Hi folks!
It was super great to see all of you at Stumptown this year! I had a lot of fun, met awesome folks, and did some great sketches! Thanks one and all for making it such a great show, and thanks to those who showed up to support me in the Comic Art Battle this year! Check below to see the convention sketches I did:
Hey! So, I am getting set up to start a webcomic late this summer, and I’m doing some concept sketches along with my writing.
I decided to actually remember to document some process stuff along the way, so people can get an idea of how my brain works while I’m putting together an illustration.
Step one: Come up with a basic idea of what you want. Not too hard. This piece was done all digitally, so I started with a rough sketch in Photoshop. This is where I decide the basic layout of everything, and try to make sure the illustration reads the way I want it to.
Step two: Finished pencils. You can see I decided to make a few changes between this stage and the last. I got rid of the weird branch things, and decided I wanted to add some mysterious rocks. I really like the Japanese thing of having paper prayers attached to stone shrines and things, so I decided to add an element like that into this. Makes it more fun for me to draw!
Step three: Inks! Usually, this is where I would print out my finished pencils in redline, and then ink with real ink and a brush. But since I was lazy, and also wanting to work more on my digital inking skills, I did this in Photoshop, on a layer over the top of my pencils, which I lighted quite a bit.
Step four: Flat color. I decided all my base colors, and made my selections. This will make it easier for me to go in and change some color choices later if I need to, or allow me to select certain objects to embellish individually.
Step five: I added my shadows. I just picked a nice dark neutral purple, set it to multiply, and filled a layer over my colors. Then I added a layer mask, and used it to remove the areas that I wanted to not be in shadow. It’s starting to look reasonably finished now, but we’re not done yet!
Step six: Highlights. Same thing as the shadows, except I used a yellow color, and instead of having the whole thing filled, and erasing what I didn’t want, I just painted in the stuff I did. Now, in the past, I would have just called it good here and gone home, but since it’s a concept sketch, I wanted to really set the mood, so onward!
Step seven: Effects! I added a few gradient layers, some color overlays, and some blur effects, and voila! We have the finished piece, and now I have a frame of reference for how to draw and color the forest stuff in my webcomic. Hooray!
Hi folks! I know this is coming in a little late, but I wanted to have a wrap-up post for ECCC this year!
It was great to meet everyone that came by the table, and your feedback on my work was completely energizing! I sincerely cannot tell you how much it meant to me. It was a great show, and I am looking forward to doing it again next year!
Thanks especially to everyone who bought copies of Flaccid Badger!
I also got to do a lot of fun commissions this year, and will post them below for you to see. If by any chance you happen to be the lady I painted the buffalo commission for, would you be willing to send me a picture or scan? It was the only one I forgot to document for my records!
Enjoy!
Hi all! So, I was overwhelmed by phone jealously at Emerald City this year, and got so frustrated, I decided to make a comic about it. Below is my message to Microsoft, Windows Phone, and app developers. Make no mistake, I love my Lumia 900, but after being promised many things for a long time, I am really flustered. I think the biggest thing that I missed in the comic is the promised upgrade to WP 7.8. Still waiting for that. Yeah.
:<
Hi again!
I’m back yet again, with two pieces of info that you might be into.
1) My lovely boy, Ron Chan, just received his copies of Roy’s Boys: Year Two! It collects the second year of his webstrip with buddy, Sean Kelley, and is possibly full of even funnier strips than the Year One book. Also, I did some fan art that appears in the back of the book!
2) I will be appearing at Emerald City Comic Con 2013 this year! I’m super excited to be a part of the radical show once again. Also, a reminder, my work will be appearing the the Monsters And Dames book this year, so be sure to check that out as well.
3) (Ok, so I was mistaken, I have three things to say!) There will be new Flaccid Badger debuting at ECCC! Be sure to stop by my table at Periscope Island to check out Flaccid Badger’s Spring Break, and pick up a fun Flaccid Badger Super Pack from me while I still have some!
All right, that’s everything! See you at the show!:D
Well, hello there!
I haven’t been working on much that can be shared publicly as of late, but here is something I can finally show you all!
I got to do a special cover illustration for the 100th issue of The Walking Dead for the fine folks at The Hero Initiative. Check it out:
Guess what? I’m in an anthology! I am proud to say I am one of 8 artists who participated in an anthology project titled: “If Money Could Shout: The Brutal Truth For Teens”. The stories were written by Paul Nourigat, who is looking to comics as a fun and relevant way to communicate to teens about finances. Check out the press release!
“Consultant and author Paul Nourigat has released a breakthrough graphic novel about personal finance for teens and young adults. This eight story anthology completes a circle he began over a year ago, as he produced six books oriented to younger readers. IF MONEY COULD SHOUT blends messaging about the financial facts of life throughout each of its eight fictional stories, along with extensive imagery to connect teens with poorly understood financial topics.
Says Nourigat …”The teen audience is very discerning and required great attention to the balance of images and text. I’m really pleased with the creative power in this book and the 400+ original illustrations, engaging readers in fundamental but mature financial messaging and stories. My objective is to empower young people with facts and perspectives on key financial topics, so they may enjoy greater success in our increasingly competitive world. As youth step into adulthood, they deserve greater financial insights than traditionally available.”
Attached is a digital peek into this innovative new book, including the first page of each of the eight stories, showcasing the marvelous and diverse illustrations produced by eight talented artists from across America.
The books are immediately available on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com
A publisher-direct “support your school” program will be offered to individuals and companies who would like to purchase a block of discounted books as a gift for a favorite school or community organization (20 or more books).”
Here’s a page from my story, “The Graduate”. The lettering was done after I submitted my art, so if you want to read it, buy the book!;)
So, it’s been a while since I posted, but never fear, for new content is here RIGHT NOW! I bet you’ve all been wondering what has been consuming my time as of late(and if you haven’t, well, too bad!). I recently finished production on a brand new comic written by J. Kingman, who I collaborated on Legend of Larsha 2: Imaginational Magic with.
This new book is called “Queer Weather”, and it’s a lot more grown-up than Larsha, so it pushed me to draw in a different way. I’m really proud of the results, and here are a few of my favorite pages so you can see why! It debuted at Emerald City Comic Con this year, and will also be available at Stumptown at my table there!
If you want to see all the pages, I’ve uploaded them here.
Here’s a sneak peak at a project I’ve been working on lately!
