Okay, Lineart

Mr.GtF · Post by **Mr.GtF** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:38 pm

Here is my needlesly lengthy process:

1. Draw lines in photoshop without so much as 26 seconds thought on what said lines should look like.
2. Add all those little fancy bits like, y'know, colours and words.
3.
4.
5. PROFIT!!!1111onehundredandeleven

That is why I'm a hack and shouldn't even have a webcomic.

Although I did actually once draw a small strip on an index card. I sketched with a 2B pencil, then inked with a CD marker pen, scanned, coloured and whatnot and ended up with something that looked exactly the same as if I'd done it digitally.

This upsets me greatly because I'm usually a traditionalist, I like to keep the old traditions alive. I prefer writing letters on paper than on keyboards, I prefer sitting beside the open log fire on a cold winter night rather than turning up the thermostat, I prefer walking down the old pebbly lane to buy my loaf from Mr. Staker (the kindly old baker) rather than using my Segway.

So you see, it burns me up to think I'm throwing away decades and decades of traditional methods, perfected over generations, simply because it's easier. And quicker. And cheaper. More efficient. Limitless freedom to experiment. An undo button...

Seriously though, I'm in awe of people who still do things properly with traditional materials, if not a bit jealous!

Oh my!

Pattyannboyd · Post by **Pattyannboyd** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 5:34 pm

I have a had time doing thing digital

I can spend hours trying to draw something with my tablet where if I'd just used my pencil and pens I would have only taken, like, 45 minutes. I see all these people with such lovely linework and such a beautiful grasp on color and form, all totally digital.
It's a humbling thing.

Blackhole · Post by **Blackhole** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:47 am

Lance wrote:I loooove paper! I do original art oldschool doublesize w/pencil on artboard. Ink on paper, then scan, color,letter.

How do you scan in the 11x17 inch artboards unless you have one of those $2500 11x17 inch scanners? (I looked them up on newegg.com and cried.)
Do you go to a copy shop and reduce them first? Doesn't that result in a loss of image quality? I've tried scanning in each half of the page and then putting it back together in photoshop,.. but that's a pain in the ass.

Lance · Post by **Lance** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:53 pm

That's correct, I'm using the painintheass method.
I break each page up as I'm laying it out into 1/4 page (6"x9")
or 1/3 page (12x6) "slugs" pencilled and inked on 12x9 bristol board.
Then I scan them in separately.
I assemble them on the webpage as I'm not worried about print right now.
So I'm essentially doing art double the size of the standard comicbook page.
( I know the standard is 1.5, but I like the detail of working bigger)

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:13 am

Blackhole wrote:
Lance wrote:I loooove paper! I do original art oldschool doublesize w/pencil on artboard. Ink on paper, then scan, color,letter.
How do you scan in the 11x17 inch artboards unless you have one of those $2500 11x17 inch scanners? (I looked them up on newegg.com and cried.)
Do you go to a copy shop and reduce them first? Doesn't that result in a loss of image quality? I've tried scanning in each half of the page and then putting it back together in photoshop,.. but that's a pain in the ass.

You do it in 2 or 3 passes then stitch them together in photoshop or gimp. My scanner is a hand-me-down HP that has never given me a problem. It can take me up to an hour to stitch the two halves of a 600 dpi image together properly, but that's the way it needs to be done. If you can't bring yourself to do the work, ask yourself how much you really want to be doing this.

I suppose you could always use some photo stitching software to put your page halves together.

http://www.phong.com/tutorials/photostitch/ <-- Photoshop CS method
http://shallowsky.com/software/pandora/ <-- GIMP plugin

Blackhole · Post by **Blackhole** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:32 pm

faub wrote: If you can't bring yourself to do the work, ask yourself how much you really want to be doing this.

I'd rather spend more time actually working on the comic content itself than turning the pages into a jigsaw puzzle. So far reducing the pages on a copy machine is the best method for me.

But seriously,.. why would I want to turn a recreational activity into a chore?

Datachasers · Post by **Datachasers** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:50 am

because its fun?? sorry couldnt resist -

Dduf · Post by **Dduf** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:12 pm

I can't seem to get the hang of using a tablet. For me it takes longer, and my pencil drawings look better anyway. I suppose I need to invest in a scanner. Any suggestions?