Issue 245: what's your sign?

[Hawk]

Kakaze & Freezin: Thanx for setting my mind at ease. I've said it before and I'll say it again; this forum has a really good atmosphere, I mean I haven't seen any flames. It's a no fear society!!

Request for hawk,
could you try and be as detailed as posible when your talking about CGing. Keep up the good work man !!

i will try to put as much details i can, but keep in mind i'm doing this while i'm working on other things. my plate is very full.

[Hawk]

I know this sounds like a really simple and frankly silly question but when your drawing do you always go through the whole 'How to draw manga' process or does it just get to a point when you dont even bother any more?

define the whole "how to draw manga process."

Yeah sorry, i ment drawing the circle as a starting point for the head and then the lines for general idea of eyes nose etc like the How to Draw Manga Books.

Or do ya just sketch them by eye.

i'm at the point where i just draw without guides.

[frenchhie]

Hawk,

I guess the idea of inking makes me fidget since I'm so used to my pencils. But you're right. Practice. Practice. Practice. Ha ha! You must be sick to death of paper questions by now! I'm just a bit anal-retentive I guess and stressed about making my project turn out perfectly. I'll try to test different lbs. and see what I like and what I don't.

When I have my book completed, I'd like to share it with everyone - of course with my profile. ^^;

You are so nice and really helpful. Thanks again for the response!

[craigeth]

please ananth can you post up the script for this issue.

also, is there any dialogue for this issue? have you just not added it in yet hawk? that also makes the script more desirable to see if there's no dialogue cause it means ananth would of had to go into a bit more detail about the espressions on hawks face and what other people in the background were doing.

also, hawk, do you send the sketch to ananth before continuing on with other steps just to check and see if what you've drawn is the same as what ananth had in his mind?

thanks.

[AI_Joe]

I think it would be better if we didn't see the dialogue until he's finished. I like to experience the Applegeeks strips in their full glory. It's like being spoiled by seeing a script for the next episode of Lost!

[Hawk]

please ananth can you post up the script for this issue.

also, is there any dialogue for this issue? have you just not added it in yet hawk? that also makes the script more desirable to see if there's no dialogue cause it means ananth would of had to go into a bit more detail about the espressions on hawks face and what other people in the background were doing.

also, hawk, do you send the sketch to ananth before continuing on with other steps just to check and see if what you've drawn is the same as what ananth had in his mind?

thanks.

dude, it's called patience.

and no i dont send anything back. after i get the script, its all mine.

[ananth]

please ananth can you post up the script for this issue.

You'll have to wait till after I eat dinner. Been a long day.

[PinkSands]

So I've probably missed this answer already...(My day has been so long...)

I've only got one question Hawk. Or two actually.

In your opinion, what are the best digital tables for 1.) those starting out? 2.) for advanced(the best qauilty tablets)?

[ananth]

(Here's the requested script ... sorry for the delay guys, been a hectic day. As you can see, Hawk mostly follows my scripts, but he occasionally deviates on the visuals.)

Note to Hawk: Here it is. It's relatively short, since there's no dialogue this time around ... this allows the  comic to be a little more atmospheric.

Issue 245: What's your sign?

Panel 1: Hawk approaches the front of the club. It's dark,, and the light from the club filters out onto the street. All we need is a hint of Hawk here, just to show he's part of the throngs that are approaching.


Panel 2: Hawk makes his way through the crowd, looking around curiously. All kinds of people are here, largely scene kids.


Panel 3: A longer panel, where we see Hawk from the back. This one looks like a wide screen format, all the way cross, and gives us an even better cut of the demographic at this show.


Panel 4: Hawk finally catches a glimpse of his interest. She's leaning against the bar, decked out in a tanktop and jeans (freedom of movement for when she's on stage). The crowd seems to have parted a bit to allow Hawk to stand a little apart. Hawk has a little "wow" expression on his face.

[DrunkenC0wb0y]

(Here's the requested script ... sorry for the delay guys, been a hectic day. As you can see, Hawk mostly follows my scripts, but he occasionally deviates on the visuals.)

Dude don't worry about it, we all have lives...well most of us. But a good amount of us understand we appreciate the hard work you guys do and thank you graciously.

~Cowboy

[Sixter]

Nice job flatting. I like the color choices for your flats.
Two questions.

Is this your normal pallet for flatting, flat then pick the colors later, or do you flat with the basic color choices you are going to use for the final comic. (to me it seems you are doing the former and not the latter)

Next is there any benefit to doing the lines in a multiply layer as opposed to putting the lines into a channel then creating a selection from the channel and filling that with your black.The way I have been learning seems to be good for color holds, and if you are coloring for print, easy enough to do your trapping, create a selection from the line in the channel, then contract selection and fill with trapping color on a layer below the lines.

Screen shot of my channels and layers for some lineart I am flatting in dayglow colors.


Link to a discussion on Dave McCaig's setup for coloring.
http://www.dave-co.com/gutterzombie/viewtopic.php?t=133&start=0

[Hawk]

Nice job flatting. I like the color choices for your flats.
Two questions.

Is this your normal pallet for flatting, flat then pick the colors later, or do you flat with the basic color choices you are going to use for the final comic. (to me it seems you are doing the former and not the latter)

Yeah, I flat then pick the colors. At this point I don't think about colors,

Next is there any benefit to doing the lines in a multiply layer as opposed to putting the lines into a channel then creating a selection from the channel and filling that with your black.The way I have been learning seems to be good for color holds, and if you are coloring for print, easy enough to do your trapping, create a selection from the line in the channel, then contract selection and fill with trapping color on a layer below the lines.

I'm pretty sure there are benefit to use the channel. For example, using the channel method, you can color the lineart and keep the transparency.

[Sylver]

I know this is kind of hinted at in your description, but I'd figured I'd ask it none the less; does the brightness of the color pretain to the level of importance of the object/area? I noticed that the background was done very darkly and thought that this means that the level of importance and details in it would be incredibly low.

[ananth]

I know this is kind of hinted at in your description, but I'd figured I'd ask it none the less; does the brightness of the color pretain to the level of importance of the object/area? I noticed that the background was done very darkly and thought that this means that the level of importance and details in it would be incredibly low.

I'm sure Hawk will give you his own answer too (he's in class right now), but it's important to remember that (especially with comics), it can sometimes be a bad idea to create an equal level of detail and color level between the background and the foreground. Comic panels, before being pretty and detailed, have to correctly convey the information they are meant to bring across. Often times this means making the point of interest brighter and more detailed than the surroundings, or vice versa - the primary thing that needs to happen is to have a strong contrast between the two, because then your eye + brain naturally separates them and can focus on them independently of the other.

[craigeth]

hang on a second, now im confused. arent you just adding a useless step by making flats all different shades of one colour? wouldnt it be better to make flats using the colours you're going to use. such as red for her tank top and blue for her jeans and so on. then when you're adding in the shading, create layers with different shades of those colours.

it just seems pointless to use greys when you're going to be going over them anyway.

also, i know you answered how long it takes you to ink, but how long does it take you to sketch and create flats? actually time lapses of each step would be great.

i know its been said but thanks again for doing this guys. if only every comic did this.