Sketchbook - The return of the killer sketchbook

More sketchbook scratchings. This time it's skull studies. The skull's pretty cool, when you get down to it. References were from Drawing: A Complete Guide by Giovanni Civardi and a plastic, artist model skull I've affectionately called Mr. Skull-Head. I love Mr. Skull-Head. He's interesting, looks cool on the desk, and acts as a great paperweight.





Ooo, cover idea coming through. *squeee* More stuff I can sketch out in this thing. Though I'm going to need to find more red lead soon. I like it better than the HBs for some reason.


"Artists can't forego disciplined study because that's the foundation for becoming fearless."
-- Melanie Peter

Sketchbook - The Pumpkin Princess

Hey guys! I've been a little loopy so far today. Just tired from little sleep last night, I guess. For the moment, I have two quick sketches for you - some pumpkins, a bat, and the Pumpkin Princess. Happy Halloween!






Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween
-- This is Halloween - Tim Burton

Continuing the ink vs. tone comparison

Another page down, another page where I like the plain inks better than the ink and tone mix. Just a section of a panel this time. I've been sharing more than I probably should lately.



Hmm... interesting. There wasn't as much detail in this page as there has been in the last three or so. That will probably be the case with the remaining pages in this issue. Which, I need to sketch up soon. Though not tonight. I really need to try to get some sleep.

Oh, I mentioned this last week, but I should probably do so again. The two original, hand drawn pieces below are available for sale.

All income goes to benefit a fellow SpiderForest member. These are large pieces - 12x15 and 11x17 - done on Bristol board with ink and markers. If interested, please check the store for more information.

I think that's all for the moment. It's late and I'm long overdue for some sleep. Later and thanks for reading.


"Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds."
-- JoJo Jensen

Sketchbook - Faces and comics

Morning guys. You know, I've gotten the vibe that some web comic creators feel that superhero comics - heck, mainstream comics in general - are beneath them. As if drawing superheroes or reading about them undermines your independent voice or some such. 'While you're drawing that over-hyped crap, I'm doing my own stories.'

Apparently, they've magically forgotten about the comic I do. You know, the one with the talking critters and swords. The one I've been working on for years now. Yeah, that one.

Let's get real for a moment, shall we? If you want to improve your drawing, writing, or even just your chances at making a modest income from your comic, it's helpful to look outside of your comfort zone and try new things. You should continually stretch your abilities and attempt to learn from everything around you, even things you may not initially enjoy.

I'll admit, I was bias against superheroes when I first started reading comics in the mid-nineties. I was turned off by the images on the covers, especially of the women. Now, I love those covers. Stepping into a comic shop has become an exhilarating experience. All the color, the poses, the story possibilities... it's like sensory overload. It leaves me feeling excited and inspired. Yet, I don't read many supers and most likely never will. There are a few that I've grown to enjoy and love, but I'm still more likely to choose an independent title over a mainstream, superhero one.

Still, being exposed to the supers has made me reevaluate things like pacing, anatomy, dynamics, camera shots, color, line, form, and flow. Learning about the men and women who've come before has shown me what is possible. They point out the pitfalls they've had to face and give a series of markers on the path. They've created work that inspires me, even if I don't care for the characters that are being depicted.

I can't imagine someone claiming they do webcomics out of love for the medium and then shoving their fingers in their ears whenever anything comic, yet not webcomic, related comes along. On top of that, having them then carry on about not getting enough hits despite how long they've been running.

I can tell you why you're not getting to the level you want, but you're not going to like it. Are you ready? It's because you're not being observant, that's why. You're not realizing that this audience that you want to attract loves these other works too. And, to attract them, maybe you should at least show a little respect and understanding of this other side of comics. People aren't going to like you if you crap on what they enjoy. Sorry, that's just how it is.

What it comes down to is yes, the course focuses on superheroes. Still, that does not mean that I can only draw supers with the knowledge being taught. Or, that the lessons are the be-all and end-all. Take the head lesson from yesterday. I was always under the impression that I couldn't draw human heads (and by that extension, anthro-animal heads) well because I lacked knowledge of the basic proportions of the head. Turns out I had that knowledge, what I lacked was an understanding of how the individual parts of the face are built. Thanks to the lesson - which uses superheroes as a teaching point - I now know where the real problem areas lie. Which means, I can tackle them specifically and eventually, with time and effort, improve on them. That's the sort of thing that I find helpful. It's also what was missing from my attempts to study this stuff on my own - someone slowing me down and making me look at the basics first.

Because understanding the basics leads to a sturdy foundation for understanding the more complex, specific details.






"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And, because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds."
-- Ronald David Laing

Issue 14, page 21

Okay, the clean sketch of page twenty-one is ready for inking tomorrow.



With the high winds outside, I don't think I want to tempt fate by beginning the inking this evening. I think I'll just do some more sketching instead. Or some research reading. One or the other.


"I don't write these stories; my characters tell them to me."
-- Donna Barr

Sketchbook - Heads and eyes

Hey guys. Yeah, I know, I missed two days of sketchbook work. And right after I mentioned wanting to get into the habit of doing a sketchbook post a day. Thursday was a nearly twelve hour inking marathon and Friday was me recovering from said marathon. Still, it's no excuse. Well, when you trip, you just have to get up and try again.

Today I did the third part of Lesson One... Heads. This one was fun.

Tips from the book...

Just as with the body, the head must begin with basic normal proportions. These standard proportions apply to all heads, male and female. In drawing the head, expression is less important than proper proportion at the beginning stage.

Practice by drawing many different male and female heads and faces. Study the features of people you see. Note how their eyes differ. Their mouths. Ears. Hair. Yet, all are based on classic proportions employed by Michelangelo and da Vinci.

I need to study how hair sits on the head as well as various styles eventually.



These next two are me focusing on eyes for the moment. I was a bit familiar with the basic head proportions. It's the parts of the face that throw me off. So, I pulled out this little book that I'd picked up for cheap when our local Borders was going out of business. It's Drawing: A Complete Guide by Giovanni Civardi. It covers a number of things very briefly, including the anatomy of various facial parts. So, I'll be sketching from that for a bit before starting section four.

Today I focused on eyes. Tips from the book:

Notice that the white section of the eyeball (the sclera) is not pure white but actually changes colour due to the effect of its own shadow and the one cast by the eyelid. Be careful to draw both eyeballs (and therefore both pupils) looking in the same direction as the expressiveness of the eyes depends on this.

The female eye usually has long and thick eyelashes, while eyebrows are well outlined and thin. The iris of a child looks very big compared to the eyelids.

Elderly people show several deep wrinkles radiating from the corners of the eyes, the lower eyelids become 'baggy', and eyebrows become irregularly thick and bushy.

I still need a lot of work, but it's a nice start.





The next section is Action, which will be fun. But, I want to practice more with the face and various facial parts first. Maybe I'll tackle the nose next. Hmm... I should do some skull studies too. That will help with the placement of cheekbones and brow ridges which I can never seem to get right. Skulls are fun to draw, right?

Though tonight I have to do the clean sketch of Issue 14, page twenty-one. That needs to be inked for Monday.


"The first essential to success in the art you practice is respect for the art itself."
-- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Death by toning

Morning guys. I don't know what it is lately, but toning the last few pages has been really depressing. I can't help thinking, 'do I really need to tone them?'



There's nothing wrong with the tones. At least, not that I can see. Yes, the scene's a little dark, but other scenes in the past have been dark as well, and I didn't see a problem. I think, oddly enough, that the lines are changing. That I'm trying something different with the inking that makes the tones, well, kind of unwelcome.

While it'd be nice to sit back and say this is because my inking has suddenly jumped to the next level, I highly doubt that's the reason. It's most likely because I've been reading a lot of books on comic creators from previous years, especially inkers. Being exposed to so much great work in stark black and white could be upping my preference for that format. This isn't hurt by the fact that I prefer black and white in the first place. I love color in animation. I don't need it in comics.

I'm in the minority here. A number of people online seem to have little respect for black and white work. I know it, you know it, so let's stop lying to ourselves and get that nasty little fact out of the way, shall we? I'm not out of change people's minds. Frankly, I don't have the time or the energy.

If I know this and it bothers me - because let's be honest here, it does - then why work in black and white? For the same reason I'm sharing stuff from the sketchbook lately. It makes me vulnerable. With stark black and white I have nothing to hide behind. I used color to mask a lot of mistakes. People seemed much more forgiving of a lack of line width variation or shaky lines or hell, sometimes even off-proportions when the pages were colored. It was just, 'look at the coloring!' Yeah, I can color with markers and color pencils somewhat passably. But, while the color hid the problem areas from readers, I still saw them. Striping the color away forced me to start trying to improve those areas, instead of going, 'this is off, so I'll just color it a little darker than the rest so the eye is drawn in the other direction.'

I'll admit, the tones do the same thing at times. Can't figure out how to spot the blacks to create the illusion of depth? Slap a tone in there. Maybe that's what's annoying me about the tones recently. They feel a bit like training wheels. I'm wondering, if maybe it's time for the training wheels to come off.

It's hard to tell. It could also be because of all the chaos in the recent pages - legs and trees everywhere. A more simplistic set of pages may leave me loving the look of tones again. The only thing to do is keep going with the tones and continue comparing the finished pages with the un-toned ones. Trial and error. It's all trial and error.


"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, 'something is out of tune.'"
-- Carl Jung

Sketchbook - No model is safe from my wrath

Also known as, the attack of Harper's Bazaar. I love fashion, but the books showcasing fashion designers and eras are so expensive. So, I thought Harper's Bazaar might be a less costly option. While there are a number of interesting photos in the magazine, I've found the prices listed on their fashion accessories to be even more entertaining. "Come, look at this lovely little clutch bag. It's simply perfect for a pleasant evening about town. A steal at $2,000." Yeah, I'll be sure to pick one of those up. *snicker*

Anyway, I figured I'd try my hand at drawing a few women from the previous issue. This first one I really enjoyed. I loved all the black in the photo. Unfortunately, the nib of my new pen is a little too thin. So, I didn't finish the whole image. Maybe I'll give it another go sometime.



This next one proves that I'm not ready to sketch human faces with a pen just yet. I figured using the pen more often would help me get comfortable with working in ink again - I'm planning ahead for when I need to ink those correspondence course assignments by hand. The pen also requires me to learn how to sketch without using the preliminary guidelines. You know, the whole 'the head is a circle with a wedge for the chin area' and such. It's nice practice, but it does lead to wonky faces like below.



Oh well, nothing for it but more practice.


"The essence of drawing is the line exploring space."
-- Andy Goldsworthy

Issue 14, page 20

Hey-hey, the clean sketch of page twenty is ready for inking. Lovely! Not as detailed as the previous two, but it works.



You know, I've been sitting here listening to Count Duckula while sketching today. I've got the coolest job at times. *laughs*


Count Duckula: "Now, if I say we go on the roller-coaster, we go on the roller-coaster. You too, Nanny."
Nanny: "Oooh no, I-I think I'll stay here and watch Mr. Igor take his head off."
Count Duckula: "Now look, I don't want to pull rank... but if you're not over by that roller-coaster in two seconds, I'll stand here... and... I'll sing."
[Nanny and Igor run off]
Count Duckula: "I'm employing a couple of philistines."
-- Count Duckula

There's a plan in here, I swear

Okay, the layout sketches of Issue 14, pages twenty and twenty-one are complete. They look like a mass of chaos at the moment, but there is a method to all this. It's in there somewhere. I promise.





I like sharing the pages at this very rough stage. There's enjoyment in all this jumble for some reason. Still, I need to clean up the sketch for page twenty tonight so inking can begin.

I also need to do another page in the sketchbook. I'm trying to get into the habit of doing at least one sketch a day. They say it takes twenty-one days for a habit to set in. Can I stay good for that long? We'll see.


Count Duckula: "Off you go, then. A nanny has to do what a nanny has to do."
Nanny: "Oh, very well. But if I get eaten... I'm giving in my notice!"
-- Count Duckula

Breyers as art models? You bet!

Morning guys! So, on today's agenda is sketching out pages twenty and twenty-one of Issue 14. I know, I wanted to get them done up last night, but ended up not doing so for various reasons. Totally my fault. So, let's get them done today, shall we?

Since I'll be extending this storyline into Issue 16, there will be a slight change to the thumbnails posted last week. Nothing major, just a bit of breathing room so I can show what's happening a little clearer. Today's work is the last two in this section.



Which means, more horses running. While I love drawing horses, I still need references for them. Otherwise, they get a little toony looking. And while toony is nice for the main characters, I want the horses to look a little more, well, horse-like. This is where the morgue - an artist's collection of photos, images, books, and models - comes in. While I use a lot of photos from books and the internet, sometimes the best references are toys.

I love Breyer horses. I'm not sure how much fun they'd be as toys, but they make great drawing references. Unlike photos, they're three dimensional. You're not limited to the angle a photographer has chosen - cause let me tell you, there aren't that many good shots of horses from the back, top, or upshots out there. At least not that I've been able to uncover. With the Breyer, if I want a birds-eye shot I just take the model, set it on the desk, and snap a photo of it from above. Ta-da! Birds-eye reference!

In this next page I want to show a bit more movement, with Part turning hard and fast. I know this changes the balance of the horse, but I'm not exactly sure about the placement of the hooves and the body to help the horse keep its balance. Part should look like he's off-balance yet still in control, not off-balance and about to roll over! So, that's where Scamper here comes in.



Scamper's modeled after a barrel racer. Neat, eh? By turning Scamper around, I now have a basic reference for a turning horse from the sides, back, and front.







Who says toys aren't educational? Is the model exactly accurate? No, it's a plastic toy for crying out loud. But, it is a good starting point.

I do have one complaint about the Breyers... they discontinue models. I understand why, it aids in the collect-ability. Which, is great for business. But, it does make it harder to find certain poses. Like the one below. I need a good reference for a horse sliding to a stop, and this guy would be perfect. But, he's retired. At least with the photo of the model I should be able to somewhat guesstimate what the pose would look like from the three-quarter front. Hopefully.



Either way, enough talking. Time to get to work. Later!


"Small children are convinced that ponies deserve to see the inside of the house."
-- Maya Patel

Sketchbook - The cutie known as Kaitlyn

I'm back with more messy sketches. Aren't you guys lucky? Chrispy asked if I'd be willing to take a shot at drawing Kaitlyn. So, I did. Unfortunately, I don't draw kids very often - hardly at all, in fact - which led to the poor girl suddenly going through a growth spurt. Run, Kaitlyn! Run before puberty sets in!



I'm not sure if any of these are useful, but she was fun to draw! Though I don't think she was all that pleased by the end of it.



As for the three inked cats near the top... I have a new tool! It's a Koh-I-Noor Rapido Sketch Pen. It's nice, though more suited for slower, detailed sketching. Or, for doing some tight crosshatching. It even came with a little bottle of ink to refill it with. The nice thing is, the cap screws on instead of just snapping shut like the microns. That should help keep the ink from drying out so quickly.



So yeah, first time sketching with the new pen. It was very relaxing. I'll have to do it more often. Though probably not on the coursework.

And I still need to start laying out the next few pages of CN:H. I know what I want to happen, I just need to figure out just how it will look. I want to be able to have page twenty at least partially inked by tomorrow evening. These last few pages have been taking a little longer than normal to ink up for some reason.


"When you draw, hold your sketchbook upright. Attempting to draw your subject with your sketchbook flat on the table results in distortion."
-- Hilary Page

Sketchbook - Exaggeration

Morning guys! It's been a few days since I worked in the sketchbook. I know, I'm a bad, bad little monkey. So, I started the second part of Lesson One last night. This section was about... Exaggeration. And, to be honest, I didn't find it very useful.

The whole point of this section was that the exaggerated musculature of a superhero is built on top of the normal proportions shown in the previous section. I think that might just fall under 'duh'. Unfortunately, while there was one torso-front sample, there weren't any others. Nor was there info on the actual musculature you're suppose to draw. So, I'll be looking at other anatomy books for that. My goal is to eventually be able to portray the body in as many poses and from as many angles as possible. Because comic book characters have this nasty habit of bouncing around the page.

Tips from the book...

You will improve your drawing ability in direct ratio to the time you spend drawing, and the number of drawings you produce. Think before you draw. Try to envision your drawing in your mind before you start to draw. Drawing without thought is merely doodling.

You can take any idea, figure, or object and create a Superhero. But, understand: a drawing does not fall out of a pencil. It starts in your head. Focus on your ideas. Don't let your attention wander. If you're not concentrating, you're not doing your best work.

It's rough and messy sketches time! This first one was done while looking at a drawing of Conan by Gil Kane in The Art of Comic Book Inking. I apologize for murdering Mr. Kane's work.



This fellow here - at least from the waist up - was from the lesson page. I'm in need of more practice. Oh dear, I have to spend my time studying photos of big, hunky, muscular men. Whatever will I do? *snicker*



This one was also sketched from a pose in The Art of Comic Book Inking. The original art was drawn by Randy Green. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the character. I just liked her movement and flowing cloak.



More strange sketches, including an attempt at a stretchy man. I like how the two women turned out.



Another drawing of the woman in the flowing cloak from The Art of Comic Book Inking. The original art was drawn by Brent Anderson.



And finally, more random women from out of my head. I like the hair on the main figure. I may have to use that for a character later on.



The next section is on Heads, which I'm looking forward to. I have such a hard time with faces, especially the nose / eye area. This should be interesting. But first, I need to finish getting my day started and then do some sketching for a friend quick. I need to work out the next two pages of CN:H, too. You know what this means... sketch day! Whooo!

Oh, I should apologize for the ghosting on some of the scans. I've been sketching on both sides of the page in the sketchbook, which causes the lines on the previous page to show up in the scan now and then. I'm not sure if you're suppose to use both sides of the page in your sketchbook or not. It's been a while since I've had one. But, I figured it'd make the book last longer.

Anyway, later guys!


"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, 'You mean they forget?'"
-- Howard Ikemoto

Original CN:H art to help a fellow cartoonist

Morning guys! First off, I should probably mention that the blog address has changed. Between CN:H, other projects I'm developing on my own, and the whole 'trying to learn to draw' stuff, I'm having a hard time shifting attention towards other RCSI projects these days. So, the blog is more me-centric now. I know, so egotistical. I'll figure something more general for RCSI Pub at a later date, when my brain doesn't feel like it's been put through a blender.

The blog can now be found at http://between-the-panels.blogspot.com.

Okay, on to the main reason for this post - aside from saying good morning, of course. SpiderForest has been working on organizing a fundraiser for a fellow SF member for a few months now. But, things got in the way. No matter! We have a store! We have originals! We can just handle things in-house. And so, we have!

As a result, I'm offering two pieces of original CN:H art for sale. The first is the cover image from the Prologue trade. The second is the ballroom scene from Issue 14, pages twelve and thirteen. Both of these were done on Bristol board with micron pens and Prismacolor markers. And, they're both rather large - the Prologue cover is 11x17 while the ballroom scene is 12x15.

The price is set at $75 each. No, I'm not trying to be greedy here. It's a combination of two things - one, each of these took a long time to do and two, I'm trying to raise money for Karl. With that in mind, hopefully they're not too high.

Since these are originals, there's only one of each available. So if you're interested, now's the time! Thanks for taking a look and helping us help out a fellow Spiderling!


"So what do artists want? They simply want to do what they love: sell work to collectors who will adore and care for one-of-a-kind pieces. They want to make a living wage, like anyone else."
-- Stephanie Greene

Horses and planning

Well, that took longer than expected. Sorry about that, Supporters. *scratches head* I really need to stop getting carried away with these horse pages. They're slowing me down. I can't help it, I just love drawing horses!

Though I think I prefer the un-toned version this time.



While I don't think I'll ever drop the tones in CN:H, it would be nice to get the inking to a point where I won't need tones on any future comic projects. They're nice, but they sometimes print a little oddly. I can do actual crosshatching. I just don't bother to on the comic pages. It's time consuming and doesn't hold up too well when shrunk for the net. I can also do stippling. There just hasn't been a call for it lately.

While inking I tend to let my mind wander to upcoming pages and issues. This is usually a good thing, since it gives me a chance to think things through and plan ahead. Though sometimes, it leads to trouble. Such as today. While I can finish the storyline in one more issue - Issue 15 - as originally planned, I'm beginning to think that might be rushing things. I have a few ideas I'd like to add as well as things I want to address, and this all just won't fit in one more issue. Two more, no problem.

Some of the things include hints to why Roderick (yes, he's coming back up) is in the fey realm in the first place, why you can't leave after you've been in the fey realm for a certain amount of time, and just what the heck is up with the collars anyway. While these would all have been tackled in other, later issues, it just seems smoother to have Max getting the answers directly from Roderick himself.

Or, I could just be fishing for a way to get more horse drawing time. Either way.

All joking aside, it is a good idea, extending the current story through to Issue 16. But, it does have some consequences. While it won't affect the web-version, it will delay the release of the Volume II trade. Chances are good we won't be able to get it out by Anthrocon of next year if Issue 16 needs to be included. In a way, this is a good thing. With us handling the printing of the first volume of Chrispy's 'Precocious', being able to focus our energies and funding on one trade at a time would be ideal.

Still, including Issue 16 adds an additional twenty-five pages to the book, a book that is already bigger than Volume I. While big books are great, they are a little more expensive to print. Not much per book, but it adds up when you start looking at total print runs. We may need to do a Kickstarter for Volume II after all.

Well, more on that later. For now I need to talk this over with Matt and see what he thinks. While I have the final say - I'm the one doing the writing at this point after all - I still want his input. He has a better head for numbers than I do.

Ooo, more horses and people in Medieval dress in my future. I love it! Later.


"Plans are great and so is diverging from them."
-- Alice Dustin

Game called on account of wrists

Not just the right, the left too, for some reason. Even typing is proving interesting. I can't shift the wrists to reach the keys properly. Back to hunt-and-peck for the moment.

The inking is ninety-five percent finished, with toning and lettering left to go. Probably about two more hours worth of work. Which, will have to wait until the morning, I'm afraid. I'm sorry about this guys.



I'll finish it up in the morning. For now, it's ice pack time. Ugh.


"Pain was their body's way of telling them that they'd pushed themselves to their limits -- which was exactly where they were supposed to be."
-- Richard Marcinko

Good news... bad news... worse news...

Like the title says, I've some good news, bad news, and worse news to share.

The good news is that the big image of Max and Part from page eighteen is inked.



The bad news is that's all that's been done so far. With it being after 4:30pm already, that's not good.

The reason why that's all that's been done so far is the worse news. Actually it's more worrisome than worse. The cintiq has been acting oddly today. It hasn't been responding to the stylus at times. I move the stylus / tap the screen and nothing happens. Other times there's a delay of thirty seconds or so. The cintiq is over four years old, true, but I would hope they'd hold up better than that. While I've been putting some money aside for a new one eventually, the key word is eventually. As in, not right now.

I hope this is just an off day for it. I've checked the settings and rebooted Mothra, but it still happens. Come on, baby, hold in there. Mama's got inking to do.


"Technology is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other."
-- C.P. Snow

When your confidence tank is low...

...inking is a bit of a chore. Especially when you're actually happy with how the sketch looks. Your brain keeps thinking, "no, don't touch it! We'll only mess things up!" Of course, thanks to the whole working digital thing, this won't happen - sketch on one layer, inks on another - but I've done enough stuff in traditional media that the fear is still there.

Heck, after staring at the screen for a few hours, moving the stylus back and forth, I swear I can smell the scent of physical ink. The mind plays odd tricks on you at times.

Still, page eighteen is due for the Supporters by midnight this evening. Which means, it's time to cram the fear into a box and get to work. The box is starting to get pretty full - so many fears I'm trying to store away lately. Hmm... I wonder if they have a recycling program for innermost fears.

You know, with a bit of work, that could make a good premise for a comic... No, I do not need another comic idea right now. Maybe later.

For now, I need to get started. I'll leave you with "Glory Seeker" by The Immediate. This is the kind of frantic power I had in mind when sketching this chase scene. I don't think I pulled it off, but it was worth a shot.



Enjoy. I'm off to do horrible things digitally to mice and dogs on horses.


"Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart."
-- Paulo Coelho

Sketchbook - Figure chaos

No assignment work this evening. At least, not directly. Just a bunch of random doodles.



I'm beginning to worry that maybe this isn't something I'm cut out for. That maybe I should just stick to doing my semi-toony animals. Part of that could be out of frustration. Or tiredness. Or still feeling the sting from earlier today. Eh, whatever. Here's to things looking better in the morning. Night all.


"Change occurs in direct proportion to dissatisfaction, but dissatisfaction never changes."
-- Doug Horton

Issue 14, pages 18 & 19

Okay, pages eighteen and nineteen of Issue 14 are now cleaned up and awaiting inking. I'm happy with how they've turned out so far. Hopefully the inking will go well.





Meanwhile Holly, our corgi, is three years old today! We were going to take her to the pet store to pick out some toys, but it's raining and she hates going out in the rain. So, we'll do that tomorrow. Happy birthday, Holly!


"We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs."
-- Robert Brault

Check your ego at the door, please

I've been annoyed for part of the day due to yet another person claiming that working on a cintiq takes no drawing skill compared to working on paper. Nice. We do realize that some artists do both, right? No, of course not. Why do I say no? Because when you get down to it, this isn't about tools or methods. It's just another example of an artist trying to bolster their fragile ego.

What I mean is simply this... when someone drops comments putting down another person's work or methods, the reason typically comes down to the commenter feeling defensive about their own efforts. Yes, I know. It sounds suspiciously like the stupid "they're just jealous" tripe your mother used to spout whenever you came home from school, upset about the other kids making fun of you. That's not quite what I'm saying, though. No, this is much closer to the old adage that "misery loves company."

Think about it, if you're having a really crappy day, who's the last person you want to be around? For most people that answer is a happy person. You lost your job, your car broke down in the middle of the busiest intersection in town, your cat barfed in your shoe this morning, and who do you have sitting next to you, chatting your ear off with a goofy grin on their face? A happy person. UGH! It reminds you of the fact that you're currently miserable. And damn it, if you feel like crap everyone else should too! That's only fair, right?

Eventually this goes away and we're able to feel happy for others again. We take joy in the accomplishments of our friends as if they were our own and can laugh at our problems. But, when we're in that dark stage, pulling others down with us makes us feel pretty damn good.

And I understand! I truly do. There are a hell of a lot of times where I would just love to tear people down, especially when they pull shit like this. But, at the same time, I know that action won't help me in the long run. I'm not talking about kvetching with friends here. We all need to do that. That's healthy. I mean honest to God taking shots at people with the intention to hurt. No, that's not helpful.

I guess what it all comes down to is, I work from home. This is my office. By sharing my thoughts and work in progress with you - whether in the blog, on the site, or on Google Plus - I am, in effect, letting you into my office. I'm sorry, but another person's ego has no place in my office. I do not exist in this life solely as a method for you to feel better about yourself. No artist does.

All artists go through crap. Crappy pay, crappy hours, crappy expectations to live up to. Do we really have nothing better to do than take it out on each other? How about we lay off for a bit and just get back to work.


"All that we are not stares back at what we are."
-- W. H. Auden

Inspirations - 'Danger Mouse'

When I set up the "what would you like to read about" poll on the side of the blog, I put "inspirations" down pretty much as a joke. I figured hey, no one would be interested in that. Turns out, I was wrong. So, with much fear for my pride - and your sanity - I'll start posting some of the cartoons, books, movies, and comics that have inspired me over the years. The ones that I remember, anyway.

When I was a kid the TV station Nickelodeon was still finding its footing. They imported a lot of shows from other countries like The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Belle and Sebastian at the time. One of those shows was about a white, one-eyed mouse who was a secret agent and his frightened hamster sidekick. It had action, humor, and I was hooked. I was six years old and the show was Danger Mouse.

I have to admit, I still like DM and Penfold. They make me smile. This was one of the few shows that my whole family enjoyed. (While my dad loves animation, my mom was never a big fan of it, aside from Winnie the Pooh, of course.)

It's this show that served as the basis for the way the CN:H characters look. Those large, round ears on the mice... the button noses... the bigger eyes... you get the idea. I'm slowly starting to get away from the Cosgrove Hall look as I get older and experiment more, but I can't see myself ever getting rid of it completely. It's just too much fun!



Danger Mouse was also responsible for the whole "mice moving their ears up and down" thing with me. It didn't happen very often, but every now and then DM would end up stuck in a hole in the ground and couldn't use his hands to express emotion. So, the animators used his ears instead.

Such as one scene where he'd fallen feet first into a hole owned by a gopher couple, with just his head from the neck up sticking out. The first time this happened in the episode, the annoyed gopher husband bit DM's foot, shooting DM out of the hole. When DM fell feet first into a hole later on and recognized the voice of the gopher husband, DM got this horrified look on his face and his ears flopped forward, covering his eyes. Then bite and shoot out the hole, followed by the gopher asking his wife whether she'd be interested in moving to a nicer neighborhood. The sequence was very quick, but I loved the idea of the ears being used like that. So, I kept it. 'Cause while dog and cat ears move like that, I'm not so sure mice ears do. You know, I never really looked that up.

There were some parts of the character that, while endearing on a cartoon mouse are not very pleasant in a real person. Namely ego and vanity. DM was able to do just about anything. He could speak nearly every language ever invented, was skilled in most forms of hand-to-hand combat, and could think his way out of situations. Again, cute in a cartoon mouse, but when you run across people in real life who think they can do anything and love to flaunt their ego... you very quickly decide that behavior is not something you enjoy being around.

As a result, Max has become kind of the opposite. He's good at his job, but not the best at it. It takes him a bit to figure out a problem, preferring the hit-and-run approach before actually stopping to think. He doubts his abilities at times, makes bad decisions, and probably comes across as a bit of a push-over until he's backed in a corner. Perhaps not the best type of character to be the hero of a comic, but hey, it works for me.

While I love the spin-off series Count Duckula, it didn't leave as big an impression on me for some reason. Although Duckula's freak-outs did apparently inspire moments like this in CN:H...



Unfortunately, Cosgrove Hall closed its doors in October of 2009.


Penfold: "Oh, eck! I'm on me own again! I suppose I'll have to face the fiendish foes alone! Disregarding any thought for my safety and..."
Danger Mouse: "And stop overacting."
Penfold: "And stop overacting! Eh?"
-- Danger Mouse

Sketchbook - Proportions

Hey guys! Well, I worked on the first part of Lesson One of the 'Heroes and Superheroes' course today. This section was about... Proportions. I also started a new sketchbook, the first one since, well, high school, really. Let's see if I can fill it. You'll keep me on track, right?

Each section is a single page long. Since they're so short, I'm not too comfortable scanning the pages of the coursebook. Instead, I'm going to try making notes on the practice sketches. Hopefully my handwriting is easy enough to read.

This section was about getting familiar with basic human proportions. You know, the whole "the adult is eight heads tall" and "the wrists hit the pubic line" and "the elbow sits half-way between the shoulder and the wrist" and such. Interesting. Some of this I sort of knew, but seeing it all laid out helped cement it in my mind a bit more.

Tips from the book...

The Superhero is the mainstay of the modern comic book. The Superhero comes in many forms and interpretations. Drawing Superheroes involves determining proportions for the basic human figure. The "normal" figure is the basis for the muscular Superhero.

Proportions of male and female figures are similar, despite differences in height.

Here's my first attempt with the notes written in. I apologize for the scans. Since the sketchbook pages are just for practice, I'm not planning on trying to get the best scan possible.



The next page with another forward shot and an attempt at a profile.



Okay, so we've done the guy, now it's time to try a woman. Ahhh, curves in all the wrong places! Quick, break out the Playboy mags! Remember, I'm learning and working outside my comfort zone here. Things will get better with practice. Just give me time.



In my defense, the example in the coursebook had circle boobs. And, as a woman, I can tell you that boobs are most definitely not circles. In the words of Terry Moore, "this is not what your circle template is for." Trying to do more realistic boob shapes threw me off. It no longer looked like the practice example. Also, her hips got away from me. We'll work on that.



At this point, I decided to goof around and play with forms. Here are a few sketches based on poses in Terry Moore's How to Draw Women, a sketch of a little Batman figure I have, and just random girls out of my head.



These two, meanwhile, have nothing to do with the assignment. They were done while waiting at the chiropractor's this afternoon, with magazine photos as reference. I apologize for the woman. That's suppose to be Ellen DeGeneres. I'm sorry, Ellen!



The next lesson is Exaggeration, though I'm going to work with the Proportions one a little longer first. I want to get more comfortable with the basics - not to mention figure out the female form - before I worry about exaggerating things.

I also found a copy of The DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics this afternoon. The last two assignments require lettering, but there isn't anything in the coursebook or on the DVD about how to letter by hand. Hmm. Well, when in doubt, find another source. I'll give that a read here later this week. Tomorrow I need to clean up the sketches for pages eighteen and nineteen and hopefully start inking page eighteen.

And, that's about it. Exciting, eh? Hey, no one said learning was glamorous. Just... interesting. Forward and onward!


"I see way too many young artists who are just trying to draw like they've always seen in comics. Stop looking at comics, and start looking at real life."
-- Michael Lark