Salem Jack: Two for the price of one!

It's been a while since I posted any of this process but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on it.

Here's what it looked like up until this morning:



I have a bit of a problem with my perspective here. Note the two li'l guys unloading the boat. This happens to me quite a bit, actually. I get the perspective right in the drawing but then, like a teenage son, it just kind of slips away while I'm not paying attention. I ought to know better by now.

Anyway, here's how it looks now:



The perspective's fixed but... hmm... my scan looks kind of crooked.

I guess I just can't win.

More Brushpen Fun!!!

Hi there.

Would you like to take a peek inside my sketchbook?

Well, sure. Who wouldn't?



I'm having fun with this new brush/pen! I should've started playing with this years ago.
The drawings are character sketches for a story tentatively called I Lost My Voice. You'll see the yellow peanut guy again. Except he probably won't be yellow.

Or a peanut.

Anyway, still doing Tree City next...

You want a fight, Colbert? ...BRING IT!!

Just made it over to Comixpedia.

It seems Welton Colbert has it in for me.

I would fight back... but my retainer you see...
I can't take the risk...

not that he'd lay a finger on me. Two hits, you know what i mean...

but my parents paid a lot of money...

otherwise I'd totally kick his ass...





i'm not afraid...

my new inking technique is unstoppable

Starting work on the new Tree City.

Some time ago the pen I was using to ink the Nick Stevens segments of Tree City just kind of putzed out on me. I've tried out various other pens but I couldn't get the variable line weight I wanted. I think I finally found something I can at least live with.

It's one of these here dealies:



I've tried inking with a brush from time to time but was never quite comfortable with it. This Micron brush/pen gives a similar effect as a brushstroke but can handle more like a pen (I know, hard to believe...). The nice thing is I can get the varied weights of a brush and it's a lot more portable.

So here's the first test shot of the new Tree City (in color - albeit limited):



We'll see how it goes.

Not cut out for the webcomics life?

So you've probably already heard about it.

Everybody else has.

here it is almost 7:00 and I still don't have a fully formed, well thought out and most importantly cogently expressed opinion on it.

Really, you people never cease to amaze me!



I'm never gonna make it in this world.

Salem Jack: the sky isn't falling - but nothing's holding it up...

More process. Actually been like this a little while but it's new to you, right?



Working back to front here. Sky's done, mid-ground's done, boat's next (lota detail work).

And, yeah, this is as far as I've gotten. Good thing Bill didn't set a deadline!

Salem Jack: UNDERPAINTING? Who does a #*%! underpainting for acrylics?

I do, that's who!

Underpainting is usually reserved for oils which are more easily transparent and the bottom layer might actually affect what's on top of it. Acrylics are more opaque (unless they're watered down which doesn't work very well) so an underpainting is usually not necessary.
But...
This is a pretty high profile job for me and my sketches were a little, well... sketchy, so I was a little nervous.
I blocked things out with and underpainting to give me a better idea of composition and value while I work.



All of this will be pretty much completely covered by the time it's done, and it will look very different.

How do i know this?
Because I've already done a bunch more work on it.

But you guys don't get to see it yet.

BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!



(sorry)

Well, hello.

It's been a while!

So what have I been up to lately?
Well as you know from my previous entries, my wife and I had a baby a little over a month ago. Everyone is doing fine. We are all happy and healthy and she's such a smart little bugger. As you can imagine she keeps us pretty busy.

In addition to my baby responsibilities, my day-job has also been soaking up a lot of my time. It's good that we're busy in a time when a lot of factories are laying off or shutting down (at least in my area) but all the overtime eats away at my "leisure" activities, namely making comics.

Well, drawing comics, I should say. My work duties don't take an enormous amount of mental acuity, so I normally have a good five-to-six hours of good thinking-time a day. That and the accessibility of my notebooks and sketchbooks have allowed me to stock up on plenty of stories and ideas. I have a good backlog of 15-20 solid strips - some short and sweet, some more involved - that I need to find the free-time to draw.

For right now, I've started on the Salem Jack cover ('cause it pays). I'll post the process to that to here. After that, more Tree City (the first chapter - in eleven parts - is completely scripted and laid out, the remainder just needs fleshing out). The rest is kind of up in the air. I've got so many ideas to work with.

Anyway, here's a comic I did find time to draw. Nothing to write home about, really. I've scripted a number of these shorter ones which I'll release from time to time between major projects. I hope it brings you some momentary amusement or something.