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  Awash in ideasSep 30, 2011 6:00 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:A* and I are now on Google+! (Notice the new Image icon under the comics!) I didn't really want Social Networking to make me update yet another thing, but it doesn't seem to be going away, so there we are. =p If you put me in one of your Google+ "circle"s you'll get A* updates right on your eh Google+ news stream, just like you've been getting if you already follow me on Twitter or on Facebook.
 
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I did a new $5 Photo-based Portrait today! I'm spending way too much time on each of these but people have such cool faces that are so fun to draw! The latest even had me doing a beard and glasses--talk about upping the ante! See:
 
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As you could see with the ink wash practice attempt I posted yesterday, I was struggling to get smooth tones out of the ink wash. (And I screwed up the chin--Undo, undo!) (Hm and it came out a little dark; I'll have to mess with my gamma profiles, maybe.) But on the next try, eureka:
 
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Fairly even grays! I had foolishly been sort of mixing grays on the fly--that is, picking some variously minute amount of ink up on the brush, then wetting the brush to a certain degree; this didn't work well because I could never reproduce the exactly same gray when I had to go back for more ink. So it's just a matter of having a bunch of small little jars filled with water, and putting a specific amount of ink into each one, so you have a little array of formulated tones available for easy re-use. (And thanks to Glennnnn for dropping me some excellent ink wash tips on the forum!)
 
Next I'll have to try making that array of gray jars. And although you can't see it in these grayscaled scans, I think this "Speedball" brand ink I've been using comes out at a slightly warm (ie brownish) color when diluted; the art supply store had I think some Japanese black inks, maybe I'll give one or two of those a shot to see if they're more of a neutral color.
 
And in case you're wondering why I'm spending all this time messing with jars and pens and scanners and such, yes it is because I'm thinking of switching to doing A* in ink rather than on the computer. I know these quick initial experiments in my old sketch pad don't look like much, but I think with a little practice and the right materials I'll be able to get some pretty good results out of it. But there are other reasons I've been thinking about making the switch, and I'll probably discuss those more tomorrow!
 
 
 
 
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