First sketches of the new year

[avram]

Over the last few weeks I went back and tagged all my old entries with artwork in ’em (or all that I could find) as memories, using the keyword art. Looking back over them, I noticed that I like the fine-line and crosshatched work a whole lot. (And that I did a first-drawing-of-the-year post last year too, and only two days in.) This sparked an impulse to work larger than I have been recently, to move back up to a 9x12 pad from my Moleskine (or maybe even to 11x14). So I picked up a hard-bound sketchbook at Pearl. Pearl-branded, but with Canson’s imprint on the back. Turns out the paper kinda sucks, too soaky, the ink spreads out too much. On Friday I did a sketch of Melorne at a desk in an office cubicle (prep work for the first Vasty Deep strip, which I’ve got almost all scripted out), and it just sucks.

While gaming Saturday I dragged the book out again and did some ballpoint doodling. Ballpoints are admirably paper-agnostic; you can get decent results on real crappy paper. The downside is that you won’t get the really dark blacks no matter what paper you use. Still, it’s a good tool for just cutting loose and getting ideas out onto paper. You can move seamlessly from light, tentative lines to firm, dark lines without having to change tools.



Hm. Y’know, with a web comic, there’s not much reason not to go with something quick and simple like ballpoint, if it works. I can always take it into Photoshop, boost the contrast, and dab color behind it:



Anyway, I picked up a Canson spiral-bound sketchbook at Hudson County Art Supply today. Better paper than the other one, almost as good as Strathmore. I also discovered that Strathmore makes hardcover sketchbooks (both spiral-bound and actual books), but they’re tough to find around here. I can order them from MisterArt.com if I need to.

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