Arsenic Lullaby - some colored work
I'm waiting on an "ok" before I can show off a few things I've done recently. Comic book publishing has a strange and out dated timing. You finish the project, then send it o the distributor, they put it in the catalogue ( that can take about a month) the catalogue goes to comic book stores for them to place their orders...that is window of time to advertise/raise hell about it part 1. You have to get the stores and the readers who are advanced enough to look through the online catalogue on their own and tell their stores what they want.
THEN about a month to two months later...after the orders were placed, books were printed and shipped to the distributor who then shipped them to stores...the book in on the shelf! That is window of time to advertise Part 2.
You need the stores to order AND you then need fans to go get it.
so...yeah...timing is important and sometimes you have to wait a bit until it is smart to mention a project/ mentioning it will do the most good.
SO...right now I'm in a holding pattern on some stuff I'd like to show off. BUT, I found a couple of things that I haven't shown off yet while I was looking for something else ( which I have not found...I really should get my computer better organized)
Lately I've just been showing you a lot of inking, but I do color stuff as well. It's just not that interesting. I have a simple theory about coloring and that is - less is more, don't ruin the inking. Inking is my strong suit and when I color I just make sure that all the hard work I did on that shows through. Since the advent of photoshop there has been no shortage of really beautiful black and white illustrations that were absolutely murdered by the coloring.
You know the drill by now I do a thumbnail sketch, pencil it ink it. This was for Comedian Mike Bobbit's comedy and burlesque show...He had an idea in mind, I didn't ask any questions (shrug).
Then you have the finished inks...which I color.
Here's on for a pin up of Athena published by Altered Reality Comics
and here's a pin up of The Osprey also published by Altered Reality Comics
and they liked it so much it was used for the cover of Rhode Island
Altered Reality comics are here ( although I'm not sure what issues my stuff is in, I forgot to ask)
Mike Bobbit can be found here
I...can lways be found here
or
https://www.instagram.com/arsenic_lullaby_official/
....I would RECOMMEND though, you sign up for my email updates...it's the best way to make sure you don't miss out on anything! http://www.arseniclullabies.com/newslettersignup19.html
annnnd...that's all for now.
Later!
the tags list on Steemit is generated by code...which puts tags up there based on ONLY popularity of use. You will notice that #comics does not exist there...yet. So I ASK THAT YOU USE #comics ON EVERY COMMENT YOU LEAVE ON MY BLOGS
Very nice, @arseniclullaby.
Coloring is indeed a tricky thing, and there have been plenty of times where the inked version turned out much better than the colored, if only from an imagination standpoint—the mind can fill in the colors. :)
That's interesting what you say about the inking, though, as I've heard that many artists go straight from a pencil drawing scanned into the computer, darkened and cleaned up a little, then off to coloring. I personally like the starker contrast of ink myself, colored or not.
re: timing
Some things apparently never die, like the way things are done in the world of print. Having been in the newspaper publishing business, I know what's that like. The news, especially for a weekly in a social media world, seems like it's ages old by the time it gets to anyone, and any kind of advertising that would run it had to be thought out at least two weeks in advance.
I guess we've become used to more instantaneous use in the digital age where you can just go and download something to read, and where the creator, especially an indy one, can just go through production and proofing, then put it up for sale somewhere. No press, no distributor, no brick and mortar.
#comics will always need stores I think. If you want to make an adult amount of money/have a large audience owning tangible work ...you need someone else handling distribution and purchase. Comics just has to understand it needs stories that are "evergreen" and that are good and quality. whether the industry is able to understand that...I don't know.
I've seen some very good work done straight on the computer...but it has a different charm to it. It can't capture the same visceral look as old school inking.
I happened to see this though, looks like colorists have been murdering inks even back in the day....
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You ever do any album covers?
#comics
Oddly enough, that's about the one thing I haven't done. Which is strange. I did a parody of a Molley Hatched Album as a commission. The fella wanted Arsenic Lullaby Characters put into the composition. #comics
Maybe Metalacalypse. :-) #comics
Yeah, I agree 100% Colours can often obscure the inkworks when done extravagantly, but you seem to have nailed a space where your colours do not throw out your linearts into second fiddle position. Nice.
#comics
I'm getting slightly more comfortable with colors...but when I have a doubt I just make everything really light so the blacks show through more, haha. #comics
Sup Dork! Enjoy the upvote!!!
You use traditional tools as far as I can see. Do you use many digital tools?
Have you heard of Blender's Grease Pencil feature?
I use photoshop when I have to. Other than that I stay away from the computer, it's just not my thing. @swarddraws gave me a wacom bamboo tablet...but I haven't figured out how to use it yet