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
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
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
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
doodled with colored pencils and ink pen on lunch break by the lake a month or more ago
i remember hating them at the time
but now i kind of like them
did i already post these?
haven’t made many comics lately but I’m still drawing
here’s a sketch of the neighbors house
saw the king and I last night.
It was incredible.
Forgot my pencil bag with all my pencils and pens including my Wacom tablet stylus so had to do this one by hand.
A quick video tour of a likeness sketcbook I started back in August 2017.
I’m filling it with five minute (approximately) drawings of celebs from photo reference, typically done on their birthday.
Some are loose and recognizable, some are loose and unrecognizable, and some are just stiff and shitty.
ink, 2017
thumbnailing out a script.
comics are hard.
ink, 2017
ink, crayon, 2017
from the sketchbook
colored pencil, pencil, ink
i’ve been reading a lot of lynda barry’s syllabus this past month:
it makes me think less and draw more
turns out watson was irene adler the whole time. day 31 ‘masks’ alternate drawing
Inktober is over. Time to look back through the month and see what I can do better.
The Bad
Brush pen skills didn’t really improve over the course of the the month, but my confidence in using them did.
The first day may have had some of the best linework. I like the delicate line that my timidity with the brush pen gave me, but as my confidence grew over the course of the month I was soon just slapping down the ink.
Day 2 was one of my lowest points in inktober. Watson’s gesture is so stiff and awkward and his arms are too long.
Day 14 was a missed opportunity. The original idea was to recreate the cabinet photograph of Irene Adler that Sherlock took as payment for working on the case, but the result is boring. My idea was that Irene Adler (I found inspiration in photos of Helena Bonham Carter, which you can see more of in the above sketch), was fierce, and I did nothing to capture that fierceness.
The Good
A shift occurred for me on day 4. I spent more time designing the page, using the shape of the paper to help tell the story. Black areas became vital. Day 20 took those ideas to an extreme and was a lot of fun from a design standpoint.
Day 5 and 7 were strong, but 6 is one of my favorites. The design just works. It is one of the few Inktober 2017 drawings I am proud of. It also freed me up imagination-wise. If Sherlock Holmes could find the Sword in the Stone, why couldn’t he also deal with Martians or giant robots?
Day 11 and 12 aren’t great drawings, but I felt like they do capture the poses.
Attempting a Robert Downey Jr/Guy Ritchie inspired Basil of Baker St on day 26 had me paying closer attention to costume design and attempting to capture some of those textures helped give the drawing some richness, and it was the last drawing of the month that I felt great about.
Though I’ve done inktobers in the past, this was the first inktober that I managed to do a drawing every day, and it made all the difference. Having a daily deadline forced me to do the drawing rather than worrying about doing the drawing. Maybe that’s the most important thing.
day 28, ‘fall.’
my sherlock holmes themed inktober continues with prompts from jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
past inktobers:
our hero finds himself in a jam in day 27 of my sherlock holmes themed inktober with prompts from the inventor of inktober jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
past inktobers:
How about a robert downey jr/guy ritchie inspired basil of baker st for today’s inktober prompt ‘squeak,’ as I continue my Sherlock Holmes Inktober (inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list)
please visit the website of original basil of baker st artist paul galdone
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
Check out my past inktobers here:
Welcome to everybody who discovered this sketchbook through wordpress discover.
If you’re new here, I’m a graphic designer by day and screentone.org is my sketchbook home on the internet.
Currently I’m 25 days into jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list, however, I’ve decided to do mine with a Sherlock Holmes bent.
Today’s prompt is ‘ship’, and my drawing today ‘draws’ upon days 20 and 11 of this month.
If you’re curious about materials I’m using a pentel brush pen and am working in an apica sketchbook. (Though partway through the sketchbook I froze up and couldn’t draw in it for awhile. I had to do my drawings in another sketchbook and then glue them in my inktober sketchbook. I’ve been using a liquid paper correction pen, too.
Please take a look at all of my sherlock holmes inktober 2017 so far
And you can check out my past inktobers here:
My Sherlock Holmes Inktober (inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list) continues with day 24. Today’s prompt is ‘blind.’
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
Check out my past inktobers here:
Today’s prompt: trail in the Sherlock Holmes Inktober inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
here’s a quick video of how yesterday’s inktober ‘deep’ unfolds out of the sketchbook.
Sherlock Holmes Inktober inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
Today’s prompt: deep.
and here’s a great article that served as an inspiration of sorts for today’s inktober.
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
Finally caught up on my Sherlock Holmes Inktober inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
prompt is filthy, so here’s a look at the baker street irregulars as i get nearly caught up on my Sherlock Holmes Inktober inspired by jake parker’s official inktober 2017 prompt list.
previously on sherlock holmes inktober 2017
Here’s a few images from the internet I looked to for reference and inspiration.
This one I liked for the camraderie:
This one I liked for the brick wall:
This one I liked for the tall kid:
i just kept drawing since i was never happy with the result. I’m still not happy – but deadlines.
added some watercolor to some of the rejected versions because i should learn watercolor too probably.
inktober 2017, pencil, ink
I’m working from jake parker‘s official inktober 2017 prompt list, but within the world of Sherlock Holmes.
