "serious". I used really bad, cheap brushes for years, until I got a good one and realized that the bad brushes had been holding me back. I've also been using the Col-Erase pencils since before I got serious, so I guess I haven't really changed my tools all that much.
What tools you'd never use, and why: I don't really like Microns and that type of thing, but for no real reason. Just personal preference. I get mad at people for using them, though.
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