New panel

Some recent work

 

 

 

 

 

'Chug Comics no.2'

Chug Comics no.2, featuring the work of 18 Australian comic artists,  you can download the PDF for free from my cloud app account. It has no DRM and therefore can be read on any device. This the second digital collection I have put together for Free Comic Book Day. Previous one still available here

-Download link for Chug Comics no.2-

New inking test

Here is the result of a new inking test. 

I have been going through this indecision for quite some time now, trying to find the right combination of pencils pens and paper to make comics with. On one hand I think this is a very silly distraction from making comics buton the other hand it is crucial to making the comics I want to produce to the level of quality I want. For a number of years now I have stuck to using my trusty .05 tech pen with a combination of no pencil or HB pencil. And more recently (2008) I started using a light blue col-erase pencil to good effect. However my work started changing and I wanted to draw on a larger scale and my tech pen wasn't making the cut (Examples, Hemp, old man, Star gazing, which were ok but I felt they could be better)

Then I have started trying to make myself use a nib for my more recent published pieces, which you can see here and here. However this just seems to take an awful amount of time to complete one page, something about it just feels a bit laboured. 

I have also dabbled with brush pens, but the one draw back I find (other than constantly buying new pens) is that the line the create doesn't hold up well to erasing, that is to say the line just gets washed away into a spottled grey line that ultimately would need re-inking/double handeling.

Add to this a paper dilemma. I have always used these cheap sketchbooks which have worked great with my tech pen but not great with a nib or brush pen. I then discovered Fabriano Academia paper pads thanks to a (master class held by Dylan Horrocks) This paper has a great feels to draw on and the most versatile surface for ink I've seen in paper for ink. Another plus is it's fairly easy to order through your art store; For North American readers, bristol board can be hard to consistently locate in Australia.

Anyway to cut a long story short, the image above of Charles Darwin, is drawn on the said Fabriano paper using a 'Tombow' brush pen and an 'Pilot Color Eno' (Light blue) both pictured below. The pencil is light enough not to have to erase. I am happy with the result and I am going to try and use this combination for some comics in the future.

I still have a comic to finish with my tech pen as well and I have a feeling it will be a case of using the right tool for the matching story. Also after writing this post and linking back to older pieces done in tech pen, I start to think that the tech pen is not as bad as I think in my mind, and it' is more to do with the scale of the drawing in question.

'Tombow' brush pen and an 'Pilot Color Eno' (Light blue)

A few pictures

I've been neglecting my blog recently, posting mostly on twitter, here's a selection of things you may have missed

r/auscomics

Around a year ago I half heartedly joined the website reddit for a class lesson on social news and bookmarking sites like delicious, digg etc. I submitted a link to reddit test it out, I didn't much like the look of it, and later when I tried to submit another link it said I'd submitted enough links for one day. A little bit miffed and bemused I never really looked at again until months later.

Once I did go back for a second look I realised that I had not really experienced reddit at all and I began to fall in love with visiting it everyday and browsing links. Then after using it like this for months on end I started to actually get how reddit worked as it's actually comprised of many 'subreddits' and the best post in these main subreddit get pushed to reddit's front page, I began to explore it even further.

What I'm really getting at it that I eventually realised any one can create a 'subreddit' about anything they wish. I then naturally wanted to create one on Australian comics. I didn't want to dive in all on my own though and have the thing fizzle out, and so I invited a few others to join in. I envision it as a place where a lot of separate but related threads on the topic of Australian comics can come together for anyone to explore.

Here it is!

So far it's a small crowd and theres only a few links on there but I encourage you to give reddit a try and come on over and subscribe to my little subreddit, auscomics

-Reddit is a linking site where users can submit links, vote content up or down
-Users can even comment on those links and also vote up or down on those comments
-Reddit consist of 'Subreddits', when you join you are automatically joined to the 20 main subreddits
-You can unsubscribe and subscribe to any subreddits you wish


Links:
http://www.reddit.com/r/auscomics


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit

http://www.reddit.com/help/faq#Whatisreddit

Recent submission

For Fikaris

Comic hour

Ever since I started full time work it has been a real struggle to maintain the level of work I used to produce. I am someone that constantly needs to be working on something and when I am not working on something I am thinking about working on comics or art. I started feeling really down about my work life and not being able to produce as much work (ie, any work at all) but I couldn't get too down on myself I was genuinely busy after all.

Still it is an awesome time to be involved in Australian comics, with so many artists producing great work, exhibitions, workshops, events, studios and international trips planned to promote Australian comics. Bit by bit I had been slowly creating a studio space in our sun room at home and actively looking for drawing challenges to partake in. But most nights I still battled tiredness and the overwhelming temptation to surf the web or just watch TV.

Something drastic needed to be done! I came up with the idea of what I like to call 'comic hour'. This is an hour that I dedicate to my comics each night, it has to be the first thing I do after putting the kids to bed and cleaning up dishes etc.

I use the time to do anything related to producing comics,

• Sketching 
• Writing notes and stories 
• Actual comic drawing 

I realised that now that I had less time for the smaller stuff, sitting down to draw was a major challenge with out having first laid the groundwork. This was a big realisation for me, as I had kept expecting myself just to be able to sit down and launch into drawing a comic with out having first done any writing plotting sketching musing etc.

In a nutshell my advice would be,

• Make a time every night/day to be creative; a set time if you are time poor
• Use this time for various activities not just producing finished work 
• Keep it fun, listen to music or podcasts, make a cup of tea
• If doing it at night do it before anything else, a quick 5 minute email check is the best way to lose your night to websurfing

Whilst I have not completed 5 graphics novels I have been chugging away at various projects and the work has been progressing along. If you have a similar story or a way of keeping creative I love to hear form you.

PS: I realise I have been neglecting this blog and partly that has been because I get most of my thoughts out on Twitter these days. I have also been experimenting with putting images on Tumblr. Following the lead of Bernard Caleo, this year I would like to try and use the blogspot for written posts and the Tumblr for images. More to follow...