CG#4, page 6 complete!

I am very happy that I was able to finish another page before the end of the week. The initial character-intensive pages have lessened (not to say that the current pages are plain or boring), allowing for quicker completion of each page. The plot has been initiated, the characters have been introduced, and the story is in motion. Enjoy the preview before the weekend!

CG#4: page 5 complete!

Another page is done, part of the opening set of pages that have quite a bit of detail (and characters). I mentioned this once before for grOw/cOmic#3, but I will repeat it here. It's not the number of panels, that causes a page to take longer, but the number of faces on the page. Faces need extra care to make them come out right, with all their intricacies. We humans are very structured to communicate with a person's face, so we are quite intimate with its features. Page 3 had a total of 18 faces (whew!), and page 4 had 14 which is why they took so long. This last page had 9, which is getting closer to the average.

I am also getting the hang of adding the Google SketchUp renderings as backgrounds. They definitely needed added Photoshop work — better shadows, lighting, bluring, etc — but the software does the trick, giving me detailed locations that would take a lot of time to produce otherwise.

Enjoy the preview! On to page 6 !

CG#4: page 4 complete!

I had hoped to post this yesterday, but I couldn't quite get the page completed with some "real" work coming in at the last minute. But, I was able to quickly finish it up this morning. Another detailed page, this one took a bit longer than usual. The story is taking shape, and characters are being introduced. Enjoy the preview!

CG#4: page 3 complete

Wow. OK, I know I said some of the first few pages would take longer because of the detail involved, but I had no idea it would take this long. :) Page 3 took about 18 hours to ink and paint (and add backgrounds)! And that's in addition to the 3 hours to pencil, and a few more to write and conceptualize the storyline. I think this page was the most detailed of the initial ones I was talking about. Page 4, while detailed as well, is not to this level. Enjoy the preview (which will give you a glimpse of what I am talking about)!

CG#4: page 2 complete!

I meant to post this yesterday, but did not have the chance. Page 2 of "grOwing Desires" is now complete. This page is one of the first few pages that are quite detailed in the number of panels and characters, thus, taking longer to ink and paint. Pages 3, 4, and 5 are similar and will take longer to complete. Also, this week surprisingly turned out to be a very busy "real life" work week, on top of time spent cleaning up from the East Coast snow storm that hit, both of which slowed down progress a bit.

This preview shows another main character, Claudine. The first preview (page 1) shows the main characters Lynn, in the foreground, and MaryBeth, blurred in the background. Enjoy the preview — I'm off to start inking page 3 !

GC#4: color and ink begin! Page 1 complete!

Things are well underway, with the completion of the first page of this new 6-part cOmic series, titled "grOwing Desires".

As you can get a hint at by this first sneak peak, there are a lot of characters, of which, only half are shown here. With this series, I have also been refining my "hair", experimenting with Adobe Illustrators' brush feature to make better strands. Yes, all the basic inking and coloring, including basic flat shading, are done in Adobe Illustrator. I really like the brush tool when used with my Wacom tablet, getting varying widths to lines. Then, onto Photoshop, where shadows are softened, and built up, highlights applied, and other special effects (blurs) are done.

The first 4 or 5 pages may take some time, as each page is chock-full of characters and panels. The story is being set-up and the characters being introduced. So, these pages will take longer between each sneak peak. Enjoy the preview!

gC#4, issue 1: Pencils Complete!

Today, I finished the final page for grOw/cOmic#4, issue 1, in terms of the pencil drawings -- all 18 pages. I added another extra page to the normal 16, to allow for more initial story and first growth encounters. I made very good progress this week, with my "real life" work easing considerably. (I would have made more, but a dizzying head cold slowed me somewhat.) Listening to the "Avatar" Soundtrack also "propelled" me. Being a big movie soundtrack fan, matching the emotions of what I am drawing to the music is a real muse. Now is the time for scanning, inking, and coloring. Sneak previews of the colorized pages will be posted as I finish each page.