new steps strip up in full watercolor (and pencil)
i’ve been studying hayao miyazaki’s storyboards and concept art, and dustin nguyen’s work on ‘lil gotham’ and ‘descender’ in hopes of elevating my watercolor game
new steps strip is up
i’m not in love with the inks
they feel too harsh
maybe i just need to work larger
maybe i just need to use pencil instead of ink
maybe i need to get better with the paints so i can avoid the line work entirely
and i know the horizontal layout doesn’t work great on mobile
but i’m scared to ink and color them
working digitally i can screw up the colors on a separate layer and the drawing itself is still intact
same with inking
you can see it on the screen capture timelapses
if i don’t place a dot of ink in just the right spot and just the right size i undo it
over and over and over again
quickly
until i get it right
its one of the reasons i’m more productive working digitally
its nice to not have to live very long with your mistakes –
no such luxury pushing watercolors and inks around in real life
i’m still struggling with the watercolors
and those first two poses were too similar
but it was a fun moment where little guy was all involved in painting one moment and then completely distracted the next
i mean, seriously, the best thing
sheesh
in the journal is posted
it’s been awhile since i’ve done one of these
i did it in digital first
but then decided i need the practice so i drew it in ink and watercolor
as you can see i ran in to some lettering trouble in panel 2
updated the site logo
first i made this
but then i wanted the eyes to blink
so i made this
but then i wanted the animated logo to look more…animated
so i made this
now it’s probably too jiggly but i am tired
i made myself a little stencil
it helps me make 4 in x 4 in squares in my sketchbook
using the stencil makes it faster than having to measure and mark the lines out every time
getting the courage to make comics, even if they’re ugly or messy, or don’t come out the way i want to has really come from reading lynda barry’s syllabus and hanging out at the tumblr she uses to stay in contact with the comics class she teaches
if you’re thinking about making comics (or anything really) and you’re scared to, lynda barry is good company to have with you while you work
here’s a look at the first version of yesterday’s steps strip
i hated it when i got done with it
the son character was too difficult to distinguish from the background
i tried a lot of different things to get the background to ‘fade back’
first i tried erasing it (you can see where the paper tore and i had to repair it with tape)
then i painted over it with white watercolor
the strip really looked like a mess to me, and i couldnt stand the sight of it, so i decided to redo it
i’m glad i did, because the second ‘published’ version fits in to the look of the other steps strips better
but now i love the look of the first version (how did that happen?)
i love the messiness – it could be a good look for a future project
here’s a look at the strip earlier in the process
looking at it now, i realize that this would have worked too
all i really needed to do was darken the kid to separate him from the tv and tv stand
i think i panicked while working and fumbling with the watercolors
one of the things i need to do better is remember to slow down while i’m working
the last couple of these have been done in watercolor and ink and pencil
instead of digital
working digitally you can a make your mistakes quicker
with analog tools there’s a lot more redrawing and starting over
so it takes me a lot longer to create a finished strip
in fact i did this strip twice
tomorrow i’ll show you the version i rejected
we made it
you can now read the story in its entirety
i do hope you have enjoyed it
of the story about a guy with no head
is up
not only is page 19 of the story about a guy with no head up
but i also posted a new ‘steps’ strip
read the story about a guy with no head from the beginning
read ‘steps’ from the beginning
it’s been so long since the last one
but a new ‘steps’ strip, ‘potty training’, is up
almost every other ‘steps’ strip has been done in digital, pushing pixels around
but today’s is fully scribbled in pencil, with lots of (kneadable) erasing, then brushing down puddles of watercolor, and finally a bit of inking
if this is the first ‘steps’ comic you’ve happened to catch
if you’re still reading
or if you haven’t started reading yet
please go read it
read it? see it, i guess
there’s no words on these pages, so i don’t know if it’s still reading
no, wait
i do know. it is reading
you can read a river and there’s no words on a river
so it’s definitely reading
go read page 17
or
up to you
(but it is reading)
we’re nearing the end of our tale
our characters meet
not really face to face but you know
neck to balloon
or something
start here if you don’t know what i’m talking about
heck, i don’t even know what i’m talking about
the story continues, as does balloon’s journey, with page 12
if you have just stumbled upon this story, you can pick up from the beginning here
in other news, there’s not much news:
i’m reading space opera, in hardcover, and i just finished the westing game on the kindle.
as soon as i finished i read that the author, ellen raskin, did quite a bit of work designing the book visually; not just the cover, but even how the text would appear on the page. so if you’re going to read it, find an analog copy.
Hi gang, just wanted to let you know that page 11 is up
we’re halfway there!
hope you’re digging this odd little tale about a man with no head and a balloon
and if you havent had the chance to start it yet, you can do so here
clearly some self-doubt is creeping in
as i continue to play with watercolor
but now what?
what i like about working digitally is not having to see my mistakes for very long
i can get through more bad drawings faster
but posting old work on screentone is giving me a chance to get back in to the brushes and inks and paints
here’s a few stages from a piece last night
felt so clumsy and missed that undo button
but stuck with it long enough to push through some of those feelings and doubts and wanting to quits
on the next one i need to SLOW DOWN – be more patient – have a lighter touch
(and if you can’t tell what’s going on in this sketch, and who could blame you, the dad is installing a little urinal for potty training)
(also: look at that terrible drawing of a toilet. just look at it. it is so squat and fat. sheesh.)
check out previous watercolor attempts here
