hobbit sketch
been reading the hobbit the last couple of months
should explore some more drawings of bilbo baggins
inktober 2020 day 21
sleep
Maybe trying to show the different approaches to sleep, or sleeplessness, rather, that different captains have.
pencils
Here’s a shot of the pencils before I inked the page.
For the captain’s quarters, I found this great resource.
For Kirk’s image, I referenced Star Trek VI, and in particular this great read on the movie, which highlights a moment where Kirk is in his quarters sleeping off too much Romulan Ale.
catch up on my star trek intober here
I created a collection to house all of this year’s Star Trek Inktobers, so you can easily browse your favorites and skip over the clunkers. It’s easy!
read past inktobers
I compiled past inktobers into easy to read comics collections.
There’s my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month.
In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober. It featured the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 18
Trap
Today’s gag (I don’t love that word, gag, does anybody have a suggestion for what to call the twist or story in a comic? Maybe turn, how about turn. Let’s try turn. Maybe it will stick.) came from the idea that everybody and I mean everybody is there waiting for Admiral Ackbar, when he utters his now-iconic line.
How many characters from different storytelling universes can you identify?
Attribution
Today’s (yesterday’s) comic wouldn’t have been possible without the work done by http://www.merzo.net/indexSD.html. Though I paid no attention to the actual scale researched here, it did give me lots of ideas on who to include. The site is a lot of fun to browse. Go. Browse.
Also a big help was this 3d model of Admiral Ackbar’s ship from Return of the Jedi, which I’ve now learned is called Home One.
Story Behind the Turn
I originally had the last two panels reversed when I sketched out the story idea. See the sketch below.
My friend Whitley suggested switching the order of the last two panels, and he was right. Since I was going to have so many different ships and characters there waiting for Ackbar, that was the joke, so that needed to be last, to show how this ‘trap’ was different from previous traps.
Thanks, Whitley. I’m lucky to have a fellow writer to workshop silly ideas with.
(It only now occurred to me as I write this post inside a Discount Tire while I wait for my tire to be repaired on a cold and sleety fall day, that I forgot to give Ackbar a huge head. Sheesh.)
Inktober 2020 Will Be Different
I was talking to a friend last week about last year’s Inktobers. I couldn’t remember why I fizzled out before the month’s halfway mark in 2019.
Last night working on yesterday’s strip, I realized what it was.
As I go along through the month, the strips begin to take longer and longer to craft.
I become more patient, I do more research, I become more ambitious with the storytelling, and start drawing backgrounds. The comic takes longer to make as I get more confident in making it.
This year’s inktober is no different. Compare today’s comic to day one. What makes this year different, though, is that I’m going to keep going, even if my Inktober stretches into November and beyond.
Hopefully, you’ll stick with me.
Browse Star Trek Inktober
I created a collection to house all of this year’s Star Trek Inktobers, so you can easily browse your favorites and skip over the clunkers. It’s easy!
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober. It featured the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 16
Rocket
Picard and warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane share a moment in Picard’s past, Cochrane’s present, and our future.
Browse This Year’s Star Trek Inktobers
I created a collection to house all of this year’s Star Trek Inktobers, so you can easily browse your favorites and skip over the clunkers. It’s easy!
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober. It featured the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 15
Outpost
Researching today’s prompt outpost in memory alpha, I hit upon the Starfleet outposts that are built into asteroids on the edge of the neutral zone between the Federation and the Romulans. In the original series episode Balance of Terror these outposts are being destroyed by an unknown ship.
I decided not to reference those particular outposts since their fate was pretty dire.
Instead I focused on Asteroid Outpost 37, so named because my favorite number is 37. (And if you’re wondering, I’ve never heard of Paurian bacon either.)
I wouldn’t mind doing a few of these asteroid outpost strips. Maybe we never see inside the outpost. We just hear the dialogue from a couple of Starfleet members manning this outpost built into the asteroid.
Oh, I should also mention that yesterday I bought some stickers from deepspacenineties.com. This designer has some great Star Trek stickers. I can’t wait until the Janeways are back in stock.
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober. It featured the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 9
Day 9 Throw
Counselor Troi and Lt Worf doing a little judo.
I was inspired by the Next Generation Episode Second Chances, where I thought they were doing judo, but apparently I wasn’t paying attention, because Worf was actually leading a class in Mok’ bara.
I am a bad Trekker.
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober featuring the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 8
Day 8 Teeth
For the longest time, I didn’t have a story for this one.
The prompt of ‘teeth’ led me right to the Gorn, and so the image of McCoy reluctantly acting as dentist on the Gorn wasn’t far behind.
But all I had was that image.
It wasn’t until I realized that this image needed to be the last panel of the strip and not the first,that I was able to unlock the strip.
The image of Mccoy doing dental work on the Gorn, was the twist.
Now I could say, “Ok, how do I get to this point?”
Ideas and stories are weird. Please go make some.
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober featuring the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 4
Day 4: Radio
Inking this strip last night was my most confident inking this month. I think it’s because I spent more time on drawing the characters, though I did get lazy on Uhura’s control panel.
I’m also getting more comfortable with my tools, which also helps.
I should also note that I leave the pencil lines on the bristol board
A Note on Yesterday’s Strip
I’ve gotten some excellent feedback on yesterday’s strip. A lot of people couldn’t tell what was going on without reading the description.
Which means a total failure on staging on my part.
Kirk and Spock are walking down a corridor. Kirk isn’t paying attention and walks into a bulkhead. That’s it.
To solve that problem, I need to do a better job of designing the stage and how the characters move on that stage. I need better blocking. Hopefully those of you who come back here every day will see that get better.
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober featuring the world’s greatest detective.
inktober 2020 day 3
Bulk
Prompt: bulk. That leads me to bulkhead. I looked at a lot of pictures of bulkheads on memory alpha. I looked at a lot of pictures of bulkheads for boats on the internet. I’m still not sure what a bulkhead is.
But Kirk ran into it.
Inktobers Past
You can visit (or revisit) my Zelda themed Inktober 2019, where I did some strong work but ran out of steam and time halfway during the month. In 2018 I completed a Metal Gear themed Inktober, and 2017 was my first themed Inktober featuring the world’s greatest detective.
a few more raphs
sad that i never got april as ilsa to look as good in the strip as she did in the sketchbook
posted a few more raph’s in the once ongoing, now nongoing mashup of Casablanca and The Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles, co-written with fellow scribe mcwhitsteen, and originally posted on the tumbles
you can start from the ‘beginning‘ here, but i’d like to warn you… it’s not the beginning
and thank you to Michael Barrett for the kind words on his micro.blog
loved spidey homecoming
man i loved this movie
digital, 2017
First Post and an Indy Fan Shirt!
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to a website. There’s a lot of interesting stuff out there, and I’d like to share it, but doing so by email is tedious. Screentone allows me to pluck my notebook from my pocket and share it with the world. Or, at least, the select few who are in the know.
The other thought behind having a website is to show what I make, and websites like myspace and facebook, which seem to do that sort of thing very well, don’t seem to be my sort of thing.
So, here I am. I picked up a copy of WordPress for Dummies, and have been reading it, and it’s been great, but before I dive in; try to design a website proper, select a web hosting service and attempt to do a bunch of other stuff that I have no idea how to do, I thought that this; quickly tossing together a blog on the cheap, might be the way to go, while I continue to learn about everything else.
This first post will also give me the opportunity to unveil my Indiana Jones fan shirt, in honor of the new movie (which I’m afraid is going to suck, but which I’m going to see on opening day, nonetheless) and in anticipation of Lego Indy for Playstation! I think the design for the T may go through a couple of minor changes before it sees print, but you get the idea…
Also, the header image is a photo of a stack of my clean dishes. I’ve also got to try and figure out how to move my blog title from the middle of the header.
I hope this works, and be sure to check back tomorrow…
oooh….the white may be even better…