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  Told ya the art was gonna get weird =pMar 30, 2012 10:12 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:This page probably looks shockingly crude but it's actually a style--or the beginning of a style, anyway--well, not so much the rounded, simplified features, but more the overall loosey-gooseyness and emphasis on following light and texture rather than form--that I've been meaning to start cultivating at least since I posted that very loose "big brush" marker sketch a little over a week ago. That one had started out as a quick pencil sketch, and since then I'd been wanting to be able to get back to working with that kind of freedom for the daily comics, but always ended up making a very detailed pencil drawing, and I think that didn't leave much room for the inks to be free and interpretive, as it were. I've been telling myself to go easier on the pencil detail or something and let it come out in the inks, but that hasn't really been kicking in (it mostly did yesterday, but I think that was probably only because there were no people to draw).
 
Today started out with what was sort of another detailed pencil drawing, although... Well I was up most of last night fighting a rather nutty computer virus (which seemed to hop onto my computer straight from opening a Google art supplies search result--no other user input needed! =o), and I'm using that as my excuse for what were clearly some ragged pencils, even though they sort of thought they were detailed. At the inking stage a fight ensued, and things ended up going rather down hill (I'm showing you these at only quarter size to try to minimize the horror a bit :/):
 
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So by about 7 AM it was clear that had devolved into a muddled mess beyond my bleary salvaging ability. But there also wasn't really time to do another detailed pencil drawing, so I just went straight to ink. Throwin' stuff down. And...it kinda worked. Some of the earlier stages:
 
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That's a lot of big ol' fuzzy used marker and finger-painted white ink. And it ended up of course like this:
 
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I sort of doubt that I'll be able to get away with not doing any pencil work on too many pages--it definitely helped that this was a fairly static close-up. But I hope I can get back to this style again, and eh not too infrequently because obviously I need a fair amount of practice with it. Still I think it's promising!
 
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Speaking of crazy inking styles:
 
video on Youtube
 
(^ From Leigh Reyes' blog.) Man! I came across those Pilot Parallel Pens while looking through an art supply site two or three weeks ago, but it hadn't occurred to me that you could edge-draw with their funky two-parallel-blade nibs. Or that they'd work with anything other than the type of runny, water-soluble ink they come with, but rumor has it they'll work with just about anything, including the black waterproof Sumi and white Ph. Martins ink I'm already using--and as eyedroppers, ie where you can fill the entire pen body with ink. HUH. The metal tines will probably cut into the paper a bit if it's already saturated, but...well, we'll see. Maybe it'll be worth it. :o
 

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After a month or so of discomfort, I finally figured out why a muscle or two at the base of my forearm near the elbow was getting sore after drawing for a while: my drawing table was too high. :P (I'd thought it was too low, if anything!) And then I figured out what happens if it's too low: my shoulder gets sore. So now I have the clear set of signals down and will know which way to move it in the future, if necessary. Phew. Thanks, nervous system!
 
 
 
 
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