they asked for 300, we managed to get 274 made, and had about 70 left over after the wedding.
just saddlestitched. the books were 5" x 7.25," two staples: one on manhunter's head the other on his briefs. there was an 8th page that was a listing like a traditional program. I'll take some pics of one of the printed copies at some point in time and post em.
What kind of stapler do you use for doing your saddle stitch? I have a flat long stapler, but it's a pain in the butt to line it up with the spine. I saw one that holds the folded paper at an angle as it droops down, I dunno if it's any good tough.
yeah, 86 bucks is a little stout. there are some reviews on amazon for it.
Looking at it, it doesn't look like it'd be much easier. What I hated most about the one I have is that the bottom sheets can slip about a 1/16" of an inch up under the guard if you're not careful, which is a bitch.
thanks. My only complaints are that I couldn't get the scanner to even pick up most of the blues in the cover painting (that was totally a cloud-filled afternoon sky for example), so even with my best corrections, the colors were way off on that.
Also, I locked my thumb in my car door a week before the wedding, and as much as I tried, There's still a noticeable difference in quality between what I did rushed with an injured thumb (utensils at first held between middle and ring finger, and later as my thumb healed some by my three fingers, resting on the area between thumb and fingers). Such a pain in the ass that was.
Anyways, I matted and framed the painting for the cover as a wedding present. I need to take some photos of that see if I can get the colors to show up more accurately in them.
and I've started using a brushtip pen to some success. I've got a short comic I'm working on now with it that I'm somewhat pleased with so far.
I'm using a prismacolor premier. I'm not a big fan of it because the ink isn't dark at all, it's just what I had. I had a Faber Castell before that I liked more that I don't have anymore.
What makes the Pentel Pocket so rad? That thing's 13 bucks, and even though there are refill cartridges, I've found that with my brush pens the nib starts to misshapen and wear out well before the pen's out of ink.
Also, what India Ink do you use? I've been using Dowler-Rowney and I find it too thick. I love how black it is, and I like how it seems to rest on top of my paper as opposed to be absorbed by it. The problem I'm having though is that brushes won't hold much of it at all and I'm having to redip after practically every stroke and clean my brush (from the remaining ink higher in the bristles drying into a glob) after every dozen strokes or so. I don't know if it's because of the brand or if it's because the ink I have is roughly ten years old.
I tried a lot of different brushes and ink and this is whats working for me:
Raphael sable brushes 8404
FW ink for brush work and Speedball Super Black for everything else
Pro White
The Pentel pocket brush is the best because it keeps it's shape, brushes really black, and is waterproof. Just make sure you get the pocket brush version. It's still not as good as a real brush but good in a pinch.
Just thin your ink with a few drops of water. Or just let go of that 10 year bottle of ink.
I use a Pentel Pocket brush, they are awesome. Sometimes nothing beats a decent brush and actual ink but nonetheless, the portability and quality of line you get from them is impressive.
Manon,
I would make your panel borders thinner and use a straight edge. Also, are you you scanning in grayscale? I t looks like you are scanning in B/W and making the edges harsh. Either that or you are adjusting the contrast too much after scanning.
Yeah, I'm pushing the levels and then thresholding to get straight black or white. Hell, I've already got two of these pages inked. I kinda dig the wiggly borders, like Crumb or Laird with the early turtles comics. Thinner might be better though. I can see what you mean with working too small.
whaddaya mean by spotting? cause I found that when I colored, I changed a lot of the large black areas to colored shadows... should I change those back?
and I dunno why you're up, but I'm up because I slept until 5 yesterday afternoon.
I mean where you place your blacks. It makes the page look balanced.
There is no way I can get out of going to work today. I've gone over countless scenarios in my head but my absence would not go unnoticed.
Yeah, I'm pushing the levels and then thresholding to get straight black or white. Hell, I've already got two of these pages inked. I kinda dig the wiggly borders, like Crumb or Laird with the early turtles comics. Thinner might be better though. I can see what you mean with working too small.
I've noticed this with your work and figurered it was a stylistic choice (which you just kinda confirmed) BUT personally I think there's something ever-so-slightly artificial looking about it when you use threshold and with a little work, I think you could get a much cleaner scan while still retaining the character of actual organic variations in the ink line.
My process: With scanned inks, I usually adjust Brightness/Contrast in small increments and once I'm happy that I've got my blacks opaque enough without degrading the line too much, I then use Select Colour Range: black (with a tolerance of 101), then invert the selection, and then hit delete to remove everything apart from the lineart which I now have on a nice transparent layer.
This may or may not be of much use to you, but I thought I'd share in case you fancy experimenting with the results of a different process! :arrow:
For a commission. To be painted 4-foot wide in a kid's bedroom. I plan on controlling all the line-width once I get it painted. This I just printed out on a transparency to blow up using an overhead projector.
as long as you'll be controlling the line widths, that looks pretty good
I think Scooby might look more like Scooby if you put his eyes closer together
This was done for my friend's kid. My friend's mom (the kid's grandma) commissioned it. My friend's wife hates me. HATES me to no end. I figured she'd love having a picture of my face painted in her kid's room.
Posts
just saddlestitched. the books were 5" x 7.25," two staples: one on manhunter's head the other on his briefs. there was an 8th page that was a listing like a traditional program. I'll take some pics of one of the printed copies at some point in time and post em.
It's expensive and I'm afraid to get it out of fear of it not being such an improvement.
Looking at it, it doesn't look like it'd be much easier. What I hated most about the one I have is that the bottom sheets can slip about a 1/16" of an inch up under the guard if you're not careful, which is a bitch.
INSTAGRAM
Also, I locked my thumb in my car door a week before the wedding, and as much as I tried, There's still a noticeable difference in quality between what I did rushed with an injured thumb (utensils at first held between middle and ring finger, and later as my thumb healed some by my three fingers, resting on the area between thumb and fingers). Such a pain in the ass that was.
Anyways, I matted and framed the painting for the cover as a wedding present. I need to take some photos of that see if I can get the colors to show up more accurately in them.
and I've started using a brushtip pen to some success. I've got a short comic I'm working on now with it that I'm somewhat pleased with so far.
*slams the car door on his thumb*
"Auugh! Aaah, no!"
*locks the car door*
"Sweet Jesus!"
What makes the Pentel Pocket so rad? That thing's 13 bucks, and even though there are refill cartridges, I've found that with my brush pens the nib starts to misshapen and wear out well before the pen's out of ink.
Also, what India Ink do you use? I've been using Dowler-Rowney and I find it too thick. I love how black it is, and I like how it seems to rest on top of my paper as opposed to be absorbed by it. The problem I'm having though is that brushes won't hold much of it at all and I'm having to redip after practically every stroke and clean my brush (from the remaining ink higher in the bristles drying into a glob) after every dozen strokes or so. I don't know if it's because of the brand or if it's because the ink I have is roughly ten years old.
Raphael sable brushes 8404
FW ink for brush work and Speedball Super Black for everything else
Pro White
The Pentel pocket brush is the best because it keeps it's shape, brushes really black, and is waterproof. Just make sure you get the pocket brush version. It's still not as good as a real brush but good in a pinch.
Just thin your ink with a few drops of water. Or just let go of that 10 year bottle of ink.
I use a Pentel Pocket brush, they are awesome. Sometimes nothing beats a decent brush and actual ink but nonetheless, the portability and quality of line you get from them is impressive.
based on this script that was an entry in a cbr contest a couple of years back.
Your inks are really cramped, like you're struggling to get the detail in.
I would make your panel borders thinner and use a straight edge. Also, are you you scanning in grayscale? I t looks like you are scanning in B/W and making the edges harsh. Either that or you are adjusting the contrast too much after scanning.
Why am I awake?
and I dunno why you're up, but I'm up because I slept until 5 yesterday afternoon.
There is no way I can get out of going to work today. I've gone over countless scenarios in my head but my absence would not go unnoticed.
I've noticed this with your work and figurered it was a stylistic choice (which you just kinda confirmed) BUT personally I think there's something ever-so-slightly artificial looking about it when you use threshold and with a little work, I think you could get a much cleaner scan while still retaining the character of actual organic variations in the ink line.
My process: With scanned inks, I usually adjust Brightness/Contrast in small increments and once I'm happy that I've got my blacks opaque enough without degrading the line too much, I then use Select Colour Range: black (with a tolerance of 101), then invert the selection, and then hit delete to remove everything apart from the lineart which I now have on a nice transparent layer.
This may or may not be of much use to you, but I thought I'd share in case you fancy experimenting with the results of a different process! :arrow:
For a commission. To be painted 4-foot wide in a kid's bedroom. I plan on controlling all the line-width once I get it painted. This I just printed out on a transparency to blow up using an overhead projector.
I think Scooby might look more like Scooby if you put his eyes closer together
Also, Friday I leave Mississippi for Korea to teach some ESL for a year.
Edit: Have fun in Korea!
Good luck in Korea - my brother in law taught there for about 3 years.
This was done for my friend's kid. My friend's mom (the kid's grandma) commissioned it. My friend's wife hates me. HATES me to no end. I figured she'd love having a picture of my face painted in her kid's room.
botp: