Monday, April 14, 2014

It waits


Has it really been a week since I posted here? Wow - getting lazy! Sometimes I don't feel like posting identical stuff on here and my sketchbook thread @ Conceptart - though I really should, because then I have duplicates in case one site goes down.

Anyway, here's the latest, done in Manga Studio 5. Couldn't save it because I was using the free trial version. I bought it after doing this, but registration isn't working, so I had to close it and lose the file, though I did snap this screen grab of it first. I really like MS5 - it's streamlined specifically for drawing comics. The pen tools and brush tools seem a lot more responsive than in photoshop - they're designed specifically to mimic the effects of various nibs and brushes. It also has great perspective grids and straight lines tools etc, and uses a deep nested folder structure that lets you lay out an entire comic book and view it 2 up - 2 facing pages side by side to see the flow. It also makes it easy to position and rule panels, and automatically creates a system of masks so you can't draw outside of the one you're working on (unless you want to).

You know - I love the idea of being a purist - of working only with real paint or ink - but necessity is driving me into the digital realm. I need to turbocharge the  learning curve, and that's exactly what digital does. It also means you can easily correct mistakes (no mean feat with india ink on paper) and try various experiments before committing to one. I also realized that the cost of occasionally replacing a computer or tablet or upgrading software would be about equal to all the supplies and materials you'd be buying to work real-world style.

And the final factor - I'm quite sure I wouldn't be able to do this nearly as well in ink on paper at this stage in my development.

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