For those of you who enjoy the nuts and bolts of things, I’ve included a questionable scan of the pencil stage for today’s strip (04/18/2012). I’ve always been fascinated by the choices artists make during the inking stage of comics. This harkens back to a Spider-man annual which reprinted a classic Lee/Ditko “gag” story I became obsessed with as a boy. The story is a goofy look behind the scenes of the production of an issue of Amazing Spider-man. Steve Ditko is running late on his deadline, and we’re looking over his shoulder as he pencils a panel of Spider-man riding a missile through Manhattan. He starts with basic shapes and perspective lines, fleshing them out to resemble Spidey and a reasonable sky-line.
That panel and Joe Kubert’s “How to draw Tarzan” lessons latched onto my brain and never let go. I still prefer looking at preliminary sketches over finished art …. it probably says something about my inability to commit to anything! If you’re similarly wired, enjoy- I’ll try to post more in the future.
Scott – thanks for posting this. I’m the same way. For some reason I’ve always enjoyed seeing more than just the black and white (or color) finished art. There’s something fascinating about seeing either the penciled layout before it’s inked or the inked art with the pencil lines, blue lines, whiteout corrections and notes the artist has made on the borders. It gives the art more life, makes it more real – if that makes sense.
Anyway, I’ve really been enjoying CB – I admire the way you put ink on paper.
Might I suggest that at some point you post a “how I do it”? Give us all the details – type of paper you work on , ink you prefer, the pens and/or brushes you use, etc. Don’t leave out any of the gorey details. I love that kind of stuff!
Michael- thanks for the comment, I agree- I think it adds another dimension to the work. It’s a bit like comparing a topographical map to a street map, I guess. I’ve seen original comic pages that were so covered with grime, whiteout, blue pencil and coffee stains that I’m amazed they ever made it to print! Thanks for the suggestion, I plan on doing that very thing- I’m glad there’s interest.
Scott,
These are really nice. One reason why I like to get hold of original art, when I can afford it, is to see the choices the artist made — pen vs brush, blue pencil, white out… it helps me so much; I say to myself: “oh! That’s how he got that effect!” That’s one reason why I love the new series of books on Toth published by IDW — it reprints so many originals: http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Isolated-Life-Alex-Toth/dp/1600108288
Thank you very much- I agree completely, if I were rich I’d drop most of my money on original art. Speaking of dropping lots of money, IDW is trying to bankrupt me with the quantity and quality of books they’re publishing …. so many books I didn’t know I couldn’t live without!