Inking rush

Spent Friday and Saturday on the computer inking.  The plan is for a Thursday visit to the 2nHd graders with a finished book but the finishing touches and editing are taking far longer than I had hoped.  Watched Firefly season 1 a couple times now while working.  Love joss! Using simple shapes for inking, Manga lasso tool with fill mostly. Work is picking up at the office keeping me busy most week nights.  ​But I am really looking forward to KRC I hope the kids get a kick out of this little book!

Inking last page

This is the final page for SUPERCOW 1 comic.  I hope to unleash on the 2nd graders as a coloring book edition. The editing process has been longer than expected but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a challenge to find quiet time that isn't at 1:30 am.  I am starting to get a better workflow with less backtracking on story or art style. I can see changes in inking styles over the 28 pages.  My roughs had much more energy then the finals so I started to use them more.  Text edits are next...

Editing painful

Editing can be a bit painful. As KRC is getting close.

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Almost finished until I gave my wife a job to edit the text.  She texted me asking if she could cut my pages apart to rearrange frames.  She took an axe to my 28 pages and I didn't take it well. But as usual she was right.  Her suggestions on page flow, text, character development and more have brought out a much better story.  It means a step back, maybe two, from where I thought I was in my timing.  It's well worth the effort.  It has made me rethink just when is it the perfect time to bring in a critique.  She saw the earlier stages in rough, but at those stages intent was still unclear.  In the rough it is very difficult for a critiquer to know really what you are planning on changing vs. keeping. If you wait until your intent is clearer, changes can become more painful.  But the input is often more focused and valuable. Still learning that sweet spot in my development process to share. 

Super Cow Page 24

The EVB gets his own creation in the face!




















The point at which every villain must take their own medicine.  Just  a few more pages to ink, then I need to go back and look at darker blacks.  This comic will not be color, just black and white. I will be very happy if I can just finish it to that level.  Pages are coming a little faster I just hope my story is making sense.  You look at something for so long and it seems logical to you but when someone else sees it, out of context, all bets are off. I have been showing it to the kids and Lorene but not a very wide or critical audience yet. Not looking to win any prizes just hoping it is mildly entertaining.

Super Cow Page 23

With the Kids Read Comics June 21 date getting closer an closer, I need to get this moving.
I was able to finish a little more of the prelim inking so far. Here is a sneak at page 23 with prelim text.  I plan to do a quick and rough text to leave space for balloons and sound effects.  My biggest worry should be story but I am more focused on consistent character and facial expressions. I am getting more comfortable with my characters and am anticipating a number of page redos to match the feel of my later pages ...I really liked this page in that regard. KCR (Kids Read Comics) is getting closer...

Super Cow Page 22

Here is another update on the Super Cow 28 page book.  Page 22 features the EVB (Evil Villain in Black) who is challenging our Hero to a food fight!  All dialog is still preliminary and working  out the page.  This is the only page I really changed the frame shape to something a little more dynamic. I have to play with this more in the future...keep moving forward...

page 21 update

In Page 21 Super Cow is communicating with Major Pig who landed behind enemy lines.
This took a few hours on last Saturday but still showing progress.  I need to refine the sound effects on all pages.  Still need ideas for this.  Not sure if a more sketchy text or polished text looks better. Still need some experimentation.  43 days to KRC and counting!

Super Cowpage 20 update

The weekends will be busy trying to finish these last 6 pages of Super Cow by end of May. Here is an updated page 20 with the initial inks. I really liked EVB's (the Evil Villain in Black) in panel 3.  The text still needs revisions and I am hoping to add my black fills soon.  I also need a good name for EVB's food crunching machine.  He uses this to combine all the stolen lunches into a new food flavor meal that he feels will change the way the world looks at lunches.
Any suggestions are welcome as well as comments...
KRC countdown 46 days left!

Page 20

I have to finish this comic for the local 2nd grade class and for the Kids Read Comics convention...
Here is a work in progress on page 20.  I am working in Manga Studio going panel by panel.  I threw in some of the dialog as placeholders as I refine and edit.  If I can finish the art by the end of May I should be in fair shape for revisions.  As I go the characters are getting more comfortable to draw.  I am finding that the more I relax my sketches the more expressive and dramatic the poses and expressions become.  The tighter the drawings the more life seems to drain from them. OK time for bed and getting a little sleep now.

Kids Read Comics Convention - June 2015

Ok! this is newsworthy for me....
     I am trying something very different this year.  Turning a hobby into something more.
I found an event in Ann Arbor a few years ago that is really quite unique and wonderful. It mixes a love of art, drawing and storytelling together with kids.  Kids Read Comics is a two day event held at the Ann Arbor Library in June 2015.
      I will have table for the first time this year. My kids and I will be sharing stories and comics I have done as a volunteer Artist throughout their grade school experience.  I hope to be posting more often as the event nears.  I am working on a story from our 2nd graders and a great teacher at Bird School in Plymouth. (more to come on that)
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