How to Draw and Paint All Hair - Clip Studio Paint Tutorial

Check out my Clip Studio Paint tutorial for how to draw hair. You will most likely learn things you never knew about hair.

Today you will learn to draw simple straight hair and complicated curly hair types using different drawing styles. Once you finish this tutorial, you will have the information and confidence to draw all hairstyles from reference and imagination.

How to draw Mouths, Lips, and Teeth - Clip Studio Paint Tutorials Ep. 01...

Today, we will learn how to draw Mouths, Lips, and Teeth and add variety to each of these features.

How to Use ArtRage Vitae PaintLink Collaboration - ArtRage Tutorials Ep....

Here's my ArtRage collaboration with Tiffany. 

Visit her channel to see the other side of this collaboration.

PaintLink allows two artists on two different computers to work on the same artwork.

Parts of the video have been sped up to save time.

Blender 2.92 Grease Pencil New Features

A look at the new features in the 2D and 3D animation Blender 2.92 for the Grease Pencil. We have two new tools; Curve Editing Tool, Flat Caps and Trace Image Sequences. Along with the Improved Join Operator.

Share, like and comment.

Remember… Just Create!

SONY VAIO Duo 11 Ultrabook - Good for drawing?

I spent a day with the Sony VAIO Duo 11. Here's my first impression and my first drawings.

The new VAIO line comes installed with ArtRage Studio Pro, so I did some drawings with this. It comes with a digitizer stylus that lets me draw naturally. It is very responsive and feels comfortable in my hand. When the stylus is close to the LCD, the touch sensors automatically turn off so I was able to rest my palm on the screen and draw.

I will have to try it again to check the pressure sensitivity. I don't feel I was getting good thick and thin lines, but that may be due to the fact that I didn't set things correctly.

The Sony stylus comes with the VAIO Duo 11. It is not Wacom technology, it is made by n-trig in Israel. Needs a battery inside.

It only works with the VAIO Duo 11. All the other Sony VAIO touch screens do not support this stylus just finger touch and the same brushes and styluses should work that work on the iPad.

I would say 'Yes, it is good to use for drawing'.

Keep reading and  +1 me. Share with your friends. Please comment. Just create!

copyright 2012 H. Simpson.

Top 10 Amateur Lettering Mistakes

Top 10 Amateur Lettering Mistakes

Nate Piekos warns amateurs not to make these mistakes by helping them see what them look like.
Check out his web-site Blambot.

Number 5 should be "INconsistent"!

to be continued…

read next - How to Copyright Your Art and Comic Book Creations
previous - What Makes You Beautiful?

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

When you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

What Makes You Beautiful Speech Balloons?

Word Balloons and Lettering for your Comic Book, Comic Strip and Graphic Novel

Comic Book Speech Balloons and Lettering

You are going to be in one of three situations concerning lettering:

1. You get a plot from a writer/co-writer. In which case, you won't know the exact dialogue ahead of time.

Typically when you do your art you should leave about a third of the panel space at top for word balloons. That doesn't mean you leave empty space, it means you compose your scene so no vital information gets covered.You want to make your lettered page beautiful.

Here's a couple of pages I did from a plot. You can see that I've mostly left space at the top of the panels.

Panel 3 is a little tight above her head.

Panel 2 is tight above their heads, however there is plenty of space on each side as an alternative.

2. You get a full script from a writer/co-writer. Now you do have the dialogue and captions. 

Now you can immediately consider the balloon placement when you do your thumbnails and layouts.

3. You are writing this yourself. Now you do know the dialogue and captions and most likely you keep changing it as you go along. Creative people… sheesh!

In any case you are still considering the whole page design with the balloons. There may not be a written script, as some artists start conceiving the story while they do their thumbnails. Which is what I do when I do the thumbnails.

I've included approximate balloon placements in my page design.

to be continued…

Comic Book Grammar & Tradition

BETTER LETTERER: Comic Lettering Tips

read next - Top 10 Amateur Lettering Mistakes
previous - Introduction to Speech Balloons

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

When you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

Introduction to Speech Balloons and Lettering for Comic Books

Word Balloons and Lettering for your Comic Book, Comic Strip and Graphic Novel

Okay, it looks like I can get back to a regular blogging schedule.

This is an introduction to word balloons and lettering.

I started learning lettering by hand when I began my career. I quickly decided I rather spend my time drawing. I didn't enjoy hand lettering. However, I did make sure I did the balloon placements whenever I could. Every artist should do this if you are not lettering your own work.

As an artist the word balloons should be considered a part of the page design and not an after thought.

If you are working with a writer from a plot, then you can't really incorporate the balloons into your layout. After the script is written make sure you do the balloon placements.

If you are the writer or get a full script from the writer, then you should make the balloon placement a consideration in your page design.

I do the lettering with the computer now, so I'll be discussing that. 

Here's how to hand letter comics.

http://www.blambot.com/handlettering.shtml

http://www.dharbin.com/blog/process-using-the-mighty-ames-lettering-guide/

http://www.artofthecomicbook.com/materials/lettering-amesguide.htm
http://kleinletters.com/HandBasics.html

Until tomorrow take a look at this fine example of hand lettering by Todd Klein.

He may still have some prints available. Check out his blog. Tell him I sent you.

OOHH my! I just found this minutes after I posted my blog, by Chris Oatley about balloon placement. Consider it a preview of what I'm going to cover.

BONUS LINK!

Comic Book Tropes

to be continued…

read next - What Makes You Beautiful?
previous -  Free Form Panel and Page Design

Keep reading this blog. Share with your friends. Please comment.

Remember… Just create!

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

When you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

Light My Fire

How to Become a Comic Strip, Comic Book and Graphic Novel Artist

A Word About Comfort

You're going to be spending a lot of time at a drawing table and/or in front of a computer screen drawing your comic strip, comic book or graphic novel. So create a comfortable working environment for your self that will reduce eye strain, muscle strain and fatigue, as well as poor posture. You want to stay healthy.

Lighting

Fluorescent lights are BAD for your eyes. They produce a harsh glare that strains the eyes. They also flicker over a hundred times per second. This creates eyestrain and can cause headaches or migraines.

Incandescent lights are GOOD for your eyes. The heated tungsten filament glows with subdued light similar to the afternoon sunlight.

A full-spectrum bulb is the BEST for eyes. It produces light similar to natural sunlight. This bulb provides a full spectrum of color and many people find they are able to see more noticeable differences in colors and shades. Colorists take note!

Have window light coming from the the side opposite your drawing hand so there are no shadows when you draw.

Seating

Invest in a good chair. This is another area you don't want to cheap out on yourself. Buy a chair with good lumbar support.

It is ideal to change your position every now and then. Adjust your chair and backrest at regular intervals. Stretch your fingers, hands, arms and torso often. Stand up, stretch your back muscles and walk around for a few minutes now and again.

Rather than chair with a back, you might want to consider a Ergonomic Kneeling Posture Chair.

read next - The Secret to Putting Together a Winning Portfolio
previous - Why Worry About Trim?

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in using these tools, then I recommend these products.

You can support this blog when you purchase a product by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

BONUS LINKS TO ART STORES!

http://www.blueroosterartsupplies.com/
http://www.artistcraftsman.com/
https://www.dickblick.com/
https://www.utrechtart.com/

copyright 2012 H. Simpson

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

How to Become a Comic Strip, Comic Book and Graphic Novel Artist

DIGITAL TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Software


As much as I've tried to avoid using brand names, so you the artist can experiment and find what you like, it is unavoidable with software. I still encourage you to do the same with software and try them all to see what you like by using demo versions which usually last 30 days. Some demo versions are full and let you use all the tools while others are crippled and you cannot access some tools, can't save or only save with a watermark.

No matter; try a demo before you buy any software.

The Adobe suite of products is the beast that can't be avoided and is the expensive poison of choice for the creative, advertising, entertainment, print and comic book industry. So while it it is expensive, there's no way to avoid having Adobe software in your tool set. If you are a teacher or student you can get an education discount which is really great. It's not like the Apple educational discount on their computers which is a measly $50 approximately.

DIGITAL IMAGING SOFTWARE

There are two types of digital imaging.

RASTER - A paint program. A rectangular array of closely spaced rows of pixels that form an image by defining values. It is resolution dependent. When you scale up rasterized/bitmap art there is an immediate loss in quality.

VECTOR -  A draw program. Mathematical expressions of points, lines, curves and shapes to represent images. A growable array of objects called control points which have a definite position on the x and y axes. The size of a vector can grow and shrink with no loss in quality.

Vector graphics require less memory than raster images.

Next time we'll look at the actual software applications you can use to create that popular form of entertainment known as comic books.

to be continued....

read next - What's our Vector, Victor?

previous - Rolling In The Deep

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in using these tools, then I recommend these products.

You can support this blog when you purchase a product by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2012 H. Simpson

Rolling In The Deep

How to Become a Comic Strip, Comic Book and Graphic Novel Artist

DIGITAL TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Software

Computer software is a collection of computer programs and procedures that perform actions on a computer. The software are also called applications and programs.

The first piece of software to concern ourselves with is the operating system (OS). The OS manages hardware resources and supplies common services for application software. The operating system is the heart of the beast. Your mouse, tablet, scanner, keyboard, etc. can't work without it.

The root of all operating systems is either UNIX or MS-DOS.

Microsoft Windows was added to MS_DOS in 1985 to provide a graphical user interface similar to that which Apple gave to the Macintosh in 1984.

The current Unix based operating systems are Mac OS X, Linux, Andriod and BSD. All other operating systems are flavors of these.

Which one to choose to create comics?

First you want an OS that will run the various applications needed to create comics. That immediately cuts the choices to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.

Mac OS was created to be used by creative people. Because of that most professionals, publishers and printers use the Mac OS. You will run into situations where a publisher and printer only accept Mac files. So you will have to convert a Microsoft Windows file to a Mac file or neutral/common file type.

Technology keeps marching on and with the rise of the internet and cloud computing it may all be homogenized soon and platforms won't matter.

There are professionals I know doing great work on Microsoft Windows. I find that whatever  OS you start with, that is the one people tend to stay with, which is odd to me. I use both, but I favor the Mac for ease of use and I can troubleshoot it myself.

If you are starting out, then I suggest you start with a Mac. I will be speaking from a Mac perspective as I continue. No need to get alarmed though as most applications are available on both platforms, such as the Adobe collection which has become the industry standard.

Next time we'll look at the two types digital imaging applications you can use to create that popular form of entertainment known as comic books.

to be continued....

read next - Tweedledee and Tweedledum

previous - Ghost in the Machine

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in using these tools, then I recommend these products.

You can support this blog when you purchase a product by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2012 H. Simpson

Ghost in the Machine

Ten years ago did you think you would be able to draw on this?

How to Become a Comic Strip, Comic Book and Graphic Novel Artist

DIGITAL TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Hardware

COMPUTER

You no longer need a desktop computer to create art.  Now there are all-in-one PCs with the monitor and case of the computer as a single unit. The monitor utilizes a touchscreen as a method of user input, however other input devices such as a detached keyboard and mouse are may still be included.

Also the computer is portable now with a variety of netbooks, laptops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones.

Netbooks are usually just for connecting to the internet and no applications can be loaded, so no use trying to use these to create art.

 Random-access memory (RAM) - Get the maximum amount of memory your computer can hold. Your software programs will run better, faster and you will get less freezing of your computer as you work with large files.

STANDARD INPUT DEVICES

•         Keyboard - A device to input text and characters.
•         Mouse - A pointing device that detects two dimensional motion. Do not try to draw with a mouse. It will be like using a bar of soap.

IMAGE, VIDEO INPUT DEVICES

•         Image scanner - A device that analyzes images and objects and coverts it to a digital file. Be sure it scans at least 600 dpi. A tabloid size scanner will make life easier, however a regular size scanner will do fine. if you can't afford a scanner you may be able to get scans done at your local office supply store.
•         Digital camera - Good to take photos and videos to use for reference for your drawings.
•         Graphics tablet and stylus - A flat surface which the user draws on with a pen-like drawing apparatus. A digitized image appears in the application program on screen. 

You want to get a tablet that has the ability to detect pressure, angle and speed of the stylus to mimic your natural drawing/painting style.

You should set the tablet to match the the ratio of your screen. Because of this it doesn't matter what size the tablet is and that's a good thing. I've used all of the sizes. I was able to do everything I needed with the small size that I did with the large size. Most professionals agree you don't need the large size. Small or medium will do just fine and save you money.

•         Touchpad - Interface that senses the position of a user’s finger and fingers on its surface.
•         Touchscreen - senses the user interaction directly on the monitor using optical grid sensors or a pressure sensitive film.

OUTPUT DEVICES

• Monitor - Get a 21-inch monitor or larger with crisp, clear images.

If you are doing coloring it's important to calibrate your monitor so the colors you see will be closer to the colors that will print. Don't expect it to be exact as you are looking at light on a display and it the published comic is ink on paper which is a different wavelength. The print will be darker colors.

•     Printer - A device that produces a text or graphic document.

        Laser printer uses a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photo receptor.

        Inkjet printer creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper.


STORAGE

• External Drive - Get a 2 or 3 terabyte drive to back-up your computer. Computers crash and freeze. This way you won't lose a whole job for a client that you've worked on for weeks and the computer decides to crash the day before the deadline.
• Discs - After each job is done you want to burn it to a DVD. Get it off your computer to free up room and label it so you know what's on it.

You can also use DVDs to deliver the job once it's complete. I'll discuss other delivery methods later.

to be continued....

read next - Rolling In The Deep
previous - Photocopy Your Bum

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in using these tools, then I recommend these products.

When you purchase a product by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2012 H. Simpson