Ithacon: The visit

Okay, so I have just returned from Ithacon, and I must say, it was a great experience! I actually had a lot of face to face interaction with some really excellent artists. I got a lot of feed back, which was exactly what I was looking for. Typically I'm a very introverted person, as many of you know. But these guys were really friendly, and they were really trying to help me. I have some great new tips and new things to pay attention to in my comic work, as well as my illustrative work overall.

The first artist I spoke with was named Michael Borkoski. He's has worked as a storyboard artist and a freelance artist. He has worked on shows such as The Venture Bros. and has also illustrated an iron-man children's book. You can check him out HERE. He spoke to me about how he first started getting jobs and how he's managed to stay employed over the years. He also had good things to say about some of my character illustration, and I gave him one of my Avatar prints for all his help.

The next man I spoke with was named Storn Cook. You can find him HERE. He's a comic artist that does a lot of fantasy art. As I spoke with him he asked to see my work because he noticed the portfolio under my arm. And he gave me a really great artist critique. I knew I was having trouble spots, but it was great to have someone who could actually articulate what I couldn't tell was wrong by just looking at it myself.

As we were talking the artist next to him, Ken Wheaton, noticed my work and began to converse with me at the same time. You can find him HERE. He was great, and getting feedback from both of them at the same time was amazing.

So the breakdown is, I need to work on my anatomy, and I did know that, but it was reaffirmed. I need to work on my shadows and line weights, which I have been beginning to play with. I need to add more contrast to my lights and darks of my overall pages, and I need to keep the composition, and the idea of leading the eye, in the back of my head.

All of these artists offered their further advice if I wanted it, and to contact them, which I will, they were all very helpful. That's all for now, I have to go do animation.

EDIT: Just to put in an epilogue, because I was running out the door when I wrote the first bit. The artists I spoke to said that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be as far as my art goes, and I'm just at the cusp of where it will begin to curve into something refined, so that also gave me confidence, and I'm definitely going to continue my practices!

Ithacon

Alright! After a long haitus, mostly due to my college work, I'm back updating! This also due to the fact that ithacon is approaching. Now I've been excited about Ithacon even more after seeing the guest list! To see what I'm talking about, click HERE. Anyway, since ithacon is approaching, I want to complete as many comic samples as I can. There was already a bit of lineart posted earlier, and this is the first fully completed page that I have, and I'm pretty happy with it. So that's the news so far, here's a cool VIDEO.

Back Again

Hokay, Small update, half of Rodeo Knights #1 is inked and scanned ready for coloring. No video tonight, youtube is down. A bigger update tomorrow, I am verrry sleepy

Curses!

Well, no more ads...But still updating! I managed to fit a small inking session into my busy night, and ALMOST finished a page. maybe it will be done tomorrow. Also, I might call this issue #0 of Rodeo Knights instead of #1. Because it doesn't really connect to the larger arc, it's more of an intro. So, here's a groovy VIDEO, and a character.

No Time!

Okay, so since I've been going to bed at 5 AM for the past few days, I've completed no new inking, hopefully tomorrow I'll have more time in the evening for progress. Meanwhile, if you are as big a fan of pixar, "Up" specifically, you will love this VIDEO, and watch it at least six times in a row. Ta ta for now!.....also, here's a character sketch.

Edit: If you liked that video, you will love this VIDEO

Pause

I have inked the page i was working on yesterday, or rather finished it, and I inked one panel on the next page, it was a slow day. Do not expect any progress or even an update tomorrow. I have a full day of school catch up to do thanks to my laziness. Anywho, here's a VIDEO, which I picked because my girlfriend just read Dante's Inferno and I saw this trailer right after she told me, and I found that funny, and a character. Expect a new update monday.

Judgement

I had a long day of taking and trying to develop photos. It was a 9 to 8 gig, and i knew i was tired, but i still wanted to ink. Bad idea, I actually fell asleep while inking a page. So I have half a page inked, and it has blotches on it. So no new pages, no more inking tonight. Tomorrow maybe. But here's a VIDEO and a character

Woo-Hoo!!

Alright, so two more pages are inked, which brings the total to 10! Two more pages and I will have half of the pages inked. I have also acquired temporary headphones so my workflow has been restored. This is the weekend before spring break, so I have a little bit more work to do than usual so inking might go slower than usual. If I have less ink time, I'm going to start some of the thumb sketches for Sadie. Also, if you are going to be in Ithaca NY around April 24, I will be taking my work to the spring comic book show, "Ithacon", and wouldn't it be impressive to show up with a following! Just kidding, anyway, the Sadie fan page has over 90 fans now! Thank you everyone who sent out invites and accepted those invites! :). Here's another funny VIDEO, and another Sadie character.

Developement!

Alright, so I inked two pages tonight instead of my usual one. But I'm still only at eight pages. I know last post I said seven, but that was a miscount. So four more pages and I'll have half of the comic inked! Go me! maybe it is possible to get it inked before break. But if I don't, I'll ink during break. I can't really color during break because I won't have my super awesome tablet. None the less, if I finish inking over break, I will momentarily turn my focus on Sadie, and do the rough sketches for those pages. If I finish those, I'll start penciling the real pages, so as to not lose this flow I'm in.

Also, the Sadie Comics facebook page grew from 7 to 69 fans in just two days! That's very encouraging. This is just pushing me to make sure these comics are awesome.

One more thing. If it's not a bother, I would suggest bookmarking this page so you remember to read it everyday. If you read t everyday, I will update everyday. Very well, we have an accord. So, here's a super funny commercial VIDEO, and another sadie character. Happy Trails!!

Slow and steady

It's simultaneously a slow and hectic week. The hectic has to do with my college work so I won't get into it. On the comic front, I have one more page fully inked, which brings my total to around seven. It's actually starting to look like a comic. I may throw up some inked preview pages in the future, depending on the week. So until then, here's a cool animation VIDEO. Also, I'm returning to updating the sadie facebook page, so check that out too. Here's another character sketch from Sadie. The comic in production after Rodeo Knights.

Anger

I am very...very...angry right now....Because my BROKEN HEAD PHONES COST $140!!!!!....Yes, if you notice any mental erosion within me in the next few days, it's because music was the one thing keeping me sane....anyway, I only got one page inked today. Partly because I just had less time than the last two days, and party because I quit out of sheer anger. Sooooooo here's a VIDEO.

Inking

I have inked four pages, and in doing so I have learned that i need to erase more extrenuous pencil lines before I ink. Erasers tend to also remove ink for some reason. But, baby steps, moving forward, but also kinda moving backwards...anyway, progross is being made on the comic front, means I only have 20 pages left to ink. My goal is to get them inked before break. That seems unlikely but it's a goal. Anyway, at the request of the only comment made on this blog, I'm linking a VIDEO that I made last year for cinema production class.

I Believe

I believe tat I have actually finished the penciling entirely. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm gonna go ahead and start inking. If I think I need more penciling I'll do it on the way...but other than that, yay. I loooooooove my comic work, its a good distraction. Also, I felt bad having not posted this VIDEO yet, seeing as it's one of my all time favorite youtube videos. Chances are you've seen it. but still, had to be done. Also I have no more character sketches of Rodeo Knight characters, but I have some from the next comic, Sadie. This is the main adversary, named Ellen.

Oh dear...

Turns out I have more re-penciling than I had thought, I basically have to go over everything before page 12...so I'm still delayed. Basically I've learned to just take my time the FIRST time around I do a page. Something to keep in mind when production on the first issue of Sadie begins production in a few months. Soooooo here's another VIDEO

Milestone

Two years after the first page was penciled, the entire first issue of Rodeo Knights is fully penciled!! DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!! But I'm not done, I still have to RE-pencil a few of the earlier pages that got less time, but it shouldn't be that bad. Then it's on to the inking, which should not take two years...if I focus...which is hard lately......Anywho! I figure I'll just keep throwing up videos as a distraction until I get some preview art up here, so until then, enjoy THIS.

GOOD news, Nobody!

After a few sucessful hours of drawing, I only have 1 more page to pencil! I already put in the layout, and roughed in some characters, but opted to stop on the grounds that it's late, and I want to do it well, so I stopped. That's all the news I have, but I figured I'd update, in case, you know, someone out there is actually tracking my progress...Meanwhile!!!! Here's another VIDEO to keep you interested :)

Ah-HEM!

Well if this post records the time it was made, you will note that I am updating at 2:40 AM. This is because I finished my real school work around 10, then watched an Adobe Fireworks training video until about...11:30. After THAT, I started on Rodeo Knights again and actually had a good groove going so I didn't want to stop. I now have 1 page and 2 panels left to pencil! Then on to some re-penciling, and then the inking! This is progress guys! Until then, here's another video LINK for you to enjoy. Also, here's a sketch of Kelly from Rodeo Knights.

Small Update

This is a small update just to say that I only have 1 and 1/2 pages left to pencil, and they are taking longer because they involve repetitively drawing a jeep from different angles, and cars are my drawing weakness, I was trying to avoid it for so long. But that also means I can ink soon, until then, here's a neat video you can watch.

SO Close

Well I've mannaged to complete two more penciled pages from Rodeo Knights, which means I only have the last three to pencil and then I can start inking, but don't be fooled, it means I still have two thirds of the work still left to do. Also, this issue was started well over two years ago, so the early pages look slightly different from the recent ones, so I have to go back and adjust them, but we're getting somewhere. Until then, here's a character sketch of Delilah, one of the four main characters from Rodeo Knights

Back Again

Greetings from limbo readers...and by readers I mean anyone who found this blog on accident. Despite the huge gap between this and my last post, you will be pleased to know that there has been progress in the land of sadie comics. I have created a small flash site for Sadie Ink. It has little content right now, since content will come from the comics I have yet to finish. But on that note, Issue #1 of Rodeo Knights, which has been in progress for well over two years, is five pages away from being completely penciled and ready for inking. I'm trying to have a finished issue by the time Ithacon comes around. Aside from that, issue #1 of six other comics has been written out. And as soon as Rodeo Knights is in the bag, Sadie will be the next comic to get treatment. So that's where I am, wish me luck