The Digital Age

Hope you all had a merry Christmas.  Originally I planned on writing up one of my holiday spiels, but opted not to…out of apathy.  Oh well.  I’m allowed.

Anyway, I never talked about I’M FAMOUS! 70 and I just put up 71, so lets look at them.

A few words about this one.  I think it’s funny and fairly accurate when it comes to most group projects I’ve ever worked on.  One guys does prep while everyone else screws around.  I like the way the relationships are forming and the dynamics are becoming established.

By the way, what the hell is the Lone Wolf’s book about anyway?

This one is very significant.  Not because it’s so good, because I don’t really think it is.  In fact a messed up a bit while making it.  Not because it finally points out that the Wolf Pack has been MISSING since they arrived in LA.

No, it is significant for a technical reason.  Notice a difference in the way it looks?  Besides the fact the the drawing isn’t quite as good that is.  This marks the first time I’ve ever drawn something digitally. I got a tablet and stylus for Christmas and this was the first time I used it.  Normally I draw with pencil and pen on paper, then scan it, then digitally color it in Photoshop.  This comic was 100% drawn in Photoshop.

It was a real learning process as I had to come up with a whole new creation process.  Something that I still need to refine, but definitely developed as I worked on this.  It was really weird, but I think there are a lot of benefits and I will improve with practice.  Just the disconnect of having what my hand is drawing only being visible on a separate screen is hard to get used to.  It is bizzare to have to look at on spot while my hand is drawing at a totally different spot and to mentally connect the two.  But I’ll get better.  I think I already did improve with each panel.  I started on the bottom left, then right, then the top two, followed by the middle from left to right.

I just sort of jumped into things, but I already feel more prepared for the next one.  I think it will be worth it, as it is faster to draw and there are more things I can do creatively then starting with pen and paper.  It also lets me give it a more flashy look.  My plan is to continue with the tablet on Famous from now on, but I’ll likely stick with pen and paper when we get back to Black Snow or Day Camp, as I think it lends to their tone and style.