Page 19, or is it 18? I've lost track!

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I got off work at 5 pm today and had some time to work on this page. It seems that I’ve been so concerned with other things so long that I’ve forgotten what page I’m working on.

What I did: I changed the perspective on the moai so that it would look more massive. I used a stock concept art brush to paint the foliage. I like the effect, but I’m going to blur it a little and throw in some noise so that it doesn’t look so digital. And I’ll be working on the kids — now their perspective doesn’t look right. Over all I’m happy that I had a little extra time today.

The Completed "Nice To Meet You" Picture

Amid the chaos of COVID-19 and a national emergency, I finished the handshake picture in which Jimmy and Buddy meet Betty.

With the declaration of a national emergency on full blast, we’re doing some shopping for next week. I always work at home, and next week my partner will also be doing her work at home. And so, life goes on and I go on to the next picture.

Bring in the Eagles

Caracara Eagle Driving a taxi

In Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien brought in eagles to save the day only when all hope had been lost for mere mortals. I always makes me wonder, “Why didn’t J.R.R. bring in the eagles at the beginning of the fighting?” On second, thought, if the eagles had come into the story in Chapter One, he wouldn’t have needed to write Chapter Two. In my story I’m not waiting a moment too long — I’m bringing in the eagle in the middle of the book, when the kids need help getting out of a tight squeeze with a gang of churlish alligators.

Coincidentally, the national bird of México is the crested caracara eagle, a beautifully colored bird with intense tropical colors.

Character Development -- A Disaming Alligator

Notes for Albert Alligator: brush settings and color scheme (CPS Pale Tone Palette)

An alligator will play a significant role in my second book. My take on what’s appropriate for children’s stories comes from my early reading of the Grimm Brothers — I know that not every friendly character is trustworthy. In The Jaybird that Jumped Down a Chimney, my first book, everyone was basically good and may have had lapses of common sense. In my second book, everyone is basically good, too, but there are times when they may snap your head off. That is to say, they might think it’s a good idea to literally bite your head off. Albert Alligator is one of those guys you’d better keep your eye on. The question is, how will the kids handle him.

Ligne Claire on the Brain

As I re-read Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Dying, I relished his clean line work — I’m a fan of bande dessinée. I have my share of Moebius works on the shelf, and even a few Hergé comics. I love the style. Here’s my first effort towards membership in the ligne claire club.

Al Fresco Art Day, Feb 9, 2020 -- Drawing Expressions

Drawing facial expressions was today’s challenge. I managed to attempt fear and hunger. I use the word attempt advisedly, because I managed only four sketches in an hour. I spent most of the time trying to figure out the proportions on the baby jaguar’s ears. Baby jaguars are definitely cute. I love the soft features, especially the snub nose, droopy jowls, and softly rounded ears. One thing I’ve learned over the last year is that drawing animals is hard…really hard. My main resource for drawing animals is Jack Hamm’s How to Draw Animals. Some illustrators diss Jack for being “old-fashioned” or “corny”, but there’s a lot of good stuff in his books.

Here are my sketches for the club challenge. I practiced inking with Clip Studio Paint just for fun.

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Getting Comfortable with Clip Studio Paint

Page 22 rough, showing a snake guiding the kids through the jungle.

I had several extended blocks of time for work because I moved my Thursday weights workout to Friday. My morning time is usually fragmented by some sort of workout — sometimes cardio, sometimes weights. I have no blocks of time more than 45 minutes long to concentrate on my book. But today, by skipping the weights workout, I had three solid hours in the morning and three in the afternoon. It felt good! I’m going to change my workout schedule so that I do cardio and weights on the same day, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll have solid blocks of time for work on Tuesday and Thursday.

I like to post my rough sketches to remind myself that my work goes through an ugly stage and gets better as I pull it all together. It takes all of my will power to not start inking and rendering and coloring.

Working on Background for Page 16

The view from atop a Mayan temple

I spent the day working on this background image, which shows view from the top of a Mayan temple. The kids will be standing on the roof overlooking the jungle as they plot their path to the mountain summer home of the Monarch butterflies, where Buddy will search for his family. So far there are 10 layers in this image, and I’ll be adding more for the characters’ line work, and another bunch of color layers. It’s fun to watch the picture go from an ugly mess to a less ugly mess, and finally, hopefully, become a good-looking mess.

I used Clip Studio Paint’s perspective ruler for parts of this drawing. I could have managed with a straight line tool, but I thought that it would be a good idea to use a ruler for the fun of it. Clip Studio Paint is a very deep program. All of its features designed to help a comic artist move forward a daily inch or so. It’s worth knowing how to use this program, so I’m learn a little about it every day.

A note on my Huion Pen display. The parallax problem is definitely a consideration when the time comes to buy a pen display. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but it is annoying. The iPad has no parallax problem, and its perfection has spoiled me. I had a hell of a time minimizing the parallax with my Huion display. I’m okay with it now, but I came close to a hair-pulling, head-banging against the wall a few times. One other problem is that the tablet driver needs to be restarted now and then — the stylus loses its ability to draw until I restart the Huion process. This bug seems to occur whenever the program wakes up from sleep. Oh, well. As Tony Soparano says, “Whatcha gonna do?” You restart the program and move on.

Brush Sizes and Learning How to Create Background Images

In my second book the characters are spending most of the time in the middle of a tropical jungle, which means that I need to create some background images. Here’s the rub — I’m afraid of drawing landscapes and foliage. I’ve been studying drawing for almost four years, but I’ve spent my time learning to draw people. I’ve shied away from drawing trees, rocks, and water. When I try to draw the big tree in the back yard I get frustrated and go back to drawing faces and cartoon birds. I know that the things I fear the most are the things I should be doing. To get this book done on time, I need to face the fact that I’m afraid. The remedy is to just sit down every day and spend an hour drawing trees and mountains and rocks and clouds and water.

One thing I’ve learned over the last year is to take notes about little details. One important detail is the brush size that’s appropriate for the resolution of the image I’m working with. I’m working with a 4000x4000 pixel canvas, which is the equivalent of an 10x10inch square at 400 dpi. I’m using a size 7 G-pen brush. For fine lines I’ll use a size 5 brush. For heavy lines I’ll use a 10, 12, or 15 brush. Here’s my test sheet. BTW, I’m doing all of the drawing using my Huion Pen Display. I’ve got it propped up on three thick books so that I don’t have to hunch over it when I draw.

More Storyboarding

More storyboarding. I worked with Clip Studio Paint again. I spent some time trying to create the wall the kids have to deal with when they cross the border into Mexico. I want to get the hang of Clip Studio’s perspective ruler, which does simplify getting things that should have perspective and be straight to actually look straight. I like a hand-drawn look for many things, but I’m fine with using a ruler when a line is supposed to be straight. This monster wall doesn’t deserve to be treated like it’s in any way comic — it’s a damned serious wall. It has to be drawn as a hard, soulless, heartless mechanical object.

This the image for Book 2, page 9.