I am part of a few groups around the Social Media world and I did this as part of a Star Trek Challenge to coincide with the release of the latest film. I picked the four captains of the Star Trek TV series I watched the most. I did not include Scott Bakula mainly as five characters cluttered up the drawing.
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The 2013 edition of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) has come and gone. It was a tidal wave of people from the get-go and did not disappoint at any level. My hat is off to the organizers over at Reed-Pop who put this tremendous show together. This was my third appearance in it’s four year history and it’s gotten better and better each year. Kinda like wine and old-fart cartoonists.
This year was a big departure for me as it is was the first time I’ve marketed myself as an illustrator. My last two appearances were in Webcomic Alley as the guy who created “1977 the Comic” and not that I didn’t do well those two years, but they paled compared to my newest strategy. I took away all of the PG-17 elements of the comic and only presented my PG commissions. On Sunday, traditionally “Kids Day” at most cons, I only tabled the Webcomics cookbooks and my Scooby Doo prints. I had sketches of Johnny Bravo, the Rocketeer and Gir from Invader Zim to attract the kiddies, and it worked like candy.
For Friday and Saturday, I pushed simple $1 or $2 sketches on my new 6×9 postcards of Lorraine and Robin as Speed Racer and Trixie. Most got the joke, but some were confused (and only one or two offended… get a life). This pricing strategy (traditionally called a “loss leader” in business) worked great and I was able to attract folks to my table to then get my pitch, which was very simple: “Hey, I draw stuff! What do you want me to draw?” Lots of business cards were taken and I did close to 100 sketch cards. On Sunday, you had to buy a cookbook or a print to get a sketchcard, but then it was free.
I’ve come a long way feeling comfortable drawing on paper again. I do all my work digitally now and it’s taken me a few years to really get back in the groove of drawing live. The biggest help was I used some Blick blue pencils so lightly sketch out my subject and then inked it in with a fine and/or thick tipped Sharpie. Where would we artists be without those Sharpie pens? I’ve gotten my caricature style down thanks to tips from Tom Richmond’s “Mad Art of Caricature” book. If you don’t have that, and you want to draw caricatures, go get it now. Seriously, helped me big-time.
I will be going to the 2014 C2E2 show for sure. I’m dragging along my friends from the Webcomic Alliance next year and we’ll take the show by storm.
Last year for Christmas, my wife bought me one of the best gifts I’ve received in a long time. A simple little web cam. No, not for uploading my wonderful likeness to Avatars around the internet, but rather so I could learn to draw hands better. A lot of people will say they use small mirrors but for me having a handy web cam sitting on my monitor has helped me conquer drawing hands.
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Many users of Manga Studio don’t even realize what a powerful coloring tool it can be. It is slightly different from PhotoShop or Corel Paint, but for comic strip artists, Manga Studio proves to be a worthy coloring tool.
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you the basic steps of coloring as I do it. With any tutorial, there are many ways to skin a cat and this is my way of doing it. So if you know of other tips or suggestions, leave them in the comments section for all to share.
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In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how I create my panels using the Panel Tool in Manga Studio. For this tutorial, version EX4 was used. As with any tutorial, there is more than one way to skin a cat, so experiment with the method I use and see what’s best for your style!
Open up Manga Studio. Click on “NEW” and then “PAGE”.
Here’s the first of many video tutorials on using Manga Studio EX4 drawing software. I use Manga Studio for creating my comic, but also for many other things such as creating logos for clients, drawing objects like cars or building exteriors (the line tool in MS is worth the price alone). So, kick back, grab some popcorn and enjoy!
What’s that one hurdle you face when trying a new piece of software? Yep, the darn manual. Hundreds of pages of really cool stuff; none of which you know how to use. So, where to start? I’m going to help you past the first hurdle with today’s tutorial.
Okay, what are we? Artists. What do we do? We draw. Let’s draw. Forget inking. Forget word balloons. Forget story. You’re hear to pick up your “pencil” and draw. Because all comics start off as a pencil sketch. Whether you’re Stan Lee or a budding newbie, all comics start off as doodles. Let’s doodle together.
Manga Studio comes in two flavors for your enjoyment: Debut and EX. Debut is a great way to get started with the software. You can use either version for this tutorial. I use EX so if you notice some differences, that’s the reason. I also use a WACOM Intuos 3 tablet on a simple P4 Windows XP Pro system with 3.5Gb RAM. Nothing fancy.
