Dave Acosta's Art Blog

Copic Marker Boba Fett Sketch

2012-01-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

Copic Markers and PITT artist pens on 100 lb Strathmore bristol board.

Joker Sketch

2011-11-09T07:32:00.001-08:00

Copic Markers Sketches

2011-11-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

"The Vessel of Terror" Officially Arrives!

2011-10-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

This has been a long time in the making and I can't believe it's finally here! I started working on the original pitch for "The Vessel of Terror" almost two years ago exactly, with Norwegian writer Magnus Aspli. It's truly been a joy to work with Magnus on this. "The Vessel of Terror" has been challenging and rewarding in so many ways. I'm definitely a different artist since I began drawing it, but I'm really proud of every page.

October 26th will see its official US release from UK publisher AAM Markosia. I'm going to be celebrating with an in store signing at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, MI.

I'm honored to be having the signing at Green Brain. Not only are Dan and Katie real swell people, but Green Brain is partly responsible for me getting back into comics and starting my career!

I hadn't been in a comic shop for about ten years, until I began taking classes at The University of Michigan-Dearborn. I would pop into Green Brain to kill some time during my breaks. The breadth of their selection blew my mind! Week by week, comics started to sink their teeth into me, and my obsession returned.

I'll be at Green Brain Wed., October 26th, signing comics and doing free sketches. If you live in the area, stop by, get some comics, and say "Hi"!

If you can't make on Wednesday, you can get the comic through Amazon, AAM Markosia, or your local comic shop (Diamond code AUG11 0741). It will also be avaialble digitally through Markosia's website.

Here are some choice words about "The Vessel of Terror", including a thumbs up from Fangoria!

“A sophisticated storyline, art that makes the eyes linger on the panels, and realistic dialogue with wit, humor and intelligence. After setting up its believable characters and dark premise, VESSEL explodes into a page-turning frenzy of sex, violence, suicide and reality-bending mayhem[...]" - Fangoria

"[...] a masterful, genuinely frightening slice of horror fiction." - ComixTribe

Created and written by Magnus Aspli Artwork and lettering by Dave Acosta Colors by Goran Kostadinoski & Jeremy P. Roberts Script editor: Alex De-Gruchy

$17.99 / £12.99 128 pages - full color
Available from AAM Markosia Enterprises
ISBN: 978-1-905692-68-2

Detroit Fanfare

2011-09-23T05:47:00.001-07:00

Wow! So much has happened since my last post. First off, I'd like to announce that I will have a table at this year's Detroit Fanfare, Sept. 24th-25th at Cobo Hall, in downtown Detroit. I wasn't able to attend last year, but everyone one said it was a great, well run show. One thing I love about the show is that they put Artist's Alley right up front, meaning every attendee literally has to walk by your table, at least twice. Very cool for us hard workin' folks in the Alley. Plus, Robocop will be there, in the heart of Old Detroit.

But the real exciting part is that I will have limited edition, advance copies of THE VESSEL OF TERROR. I've been working on this graphic novel with Magnus Aspli for almost two years! I'll finally be able to hold it in my clammy little hands, a whole month ahead of the official Diamond release date.

I also have another project that will be making its American debut at Detroit Fanfare; DRAGO BENTLEY. It's a Sci-Fi comic I've been penciling, and so far it has only been available in Australia. I had copies of Issues 1-4 arrive last week. Looking forward to finally get it out there!

I'm also getting some promo stuff ready, like banners and posters, as well as a new print that I will have for sale. It's a Dave Stevens/Rocketeer homage featuring Boba Fett and a certain space princess. The prints came out great, full color on 120 lbs glossy cover stock. I'll post the art for it as soon as I get a chance.

I'll also be doing sketches, portfolio reviews, and general glad handing, so if you're at the show, be sure to come by and say hello.

Now, back to work!

Dave

The Vessel of Terror Page 5.3

2011-07-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a page from Chapter 5 of "The Vessel of Terror", layouts, pencils and inks.

I drew the layouts on my Wacom Intous Tablet in Photoshop. Sometimes it's easier to draw layouts digitally because I make so many changes and do a lot of resizing. Once I have a layout I like, I resize it to 11x17 and use the Duotone option to make it a non-repro blue. Then I print them out on Bristol board and pencil over the layouts. Then I scan in the pencils, adjust whatever I need to in Photoshop and print them out on a fresh piece of Bristol board and ink over that. It sounds like a lot of work, but overall, my workflow is more productive.

As you can see, I flipped the last panel, to make the page flow a little better. Panel 2 was changed because I accidentally drew a close up of one character instead of the other. That's why it always pays to read the script!

Eye with Tentacles

2011-02-25T15:36:00.001-08:00

Whoa, it's been a while!

2011-02-09T07:12:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted in forever. Been super busy, but busy is good right? I've started doing commissions again, and here is the most recent, done for Brad. Inked with 102 nib, Super Black ink, and Kuretake markers.

The Monster's Bride

2010-10-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Drago Bentley #2 Now on Sale!

2010-10-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Drago Bentley #2 is officially in the can. I think it came out really great, especially with the addition of inker Mark Martin to the team. Here is the cover.

Monster Sketch

2010-10-13T16:07:00.001-07:00

Zombie Santa Sketch

2010-10-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Not appropriate.

Mummy Sketch

2010-10-11T14:38:00.001-07:00

Skeleton

2010-10-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today's Monster sketch is actually from issue 3 of The Vessel of Terror, which I've just finished inking. Pretty nasty. no?

Zombie Dude + Owl

2010-10-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Another zombie sketch. Carrie thought something was missing so she added the little owl on his shoulder.

Lady Vamp

2010-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Another quick monster sketch, done with the Kuretake brush pen.

Zombie Head Sketch

2010-10-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

Kuretake markers on Stratmore 300 series sketch pad.

October = Monster Month!

2010-10-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

October 1st - time to start posting Monster sketches! First up is a zombie from Mouthbreather.

Pencil Process

2010-09-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my process for projects which I only pencil. This particular page is from "Drago Bentley" issue 2. First, I do layouts of each page at 4.5 x 7 inches. I email this to Joe, the writer, for approval.

Then, I put done some loose pencils with the non-repro blue pencil. I'll also draw all of my perspective grids here as well.

Then, I go over the page with graphite, usually a B lead. I won't be inking the page so I try to draw as precise as I can, which is why I use a Sanford Turquoise lead holder. Nothing else can give a sharper edge. I work from the top left corner down, in a z formation to prevent smudging the page with my stupid hand.

Then it's off to the inker. In this case, Mark Martin has been kind enough to help us out with the inking. He's got a great, clean look and we're really starting to gel. Soon, I'll start sending rougher, illegible pencils and make him do all the work! Muh haha hahahahahahaha hahahahahahahah! (evil laugh).

Green Brain Comics' "Visions of MODOK"

2010-09-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Green Brain Comics is having an opening reception tonight for their latest exhibit, "Visions of MODOK", featuring the Marvel Comics character, known throughout the galaxy as Jack Kirby's most disturbing design ever. The reception is 7-10, Sat Sept. 25th, the exhibit will be up until Dec. 8th. Here is my contribution:

Meet My Assistant.

2010-09-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to get one of these Art S. Buck artist models for a long time. It looked like they were off the market for a while, but I found this one on a dusty shelf at the Dick Blick store in Dearborn. I literally use it everyday. It helps me keep the forms of my drawings looking solid. The detailed face is great for 3/4 views. I point my desk lamp on it whenever I'm trying to ink some tricky split-lighting. This thing is highly recommended!

The Blue Pencil Process

2010-09-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm really loving my new Non-Repro Blue mechanical pencil. I've avoided using blue pencils before because I could only find the old fashioned kind that you have to sharpen. As the lead gets more rounded, the drawings turn to mush and it's hard to tell construction lines from contours. Anyway, this mechanical pencils works great and retains a nice clean line.

If I'm working with an inker, I'll go over the page again with a B graphite pencil. If I'm going to ink it, I go straight to inks. The best part about the non photo blue is that it doesn't show up when you scan it in as greyscale. So there is no need to erase the pages after you ink them. This also means that you can use markers without worrying about the loss of sharpness that comes with erasing. I've been using Japanese Kuretake markers a lot lately, ever since Jason Howard told me about them. They''re way more fluid and pointed them the Micron Pigmas or PITT pens. Really though, what's better than a fresh #102 nib, eh?

I still do most of my inking with the Winsor & Newton series 7 #2 brush watered down Speedball Super Black ink. Can't beat it.

Here is a page from "The Vessel of Terror" that shows the blue pencil process. First, I scan in the page in 24 bit color:

A little hard on the eyes, especially on a computer monitor, so I convert it to greyscale and send it to Magnus, the writer, and Alex, the editor, for approval:

Once it's approved, I ink it. No worries about erasing the page or smudging the graphite with my hand, thanks to the non-repro blue.

Drago Issue 2 pencils

2010-09-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pencils from issue 2 of Drago Bentley. I penciled them pretty tight since Mark Martin has recently joined the team as inker. I also did of the underdrawing with this awesome new Pilot non-repro blue Color Eno mechanical pencil. Keeps graphite smudges to a minimum.

Drago Bentley #1 Now on Sale

2010-08-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Drago Bentley: Space Detective #1 is now on sale. Hard copies and digital downloads are available here: It's a sci-fi series with robots, explosions, mysteries and all sorts of cool stuff. I'm penciling and inking the comic, which is written and created by Joseph Kisch.

I'll start posting some art from the series now that issue #1 is out. It's been a lot of fun so far and there's a long way to go. Now get over there and buy a copy...it's okay...I'll wait...

TVOT inks

2010-06-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

I'm adding inkwash and adding a little color to the scenes that take place in 1349. I'm liking the results.

"The Vessel of Terror" pencils

2010-06-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pencils from the second issue. Enjoy!

Cherry Capital Con

2010-06-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Traverse City, MI this weekend for the 2nd annual Cherry Capital Con at the Grand Traverse Resort and Casino. I''l have some new prints for sale and of course, will be doing sketches. It's a perfect excuse to hang out in Traverse for he weekend. It's all about the French toast at the Omelette Shoppe and burgers and beer at the Mackinaw Brewery. Believe it.

Motor City Comic Con Recap

2010-05-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, sorry for the delay in posting. The Motor City Comic Con was a whole lotta fun and I meant tons of cool people. A whole weekend spent drawing and talking about comics. Lots of fun. Looking forward to doing a whole lot more cons in the future. I inked most of the sketches with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen dipped into my usual mix of Speedball Super Black and Higgins Black Magic Ink. Thanks to everyone whoo stopped by and said hello!

Here is a sketch that went to a very cool kid named Bryce:

This one was penciled by the guy next to me, Will Woods. You can check out his art here.

Yes, yes it is:

Motor City Comic Con

2010-05-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Artists Alley at the Motor City Comic Con this weekend in Novi, MI. I'll have some singed and numbered prints for sale and also (hopefully) be doing some sketches for people. I'll also be showing some artwork from a new project that I'm working on which I haven't be able to post about yet.

Here is the latest page from The Vessel of Terror that I'm inking. A quiet scene on a Norwegian dock. The woman is modeled after Mad Men's Christina Hendricks because...well, why not?

Boris Inks

2010-04-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

Inked with the #2 brush.

TVOT page 2.12

2010-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

A nice little scene in the tank room from The Vessel of Terror, chapter 2. Chapter 1 should be released digitally later this year.

Boris Pencils

2010-04-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

I just watched "Bride of Frankenstein" for the first time and thought I'd whip up a illo of good old Franky. I love how the Monster learns to talk in the movie, which makes him way more threatening. Hats off to Mr. Karloff!

The Vessel of Terror pencils

2010-02-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pencils from "The Vessel of Terror". I just finished up the art for the first issue. It should be coming out this Spring from Markosia Enterprises. Some of these pages take place in Bergen, Norway, 1349, so that was a bit challenging.

Short Stack #5

2010-02-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

I've been super busy with projects lately, but I just wanted to take a minute to plug a comic that just came out. It's an anthology series called "Short Stack", written by Shawn Gabborin and put out by his own Angry Gnome Comics. It has 13 two page stories, all horror and written by Shawn. I pencilled, inked and lettered "THe Duel". You can order it through Indy Planet's website here. And here is a link to a blog post I did breaking down the process of one of the pages.

TVOT page 2

2009-11-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

Pencils and inks from the new project I'm working on . Inked mostly with the Hunt 102 nib with a little help from the old Windsor and Newton brush. The writer, Magnus asked that the expression in the last panel be toned down a bit. You can see the difference in the inks. All the monitor screens were created in Abode Illustrator and pasted in using Photoshop.

2009-11-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

I’ve been hard at work lately, penciling, inking and lettering a new project. It’s written by Norwegian writer Magnus Aspli and is being colored by a very talented fella named Hugo Froes. So far, I’ve been really knocked out by Hugo’s work on this series as well his past work. I first became aware of him on a project we did together for Ronin Studios. It was a charity book for HOPE: the Hero Initiative. I only lettered one of the short stories, “Rose”. I got to see all stages of the artwork and Hugo’s colors brought the art to another level.

The writer of “Rose” was Alex De-gruchy, who I’ve worked with mostly as a letterer, but most recently I illustrated a short story he wrote called “Trick”. Alex is working as the editor for this new project, which is how Hugo and I became involved.

The story is sort of a Lovecraftian suspense story with quite a large cast of characters. The main story takes place on a boat but it also has a subplot that takes place in 14^th Century Norway. That means lots a research. But so far it’s been very exciting. The only downside is waiting so long to get the pencils approved. With Alex in Wales, Magnus in Norway, and Hugo, I think, in Portugal, the time zones don’t match up. I usually email them at night, so a reply awaits me in the morning.

I’ll start posting some pages soon.

Monster Party

2009-09-24T15:19:00.001-07:00

Monster Party

2009-09-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

Here is art for a Wolfbait poster promoting our show at Smalls on Halloween night. The concept is of course, classic movie monsters having party but doing very modern stuff like playing Guitar Hero and bonging beers (and how did a skeleton get a cell contract? Is it pay as you go?).
First, the pencils. Obviously inspired by Jack Davis and “Mad Monster Party”.

Next the inks, for which I used Pigma Micron Markers. Not a lot of cross-hatching as I decided early on that I wanted to use gray markers and ink wash. You can see that I didn’t even ink the laboratory background. I left it t=in pencil to give it a distanced effect.

I’ve been very inspired by Eric Powell and J.H. Williams’ use of greys and I wanted to give it a shot. I used anything I could find; Prismacolor markers, Faber-Castell brush pens, ink wash and graphite.

Gordon "Gordo" Cooper

2009-08-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

This is drawing of Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, last of the original Mercury 7 astronauts to go into space. He is also the last American to go into outer space solo, as the Gemini program sent guys up in teams. During his orbit, the computer went on the fritz and he had to hit the booster rockets manually to make it back to earth. Bad timing or the wrong angle would make him bounce off the earth's atmosphere and shoot out into space. He used his time in orbit to make the calculations himself, writing formula's in the condensation on the window (which the Mercury 7's pilot's wisely insisted NASA's engineers put in).

I inked this with Micron Pigma markers. I king of like the results.

Wolfbait Poster with Color

2009-08-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

Trick

2009-08-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

I spent almost all of my “free” time in July working on a short story for Midnight Horizon. The script is by Alex De-Gruchy. It’s a Halloween themed “Tales from the Darkside” type story. I’ve lettered a couple comics for Alex in the past, but this is the first time I’ve illustrated anything for him.
I wasn’t able to really get to work on it until after July 4th and the deadline was August 1st. That means 3 weeks to pencil, ink and letter six pages and a cover, in addition to the 40-60 hours I spend a week working normally. And Wolfbait had a show, including a brand new 7-minute epic, (called either “The Dragon” or “Lusty” depending on who you ask) which we had to rehearse. Also July was a busy month for family stuff, including two birthdays, two funerals, and a visit from my brother in Chicago.

I worked in fits and starts, before and after work and all day on my days off. I knew I needed to warm up, so I started with what I considered to be the easiest and least dramatic pages. I wanted the first and last pages to look their best and figured that they would probably benefit from doing the middle pages first.
I began with page 3. I didn’t have the time to do detailed character sketches, so I worked out the kids and their costumes right on the page. I penciled roughly since I was inking it myself.

After I finished the pencils for pages 1-5, I sent scans to Alex, mostly to assure him that I actually was working on this thing. I struggled with the layout for page six, so I left it to deal with after the inking.

I started inking in the same order as I penciled. I used my usual inking set-up, 102 nib, #2 brush and Speedball Super Black ink. Most people mix it with the Higgins ink to get it a little thinner and clog less. I have to say that I love the Super Black on its’ own. It doesn’t fade when you erase the pencils and gives you such a striking, rich black. I make sure to rinse the nib/brush every once in a while to combat clogs. I also used a C-6 for some of the straight edges.

I did the lettering in Adobe Illustrator after I scanned in the pencils. I used Comicraft’s Wild and Crazy font for the dialogue because it’s one of the best looking and versatile fonts I have. Alex’s scripts are very specific about which words are in italics, bold, or bold italics, and this font has all of those. It also has alternate characters available when you hold the shift key. So, in a word like “Halloween”, I can use different “l”s and “e”s for variation. It makes it look less mechanical and closer to hand lettering. For the captions I used Comicraft’s Comic Crazy Roman font. I used a slight Roughen effect on the caption boxes.

Next, I penciled page six. The deadline was fast approaching, so I kind of rushed through it. I inked it the same day. However there were a few things I wasn’t happy with, specifically the head in panel two and all of panel 3. So I redrew them on a separate board and Photoshopped them in. Panel 4 and 5 called for a static background with characters moving around. I thought I would take a lesson from Dave Gibbons and draw the background only once and just slide it in behind the characters, like in animation.
I drew panel 5 with the background and just copied and pasted in behind Gary and Hal in panel 4. I bought a nice beleveled triangle right before I inked this, which made inking the straight edges a breeze. I also used a brand new 102 nib, which made the lines extra sharp.
The only problem was that the background from panel 5 didn’t extend far enough for panel 4. It stops at the window. So I copied it, flipped it horizontally and stitched it together.

Here is the cover. I wanted a simple image that could represent the story without having to spend precious time rendering it. It took about three hours to decide on the image and I inked it while watching an episode of STAR TREK, the original series. WABL shows it every night at 10:00. It was a great episode too, “Balance of Terror”, featuring the first appearance of the Romulans.

Anxiety

2009-08-04T08:51:00.001-07:00

This one is pretty ancient. Two years ago I did a series of parody comic covers meant to look like EC or romance comics from the Silver Age. A friend wanted to by a print of this one, but she requested color. So I scanned it in and colored it in Photoshop. I also replaced the hand lettering with digital in Adobe Illustrator.
I always thought this one was pretty funny. Maybe funnier if you live in Michigan.

Wolfbait Lives

2009-08-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

This is a promo illustration I drew for a Wolfbait 7 inch. The A-side is “Lords of the Universe” so I went with a space theme. I think musically, we’re headed down a path that can only be described as “Sci-Fi metal” (or SyFy™-metal, if you prefer). It wasn’t hard to capture Brian’s naturally sculpted physique, but I did exaggerate the arm and hand. I was going for a John Buscema trying to draw like Jack Kirby kind of thing.
Drawn mostly with the Hunt 102 pen-nib. Hair and beards were done with the Windsor & Newton #2 series 7 brush. The stars were done with ProWhite and a #00 brush. I might go back and redo them with Photoshop. We’ll see.

The Duel Inks

2009-06-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the inked page one of "The Duel". I used a #102 pen nib for the most part in addition to C-6 nib for straight edges. I am trying to get used to using nibs more often as opposed to my trusty windsor and newton #2 series 7 brush. I gave in on the last panel and inked most of it with brush, and I have to say, I like the results. But I think panel four is a nice combination of the two nibs and brush.

The Duel Page 1

2009-05-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on a short story for "Short Stack" an anthology series from Angry Gnome Comics. I thought I'd take the opportunity to show my ever-changing work process.
The Script is by Shawn Gobborin.

First I do thumbnails. This example is way larger than normal, and way more detailed. I already knew what I wanted to do with the page, so I went the extra mile with the rendering:

Next, I did full size roughs on some 11x17 copy paper. I've only started doing this recently. It may seem like a waste of time (especially if your inking it yourself) but I find that it frees me up to do lots of construction with confident lines. If I do this kind of drawing directly on the bristol board, the result looks sloppy and makes grooves in the paper.

After this, I trace the pencils onto a clean bristol board. This is the fun part. I get to concentrate on the rendering and drawing, instead of lining up the eyes or making perspective grids. I also make some final changes to the page. For example, I got rid of the guy's mustache and wristbands. I also moved the camera a little to the left in panel 3. The biggest change is in panel 5, where I moved the body closer to the ground. I thought it read better as a dead body and gave the opportunity to show a little gore (which I'm not a huge fan of, but it a story like this, no point it being modest). These pencils are way, way to tight since I'm inking it, but I was having a lot fun and really getting into it. It also means less thought in the inking stage. Most artists would be worried about losing spontaneity by inking such tight pencils, but this is not a problem for me, as inking rarely goes as I plan.

Iron Eagles Pages

2009-05-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here is another round of sample pages, this time featuring Iron Eagle, who is sort of like a grumpy Cap'N 'Merica. Enjoy.

Frankenstein Pencils

2009-05-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Catwoman Pencils

2009-05-06T19:15:00.001-07:00

Sequential Pages

2009-03-23T19:37:00.001-07:00

Detroit

2009-01-29T19:23:00.001-08:00

Girl with Gun Pencils

2009-01-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Vilsa

2009-01-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

Here is an illo I did for our friends Jae and Melissa. It features their daughter Vilsa surrounded by her favorite characters ( and yes, she is a big KISS fan).

Wolfbait Poster

2008-11-17T19:10:00.001-08:00

Village of Blood

2008-11-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

A combination of two of my favorite genres.

2008-10-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches I did at work. I'm getting pumped for Halloween.

Batman pinup

2008-10-18T07:56:00.001-07:00

Vampire Inks

2008-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I inked the Vampire pencils that I posted earlier and I think it came out well. That is, except for the heads. Kind of a bummer.

So I drew new heads on a separate piece of paper, a little larger than the originals. For those keeping track at home, the blonde is based on Yutte Stensgaard of Lust for a Vampire and the brunette is Soledad Miranda from Vampyros Lesbos

And, through the magic of Photoshop, I stuck them on the original drawing. Art!

"Secret" Poster

2008-10-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is the poster I drew for a "secret" show by a "secret" band. Can you use the clues to find the truth?

The Red Dwarf

2008-09-28T09:07:00.001-07:00

HELLEN R.I.P.

2008-09-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

Mouthbreather

2008-09-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

These are the pencils for the first two pages of "Mouthbreather".

Cadejo Pinup

2008-09-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Vampires

2008-09-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last week, I came up with an idea for a short Vampire story. Once I had the basic idea, I started to do some sketches. I prefer to write this way, with pictures rather than words, because comics are a visual medium. I try to draw the pages so that you can follow the story, understanding the situations and relationships without dialogue or captions. The bones of the story should be there in the pencils. So here is a rough sketch I did to give myself a handle on the type of story I want to do.

Notice what the composition and body language say about these characters. The gentleman is obviously some sort of Vampire Hunter, perhaps and little overeager, but definitely naive, as he cannot see that his prey is right behind him. Meanwhile, we have the two ladies, both lording over him, implying power. This is a very rough sketch, yet you can see where the story is going.

The problem with sketches is getting them onto a nice 11x17 bristol board while keeping the scale and composition intact. So I had this sketch blown up on a copy machine, about %60, and light boxed it. Very simple and very effective.

I kept the integrity of he sketch while going into detail as far as facial expressions and lighting. This is penciled a little tighter than I normally would. I wanted to make sure I got my light sources and basic feathuring down before inking.

Shop Talk: Inking

2008-09-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Inking is probably the most nerve-wracking step in making comics. It is certainly the easiest to mess up. I can’t really offer much advice since I’m still learning the ropes. An excellent inking tutorial can be found here:

http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?p=181.

Tom Richmond is an artist for MAD and his tutorials are priceless to beginners. What I can do is talk about the tools I use. I always love to hear what others are using, so here is my contribution.

I primarily use a brush, specifically the Windsor and Newton Series 7 #2. This is the timeless workhorse of inking. Everyone from Will Eisner to Mike Allred used this brush. That said, it takes quite a long time to master, literally around one or two years. But it’s worth it. No other instrument can give such a wide range of lines. They cost about $20 but they last for months, if cleaned properly.

Be warned; your first attempts at inking with this brush will look like shit. You must fight through this at all costs. Do not be discouraged. Things will get better as you go and your improvements will encourage you forward.

I wimped out in the beginning and bought a #00 instead of the #2. It is easier to control but cannot produce the thick, juicy lines of the #2.

Be sure to thoroughly wash the brush if you stop inking for any amount of time. Rinse it in the sink and use hand soap in the middle of your palm to get all the ink out. Scrape dry ink with your finger nail and make sure the brush dries to a point; a brush that can no longer hold a point is only good for inking large areas of black.

To successfully use a brush, you have to separate it in your mind from the act of drawing with a pencil. You must use strong, confident strokes, by locking your wrist and moving your whole arm. Any hesitation will show. Move the paper around to make sure you are inking in the right direction. Keep a jar water on hand to dip the brush if it gets clogged. The same goes for dip pens.

PENS.

Once in a while, I like to use a dip pens for different textures. I use a Hunt/Speedball #102 for fine lines and a #108 for bigger strokes. Pens are much easier to clean and pretty cheap. Be sure to only dip the pen nib halfway into the ink. Too much ink in the nib will clog it. Play it cool.

Many artists these days are using markers. Guys like Frank Cho and Mike Mignola have done pretty well for themselves by skipping the hassles associated with dip pens and brushes. Cho uses the Micron pigma pens, sizes .03, .05. and .07. I tried using these, but found they fade under too much erasing. I prefer the Faber-Castell line of pens. They look more like pen and ink and also have a really cool brush pen available. Using a pen or marker is essential when using a circle or oval template.

INK

I primarily use Speedball Super Black. It is the blackest you can get but can also get pretty thick, and that means clogs. I mix it with a little Hunt Black Magic to soften it up. I haven’t quite found the perfect mixture yet.

WHITE OUT

You will have to fix mistakes occasionally. I use Windsor & Newton’s permanent white gauche. You mix it with a little bit of water and get a nice, fluid white that is easy to ink over.

PHOTOSHOP

This is the best way to calm your frayed nerves about inking. No more permanent mistakes staring you in the face every time you look at a page. More artists are skipping the inking stage by scanning in their pencils and digitally inking in Photoshop. This can be convenient, as well as problematic.
The first problem is price. The program is expensive and the peripherals even more so. You have to get a computer loaded with RAM, and a stylus and a tablet. The most popular is the Wacom tablet. The whole set-up can cost $3000 to $4000. Is it worth it, verses the cost of a brush and ink?
Another problem is the lack of inked original art to sell. This is a big part of a comic artist’s income. That ink is worth a lot more to collectors.
You still have to master the basic skills of inking, regardless of your method. I’d rather work the old fashioned way. I’ll switch over once the millions come pouring in.

BOOKS

The DC Guide to Inking Comics by Klaus Janson
Making Comics by Scott McCloud

Zombie Page

2008-08-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a page zombie story I'm working on called "Mouthbreather".

Inks

2008-08-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

These are some inking samples from the "Cadejo" pencils I posted earlier. I included the lettering balloons but took out the text ( got to save something for later).

Thumbnails

2008-08-23T19:54:00.001-07:00

Romantic Secrets

2008-08-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here is another example from last year's art show. I decided to redo it. I mostly wanted to tighten up the inking but I think the lettering was bothering me the most.

So I redrew it and it looked like this:

Scanned it in and did the lettering and coloring in Illustrator and Photoshop:

I added a half-tone filter to give it a vintage look. But after looking at the original again, I decided to try and replace my half-assed lettering with some digital work. I know that digital lettering can never really capture the artistry of working by hand, but for people like me, it really saves precious working hours. I'm still trying to master the old fashioned method, but for now, the only lettering I feel confident to show people is done digitally. So here is the original again, with new lettering and color.

Science Fiction Horror #8

2008-08-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

I had an art show at the Belmont in Hamtramck back in November, the theme of which was comic covers of the Silver Age of comics. I tried to duplicate the style of the era but really bit off more than I could chew. Not only was I trying to advance my pencilling and inking skills, but I was also teaching myself to letter by hand. I did eleven covers in all, and I have to say that quality was sacrificed to meet the deadline of the opening.

So now I am going back and redoing the covers and applying what I've learned since then. Here is an example cover from November:

For starters, the inking is terrible, the perspective is wonky. I like the woman though and the premise is good. So I gave it another shot, this time I saved the lettering for Adobe Illustrator:

Pretty good, I think, but the man's face didn't come out right. Whenever I'm inking, I sometimes tend to get carried away, adding embellishments that don't really add much besides clutter. So fooled with it in Photoshop and added the letters in Illustrator. I'm very happy with the end result:

Juan Pepe

2008-08-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is something I did for my brother's 30th birthday. As you can see, he is jamming with Lemmy Kilmister, Keith Moon and Phil Lynott. After my brother saw it he surmised that they must be playing Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom", as that is the only song requiring three bassists.

The original is black and white so I used this to try my hand at coloring in Photoshop. Nothing too fancy, just working out the basics. I also scanned in a zip-a-tone and used it for the speaker grill on the Marshall cab. I made it into a pattern in Photoshop so I can use it whenever.

Sketch of the Day

2008-08-09T15:15:00.001-07:00

Pencils

2008-08-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here are pencils for a comic I'm working on for "Watchdog Magazine". I'll upload inks and letters as I go. Enjoy.