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Head studies
Friday, 7 June 2019 05:51 pmThis is something I don’t ever do—character head studies from different angles—so I collected some photo refs to use with various characters and gave it a go. To be honest, I did not love the process, but it’s a good exercise. :/
I used photo references, but this photo set didn’t have enough variety in angles, so I did another head study more like the one for Iusta.
My people don’t smile.
They hardly ever smile, that is. Not big toothy grins.
Because of a childhood accident (think Raina Telgemeier’s Smile comic, only more dramatic and traumatic), I quite literally can’t smile one of those big, wide, all-teeth end-to-end grins people are supposed to use to show they’re friendly and good and worth interaction. I’m not used to seeing it in a mirror, and not used to drawing it. My crop of Romans just don’t think grinning fits in with proper gravitas. Although, from time to time, Felix has given a snarky grin. Sure, there are grinning satyrs capering about, but, really, think about it: How often have you seen a bust of a Caesar or Alexander the Great with a grin?
I used photo references, but this photo set didn’t have enough variety in angles, so I did another head study more like the one for Iusta.
My people don’t smile.
They hardly ever smile, that is. Not big toothy grins.
Because of a childhood accident (think Raina Telgemeier’s Smile comic, only more dramatic and traumatic), I quite literally can’t smile one of those big, wide, all-teeth end-to-end grins people are supposed to use to show they’re friendly and good and worth interaction. I’m not used to seeing it in a mirror, and not used to drawing it. My crop of Romans just don’t think grinning fits in with proper gravitas. Although, from time to time, Felix has given a snarky grin. Sure, there are grinning satyrs capering about, but, really, think about it: How often have you seen a bust of a Caesar or Alexander the Great with a grin?
A Year of Four Emperors
Saturday, 16 September 2017 01:33 pmI'd forgotten I'd meant to put something like this in the printed book for Chapters I-IV. I was flipping through some printer's proof pages and remembered all the future emperors Felix stumbles across in Chapter II.
The fact that one person can meet, say, 7 emperors in a single lifetime doesn't say much for imperial longevity, does it...
The fact that one person can meet, say, 7 emperors in a single lifetime doesn't say much for imperial longevity, does it...
Testing new tech
Saturday, 9 September 2017 10:28 amI've heard wild and wonderful things about drawing comics on the new iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil (and an app called ProCreate--yikes). Maybe someday some new tech can join the art-supplies arsenal.
This test drawing is of a mishmash because I used about six different digital brushes/pens/pencils all on top of one another. I can see doing pencils and inking for the comic digitally, but I'll always be devoted to working with my actual ancient palette and its assorted exciting poisonous pigments.
In other news, any of you who supported the Kickstarter should have gotten both a backer survey and a download link by now; please let me know if you haven't received both.
This test drawing is of a mishmash because I used about six different digital brushes/pens/pencils all on top of one another. I can see doing pencils and inking for the comic digitally, but I'll always be devoted to working with my actual ancient palette and its assorted exciting poisonous pigments.
In other news, any of you who supported the Kickstarter should have gotten both a backer survey and a download link by now; please let me know if you haven't received both.
Sketch of the day: daily watercolour #5
Monday, 10 July 2017 05:40 pmAfter doodling a bee, I got it in my head I'd draw Wonder Woman in the leftover space, but somehow ended up turning her into Venus (the "on the battlefield with Felix" version), as you do. The greens and yellows are modern-style paints; the rest are from the ancient palette.
The sample paper--you can see its specs in the image--is Canson's Moulin du Roy. I have a sketch pad with their Montval watercolour paper, and don't like the way it handles water, and I think paints look dull on it. This is a higher-end paper, while Montval is meant to be student grade.
I like this Moulin du Roy paper a lot. It's less textured than some cold press papers (fine grain); it feels smooth and easy to work on. Buckling/warping, when not taped down, is minimal. It was happy to let me do a light pencil sketch, erase it, do another, erase it, about 10 times. The inked line was done with a 005 (very fine) Micron pen, which went down okay, considering this is textured paper and not the best surface for a pen like that.
There's something...I dunno...a little bit dirty about the surface, as if it had been left out to collect dust, but I'm not sure whether that's literally true, whether it picked up dirt in my bag, or whether there are grey fibers or other particles in the paper itself. I didn't notice it until I was peering at the art close up. I feel like the colours lose some of their vividness on this paper, but the fine-grain texture might be a fair trade off.
Update after holding it up to an east-facing window: Actually, colours look very vivid in the sort of direct bright sunlight one isn't supposed to expose one's paintings to.
Non-staining colours don't lift off this paper with the breezy ease of the previous papers I've tested this month. Paints seem to dry more quickly, which is good if you're impatient like me. My homemade earth-tone paints blend and layer easily on it. I have another sample sheet of the cold press, and I'd like to do more tests with it, and I'd like to try the heavier weight version. It makes me want to go out and do architectural paintings, of ruined temples and tumbled columns....
( Read more... )
The sample paper--you can see its specs in the image--is Canson's Moulin du Roy. I have a sketch pad with their Montval watercolour paper, and don't like the way it handles water, and I think paints look dull on it. This is a higher-end paper, while Montval is meant to be student grade.
I like this Moulin du Roy paper a lot. It's less textured than some cold press papers (fine grain); it feels smooth and easy to work on. Buckling/warping, when not taped down, is minimal. It was happy to let me do a light pencil sketch, erase it, do another, erase it, about 10 times. The inked line was done with a 005 (very fine) Micron pen, which went down okay, considering this is textured paper and not the best surface for a pen like that.
There's something...I dunno...a little bit dirty about the surface, as if it had been left out to collect dust, but I'm not sure whether that's literally true, whether it picked up dirt in my bag, or whether there are grey fibers or other particles in the paper itself. I didn't notice it until I was peering at the art close up. I feel like the colours lose some of their vividness on this paper, but the fine-grain texture might be a fair trade off.
Update after holding it up to an east-facing window: Actually, colours look very vivid in the sort of direct bright sunlight one isn't supposed to expose one's paintings to.
Non-staining colours don't lift off this paper with the breezy ease of the previous papers I've tested this month. Paints seem to dry more quickly, which is good if you're impatient like me. My homemade earth-tone paints blend and layer easily on it. I have another sample sheet of the cold press, and I'd like to do more tests with it, and I'd like to try the heavier weight version. It makes me want to go out and do architectural paintings, of ruined temples and tumbled columns....
( Read more... )
Sketch of the day: daily watercolour #3
Sunday, 9 July 2017 02:59 pmThis is another paper made by St Cuthberts Mill, called Bockingford. It's 140lb cold press, like the Millford paper, though it feels ever so slightly stiffer, and the texture is ever so slightly rougher. When doused with the same amount of water as I put on the Millford, it warped and didn't dry back flat on its own like the Millford--but it flattened out after I forgot it in the scanner for a while. Layering on this paper is easier; I've been adding layer after layer on the skin tone, and not only didn't accidentally scrub off the previous layers of paint (as with the Millford), but see no damage to the paper.
The manufacturer says: "traditionally made on a cylinder mould machine...surface is created using natural woollen felts that give it a distinctive random texture. Appreciated for its excellent colour lifting abilities. This is an extremely forgiving watercolour paper."
( Read more... )
The manufacturer says: "traditionally made on a cylinder mould machine...surface is created using natural woollen felts that give it a distinctive random texture. Appreciated for its excellent colour lifting abilities. This is an extremely forgiving watercolour paper."
( Read more... )
Sketch of the day: daily watercolour #4
Sunday, 9 July 2017 02:57 pm(Also today, because I accidentally didn't post it: daily watercolour #3)
I let this dry a few days before going back to it so I could try layering paint. In the meantime I seem to have forgotten how I was doing the ponytail so that style could be continued for the rest of her hair. Lots of tweaking and changing is still in progress.
Still, every time I think I've pushed the paper too far with corrections and new layers, it puts up with me.
( Read more... )
I let this dry a few days before going back to it so I could try layering paint. In the meantime I seem to have forgotten how I was doing the ponytail so that style could be continued for the rest of her hair. Lots of tweaking and changing is still in progress.
Still, every time I think I've pushed the paper too far with corrections and new layers, it puts up with me.
( Read more... )
Sketch of the day: daily watercolour #2
Tuesday, 4 July 2017 06:55 amToday's test paper is Daler-Rowney's Langton Prestige, 140lb/300gsm cold press/"not."
I didn't like it all that much. This drawing incorporates homemade paints, Indigo, Japanese-style Kuretake Gansai Tambi paint (did not play well with the paper), and various commercial-brand watercolours (Sennelier, M Graham, MaimeriBlu, & Daniel Smith). The paper holds up perfectly fine to lots of water (which seems to dry oddly quickly), to lifting/scrubbing off paint, and layering. I think the various paints look a bit lifeless in a way that's hard to quantify.
I didn't like it all that much. This drawing incorporates homemade paints, Indigo, Japanese-style Kuretake Gansai Tambi paint (did not play well with the paper), and various commercial-brand watercolours (Sennelier, M Graham, MaimeriBlu, & Daniel Smith). The paper holds up perfectly fine to lots of water (which seems to dry oddly quickly), to lifting/scrubbing off paint, and layering. I think the various paints look a bit lifeless in a way that's hard to quantify.
Sketch of the day: daily watercolour
Monday, 3 July 2017 02:31 pmI have at least 30 (possibly more) different types of watercolour sampler papers that I'd like to test, so I'm going to try to do a little piece of art each day--maybe during lunch breaks, so I can make sure I do them quickly, not worrying about the drawing details. Or worrying about, you know, anatomy and stuff.
Also of course I'm going to try to keep the comic chugging along.
Today's "spend no more than an hour on it this time" test of the paper samples stars St. Cuthbert's Mill Milford 140lb cotton cold press ("not") paper.
( Read more... )
Light pencil erases easily; paints lift well; the paper warps when wet but dries flat; and I discovered I need to learn PATIENCE before layering on this type of paper--it doesn't dry immediately, but stays workable for a while, so I found myself accidentally scrubbing off the underlayer of paint.
I was also being my usual timid self, and the colours looked a bit washed out. I think more (patient) layering would give a much more vivid result, judging by how bright the more pigment-dense paints along the side look when thumped on the paper in masstone (in "full strength," so to speak).
Also of course I'm going to try to keep the comic chugging along.
Today's "spend no more than an hour on it this time" test of the paper samples stars St. Cuthbert's Mill Milford 140lb cotton cold press ("not") paper.
( Read more... )
Light pencil erases easily; paints lift well; the paper warps when wet but dries flat; and I discovered I need to learn PATIENCE before layering on this type of paper--it doesn't dry immediately, but stays workable for a while, so I found myself accidentally scrubbing off the underlayer of paint.
I was also being my usual timid self, and the colours looked a bit washed out. I think more (patient) layering would give a much more vivid result, judging by how bright the more pigment-dense paints along the side look when thumped on the paper in masstone (in "full strength," so to speak).
ICYMI: sketches of today
Tuesday, 13 June 2017 11:00 pmPosted on Twitter today: I played with a sampler of QoR watercolours today (instead of getting the next comic done--but it was something I could do while thinking through the next complicated(!) steps in the plot).
QoR paints are made with a synthetic substitute for gum arabic, a binder traditionally used in watercolours and mostly sourced from one type of acacia tree in Sudan. I've heard that the synthetic binder is used in art preservation, but that disqualifies QoR paints from joining my ancient palette, even as a substitute for something poisonous :) The paints needed some finessing to work nicely on the sketchbook paper. They wouldn't be my first choice of paints, but some artists like them. I'll keep playing with them until my tiny sampler runs out.
These are photos, not scans, so the colours and proportions are slightly different in each Iusta image.
(click 'em to see larger)
( Read more... )
QoR paints are made with a synthetic substitute for gum arabic, a binder traditionally used in watercolours and mostly sourced from one type of acacia tree in Sudan. I've heard that the synthetic binder is used in art preservation, but that disqualifies QoR paints from joining my ancient palette, even as a substitute for something poisonous :) The paints needed some finessing to work nicely on the sketchbook paper. They wouldn't be my first choice of paints, but some artists like them. I'll keep playing with them until my tiny sampler runs out.
These are photos, not scans, so the colours and proportions are slightly different in each Iusta image.
(click 'em to see larger)
( Read more... )
