Sorry I haven't posted in a while. No excuses really--I'm still making pictures. I did have a bought of minor illness in the winter, but am tip top now. A lot of projects in the works as usual.
So here's an image from Our Dog Giraud:
So here's an image from Our Dog Giraud:
I'm particularly happy with the little girl's posture and the subtle turn of her head (as you'll see, changed a bit from the original inks). This is, as usual, another book proposal. Nothing concrete. All on spec from my own manuscript.
And here are the inks,
done in pieces and in both line art and ink washes. I like to be able to manipulate the color on photoshop, both because I'm a little timid about watercolor, and just the flexibility. But I really like this juicier look.
Also since everything prints in CMYK, the colors in watercolor aren't going to print quite the same as they look on paper, and on photoshop in CMYK mode (if your screen is color calibrated) the colors are more accurate to what you'll eventually see in print. So grayscale, for me, is the way to go.
And for those Photoshop aficionados I don't use the "color" feature because it adds black to every color, so I make the grayscale a writeable layer. This makes the colors more pure and vibrant.
SpongeBob!
So my shameless, unabashed love letter to the editor of SpongeBob Comics worked! Proving that sometimes you just have to go for it. Click on the link and see how I braved potential embarrassment by saying, "hey, Chris, I want to do this!" It's not the first time in my very short career that just telling someone what you want did at least part of the job! For instance: how I met my agent.
So at your local comic shop right now, my strip in SpongeBob Comics #46! It's a double page spread that opens up vertically! which means you have to turn your comic sideways to read it! Here's a sample:
SpongeBob visits a microscopic world! Unusual for mainstream comics (where tasks like coloring, lettering and inking are delegated to different artists), I did the whole kit and kaboodle!Even the lettering! It was a great time and I'm very proud of it!
And while I recommend you support your local comic shop, if you absolutely can't find one, you can still get it on Amazon!
At some point I want to do a full process post on this one, but that'll have to wait.
I'm turning 42
Yep, later this month I'm turning 42. What does this mean? For me it means something significant: I'm starting my career "later in life." Nope, I didn't have kids, I didn't have a teaching or any other kind of career before this. I'm just a late bloomer. What that does mean is that I had a lot of room to fail. I also had a lot of time to figure out what I'm about and what I really want to do. At any rate, this is probably the subject of an essay in itself, So I'll hold off for now.
