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Let's Draw Some Comics
I sat down and sketched for about an hour of possible comic designs for myself, BBQ and Kymberly. I am going to try to fill up as much of my sketch book as I can before I start to draw this comic later on in June. I am tempted to set an egg timer and draw straight ever damn day this month. Next week I am working on full figure drawing and poses. I am pretty out of practices and plan on remedy that.
On Friday I stopped by the art supply store and blew fifty bucks on good paper, pencils, sketchbooks, drawing boards, pens and erasers. I can't use the excuse that I don't have appropriate art supplies. The actual strip will be on good 11 by 14 inch sheets and I plan on working at a print resolution and then bringing it down to a web resolution. That should give me some good source drawings and if I print the strip at a later date I will have the high resolution version.
I don't have a good scanner yet so I sketched this on the ferry and scanned it in at BBQ's place. I am tempted to get a dip pen and try to ink with it. I have worked with one several years ago and I could get an authentic comic look with it but it is risky with spills and splatters.
So what do you think of this? Nothing is cement now and I would love some feedback.
Jake at May 29, 2004 
Games
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Comments
You have got some issues with line-wieght and cross hatching. I know this is just something you threw together between video games but you might want to think about technique with pen and ink.
Don't use a "dip pen" if you don't have to. They are messy and with cats around you are bound to have an india ink disaster.
I would recommend a Koh-I-Noor Stainless Steel Rapidograph 7-Pen Slim Pack.
Excellent for inking without the mess. Japanese precision...moves and inks in all directions exactly the same, many different line widths, feels like drawing with a pencil etc. I use these in fine detail work with my technical drawings and sci-fi stuff. i have used them for years. One problem is that you must clean them regularly. That is really no big deal though. I could show you how to do it right in about 15 minutes. i was taught by a veteran inker so you have to trust me on this one.
Posted by: pete at May 29, 2004 10:38 PM
I forgot to mention this. You have no prototype for ME??? WTF? You can make me look as evil as you want. Come on man! Wait, nevermind. You would portray me with swasticas all over the place anyway.
Posted by: pete at May 29, 2004 10:40 PM
Very cool. I'm really looking forward to your comic!
Posted by: brendoman at May 29, 2004 10:41 PM
Pretty good for a first effort (well, first in a long time). I'd consider adding something to her hair, a streak of color, or shadow, to give some dimension and heft to her.
I'm personally a huge admirer of the old Disney animation studio, and I love poring over examples from their storyboards, and reference sheets. Maybe those would give you some ideas for how to make your illustrations more fluid. Though, frankly, that process is likely more a result of continuous practice, commitment, and repetition than anything else. I visit 8bitjoystick several times a week; I'm very much looking forward to seeing what develops!
Posted by: W. at May 29, 2004 10:46 PM
please please pleeease dont use any pixelated graphics, such like the one on the shirt. Its so overdone now.
Posted by: Ray at May 29, 2004 11:47 PM
Well the thing is that Kymberly does have that shirt. It is a Diesel Sweeties shirt. I don't think I am going to stick with one outfit per person.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at May 30, 2004 12:18 AM
No way man. I hate working with Rapidograph pens. They break and are super hard to clean and use. I would rather just use a dip pen with a nib and India Ink for thick lines
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at May 30, 2004 1:07 AM
I rely heavily on my pen and nibs and it can be quite disastrous since I have 2 ferrets! However, I've never found an inking method with better control over line thickness/thinness.
Looks good so far :)
Posted by: Jessica at May 30, 2004 5:32 AM
What do you use koh-i-noor pens for anyway? Are you a cartoonist?
Posted by: pete at May 30, 2004 8:34 AM
Cool! Good drawings and I'm looking forward to seeing the comic soon.
I'm cheap, I just use 8x11 paper and sharpies and Uni-ball vision pens for my inking. Oh, and a whiteout pen from Staples. I'm also poor ... but we make due with what we have.
Adobe Streamline is cool for cleaning up an BW inked drawing and also vectorizing it. And I use a combo of Illustrator (for coloring) and good ol' Photoshop (for shading and special FX) to make my comic.
Hope to see it soon, keep up the good work!
Posted by: Heather Achey at June 2, 2004 12:05 PM
