Red Shelled - coloured

Arrrgggh!

For some reason, I'm sure that pencils hate me.

Recently working on another pinup (this time, the stunning Samantha (smcose)) when my 2mm green lead broke. Extend, sharpen, draw, SNAP! Repeat until lead runs out... I hate days like this, it breaks your concentration. Add to this that I've just bought 2 packs of leads (one staedtler blue/green, one staedtler F/HB), and I'm hoping I haven't just made a huge mistake.

Anyhow, managed to finish the nude sketch (clothing comes later in pinups), but my inking as usual, let me down I feel. This time, the sketch was inked using a bayard nib, a no.2 brush, and indian ink. It's better than my previous inks, but still not good enough - into Xara it will go, for final inking.

Have I mentioned how much I love Xara? It's so simple to use, gives great results, and I currently use nothing else. It's especially great for toon like pinups, as you can experiment with differant body shapes, colours etc, and it's all so non-destructive. It's also great for creating a collage as a reference for your sketches.

Next on my shopping list, is "The Wonderful World of Bill Ward, King of the Glamour Girls". This book is huge I tell you, and it's filled to the brim with Bill's wonderful cartoons and sketches. His use of conte crayon is fabulous - so good in fact, that I'm thinking of buying some to try...

Red Shelled during Mario Kart

Emma

Meet...Voxie!

Something I've been meaning to do for a while now, is to create a very simple character, that's quick to draw, and that I can practice putting into various costumes/situations so I can develop my cartooning skills - with this in mind, I give you...Voxie!

He's a happy little chap, who can turn his hand to anything, even though he has quite a temper at times. I've tried to keep him to basic shapes (circle for the head, rectangle for the torso, half circle for the pelvis etc...) and so far it seems to be working. My next test is to costume him up - expect to see some soon...

Once I've got Voxie going properly, I'll give him a little girl friend perhaps... Voxette?

"Oh it must be wonderful, being able to do computers...."

I've lost count how many times I've heard this phrase. "Ooh, it's so glamorous!", or "Wow, you must be SO clever!", or my own personal favorite, "I bet you make s**tloads of money doing that!"

Let me enlighten you.

I spent two and a half hours today taking two printers apart, and replacing the fuser roller gearing on one printer (which were missing some teeth) with those from the other. By the end of it, I looked more like a mechanic than a programmer - covered in oil, filthy from head to toe.

All just to save money.

Laughed? oh yeah, I laughed alright... :(

To lighten the mood, here's another sketch - Legs...

Snow Day...

Yup - Essex is snowbound, and me along with it! Never mind, at least I can work from home (provided the kids don't interrupt!)

Xara - things to watch out for...

The above image is called "RainyEyes", and in producing it, I found the following things to watch out for in Xara...

1. All line work should be on the same layer, especially if you plan on adding textures / transparencies to items that will be behind them (like skin...) - If you have to change the lines to accommodate, then do so...
2. Special Effect lines (like fur) May cause problems with (1). Transparency doesn't work, because the line style isn't kept - your best bet is to overlay with another line, on a higher layer.
3. Try to get your sketch as accurate as possible - although you can change the lines later, you'll have less work to do if the initial sketch is better.
4. PSD export at 300 dpi is the best option when exporting for editing in other programs.
5. If you plan on breaking lines to simulate penmanship, remember to set your line ends to round ends - also consider setting your corners to bevel.
   

Sweetie

Sweetie Pie - a mixture of Xara & Gimp.

The Garage - Coloured

Coloured version of the image in this post.

Jennifer

Not sure which one I prefer...
Hand drawn, then vectored in Xara.

Jennifer and Sweetie

Two very quick sketches today - the poses are based on photos, but the cartooning is all mine. I'm more pleased with Jennifer (the top one), but I that's because I've got the head wrong in "Sweetie" - perhaps I'll do the inks in Xara, and see if I can't improve them a bit (the head needs to be smaller...).

Angry...!

I'm so bloody angry with myself. For the last two days, I've been doing some pinup cartoons, and I made the same mistake that I always make - I try and make them too realistic. Whenever I do that, I get frustrated, because I can't seem to get the picture right, and it's because I'm trying to copy the picture I'm taking the pose from, rather than use it to draw my own.

I wouldn't mind, but it's the same mistake I keep making time after time. it's SO BLOODY ANNOYING!!!!

Tomorrow, I will do better...

More comic work...

Ok - first up, meet Sprocket. Primary robot on-board Lucy's ship...
He's quite a good egg, but sometimes he has attitude...

... as well as a set of rocket powered skates. He's chief cook and bottle washer too. Last, but by no means least, is Crykk and Honest Jock...
Crykk is the Engineer - someone you should have complete understanding with, which is a problem, as the only word that Crykk knows is "Crykk!" Luckily (for Him) Sprocket is fluent in Crykk. Honest Jock is the used spaceship salesman on WayPoint Station, who's primary purpose in life is to separate the Captain from his hard earned cash...

Some of these cartoons are shaded in pencil - this is deliberate, as I want to use them as a platform for futher work later on, possibly in ArtRage3... Yes, ArtRage3 is imminent, and it comes with a proper inking tool - my christmas's have all come at once...

Lucy and The Captain

These are a couple of characters I'm looking into for a new webcomic (I gave up the idea of the hamsters - not enough scope). I'm really please with these ones, although in the future, I'll probably change the black shirt - trousers for color, to improve the look. Lucy is the second in command of a trading ship, and is our much beleaguered heroine. Her Captain (name to come) is basically a well meaning, Captain Hastings type (utterly hopeless, in other words). Other characters will come soon, but as for these too, I'm happy enough with the design.

My Experiences with Bristol Board

This month, I finally got round to purchasing some Bristol Board, just to see how it compares. Up till now, I've used either straight 80 / 110 gsm copying paper, or 250 gsm smooth off-white card, so I took 1 A3 sheet of Bristol, and prepared to destroy it...

First impressions: very smooth. Lovely to pencil on, and you can erase really easily. So far so good then, so on to Inking...

Tried some dip pens and indian ink - not as impressed as I'd thought I'd be. Just as scratchy, and no real improvement. Brushes next, and yes, about the same. Then on to technical markers. Again, no real improvement, everything about the same. Bring on the brush pens...

Again, no real improvement, but I noticed more smudging, as if the ink was taking longer to dry. On to the LAMY fountain pens...

..And disaster! Smooth to work with, but noodlers absoluetly hates Bristol - it slides like a dog on ice! I was happy enough, until I came to rubbing out the pencils - smudge, smudge, smudge...

Also tried my UNI Signo white gel pen for correction... Got some strange results. Definitely depends on ink drying time being longer on Bristol.

Long and short? Use technical markers or brushes - everything else hit and miss. Makes me wonder if marker paper would be a better alternative...

On a side note, I'm starting to think about reducing my working pens to...

0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7/0.8 Technical Markers - usually Pilot/Faber/Staedtler
Black brush pens - small and large, filled with acrylic ink.

CCGB Compo 31/10/2009

Character Designs - Fuzz

Meet Fuzz. Fuzz is a hamster character I'm working on for a new comic I'm planning. Looks cute doesn't he? How wrong you would be, because Fuzz is a hamster with attitude! The first version is done with Lamy's, the others with mapping nib and brush.

It's no good...

I've tried, and tried and tried...

...but I can't create digitally.

I've tried different types of software to create my cartoons - Artrage, Manga Studio, OpenCanvas, Painter... the list goes on and on. I've tried digitally inking, pencilling, vectors, everything.

And I hate them.

I love paper and ink. There, I've said it. I'd rather pick up a pencil and draw my cartoon, ink it with pens and brushes, rather than try to re-create the feel of it digitally. There's just something so bloody sexy about it. If you're reading this Cathy, I think I'm beginning to understand where you're coming from now.

Having said all that, I still feel happier colouring digitally - I like correcting my mistakes after all!

Keep watching people, because I'm working on a new fluffy project right now, and you'll be the first to see the previews - watch this space peeps!

Honest answers required...

Well, I'm in a bit of a quandary. I'm trying to work out if I prefer my line art using Xara, or inking by hand - what do YOU think?

First off, a tramp (or is it a former RBS employee?)Secondly, a practice piece inked in Xara - am I wasting my time?

One thing I have noticed - the whole process is faster by hand...!