Friday, May 24, 2013

The Incorrigible Walkthrough of Comics


Finally, an art update!

I’ve been reading The Incorrigible Children ofAshton Place by Maryrose Wood and it is FANTASTIC. I’ve always loved funny historical books with a fantasy/supernatural spin to it (hence I’m such a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones.)! Maryrose Wood is already on my favourite writers list!

Fantastic series and I recommend it to anyone who loves Middle Grade or just the funny historical fantasy genre in general!

My favourites include Penelope, our spirited main character and Lady Constance Ashton who is so animated and charismatic that it’s hard for you to hate her. Also, Simon is adorable.

Drew this after taking a break from inking the horror comic that Grim and I are doing for an Anthology.

Speaking of the anthology, here’s a preview our story! Again, I’ve paired up with Grim, as I always do, and have somehow managed to squeeze this between all the comics and my day job! 



Also, the anthology is for charity. Check out the Comics page to see the other Charity anthology we participated in last year!

And also, because I’ve been meaning to make this for a while, here’s a walkthrough of how I made a page of :EPOCH Files. Nothing detailed, but let’s see how this goes.


Once Grim finishes the script, I tumbnail /storyboard  the whole comic. Afterwards we move to revisions. Once revisions are made, I go ahead and start drafting the pages.

The drafts usually take several tries and I start to rethink and rework the layout. Once I get that done I'm ready to make proper sketches. I use Paint Tool SAI.

Making fine sketches takes some time and it's where I, unlike the previous steps, pay more attention to the depth , perspective and anatomy of the figures and backgrounds.

Here's what the fine sketch looks like. I usually  do the background first, then the figures but I jump back and forth sometimes.

Then I proceed to ink. The time I use differs depending on the page but I ink pretty quickly . During this part, I tend to make alterations to the original sketch. It's just a constant editing process.
 Note: The blue and red lines are margin lines. Blue being the "Live" area and red being be "Cut Off" area, or "Bleed" area. I use this format for printing (No plans for printing :EPOCH Files so far though).

Once I'm done inking, I move to doing colour flats. I HATE this part because it can take ages. This stage still has room to make edits to your line art. Once I finish the figures, I move onto the background.

Once the flats on figures and backgrounds are done, I start shading them. This is a pretty quick process, unless I make some edits.

Once done, I move to Photoshop where I add SFX and  texture brushes to add skin blemishes. This prevents the overall comic from looking like it's made of plastic.

Then I add the dialogue. I usually add the text first, then the speech bubbles. After a few more minor edits (eg. The  color of the wall.), I'm DONE!
I hope that was at least a little interesting  read/look at!

Ok, I believe 2 posts in one day is enough. 

Much Love
.L

Massive Art Pile!

Today's update shall consist of 2 PARTS!

First, as promised, an art dump. Second, actual recent stuff, plus a walkthrough!

I’ve recently tried out a different way of inking digitally and while I’m happy with the result, took a too long. It’ll be a while before I can ink that way with my normal speed.



Now a dump of some drawings that I put up on my tumblr or twitter. I always end up forgetting about them.

Sketchbook River from :EPOCH Files in a simple alternate outfit.

Sketchbook Mary from an upcoming comic; Howard & Edgar.

Sketchbook Warren, a character from a story I'm writing called Refuge.

Travelbook concept art of an upcoming anthology comic. Done on the ferry.

Scrap paper drawing of a Character from said upcoming comic anthology.

Kids in the library say the strangest things.

A drawing done for an old artsy high school friend of our "avatars".
And there you have it! Actually, there are more, but they're not available to me right now. Hopefully I'll get them all up at some point.

Much love!

.L

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Rings and Roses


I am in a state of drowsiness, thanks to the medication I’ve received from the doctors the day before, and it is in this very state that I have decided to try my hand at writing a ghost story—or at least something ghostly and mysterious. Mind you, I’ve never quite written anything for the genre, though I’ve read a great many of the classics. With my inexperience in mind, I’ve decided to reinvent a dream I’ve had several months ago.
It goes like this…

RINGS AND ROSES
It was a particularly misty night and Mary and her older brother Harry were taking the bus home from school. Their house rested on the other side of the hill, which was quite a walk from town, where their Primary school was located, so they inclined themselves to take the bus, which runs half an hour apart. It was quite the wait, especially if you were unlucky enough to miss it, but it was much better than walking on foot, since the route to their house was through the dark and mysterious forest and over a wooden bridge.

It was of course, quite unfortunate that the bus had decidedly broken down in the middle of forest, and right on top of that particular wooden bridge.
The bus had been mostly empty. It was only the driver, an old white haired man, and Mary and Harry, who were left with no other choice than to march back home on foot. 
Of course, with dark and mysterious forests, come dark and mysterious things. Who wouldn't jump when the wind sang through the trees, making them whisper ghastly secrets? Who wouldn't yelp when the glowing yellow eyes of witches and goblins blinked at you from behind the bushes?
Mary held Harry’s hand that was warm and firm because he was brave and strong and had promised to protect her no matter what. Promises were hard to keep, Mary thought as she held her brother’s hand tight.
There was song in the air as they passed by drooping trees and crying streams and they stopped in their footsteps to listen a moment.

Ring-a-ring o’ roses
The voices sang with glee and splendor. There was the sound of children and laughter in the distance beyond the trees and off the road. Harry tugged at Mary’s hand. 
“Perhaps there will be someone who is willing to give us a ride back home.” He reasoned and she followed. 
They stumbled over the bushes and Mary squealed when a prickly branch of a rose bush caught the hem of her dress. They walked until they reached a clearing. The sky was grey and the air smelled of flowers. Around the clearing was a large array of rose bushes, but as beautiful as these red roses were, Mary and Harry could not turn away from a sight as intriguing as the sight before them. 
There must have been at least a dozen of children in the field with their arms locked, skipping along to the sounds of the rustling trees. 
There was a tall thin man, with a raggedy suit and coattails. He turned to Mary and Harry slowly and held out his hand, a wide grin spreading across his face, showing too many teeth than a man should have. 
“Care to join us?” The voice was unrecognizable and Mary, feeling fear for children who looked pale and blue as they danced in circles, shook her little head. Harry on the other hand seemed to welcome the idea. A wide grin appeared on his face as he nodded;
A pocket full of posies
 “Yes,” Harry seemed to have forgotten the whole ordeal of getting home and was readily pulling Mary along to join in on the fun.
“No!” Mary yelped and yanked her hand free. She didn't know how Harry’s smile could get any wider, but it did as he beckoned her with a limp hand. Mary was fed up and ran back into the trees. Moments before the clearing disappeared completely, she turned back to see Harry, joining in the circle, his face pale and blue and that sickening wide grin on his face.
Ashes! Ashes!
Mary went stumbling into the forest, unsure where to turn. She ran and ran but the laughter and songs grew louder and louder nonetheless. No matter where she turned, the sound was still there. She huffed and puffed and cried when the rose bushes tore her skirt and cut her knee. She looked up to find herself wrapped in a sea of rose bushes. She stumbled out, with prickly thorns cutting her skin and found herself in the clearing once more.
The tall man was there before her and when she looked up, she never noticed how bone-white his face was, and how dark and deep his eyes were. He reached out his bony hand. 
“Care to join us?” Mary was tired and took the cold and bony hand in her small ones. She could hear fiddles now. The sound of merry strings singing a tune and children laughing and prancing was all around her. A grin crept to her face.

She skipped to the children, hooked her arm around her brother’s and danced and sang together so merrily that she didn't notice her skin turning blue and how cold her brother’s hand was.
We all fall down!

This ends the somewhat ghostly story and I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, this was written very quickly and has yet to be edited—I do apologize as I know most of my written works are unedited.
With that, I shall leave.

Sincerely
.L