I just finished page 7 of the next grOw/cOmic (#4: "grOwing Desires"). I had hoped to have finished it yesterday, and had made excellent progress; but, I was blindsided by a lot of last minute "real life" work, which kept me busy for the second half of the day yesterday, and most of today. However, I was able to squeeze in some time between projects to finish this page, so that I could post an update.Google SketchUp has really been helping out with the backgrounds, especially since so many "furniture" 3D models are available for the program for FREE! The backgrounds need some post-production work, no doubt about it. But my Photoshop skills are up to the task (fixing seams, adding texture where needed, and adjusting shadows and lighting to the needs of the scene).
Enjoy the preview! Tomorrow, it's on to page 8, where the action is really starting to heat up!
In a response to a comment made in the previous post, I wanted to put the answer here in the main Blog, as some people have missed things in the comments. It thought the answer was interesting:
other290 said:"Had a look at grOwstOry 1-6 vs the later 7-12, the new details add alot to the story and the difference from grOw #1 are amazing."
BA: @other290: Yes, the difference are huge between the first grOw/cOmic and this one. This is due to many reasons: 1) As an "known success rate" project, "Milk Farm" (GC#1) was the first of its kind. I didn't know how much time I should spend. 2) The line work in GC#1 was done with black felt pen on paper, scanned, and then colored using a MOUSE! 3) Half the coloring for GC#1 was done on a moving train, when I used to commute a lot!! 4) CG#1 was 5 years ago since it's release, and 10 years ago since I started that one (yes, it took 5 years to create)... I've had a lot more practice since then, and have been able to experiment with different methods.
Starting with CG#2, ink and coloring were done using a Wacom tablet (the original drawings are still done in pencil, and probably always will be). Doing the inking digitally in Adobe Illustrator with the Wacom tablet gives me wonderful control of line thickness, sharpness, and COLOR! It has also allowed me to do effects such as hair, some basic 3D, and repetitive textures. Also, the Wacom is a boon for coloring. I can use pressure sensitivity to control ink flow, rather than using on-screen controls and keystrokes to adjust opacity and brush size. Another method I now use to increase drawing quality, is that I now use more real-life photographs when drawing characters — for better reference to facial expressions and consistent looks. In comparison, CG#1 was drawn completely from my mind's eye.
5 comments:
You used to do artwork while commuting on a train?!
The artwork really has been on the up and up. I even notice just between issues of H2Grow how things evolve artistically.
Great blog post, keep it up.
- Potato
That was the digital coloring, yes. I found myself a nice corner seat, angled the laptop so I had privacy, and colored away... :D
Ahh, Ok.
I could just imagine you trying to colour when the train hit a bump and scribbles went everywhere.
The corner seat no doubt helped.
I once took a pretty empty bus ride across states and the girl sitting across the isle from me started watching some show on her laptop (I later found out it was True Blood). I was very bored as it was night time and pitch black, so I couldn't just watch scenery pass. I began watching the laptop out the corner of my eye, but the angle she had it on was pretty obscuring.
Then a sex scene came up, and the girl turned the laptop away from the isle so no one could see. However, the angle she turned it to meant the screen reflected perfectly off of the black window she sat next to. I could see the laptop image better then before :D
-Potato
That's awesome that you did some of your coloring on a train. I used to fly frequently and would mess around with my HP tablet during flights. I would get frustrated when I would mess up when we hit turbulence, I can only imagine what it would be like when your train hit some bad bumps. Thank the stars for undo :D.
@Andy: yeah, undo saved me a number of times! However, I wasn't using a tablet, but a mouse. In some ways, it was more steady, though less fluid.
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