Wednesday 30 October 2013

Creepy Hallowe'en Tidings

As promised, another Hallowe'en themed illustration.

This is disappointing, the colour washed out considerably when I uploaded it here; have to figure that one out...

Monday 28 October 2013

Trick or Treat

It's that time of year again - creepies and crawlies and things that go bump! in the night. Thought I'd have a little fun with a Hallowe'en "good girl" style of pin-up, so I started doodling in my sketchbook the other night, while waiting for friends at a pub. I was looking for cute, and seductive, and a little spooky - this was the result.

Next day I redrew the concept on 9" x 12" plate Bristol, roughing out with a Col-Erase Light Blue pencil #20068.  It's not the one they call non-repro; I find this one nicer to draw with, and any leftovers after inking don't seem to scan. I tidied up the drawing with a B pencil and got to inking. (Sorry, no scan of the final pencil)

I love using a brush to ink. I've tried to use markers like some of the well known comics guys do, but I can't get the liquid line look I like. So the inking is mostly witha #2 sable watercolour brush, Hunt #108 dip pen, the really flexible one, and the occasional bit of fine marker to touch up. And yes, some white-out here and there to clean up a couple of poor decisions.

I scanned the final black and white artwork and opened it in Manga Studio5. This is superb software for any kind of comics or illustration work, and I love the feel of the natural media brushes. I've tried Photoshop and Corel Painter, and I'm much happier with MS. This was coloured on several different layers, seperating the background, skin, hair, clothes and jack-o'-lantern as individual elements, with the black and white line work on top. The glow from Jack was added on another layer on top of the line work. I also changed the canvas size eventually, to allow for the lettering, which was done in CorelDraw.

I have a couple of other Hallowe'en-themed pieces on the go, so keep an eye out - they will be along soon!

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Everything Old Is New Again

I'm seriously considering trying to put together a web comic. Just don't seem to be able to get comics out of my system, so, maybe I should make the attempt.

This is based on a concept that I started developing several years ago, and then, reluctantly, abandoned as impractical. I just couldn't see the idea of an old-style jungle adventure strip in the newspapers; there just doesn't seem to be a market for that genre.

But with the increasing popularity of web comics, and comics more in the popular culture, maybe I finally have a platform for my stories. Granted, they may not be seen by many, but at least I'll have taken my shot. I'd hate to come to my last days and regret not having tried.

So, here's a teaser, with a new character for the strip. More details in the weeks ahead...