As I mentioned before, I have been toying with the idea of digitally inking drawings after doing the compositing in photoshop. Well the latest Captain Spectre update, which I will post a bit later today, was done that way. I think one of the main things I have to grapple with in the process is that there isn't a very good tool in photoshop to simulate a real brush. Sure there is the brush tool with pressure sensitive controls from my Wacom tablet. But they just don't seem the same as fighting a real brush with liquid ink and the texture of the paper. They will never be able to build that feeling into a computer. The one good thing about it is zooming in and out. With the old eyesight going, the zoom tool is a blessing.Also this process allows a bit more freedom in my drawings. What I mean by that is that I can draw each person separately and composite them together in photoshop. This allows for what I feel is sometimes a weakness in some artists layouts. A lot of times I see a lot of 'close ups' in comics that are just pieces or parts of people, and sometimes they just don't seem right. With this method I am more like a camera man on a movie set. Zooming in and out until I get the right composition to tell the story. Of course that process satisfies some of my 'want to be a director' fad.
The drawings I have posted show a bit of the close up file, which is pretty small in the finished strip.
It is a process that could save time in the long run. But again a fall back. Traditionally artists make money off of the original art pages they take to conventions and such. This way leaves no original....all I have from this weeks strip is a bunch of sketches, and a photoshop digital file of the composite and the inks. So nothing to sell. It is a problem a lot of artists are dealing with now. How to make some extra money without actually having art to sell.
Of course I have never had to worry about that problem, since no one really buys anything from me that I have for sale. ha. So what am I worried about.
You sell yourself short, you modest rascal. I vividly recall a fabulous Superman sketch of yours that went for mighty big bucks at a recent charity auction. Not to mention your Tarzan sales. Hell, I know a couple folks wanting commissions from you right now (besides me, I mean)!
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