Thursday, April 4, 2013

I Drew This

From time to time, mostly as a way of encouraging myself, I think I'll post a bit of something I've drawn recently. Maybe a panel, or even a little piece of a panel--something I'm happy with. Unless otherwise described, they're from Mystery Project X, and I'll be careful to avoid giving anything away. These're pre-Photoshop, pre-lettering, pre-coloring: raw stuff.

I drew this.


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4 comments:

  1. Jim O'KaneApril 6, 2013 at 5:57 AM

    You've already discussed the draft method of non-photo blue pencils, but when you get to the inking part and you've either slipped with the nib, or changed your mind about part of the pane, is the only option gluing a piece of cardstock over the original, or does White-Out work as well?

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  2. Brian FiesApril 6, 2013 at 7:51 AM

    Depends on the nature of the slip. Small ones, I use a Wite-Out-like product and ink over it UNLESS it's a spot where I do want to use a pen nib (as opposed to a brush) because nibs scratch away Wite Out.

    I used to correct big mistakes by cementing a new bit of paper over the original (you saw some of those when you visited my "Mom's Cancer" originals at the Fitchburg Museum) but these days it's all Photoshop. And SO much better! Sometimes I'll draw the correction right next to the mistake and just cut-and-paste it into place later. Sometimes I'll draw a whole new panel.

    The temptation with Photoshop is to keep zooming and keep fixing until you've repaired every microscopic imperfection. The result, unsurprisingly, can look sterile and machine-made.

    In that drawing above, I see some things I could fix: some fuzziness in the hatching at right, some hatching that escaped its borders at bottom center. I may clean up some of that. But the more I cartoon, the more I've come around to embrace imperfection, spontaneity, hand-craftedness, and evidence of a human at work. It's art, not an AutoCAD blueprint.

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  3. ronnieApril 6, 2013 at 5:50 PM

    It's gorgeous. Can't wait to see the final result.

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  4. Brian FiesApril 8, 2013 at 11:29 AM

    Thanks! I hope to show it to you someday.

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