BUBS hiatus and other nonsense.

I have been eating like a pig lately. That has nothing to do with BUBS of course, I am not too bothered about putting on weight with University looming just around the corner. I am confident that once uni kicks off again I will lose any extra I have gained over the holidays (and proceed to put it back on the following holidays.)

Unfortunately there is this issue with gym access, or lack thereof. I know that you do not necessarily need a kitted out gym to build strength. I could hammer push-ups and jack-knifes along with my cheerleading, but it just doesn't motivate me like a good workout room does. I am not the sort of gym bunny to swan around in a vest, gingerly clutching my protein shake while admiring my fake tan in the strength room mirrors. Anyone who regularly attends a gym will tell you the same thing, it's all about being in a different place with a bunch of other people who share your goals of fitness.

When I go to the gym, I have my gym head on. I get there, I get ready, I cardio, I work out, I swim and then sauna and wind down. That is my gym life. I don't go every day like some people, I don't hog the weight room like a muscle Mary. I do a little of everything, keeping in mind my goals from BUBS (which I am regiment with, while at the gym.) When I am here, at home in Wigan, I just cannot enter that frame of mind. I know there is a lovely wooded nature area across the road ideal for jogging, or cycling (which I have been considering) but I just don't seem to have the motivation when I am here.

What I do find odd is that I have been drawing and updating the website all summer. I haven't given working out much of a thought outside of cheer practice, but I have been drawing or sketching almost everyday. Yet when I am at uni, I don't make a single thing. You can guarantee I hit the gym at least once a week though.

Maybe I have yet to find the balance between the two. In the gym I feel like I am working towards something, a firmer body with less loose skin and the ability to jump higher, lift girls for longer, clear concise goals. When drawing I am working towards bettering my technique to produce higher quality work in less time, so that I can get them online and (hopefully) entertain the masses; not to mention fill a portfolio which might get me work. I think I need to strike a balance between the two, I shall have this as my goal for the next academic year.

So BUBS is on hold until I return to sunny Salford, at which point it may not just be build Upper Body Strength, but also Lose Summer Fat at the same time! On an unrelated note, here's a sketch of a dude (work in progress)...

I could ink this in Photoshop as is, but there is something about it which I don't like, so I'm going to keep working in colours, then try the pencil/inking method I suggested in my previous post.

Until next time!

My comic process, and how I want to improve it.

For those who don't know, for just over a month I've really been hammering my art to see how much I can improve before Uni starts up again. I know that I can manage a decent looking comic, and in this past month I have learned a lot about technique, industry etiquette and standardisation.

Of course, one has never fully learned everything. There are many improvements to be made before I am truly proud to stand with the other cartoonists listed to the right and hold my head as high as they so rightly deserve to. Practice everyday is one thing, but my technique, that is something I am also hoping to evolve.

To that end, here is my current modus operandi, from start to 'finish'...

Pencil sketching
As all of the comics I have produced thus far have been autobiographical or surrealism based on a real character (myself) I have had little need for a script. Therefore I simply start with the joke in my head, I thumbnail the panels then draw out the comic on paper. I start with wire frames of the foreground characters with a basic background, then develop both. At this point I will usually also pencil in areas for the bubbles or boxes (which is an improvement from my last method, which was to make the scene in its entirety, then decide where the bubbles go thereby wasting some rather luscious background to a speech bubble.)

Scanning and inking
After the above is done to my satisfaction, I scan the image in at 300DPI and load it into Photoshop. I then use it as a base, ink over the pencil lines on a new layer above the pencil sketch to get a clean black line. Once the line art is ready I will add a borders layer above it and a colours layer below it.

Colouring
The most laborious part of comic construction is the colouring. It can take well over two or three hours to finish the colouring on a comic and most aspects of my comic only uses the basic fill tool. I do not differ amongst warm and cool tones to produce depth like other comics. This isn't because I am intrinsically lazy, more a case of I haven't perfected the technique yet and so I do not want to produce comics which are sub par, particularly in light of the fact that many comics are wonderful in simple black and white.

A note on shading
Usually the last thing I do with the pen is shading and possibly highlights. although in a recent comic I tried my hand at gradient shading (using shadows which get darker/lighter either end) and with a little practice I think I can get the hang of it. At the moment, using a transparent black to indicate where the shadows are hitting is fine, but it still does not define the images as 3D objects as much as I'd like them.


Framing, bubbles and text
Usually the last thing I do besides minor aesthetic tweaks is the text and speech bubbles/annotation blocks. this is just a case of placing them where I planned to from the original sketch.

There's one or two things at each stage of development that I would like to play around with. I am restricted by time, but here are a few of my ideas...

Pencil sketching (EVERYTHING)
I want to try making an entire comic using only pencil sketching. This means that the comic will be done entirely on paper, in pencil. The method I intend to use would be to sketch very lightly using a small mechanical pencil, then use heavier lines with a softer lead (possibly a thicker one depending on the line). When finished, I use a very accurate eraser to rub out all the unwanted lines. I can also clean everything up in photoshop (and make the pencil lines as dark as ink.)

This will save me hours of work with the tablet and make the whole process simpler and cleaner. The only issue is that I will really need to train myself to take more care when working with pencil and paper. This is something which will happen only through practice, it will take diligence but then nothing worth having in this life comes easy. This also leads me onto...

...Working bigger
One thing I realise when I am working on paper and transferring to computer is that on the computer I can get much more detail on things such as clothing and faces because I can zoom in, draw what I need, and zoom out. I cannot do that on paper. Well, not effectively. My best bet is to use two or three sheets per comic and build the panels separately, take up maybe half or a whole sheet of A4 per panel. Ideally I would make the comic on A3 paper, then scan in chunks and resize on the PC. This will be the best way to get detail on things such as clothes and backgrounds in pencil.

Colouring
At the moment I am not thinking of complicating my colouring process, except that I may consider using more gradients as I have had some pleasing results thus far. This does mean using more of the polygon selection tool. I may also experiment with using channels again soon, just because I can see it being a big help in the future considering all the industry techniques you can use to manipulate colour.

Shading
I think the only change I will make to shading is that I may consider adding shading at the pencil stage, and either enhancing that shading through photoshop or leaving it as is. On a similar note, I do intend to play more with secondary light and coloured highlights (using warm or cool tones) to enhance the scenes.

Bubbles and Boxes
I need to standardise my text. I have picked a font at the moment which is quite hand-drawn in appearance. I would like something different that would set my comic apart from the standard 'Anime Acers' out there. I know font doesn't make a comic and there's no point polishing a turd, but I am a stickler for detail. I may experiment with hand-drawing my text. I have also read up on some interesting articles during my research and found that a few people like to hand draw their bubbles, which I like the effect of and thus taken to. There are also some helpful hints out there on text placement and etiquette.

There you have it. I shall no doubt report my findings and any pieces I deem blog worthy. though I am concious of giving up the experimental strips as I do not want to be known as a bad artist right off the bat. However, I am a warts-an'-all kind of writer/artist and find beauty in the process and the imperfect as much as the perfect.

Plus I like being told how good I am <3

More mass GIFs

Wouldn't want you to get bored now would I. Click on the image if it doesn't animate in this window...

One for you to decide.

I've spent over a month researching and honing sequential art (comic) techniques. There are some really artistic web comics out there, and some simplistic ones, all are effective in their own ways.

In case you haven't been keeping up, I am in the process of producing a web comic to accompany the new blog, which by the way is looking fierce...

In the above screen cap you can see a comic which I have recently produced as a tester for a couple of new techniques I've been working on. firstly, the border and the bubbles are dynamic, not set as a template. No transparency (I didn't like how that looked anyway.) I've used a texture on the background which I plan to do more often as I think it gives the comic a little depth. Also I have decided I did not like dot for eyes, I felt limited in how the characters could express themselves. I also miss giving colour to eyes.

I've been studying perspective, anatomy, proportion, drawing and posing techniques as well as panel placement and such. I have a few books on the way which will help me with these things. I've taken a lot of inspiration from the web comics which I have been reading (and am as a result, addicted to.) I'll add all the web comics I read to a box to the right because they really are fantastic reads (even for those who are not familiar to the comic genre.)

Here are a few sketches I have produced as a result of my research (this is digital, the stuff in my actual sketchbook will stay there because there's too much to upload.)...

That last one is actually a panel to one of the comics I am working on, but I liked it so much I decided to keep it as an image. I think I'm improving, though this only related marginally to the actual comic, which is something that will improve over time. It's not like I can do a months worth of work and make five years worth of progress, I will just need to be patient.

So, onto the question for you, the reader. I want you to look at these comics and pick out what you like and what you don't like. Don't be afraid to make a criticism but try and name something you like and don't like in equal measure, that way I know which direction to go. I have my own style and my own criticisms of my work (I am honestly my worst critic) but a second/third/whatever opinion would be greatly appreciated, I've added some notes to each to give you a better idea of what I'm asking of you...

In this one, the panels are too cramped and the overall joke isn't clear, but I like the look of the background (lacking black lines, giving it an open feel.) Also the wording is off.

I like the font in this one, but the lines have no life to them. Otherwise I consider it a success. It was this comic that convinced me to draw them freehand from now on.

This one took over a week to finish. I do not like the transparency on the speech bubble in the second panel, but I like how busy it is compared to the similarity of the other panels with my mother in them. Also I don't like drawing people I know, so I probably won't be doing that again.

This is the first of my new experimental style. I ditched the border template and rounded-square bubbles, textures on the background, but it's boring, the movement is interesting but the same character stood up in every panel is not interesting to look at, however, I still consider it a good job for a first push.

There you go, I started you off. You can either agree with me, or disagree and please explain. You don't need to know about comics to criticise mine, I want to know that an audience of any type will find it pleasing to read, or at the very least understand it. 

Big love!