Hourlies

Ahh, it's spring again! Around this time weather gets warmer, snow turns to rain, and I do my hourlies. What are hourlies you ask? They are comics, done every hour, on the hour for twenty-four hours that you are awake. Don't worry if you fall asleep during this time there is no obligation to set your alarm for every hour to wake up and do a comic. That's just silly. I, myself, have tried to do this every spring for the past four years. This spring break I plan on doing it again. There's actually an official date that comic artist the world over do them, but I'm always busy on that day... Oh, well. At least I'm still doing it.

Anyways, spring break is in a few weeks and I'm super pumped about it. Until then, here are some from last years edition.

HOW TO: Coloring and other things.

In my last how to, I showed how I scan and do my line work. Not too complicated of stuff, which is why I wanted to share it. Photoshop can be complicated, but at the same time it can be so easy to use it's laughable. That's what I feel what turns most people off from it, is that they feel as though they should know how to use it but really don't. So, they feel dumb and don't really do anything with it. I can only hope that my tutorials help ease the frustration.

Anyhow, back to the "how to"

So when we last left off, we had just gotten done with doing the line work. After this, I make a new layer. Yea, yet another layer. Get used to it. After you've done this, make sure to go to the layer options like we did selecting "overlay". This time select "multiply".

 

This does exactly like it says, it "multiplys" the layer so it's almost as if you working in the same layer, BUT NOT. Crazy, right? After all that nonsense, I usually pick a neutral tone as my base layer. By doing this you can keep a coherent tone within the piece, plus you get rid of some the edges from when you were fixing the piece.

Then it's time for base colors! Aw yeah! Actually it's really not that exciting... but you are getting one step closer to it being done, so that's exciting, right? Anyways, try to pick neutral colors again. Not necessarily browns and tans, but something between the lightest light and darkest dark you want. Oh, heads up that all layers, unless specified, are all on the multiply layer mode.

Then it's shading time. Lots of shading. I didn't do too much for the sake of time, but I generally do a bit more than this. These are just the simple shadows. Make another layer for this process, since if you do, and you use the exact same color for the area you did before, because of the multiply mode that shade will automatically become darker when you apply it on your painting. This process usually has a lot of new layers depending how much shading you want to have.

Textures! I put a texture on the metal work in this next layer. I usually use pictures or textures i have scanned in, but you can find others on the internet. You just, again, make a new layer, place your texture, erase what you do not want, and set the opacity.

 

Ok at this point I'm fairly happy with all my textures and shading. Now its time for lighting! My favorite part since its usually the last one for me. Create a new layer and set it to "overlay" mode. Choose two colors for a gradient...

Tadaa! Instant light source! There is usually one last step, though. Just to add details like shiney eyes and other stuff. This layer is in "normal" mode by the way, so I generally set my brush to a lower opacity.

And now your really done!

Hope these tutorials were helpful, but most of all, HAVE FUN!

More Digetal Nonsense

The quick speed paint I did the other day really boosted my confidence. So, I decided to try more. A friend of mine requested that I do a character of hers from a story that she is writing. Not only was i confident enough to start one, but two! Yes! Two digital drawings! The second one, was sorta just me screwing around with composition and practicing drawing other things besides people (cat, elf, or otherwise).

Anyhow, here they are for all of your viewing pleasure!

Speed Painting

 I don't feel at times that I have enough confidence within Photoshop at times to actually do a drawing completely in it. This means sketch and everything else. So the other day I decided "what the hell, no time like the present" and did a quick forty-five minute drawing to pass the time.

She's a witch of some sort I guess..

I haven't completely decided if I have the hang of or am not quite as off put by it, but it's defiantly a step in the right direction. Perhaps.

Someone Amazing

Within the studios and halls of D.A.A.P's (University of Cincinnati's School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning) there are a plethora of fine artists like myself that are creating all kinds of wonderful work. One of such artists, I've had the pleasure of not only becoming friends with but am always being pushed and inspired by her work. I've recently gotten to do an interview with her about her work.

First obligatory question: What is your name and what are going to Fine Arts to do?

My name is Allison Weyda and I am in the Fine Arts program to become a professional illustrator.

What type of art and artists inspire you?

Artists that inspire me are usually street artists and comic book illustrators because it seems that the main purpose of their art is to deliver a message or tell a story, which is the type of art that interests me. Some of my current favorite artists are Swoon, Darwyn Cooke, David Mazzucchelli, and Adam Hughes.

Your Diver print is fairly awesome in my humble opinion, what inspired you to do such a piece?

Well the print was made for class and the only requirement was to convey a sense of space and depth. I couldn’t help but think of the impossible depths of the dark ocean. The diver was put in the piece to show the vastness of the water and to convey a sinking sensation.

Have you done/planning to do any pieces that were inspired by your work of the Diver?

I have recently done a four-page comic book story based off of my Diver piece. I was having a difficult time thinking of a story, so I looked at my past work for inspiration. I decided to reuse the Diver character in a more modern setting and wrote a story where the diver is studying an old shipwreck and discovers something unexpected living in the underwater.

If you could change anything about these works what would you do differently and what do you feel has worked really well with in each?
Specifically concerning the Diver, I like the piece overall, but as a slight improvement I would make more of the diver disappear at the bottom so it is clearer to the viewer that he is sinking. My favorite aspect of the Diver piece that developed a lot better than I had expected was the contrast in tone and the textures. The use of aquatint creates a successful sense of a mysterious atmosphere. With some of my other works, especially my paintings, I feel I could just spend more time on them in general. I have slowly been improving my color with my paintings, but I am still working on composition.

If you could do any work in the future, what would it be?
I would really like to illustrate comics, but also do paintings on the side. I would also be fine with just doing illustrations for other publications, but I would really enjoy drawing full story comics and maybe even make some of my own.

If you could give any advice to any young artists, what would it be?

Well being a young artist myself it is a bit hard to give advice, but mine would be to keep an open mind and to explore and experiment with art. Exploring art is a good way to find a unique style that represents you the artist.

No More Drama

One of the main inspirations in my life, as nerdy as it may seem, is World of Warcraft. I've been playing the game for about three years now and I've had a lot of fun being able to connect with the friends I have in my real life through it. Though we may have a lot of inside jokes, most of them pertain to just how silly the game can be or how we think it's funny that there are actually people who think it more than just a game.

See? Just like real life.

If I did do a comic, I don't think just be based off of just random jokes but I do want to have some story archs. Almost think of it as Calvin and Hobbes meets WoW. Except that there are more furry animals walking and talking, even wearing pants I daresay. Or at least a mixture of Elegba and Kuroiushi's "World of Warcraft, Eh?" also Kelly Meeks and Andrew Manser's "Daily Quests" webcomics. Just something lighthearted, though I would love to illustrate some of lore of the Warcraft universe.

What I do know,without a doubt, is the name of which comic: No More Drama. It was the first guild I was ever in, ever actively a part of, or ran and what made it more magical is that it was completely comprised of some of my closest friends. Even though the guild merged with another, we all proudly say that we are members of NMD. A guild made of friends, and built upon the foundation of just having fun. That's what I want to share, just how awesome and fun these people truly are to me.

HOW TO: Scanning and Lines!

I am the type of artist that generally lets the piece decide what medium it wants to be. This pretty much means I work in array of 2-d mediums, though all of my works tend to be on the more illustrative side. One of my favorite ways to work has to be with Photoshop. I can usually sketch out what i want on a good old fashioned piece of paper and then I usually do the rest in Photoshop. My way is fairly simple and doesn't require a whole lot of hassle, which is why I want to share it.

This  first post, like stated, will just get you started with the actual scanning and line work. I feel as though the coloring itself can be a bit more tedious and time consuming. I want to give it full attention so I'm gonna save it for a later post.

Now lets start! Let's say you have a pretty awesome drawing that you want to take the extra time to digitally alter or color. Kinda like this one here:



Yeah that's pretty nifty but that's just a picture of drawing. Let's actually scan that bad boy (or girl, I'll leave the gender to you) I have a home scanner but if you do not library's and Kinko's/Fedex have some too but you usually have to pay for it.

Other scanners may vary but this is a fairly standard set up

For me and my home scanner, I set it for black and white photo and 300 dpi or above. You can usually go for a lower or higher dpi but 300 is usally a safe bet.

Add caption

OH YEAH. Now we're getting somewhere! But there's room for improvement. Lets do some touch ups in photoshop. Open it up directly in photoshop and make sure to go to Image > Image Size > make sure resolution is between 300-500 dpi. I generally like to work that high since you get cleaner results.

 

 

Here is what it'll look like.

Also as a side note, when you open up the scanned image in Photoshop it'll pop up in your layers as "Background" and will be locked. To fix this so you can alter the placement of the layer, simply just rename the layer! That easy! You'll have to do this if you continue with this style of coloring.

Looks odd now but it'll get better I promise.

First thing I do after this is touch things up. Though I always recommend you touch things up as much as possible BEFORE you scan it, sometimes it can't be helped. Plus, scanners can pick up other things besides your drawing that you don't want in it.

The cloak wasn't doin it for me and I have no idea what was going to be in her hand. A wand? Fishing pole? Giant chicken leg? You get the idea. Just because its there when you can it in DOES NOT mean it has to be there forever. You are God and your art is your minion. Make it dance. Or not. After your done editing it make a layer that will go under this one that's just a white fill.

The next part make a new layer and set it to OVERLAY. That's how the contours of my sketches become more contrast and color. You can do whatever color you want, black isn't the only line color in the world.

Here are my lines so far. Blue and some green. Experiment and see which colors fit the drawing.

Research

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think I did a whole lot of research. In my mind research is what you do for a paper or something. You generally think of doing a research in library, like in all the movies. Yet when I truly think about it, I do a lot of research. It's not like I plan a day around doing research for my art, it's more of: I get inspired by something and go straight to the internet. Like the other day I was watching Adventure Time on Nickelodeon and was discussing with my roommate how much I enjoy the art for it even though it's childrens show. I was wondering who came up with the idea for the show and after much searching, not only did I find who made it but I found one of the key animators blog. Natasha Allegri's blog is just a prime example of some of the artists I research. Usually after I find an artists blog like this, I vehemently follow them...along with all the other ones I follow.

The only other research I do, is to find out how to better do what I do. Thankfully, the internet has a plethora of how-to's and guides from anywhere as traditional mediums like markers, how to draw a face, and even how color digitally. 

Even though I do this fairly often, I feel as though I should start to do more research outside of the internet. I feel as an artist I need to start familiarizing myself with other artists and techniques that isn't just all over the internet. Perhaps there are workshops and more shows i can go to, and who knows? You may just see me at the library doing research.

Fuel For The Fire

Just like everyone else, artists need money. As lofty as fine art can be, no one artist can deny the need for to pay for a place to live, food to eat, and of course supplies to make our art. Let me tell ya, I really worry about money, especially when it comes to bills and my taxes.

Taxes and bills for anyone is a stressful situation. I myself, am going to school full time, living on my own, and only really odd jobs here and there  to try and help make ends meet so I only have to work in the summer. So needless to say I worry about money a lot and am always looking for ways to help myself stretch my money just a little more. Through an info-share that one of my classes has hosted, I may have found a helpful tool.

Fox Tax main motto is "Life isn't a business; it' an art." The whole business is dedicated to dealing with the financial needs of artists, mainly taxes. I've only really been filling my taxes for a few years now, and honestly don't know much so any help dealing with my financial needs is valuable.

Just browsing the site there's information for year round planning and advice, information about self-employment tax and estimated payment, even help you plan for retirement. I haven't even thought about retirement let alone if I will be able to! It's nice to know that there is a company out there there that is not only thinking about how I can be paying bills and saving money now but how I can doing it in the future. That's something that is invaluable to me.

Golden Key Update

Been working almost nonstop on this project it would seem. I constantly see myself getting frustrated just due to how time consuming the process can be. It is quite literally stop motion animation so one wrong turn and you have to re-do everything that you've accomplished. It can be incredibly frustrating at times but so far it's been really rewarding as well. I'm really pushing my knowledge of what Photoshop can do and it makes me excited to think that by the end of this process I'll know that much more about something that I will want to use for other art.

Anyways, here is some stills from what I have so far. Not too much but it should hold you over till i can get a working test animation.

Every time I work on this scene I get cold.

I wonder what could be under there...

My Influences: Alphonse Mucha

It is always exciting to see drawings, doodles, and sketches from the artists I admire. Right now I am looking around my room and see not only a calender but two posters of Alphonse Muchas work. The calender is outdated and on the wrong month but it has my favorite piece that was made by him. I sit here fairly frustrated at how it's hard for me to describe how much his work speaks to me.

Alphonse Mucha, Le fruit, c. 1897, Lithograph

His colour compositions are exquisite and the undulating curves of his lines seem to possess a magical mind of their own as they gracefully sweep through each composition. He was truly a master of his art and in complete control of every little element and detail.

Alphonse Mucha, Brunette, n.d., Postcard

While trying my hand at another self-portrait, I took it upon myself to try and do it with his style of work. Ultimatly, I have found that I need to be able to not only define my lines more effectively but I was too scarred to even apply color! At some point I would love to revisit this idea and try again.

 

Sarah Striker, S is for Sarah, 2009, Pen and Ink