Okay Brad. I can't send you these in an IM and prefer to just do it here vs. email in case anyone else might be interested. I can finally post 2 images too! Wow!

Before I address the image, I want to give the info on the Diamond Select Art Submission thing:

Previews wants your drawings! Compete for the "Star Artist of the Month" spot and win free stuff with the "How to Draw Comics Previews Contest".

The subject matter must be based on "New Comic Day". What that means is beyond me, but I assume it's just a one page original comic book art piece that relates to new comics being released. Not necessarilly titles, but in the spirit of... This month's Previews was "How to Draw Comics Month". I'll look into defining it further...

The winner gets their art printed in the (October) Previews and posted on their site. They and 2 runners up also receive "loads of How to Draw Comics-related merchandise". Submissions must be received by August 27th.

For a PDF of the rules and entry form go to:

http://previews.diamondcomics.com/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=23&s=216&ai=12384

I'm not sure I'll do it, but if I do not try, I'll never know...

Now to the art...

This is in regards to your planet art piece Brad. I was talking about all the possibilities and textures you can get with ink and inking related materials. This is half of a 2-Page splash by Carmine Infantino that appeared in a story by Chris Claremont in Starlord magazine #15. It's not planets or space, but an amazing example of a lot of different inking approaches, textures and styles. Most of this is ink and brush, but the line quality varies to establish the illusion of space. Different textures are drawn to establish what is is we are looking at and to separate each object or area drawn from another. I love the composition and how the inked lines guide your eye. The wrap around the guy hanging upside down stands out clearly from him. It may seem easy, but things can get muddy pretty quick if you let them when inking. The other texture in there is from a China Marker (grease pencil). It's a much more consistent and effective way to create a dry brush effect. Obviously, this is about the placement of light and thin lines and dark, thick line. It's also about the use of black space. Any more or any less would shift the balance completely. I just think this is a prime example of a well inked page...

The second is a frame from the same story. This is the more planetary/space image obviously. The stars and the starburst are done with a liquid masking agent and a toothbrush. Just a few calculated (yeah right) flicks along the toothbrush bristles and you have your stars. Let it dry and black it out. He probably masked the planet too by the way. The smaller (and very cool) star dust effect is done with the toothbrush, but after most of the liquid mask has been flicked off. He concentrated on an area and held the brush downward and flicked ever so slowly to get that fine and minute dusting effect.

The planet has several techniques that give it the texture it needs to look rough and planet-like (God, I sound so condescending... - sorry). Most of his you probably see or know, but I'm being thorough. The light source is tricky here as the Starburst appears to be the sun and it wraps around the planet lighting up all sides. The darker is obviously to the left and the crosshatching to the edge gives a sort of sunset effect. The hatching is only on the left side and then black out in the mid areas with scatterings of white to add to the texture developing on the right. Loose brush strokes, spontaneous hatch lines and some China Marker. hina Marker is aways last as it is waxy and will resist the ink. Now there are many other possibilities that could have been used here. Zip-A-Tone for more texture, spounging the ink in light blots for a more crater-like effect...

The point is, that ink gives you a pretty wide range of possibility when dealing with space and if you are painting with color, dyes or colored inks/liquid acrylics/watercolors/gouache can give you the same kinds of results on top of the ink after it dries as it is water proof. Don't know why I decided to take this and run, but thought it might help in some way for the future or if you wanted to redraw what you turned in.

Hope it helped in some way. I actually am thinking I should just do a large splash page of a planet/space scene for portfolio purposes to showcase my ability to use all these different inking techniques in one composition. It would at least be fun to experiment and play with. I'm done boring you and everyone else...

Even though it's old news, I just sat through 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'...

What did it have to do with the comic?

How badly can hollywood butcher an original story by a great artist/writer team?

Aside from the characters, there wasn't anything even remotely close to the comic.

Worst ever and going up on the Bad Movie thread!

I was or am going to have her holding a hot, apple pie. The background was/is going to be nuclear reactors, waste and then a giant mushroom cloud. I wanted to show this all American beauty with that classic '50's smile in a volatile environment. Just how many people can block out the most horrid things and be oblivious or ignore the harshness of reality. I constantly see people pretending or looking through or past the homeless beggers and the ugly side of the world. I also like the relationship of the beautiful and the ugly. The juxtaposition of the two in one composition always interests me for some reason.

Can't stand it now. I once spent $500 or so trying to pull a rare card on like 5 boxes of football cards and got nothing but a ton of duplicates and autographs by the worst players - Ray Carruth or something...

I just try and add to or fill my 1977 & 1978 football & baseball collections because it takes me back to the sugary, stiff gum and the mystery of the packs. I collected because I liked the players. Value has robbed everyone of the innocence of days gone by and all the collections tossed out because they were 'worthless'.

If I collect anything modern it's the vintage or throwback sets. Beyond that I have lost all interest and passion for sports because they have lost their meaning. It's about stars and money and inhanced performance. I miss the Pete Rose slide into 3rd, the truth of the home run (Reggie in '77). I miss that people played because they loved the sport. It's a tragedy and I was a hardcore fan.

For some reason I'm getting a box with a red x in it. My Mac can't read your complex image languages...

Thanks for disclosing the materials you use Bob. I think we need to start a thread that details supplies that we like, use or recommend...

I use a Strathmore 500 series that's on the rough side (plate and hot press are too resistent and take longer for drying anad pencil has no tooth to bite into (unless you are Jim Lee). The cold press runs almost $2 for a 32" x 24" sheet (I think that's the size...), but it's so worth it.

If you want quality results, use quality materials! I wish the guys that built my house followed that...

No, that's cool. I do not feel hi-jacked...

It is a page about 9" x 12" with a specific tone or pattern (like pointilism or hatching). The pattern or tone is printed a certain point size (large and spaced wide to small and close together that will determine the tone (value, lightness/darkness) of the area you want to fill. The pattern is printed in black on clear thin film with adhesive backing and it is adhered temporarilly to a slick paper.

So, if I have a area I want to fill with a dot pattern, I take my zip sheet and place it over that area and then use an X-Acto blade lightly to cut out an area that is bigger all the way around. I peel this cut shape off of the Zip sheet and place it over the area on my art. I do not press down too much to allow me the ability to peel it back up if need be. I then cut the area precisely so it looks as semmless as possible and lift the remaining zip and place it back on the sheet for later use. Then I take a piece of paper and place it on the Zip I just laid down and use a blunt tool or burnisher to smooth it out and make it stick well.

It is not wat you thought Brad, but your idea is pretty cool. They use to have dry transfer pattern that was unpredictable and you would transfer it by rubbing it onto the page with a burnishing tool. The results would usually be random and not uniform. I have some of this that I use from time to time to create texture that I want to be rough and that I can go over to create interesting gradations.

Anyway, that's the process and how it is done. It's clear adhesive film with a pattern on it.

Other good tools for creating good texture that is not uniform are small spounges, toothbrushes for random splatter dots (good for stars with correction fluid) and a China Marker (these are basically grease pencils and give you more control to create a dry brush effect). Dry brush is good, but it's hard to get the same effect when you have to do more than a small area. It also can destroy a good brush.

They gave an exercise in inking class where we had to use whatever we thought would work that wasn't an existing inking tool. I used toothpicks, twigs, dry hard grass, shoelace tips, what ever and some worked and some didn't. But it's only limited to what you allow yourself to work with. Experimentation is important to find techniques and effects that will work for texture in certain instances.

Enough with Zip and Ink 101...

Thanks.

Yeah dude, it's called Zip-A-Tone, or at least it used to be. I really like experimenting with it and creating textures by overlapping it or combining it with brush or other Zip. I'm not sure what it's called today but it is a specific pattern with an adhesive backing. Zip has died out and this is a really popular Manga tool now. You have to order it in bulk from Japanese Manga sites or just go hunting in art supply stores. Ask if they have any Zip-A-Tone or Chartpack stuff. They'll usually say they trashed it, but sometimes they have a forgotten stash they'll let you go through and give you great rates.

I was cleaning out my grandparents house before it was sold to salvage what I could. A graphic artist friend left a bunch of stuff unclaimed and I found a stellar and large cache of original and pristine Zip-A-Tone of many different patterns and textures.

I don't like so much as a tool to fill space as I do the effect it gives and the old school feel. A teacher and comic artist told me if he puts it on his art for DC comics, the printers or editors just rip it up and computer generate fill. I just think the time and care it takes to apply it says a lot about the art. I like computers, but if I can avoid them in my comic stuff, I will! I am too much of a purist...