The Magic of Coloring Comics

MORE Comic Book Coloring Fun

So, here's the latest from 3 Witches. A while ago, I wasn't sure if I would even continue with 3 Witches, because of its cartoony look, and because it seems like everyone is doing something a little more...mature, I guess you could say. But, it seems like every time I start something else, I keep coming back to it.

Anyway, these are the last 3 pages of the first story, where they all basically get sucked into the wormhole, and begin to swap places.

You can also find more 3 Witches at www.3witches.net . Read and enjoy!

--J.T.

What Makes a Good Digital Painting?

So, how does an artist choose subject matter for his next digital painting, and what style do you use? This has been a topic I have been mulling over lately. Basically, I use my gut instinct when painting. When painting Hellboy, I wanted to use a bold style with good lighting. With the Turtles painting, I wanted to paint something a little more "gritty," but with pretty much the same bold style. Aragorn and Arwen deserved a little more realism, so I pretty much went with the painted look.

I'm now working on a Harry Potter painting that includes Prof. Dumbledore and Fawkes the phoenix. I'm really going experimental on this one, making it look more like a watercolor painting than anything. And, that's fine. But for the TMNT? I don't think watercolor would have worked.

I have seen many other styles work very well in digital paintings, but most other digital painters have one style and stick with it. I like to experiment, to try and pull out of the painting the most aesthetic work that I can. If watercolor works, I use it. If the subject requires a more cartoony, smooth feel, then I go with it. If it needs a style that is more serene or surreal, I'm using watercolor. Don't be afraid to test your limits. As an artist, if you limit yourself, you're placing a mental block on your work. And that's not something you really want to do.

So, what makes a good painting? I guess I'd say to paint from the heart, paint what you know, and always experiment! :)

--J.T.

Lord of the Rings Painting Video

http://www.revver.com/video/507244/lotr-lord-of-the-rings-movie-aragorn-and-arwen-speed-painting-love-scene/

Here is the video for my LOTR painting of Aragorn and Arwen. Enjoy!

--J.T.

Lord Knows I Love Lord of the Rings!

For it being Thanksgiving weekend, I had a little time to do some painting. And, what better to paint than a LOTR frame from the movie? I've always been a Lord of the Rings fan. The first novel I ever read was The Hobbit in about 7th grade, and from that point on, I was hooked. Before that, I couldn't conceive of reading something that wasn't a comic book. The fact that something that used only words to tell a story and was interesting to boot was hard to believe.

So, as I'm sure you can imagine, when the movies came out, I was absolutely ecstatic. So now, I have all the DVD's. I don't get the time to watch them or read the books anymore, but anyway... I still have the curious mind of a child when it comes to Tolkien's masterpiece.

I chose to paint a picture of Aragorn and Arwen because their love for one another was one of the most powerful parts of the trilogy. Even when Aragorn is off in distant lands fighting a battle from which he may never return and another love tempts him, he stays true to her. Their love seems like a pure kind of love, one that some of us will never experience. So, that's why I wanted to capture a moment that inspires this feeling of true love. Because, some of us may not be so fortunate...

--J.T.

Turtle Power!

It's been a bit hectic this week because my work switched me from 2nd shift to day shift this week for Thanksgiving, among several other things I had to take care of... But, I had a chance to do a little painting over the weekend. I have always been a Turtles fan, and this was kind of an itch I've been wanting to scratch for a long time. I did a pin-up a couple years ago, fully inked and colored, but even since then, I've been wanting to do something that captures the turtles' essence, and I believe this is it. As a kid, I was never a Raphael fan, but as I grow older, I feel like I have more and more in common with him. Not that I go around wanting to kick the crap out of everyone, but things tend to make me angry that didn't before. I didn't want to do a solo painting, so I had to find a way to include the other 3, too! Yih, boyz! Now I have to do a Flav-a-flav painting. And, A Flock of Seagulls. And, and, Milli Vanilli! I can't stop! Vanilla Ice! MC Hammer! WTF? Somebody kick me in the junk!

New Hellboy Digital Painting Video in Photoshop

View this video on YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, Google, Revver, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, Veoh and Stupid Videos

Project: Camelot Speed Painting Video pt. 3

http://revver.com/video/794022/affiliate/134083/project-camelot-comic-book-cover-speed-painting-part-3-lancelot/

Photoshop is My Friend

Cool. That's all I have to say. I finished a digital painting in 4 hrs and 20 min. (!) If you've read my previous posts, you'd know why that's such a good thing. I started from scratch and painted Gruel from "3 Witches," and it actually turned out okay. I'm beginning to like this digital painting stuff. One great thing about it is being able to work with layers. I can paint one thing, and go over it on another layer without even touching the bottom layer. Also, I feel like I can get great colors using Photoshop, because you can change the colors of virtually anything in the painting by saving a couple of selections. Okay, I have to go find some toothpicks to prop my eyes open, because I'd say it's going to be a long night. :D

--J.T.

Digital Painting-A Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

From the point of view of a comic book artist, I saw digital painting as a horrendous undertaking from the outset. Being used to drawing a page in about a day's time, something this detailed, and in color nonetheless, was going to be the most grueling job I had ever taken upon myself.

My first digital painting took 38 hours to complete. Yup, 38 hours. 38 long and drawn out hours, paying attention to nothing but pixels and more pixels. Looking at nothing but my computer monitor, dreaming about painting, planning my painting as I go through the laborious human process known as "eating." I only kept track of the time spent working by making a video for it whichwas 38 minutes long, and it was set to record 1 second of video per real-time minute.

But, I saw this as a learning experience. And, it was a huge one. I can say that because I painted the first figure in 11 and a half hours, and the rest were done in gradually decreasing amounts of time. In my defense, there were five figures to be painted, an RPG rocket, and the background. Each being as time consuming as the next. Even though it took me this long, I have to say I'm going to continue to practice at it, because as boring as it seems, I did have fun doing it, and next time, I will have learned techniques I didn't know before.

Next time, though, I'll try not to push family, work, and everything else to the side and become a Photoshop zombie... :)

--J.T.

Project: Camelot Coloring Video

Camelot, Here We Come

For the past few weeks, I have been working on a submission packet to send to publishers with Travis Legge, senior partner at Aegis Studios, the makers of the Contagion RPG. It is called "Project: Camelot." We decided that to allow publishers to see the finished product, we would go through a Print On Demand publisher and have some 8-page sample copies printed up. (Is POD the bomb or what?) We're also considering using a short comic book story idea I had for Project: Camelot and submitting it to some anthologies for inclusion so that it would already be a published property, and we would already have some publicity on our side.

The cover for the submission is finally finished for the most part. I may choose to tweak it at some point, but it's pretty much done as far as I'm concerned.

I thought that meant we were finished with our submission, but I actually have some pages that I have to put together to fill the rest of the interior pages. I will probably put together a couple of "sketchbook" pages with the character sketches that I did when designing the look of the armored suits in the beginning.

I have to say this has been one of the cooler projects I have ever worked on. I have always wanted to see if I could handle drawing armored heroes or big robots, and it gave me a chance to prove to myself that I can. Plus, I had an excellent writer backing me up and providing more than I could ask for. I have a feeling this project may pan out to be something good.

--J.T.

Jumping Through Hoops (or, Not)

Frig. I can't believe how much these Comic Book Idol contestants are expected to draw. I do realize that this is a contest for artists, but they do (I'm guessing...) have lives outside of comic book art. The assignment in round 1 and round 2 so far has been 3 consecutive comic book pages each round. That's not so bad for a week or so of work for most artists who are not considered pros. But for a weekEND, I think it's a bit much.

I guess the thinking is, "how devoted to winning this contest are these guys?" If I were a contestant, I'd feel a little more like they were saying, "how much lunch money can I beat out of this kid before I get kicked in the nads?" I'm still working on round 1 for the play at home thread. I have 1 panel finished. Sound pitiful? It's seriously not. Read my last blog entry.

I think Comic Book Idol is a really good springboard for unknown artists, and I am glad there is a place to post our artwork and get some honest criticism from other fans, artists, and even established writers and editors for the contestants. The contestants and those who choose to "play at home" come out with a lot more knowledge and experience than they had before.

For those who work a full-time job, or have families, or both, I would think the assignments are a pretty massive strain on them. But, if you think of the (massive) exposure you would get if you were one of the 10 finalists that go on to round 1 and so on, I suppose that's a pretty even trade for a few weekends.

Anyway, Warren Leonhardt, who I voted for, was eliminated at the end of round 1. I have a knack for picking out the underdogs with talent...but get knocked down by the mainstream. I couldn't believe Caio's art ranked first. Well, yeah I can. He isn't an Image clone, but there is a lot of Image influence, I believe. That's definitely not a bad thing, but in my humble opinion, that shouldn't outweigh whether or not he is a good artist. Is he a good artist? Without a doubt. Is he Michael Turner good? ...uh, No.

Dan McDaid apparently has a pretty strong following. He came in third in the vote, and on the boards, people are really voicing their opinions about his work. I think he's also one with a simplistic style without overly simplifying the page. I'm looking forward to seeing more from him. I'd almost guarantee he'll do better on round 2's "Wonderlost" script, seeing as how his art style is similar to C.B. Cebulski's other artists he has used in the past.

I'll be watching the entries over the weekend. There have been some really good entries, and some that have turned out to be duds. If you haven't registered at the CBR forums, you need to get registered now and vote during the next round. From what the CBI3 host J. Torres has said, a large percentage of the CBR forum-goers didn't vote during round 1. They only open the vote for 24 hrs (12pm Wed.-12pm Thur.), so next week get out there and vote!!

--J.T.

Comic Book Idolatry

I found Comic Book Idol just a few weeks ago, and I decided to take a crack at it, since submissions ended at the end of September, and I still had a few days to show my work. Over 180 contestants posted their online portfolios and 10 were selected to go to round 1. I wasn't selected as a contestant, but it didn't hurt to put my name in the hat.

I decided to keep up with the contest, and post my opinion, which is apparently contrary to public opinion. The front runner right now is Caio Oliveira. A decent artist, but lacking a sense of depth and composition. I posted a similar statement on the public opinions forum, so we'll see how that goes.

I have to say Caio has a knack for detail, but as I said in the forum, this isn't the only thing it takes to be a comic book artist. I believe it takes an understanding of how to create depth, how to compose a panel, placement and grouping of subjects in a panel, panel layout, spotting blacks to create interest in a subject, varying line widths, etc.

I'm not saying my work is better or comparable to the CBI entries, but studying the art form for 15 years, I like to think I'm gaining some kind of grasp on the inner workings of what goes on in a comic book panel, and I hope the contestants gain something from what I post.

I'm slowly working up a couple of pages of my own to post on the "play at home thread," but it'll probably be a few days before I post anything. Not because I am being lazy about the whole thing (though I'm not a contestant at all, just playing at home), but because I have several other things on my plate at the moment. One, as I posted a little bit about a couple of days ago, is working up a submission packet for 3 Witches, as well as putting together some pages for a future 3 Witches story. On top of that, I'm finishing up a submission packet with Travis Legge, Senior Patner at Aegis Studios, makers of the Contagion RPG. Not to mention working 40-48 hours per week, and squeezing in time for my 5-month old (today!) baby, my 5-year old daughter (who I take to school some mornings), and my wife.

Now, where do I find time to draw this Comic Book Idol thing, again?

Here are some links to check out:
Comic Book Idol: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29
Public Comment Thread: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=193967
Play at Home Thread: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=193773

--J.T.

Going Ink Crazy

I've gotta take a break. I've been working on a cover all weekend for a story submission to be sent to various comic book publishers. I finished the pencils, and (gasp!) even inks since yesterday. Inks by HAND, no less! Why? Cause I'm crazy like that, i guess.

Actually, I wanted to draw something that would make an impact with a publisher, and I hadn't inked anything by hand in many months. I broke out the old brushes and Rapidograph pens, and went to town. It was a lot of fun, but I had lost two of my old pens (which cost $20 to replace each one) and a couple of my old brushes.

I went out and bought some new brushes and a new pen, so I may actually start inking my work. It was a little slower than the process I was using before, which was doing dark pencils and cranking up the contrast in Photoshop, but the benefits may outweigh the slowness of it all. I'll probably just ink the covers and stick to pencils for the interiors. I don't really care, as long as I get to draw...

--J.T.