7.02.2008

The last 'Spadefoot'

This is it--the final page of the 'Spadefoot' saga! The Web comic will be collected into a trade, hopefully ready for the Small Press Expo in October.

Matt D. at 5:46 AM | link to this | 0 comments

7.01.2008

Anatomy of a scene

I really love watching directorial info in the special features of a good movie. When the director blocks out the way he shot a scene, why certain events were critical and why others ended up on the edit room floor have taught me a lot about storytelling. How to shave the fat. Getting down to what the story is really about.

Anyway, not that I think I'm a great shake, but I thought that someone might get some information out of my process for working in art. Maybe I'm doing something that someone far more talented than myself will find useful, and go on to create the next great work. It'd be nice to think anyway.

step 1

PENCILS

I did the pencils pretty quickly. This was a single piece for August Adams novel 'National Dark Roast Day'. Very clever book. I really enjoyed reading it, and I was honored that he would want me involved. Anyway, I'd like to say that August approached me with the most composed and professional proposal I'd ever scene. Not only did he tell me exactly what he was looking for (with finished dimensions) but he provided a copy of his novel, and the location in the story where my scene would take place, so I could just read what was necessary. Really impressive. Anyway, after some discussion with August on the pencils I made some changes and moved on to inking.

Step 2

INKS

I was working at 200% ratio. It's not a scale that I'm used to working with, so I kept trying to keep in mind that every line was going to be twice as thin in it's finished proportions. I tried not to add too much detail, so that when the piece was finished it wouldn't look cramped or too dense.

Step 3

Grey tones

It used to be that inking was my favorite step in the creation process, but lately I really think it's been grey washing the piece. I used Dr. PH Martins conentrated watercolor, and chose sepia so that it would be easy to determined what was a hard black line, what was watercolor, and what was pencil marks. Using the Sepia also made the original art really beautiful. I was pretty happy with it at this point, and August seemed to be right on board, so I went ahead and moved on.

Step 4

Colors

I would just like to say that I HATE working in color. I am very uneasy, and unsure of myself in this step. It sucks. I never color anything that I'm really happy about. I mean, I think my colors are 'okay' but I also think that someone else with a stronger sense of color theory could make my work look a lot better. Anyway, I wasn't really sure if I liked the colors, but I wanted to do my best and make it look as sharp as possible. Seriously, looking at this makes me feel like someone with a mutant pimple planted between his eyebrows heading into his senior prom. "Please don't look at it!!"

Step 5

Corrections

Immediately after sending the finished work to August I thought, "nope, there's got to be more green in there." The whole piece looked too washed out, and it would severely compromise what I thought was a pretty solid piece. So, another hour in Photoshop and I had something I was really proud of. Probably from start to finish this was about 12-16 hours of work, and I thought it came out well. I'm super excited that it's been finished and August is happy. Mostly that's because I foresee myself spending the rest of the year working in various projects in black and white after the last two were color.

Anyway, that's how I work. Hope you enjoyed!

Jake at 3:52 PM | link to this | 2 comments

6.29.2008

New Techniques

Click to Enlarge

This project is still in the planning stages, but I'm really enjoying trying out a new style.

ETK at 8:32 PM | link to this | 1 comments

6.28.2008

Final 'Spadefoot'

The final page of Spadefoot, sans lettering and colors. Andrew did some wonderful pencils. So much so that I'm a little intimidated to do the colors!

Matt D. at 5:29 AM | link to this | 1 comments

6.26.2008

Need a little help

I'm coloring the cover of the Liquid Revolver graphic novel and I'm trying to decide which of the three versions below looks best. Thoughts?

Matt D. at 10:33 PM | link to this | 4 comments

6.21.2008

Altar of Meat 2008!

2006...

2007...

It's time for the third annual DC Conspiracy BBQ. Some old favorites return, some go away, and some new recipes enter the mix. But first my supplies...

And for me to drink, of course...

And my sister, who was "helping" me:

The Feta Burgers make their return this year:

Joined by my new bacon-cheeseburgers (turkey bacon, mozzarella, and eggs):

Ready to go on the grill...

My Italian Chicken makes its THIRD trip to the DC BBQ:

And this time it's joined by my new Chipotle Chicken (tomatoes, chipotle peppers, brown sugar, wine, lemon juice, and garlic):

As you may notice, my BBQ ribs are not making an appearance this year. There are just too many people coming and I don't have the time to make enough for everyone. But I hope the new burger and chicken recipes will make up for the loss of the ribs.

See you all tomorrow!

Jason at 12:04 AM | link to this | 0 comments

5.29.2008

Writers: Finding Artists

In case anyone is interested I started a thread over at DC Conspiracy on how writers can find artists and how to work with them once they've found them. Like I said in the thread, I'm not claiming to be an expert on this but I have my methods and I think they've been working so far. Head on over and check it out if you're interested.

Jason at 9:15 AM | link to this | 0 comments

The DC Conspiracy is a group of comic creators, writers, artists, editors, and assorted hangers-on based in the Washington, DC region. Through semi-regular meetings and group projects, we're sharing ideas, swapping stories, comparing influences, and helping each other out.