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| Click to Enlarge |
Continued after the break.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Stray Flights #1: Desiccate, Page 7
Begin 'Desiccate' / Go to Previous Page / Go to Next Page
Shock! Gasp! And Reveal! Turns out things aren't as they seem for ol' Paul. Yes, this is shaping up to be stealth advertising for a filter product that doesn't exist. By the by, can you believe there's only one page of 'Desiccate' left? IN TWO WEEKS there will be a brand new Stray Flight debuting in this spot!
Continued after the break.
Continued after the break.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Leftover # 1: Gambled And Lost
This is just a simple single sheet drawing I did today. I'm working on a slightly looser style, but finding it difficult to let go. For that reason this didn't come together exactly as I wanted but it was a lot of fun to color though!
As always, Leftovers are simply experiments and non-contextual works that don't belong anywhere else.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Chandra, Page 18: I Would Not Recommend It
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Wow! Page 18 already, Chandra's officially an adult. This is one of the first pages I think actually works pretty well. It has a decent, cinematic feel to it that reflected what I was going for in my head, though the final panel ended up looking a little tacked on. But, I think the dialogue was a bit fun on this page at least.
Here is actually a pretty important point: That of final product matching initial idea. How does one make sure that they can follow through in creating the wonderful, amazing vision that is hovering in their mind? Some would argue that skill is the great deciding factor here. That those creators with more facility will always be able to chase their visions down and wrangle them more effectively into the real world. Skill must be honed by hours bent over the drawing table, or standing at the easel or whatever. But most importantly skill must be open to change and adaptation. How many of you out there have worked through a composition only to stumble into something better than you first imagined? Happy accidents huh?
Continued after the break.
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| Click to Enlarge |
Wow! Page 18 already, Chandra's officially an adult. This is one of the first pages I think actually works pretty well. It has a decent, cinematic feel to it that reflected what I was going for in my head, though the final panel ended up looking a little tacked on. But, I think the dialogue was a bit fun on this page at least.
Here is actually a pretty important point: That of final product matching initial idea. How does one make sure that they can follow through in creating the wonderful, amazing vision that is hovering in their mind? Some would argue that skill is the great deciding factor here. That those creators with more facility will always be able to chase their visions down and wrangle them more effectively into the real world. Skill must be honed by hours bent over the drawing table, or standing at the easel or whatever. But most importantly skill must be open to change and adaptation. How many of you out there have worked through a composition only to stumble into something better than you first imagined? Happy accidents huh?
Continued after the break.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
1000 Things To Learn, #3: Uploading Images To The Internet Without Losing Color Fidelity
Warning! Bunch of technical stuff follows. May not be for everyone. Skip down to the last post to get to a Chandra page.
As I broke it down in THIS POST, I'd been uploading images to this website with an incorrect color profile. I was wondering why they were looking so washed out and ragged. Well, it turns out that you have to really pay attention to the 'color space' of the file in Photoshop and then in the internet. The analogy used is that of a box of crayons, the internet has a smaller box than Photoshop, so you have to be very specific with what colors you tell it to use. LUCKILY this is an easy fix.
Some websites seem to adapt the file automatically (smartly), others, like Blogger, don't. Also, it should be borne in mind that the large thumbnail images that are created for a graphic file are always washed out a certain amount. I can't seem to figure out how to affect that.
Color is a really tricky business and I know when it comes time to actually make a graphic novel, meaning, print one up, there will be a whole host of new headaches. But for now, let's limit ourselves to uploading properly.
Continued after the break.
As I broke it down in THIS POST, I'd been uploading images to this website with an incorrect color profile. I was wondering why they were looking so washed out and ragged. Well, it turns out that you have to really pay attention to the 'color space' of the file in Photoshop and then in the internet. The analogy used is that of a box of crayons, the internet has a smaller box than Photoshop, so you have to be very specific with what colors you tell it to use. LUCKILY this is an easy fix.
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| The Dark Knight in an Unsaturated Nightmare...and Restored! |
Color is a really tricky business and I know when it comes time to actually make a graphic novel, meaning, print one up, there will be a whole host of new headaches. But for now, let's limit ourselves to uploading properly.
Continued after the break.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Chandra, Page 17: Looking For Me Stud?
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Welcome back Loonies! Let's just get this out of the way: The first panel has all the stiffness of a high school production of 'Waiting For Godot.' Furthermore, Dr. McBee looks terrible in the second panel and Jason's face is a bit scrunchy in the third panel. BUT, the fourth panel, I can't find much fault there, I like it (Though Dr. Bannister is slightly walleyed). I'm also partial to the final frame. There was a lot of space to play with there and I was able to put some big rips in to remind everyone that Chandra Base is falling apart. The problem remains though, I never took the time to get enough detail into the pages.
This brings me to the issue of QUALITY CONTROL. Sometimes, for me at least, when I've started a project I feel there's some kind of drive to finish it at a breakneck pace, as if it were a race. I speed through the project blindly, hoping on hope that the final package will be good enough so that everyone will ignore any inadequacies. This is obviously wrong. If there's one major lesson I've learned over the last year it's this: Take your time with all that you do. Don't let it out the door until it's trimmed, polished and sewn up tight. There's this quote, I don't know, maybe I'm misquoting it but I can't find the thing on the internet. It's from The Fountainhead By Ayn Rand, the protagonist, Roark says to another character: "My failures go into the trash, whereas yours end up on the wall." I could be way off base here with the wording or attribution, someone correct me if I am. Anyway, I always liked this quote because it summed up a beautiful work ethic, to never settle for second rate work from your own hands.
Of course that doesn't apply to Chandra. In some kind of masochistic way I want this in the public eye so that I'm accountable to showing you something better. And I can get feedback on what didn't work here when I was making this graphic novel. Sure, I'm plenty critical on myself, but I want to hear from others as well. So, chime in!
Yeah, The Fountainhead is divisive, but come on, it's a cultural and philosophical touchstone, read it if you haven't!
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| Click to Enlarge |
Welcome back Loonies! Let's just get this out of the way: The first panel has all the stiffness of a high school production of 'Waiting For Godot.' Furthermore, Dr. McBee looks terrible in the second panel and Jason's face is a bit scrunchy in the third panel. BUT, the fourth panel, I can't find much fault there, I like it (Though Dr. Bannister is slightly walleyed). I'm also partial to the final frame. There was a lot of space to play with there and I was able to put some big rips in to remind everyone that Chandra Base is falling apart. The problem remains though, I never took the time to get enough detail into the pages.
This brings me to the issue of QUALITY CONTROL. Sometimes, for me at least, when I've started a project I feel there's some kind of drive to finish it at a breakneck pace, as if it were a race. I speed through the project blindly, hoping on hope that the final package will be good enough so that everyone will ignore any inadequacies. This is obviously wrong. If there's one major lesson I've learned over the last year it's this: Take your time with all that you do. Don't let it out the door until it's trimmed, polished and sewn up tight. There's this quote, I don't know, maybe I'm misquoting it but I can't find the thing on the internet. It's from The Fountainhead By Ayn Rand, the protagonist, Roark says to another character: "My failures go into the trash, whereas yours end up on the wall." I could be way off base here with the wording or attribution, someone correct me if I am. Anyway, I always liked this quote because it summed up a beautiful work ethic, to never settle for second rate work from your own hands.
Of course that doesn't apply to Chandra. In some kind of masochistic way I want this in the public eye so that I'm accountable to showing you something better. And I can get feedback on what didn't work here when I was making this graphic novel. Sure, I'm plenty critical on myself, but I want to hear from others as well. So, chime in!
Yeah, The Fountainhead is divisive, but come on, it's a cultural and philosophical touchstone, read it if you haven't!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Stray Flights #1: Desiccate, Page 6
Begin 'Desiccate' / Go to Previous Page / Go to Next Page
There are trees down all around the outside of the house but the threat of the innocuous sounding Hurricane Irene is over. I almost (SERIOUSLY almost) ran my car into a downed tree on the highway last night. Scary stuff. To all of you more closely affected by the Hurricane, here's hoping you're all alright.
BUT, I survived and I'm bringing you, my friends, page 6 of 'Desiccate' wherein our hero is at the edge of a surprise. You can probably guess where this is going from here. I think the textures turned out great on this page. There's not quite enough expression in the protagonist's face there in the last panel, but our sound effect text is willing to shoulder some of the dramatic burden.
You can see I'm still experimenting with 'camera' placement when making graphic novels and stories. There's no real reason to have the first panel pulled back so far. In fact, this page went through a lot of revision in the thumbnail state. I originally had it at six panels, zooming into Peter's face over a much longer period of time, but, we're striving for punchiness here. Three panels seemed to do the trick better and with more kick. Turn the page next Sunday for 'the BIG reveal!' (HINT: Train your sharp eyes on the background of the last panel.)
Friday, August 26, 2011
Chandra, Page 16: Kiss Ol' Miss Earth
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It seems here that our dear Dr. Bannister is heading home. I had a good time drawing both of these characters, each of them have a fun look to play around with, from Dr. McBee's dumpy habitus to Dr. Bannister's aesthetic of rumpled academic. There's still a real measure of stiffness in the characters in this clinic scene. I find tinges of things that I like, but overall the people feel like their floating in time, stuck into positions that don't feel altogether natural. The doubling up of the first and second panel also irks me for some reason. It's hard to get an immediate feel for the different angles of view that suit a particular scene but I am a firm believer that there is always a better, and perhaps even a best, way to do something.
I am happy with how that anatomical chart turned out though. I'm also fond of the angle over Dr. Bannister's shoulder in the fourth panel.
See everyone Sunday, provided my house is still here and not carried away by the flood!
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
It seems here that our dear Dr. Bannister is heading home. I had a good time drawing both of these characters, each of them have a fun look to play around with, from Dr. McBee's dumpy habitus to Dr. Bannister's aesthetic of rumpled academic. There's still a real measure of stiffness in the characters in this clinic scene. I find tinges of things that I like, but overall the people feel like their floating in time, stuck into positions that don't feel altogether natural. The doubling up of the first and second panel also irks me for some reason. It's hard to get an immediate feel for the different angles of view that suit a particular scene but I am a firm believer that there is always a better, and perhaps even a best, way to do something.
I am happy with how that anatomical chart turned out though. I'm also fond of the angle over Dr. Bannister's shoulder in the fourth panel.
See everyone Sunday, provided my house is still here and not carried away by the flood!
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