by the way

[davemerrill]

New Zero Fighter page update, featuring interiors and dialog. I'm working into Act Two now and I was having difficulty figuring out a character design for a new character, but I think I have a good solution. I was curious as to how it was going to be, working so close to a deadline - will it keep things fresh or just reinforce my half-ass tendencies? - but I think it's working out well, I'm having to come up with new ways to get things done in a timely fashion, and at the same time I can realize when I'm up against the wall and should quit for the night.

Comments

[psychoshinji.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever commented on one of your Zero Fighter posts, but I really like how fluid and expressive your lines are! Did you use a brush or some sort of digital brush tool to ink it? :D

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

It's all brush, actual real-world brushes and ink. I threw away my ruler and my technical pens. Well, okay, I put them in a drawer.

Part of why I'm doing the strip is to draw it in a way that's most satisfying to me on a purely physical level, and the most enjoyable way for me to work is to reduce things down to just a simple act of mark-making (there's a lot of fairly tight pencilling beforehand, though). My work is still pretty stiff, but it's loosening up. I don't want to make it sound like it's some kind of theraputic thing, but it's definitely the most relaxing strip I've ever drawn, it's the most engaging thing on a visual level.

Shain has a pretty good tablet and she has a good digital inking technique that I will probably move to at some point in the future, but for right now I'm still using the messy stuff.

[psychoshinji.livejournal.com]

I'm a BIG fan of doing things the brush or pen and ink way. I didn't start working digitally until about the past 2 years or so, thanks to Zelda. Most of my stuff is inked with brush and ink, croquil/metal nib and ink, or technical pen...I even prefer the old cut and stick screentone method to digital screentone. It's really hard for me to get into digital inking but I like it so far. And I'm glad to hear that the strip is satisfying for you to work on. It's refreshing to hear someone who actually expresses positive feelings about drawing once in a while; who genuinely LIKES drawing! :3 It's what I live for, so I'm surprised by the number of my SCAD-Grad peers who act like drawing is a chore. Best of luck on the strips!

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

I think I do prefer digital tones, if only for the convenience; I have a big box of odds and ends of tone left over from old jobs and the cutting and sticking down is always a pain, I always wind up cutting through the original art, and it's impossible to match up two different slices of tone if you need to add more to an area. Occasionally I will bring some of it out for a change, though - I used some of it in the last 10 or 20 pages of "Ozone Commandos".

I have never used Japanese brands of tone, though, I bet it's easier to use.

Drawing can be frustrating if you're not happy with the tools you're using or you're working in a medium or a genre that really isn't "right". I know I've tried to work in styles that simply did not work for me at all, and the feeling of wrongness is almost a physical force. I guess the trick is to find a method you're comfortable with, but not so comfortable that you can't push yourself and try new things.