Third-Grade Detectives: Book Cover #6

Now that all the books in the series have been updated, I can share the 6th book cover I did, from over a year ago.  These book covers weren't my best work, and I won't share all the covers, but this one I thought turned out pretty good.

Coloring is hard

Adding color, even digitally, takes longer than I ever remember.  I always think to myself, "surely this won't take nearly as long as it did for me to draw," but then I rediscover how wrong I am every time.  Either way, color usually ads more interest to things like this, so it's a fun little treasure in the end.  If I get around to it, I'll repost the first few pages in color, or post something different I've been working on by end of week.  Drawing is fun!

A Sketchy Ending

     Finally, the last three squares of the fourth page in my fantasy comic.  I decided to make this post slightly more interesting by showing the sketches side by side with the final inked drawing.  This one, like the previous panels, were inked digitally using Manga Studio Debut 4.  It's a great program!  I still miss some of the nuances of inking with real ink and brush, but the clean up and ease of digital inking is far more rewarding.
     I plan on coloring this page as well as pages one and two.  I'll be sure to post them as they become finished.  Thank you for your patience, to the few followers of this blog, for my sporadic and sparse blog posts.

Fwoosh!

It's been awhile since I posted anything so I thought I would post the next section of this comic that I was working on.  Nothing too fancy, but some good line quality here and there.  Maybe someday I'll finish the last section and then add some color.  What do you think?

Goblin in the Snow: Inked

To continue showing my process, here is the sketch from my previous post, now inked.  This inked drawing is a little different though from what I normally do.  Traditionally, I use brush and ink to ink my drawings.  I love using brush and ink, but it can be very time consuming, not to mention it uses up ink and wears on your brushes overtime.  I've never been a fan of inking digitally, especially when comics artists I use to admire go digital and then their lines look mechanical and lose a lot of character.  I think I did alright for my first try.  I used the program, Manga Studio Debut 4, which supposedly was known for its sensitivity in inking.  For anyone interested in inking digitally, I highly recommend this program.  I got it only for a trial period, but will for sure buy it now.

Sketchy Goblin in the Snow

It's obvious that my comic posts will be more like twice a year.  At any rate, I'm anxious to post something new so here is the next section of the comic story, in pencil, and with no speech bubbles.  I do like to make up my own sound effect text sometimes.  This comic isn't so much of me being a nerd and writing a story of fantasy, but rather a medium in which I can practice drawing and inking while hopefully telling a fun story.  More to come, sooner than later.

Christmas Card for the Marcums

 

This holiday season was a busy one for me with lots of traveling, visits and excursions.  I didn't have nor make the time to do my own Christmas card this year but I was lucky enough to help in creating a Christmas card for someone else.  My long time friend from college, Julia Marcum, and her husband Chris Marcum wanted to do something fun and less traditional for a Christmas card.  They wanted a caricature of themselves and their darling daughter Greta to grace the front of their Christmas card.  At first, time wasn't on my side and I tried to tell Julia that I wouldn't have time for this, but she informed me they would just find another illustrator.  I didn't want them to get a crappy Christmas card so I decided to do it myself after all and I'm very glad I did.  Julia says the card was a hit with her family and friends and I must say I'm very pleased with the results myself.

Read Julia's take on the Christmas card on her own popular blog, www.chrislovesjulia.com.  Great blog if you like art, family or interior decorating.