March 2011

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Armstrong

March 31, 2011 by admin | No comments


After 3 months of work, this comic is finally complete and I get to show it off and actually talk to folks about it. I’ve been so vague on here with ‘this project’ or ‘this experiment,’ but now I can actually speak in detail about these ideas and illustrations.

My hope is that while you read this, you remember a time when you were younger and everything imaginary was real.
The comic is called Armstrong and I hope you have a wildly good time reading it.

Nostalgia

March 30, 2011 by admin | No comments

On cold nights like this…

I wish I could play Super Mario Brothers 3 on an NES.
Emulators just aren’t the same as sitting in front of a TV.

Look what I made!

March 23, 2011 by admin | No comments






A shooter’s sandwich.

I used a red onion instead of shallots and used portabella mushrooms. I also added a layer of provolone cheese. I sautéed everything in Olive Oil instead of butter.
It only took 5 hours and 20 minutes to make! Super easy actually – 20 minutes to cook the steak and veggies. 5 hours of it resting under a bunch of weights (that’s the most my weights have been used in 3 years).
I was scared to eat it after sitting out for 5 hours so I made my wife take the first bite. We finished off half of it after that.

TypeTool

March 21, 2011 by admin | 1 comment


Realized I forgot the link to TypeTool in the last post.

Aaaaaaand also a picture of Batman fighting a dinosaur… cuz THAT’S what he does!

On Creating My Own Font

March 21, 2011 by admin | No comments





Wow – this is extremely difficult, then suddenly extremely easy, then difficult again, then becomes extremely time consuming, and finally extremely satisfying.

Tiny bit of background first: I’m a freelance graphic designer – I’m ok at it. I have a bachelors in graphic design from St. Ambrose University. I think they have top notch professors and programs that challenge you and MAKE you learn new things (that’s super valuable to me). For a short while, I studied Typography and of course with logo construction, there’s usually a typographic element that goes along.

That background doesn’t make me a Typography pro – but it means that I sort of know what I’m doing and what to pay attention to. It also helps that I’m a HUGE nerd when it comes to Type and Logo design (I’m considering getting “helvetica” tattooed on my arm – yeah, I’m one of THOSE guys).

I LOVE spending hours on a logo – carefully adjusting line weights, properly kerning words and taglines until everything is perfectly balanced. It’s hard work and time consuming, but fun for me (weird, huh?)

There’s not much else for me to say here. I think it’s more valuable to show the work instead. It’s exactly as difficult and frustrating as I thought it would be.

I hand wrote this alphabet several times (probably not enough actually) and then chose each letter from different places to create it. I purposely chose a couple wonky letters when better ones existed. I feel they give my font some flavor.

I scanned at 1200 dpi – live traced in Illustrator, then spent hours cleaning each letter up. I tested the alphabet with words – further cleaned up letters based on that. Some letters look good in one instance, but not another – it’s the challenge to make it work in all instances. You almost have to make it invisible so the eye can scan it and understand. If it sticks out, your eyes will stop while your brain tries to understand and the story has to pause.

I’m using TypeTool for Mac to create the font. In creating a basic font, it’s fairly simple to use. It was confusing at first, but after a day, I think I’m pretty comfortable with it and actually recommend it if you want to dabble in font creation. Check it out.

This isn’t a perfect font, but it’s not meant to be. I think I achieved an organic feel that I’m happy with and the bit of flavor feels like my own voice.

Things I love: Harry and Horsie

March 18, 2011 by admin | No comments



Written by Katie Van Camp and illustrated by Lincoln Agnew. This is a children’s book about a boy who loses his friend, Horsie, when a bubble takes him into outer space. There’s not much to say about this book except that it’s wonderfully imaginative and beautifully illustrated.

I came across this book at the Pottery Barn. Riiiight? That’s how you know it’s classy, eh? Eh?? I also keep looking for copies at our Barnes & Noble, but they’re consistently sold out.
It’s unique because it’s sort of like a comic book for kids. There are typical full page illustrations, but there are also pages that feature panels which pace the story. As Harry rides on a rocket, the panels give a sense of urgency as the camera zooms into a close up.
The illustrations feature a limited amount of colors. The thick chunky lines are very organic and the yellows, reds, and blues make each page pop. It’s the kind of book that MAKES me want to draw.
As an adult, I love this book and am inspired by the artwork, but I know this book is special because my two children can’t get enough of it. That’s really what matters in the end, isn’t it?
Pick it up for your kids or pick it up for inspiration, either way, you’ll be happy you did.

Colors

March 17, 2011 by admin | No comments

Colors are DONE - took way longer than I thought it would mostly because it was all a learning phase. Alot of the time was spent experimenting and starting over.

These are the steps in my mind – each step had its own set of steps. Each step also had a huge experimental section. Y’know, experimenting with different layouts in the thumbnail section, different styles in the pencil section, different pens for inking, SEVERAL different color palettes, textures, brushes, etc for coloring.
1) Thumbnails
2) Pencils
3) Inking
4) Coloring
5) Lettering
By far, coloring was the most difficult since I have little experience with a project like this. I think since I’ve finalized on colors for this book, any future books will be quicker and smoother to color. I hope. But probably not.
So on to lettering! I’ve decided to make a custom font for this. I figure, I’ve drawn everything else so why letter it with someone else’s font? Probably because I suck at font creation and will learn a frustrating hard lesson along the way.
Yeah… that’s probably it.

Things I love: American Vampire

March 11, 2011 by admin | 1 comment



And to bring it back to comic books for a moment. I love this book. I’ve only read this graphic novel. I know there are new issues out, but I haven’t picked them up yet.

Written by Scott Snyder and Steven King, American Vampire is the tale of the first American vampire told in two parts, jumping between the late 1800s and 1920s and is WILDLY violent – the way it should be… the way Anne Rice would have it (that’s another thing I love for another time).
The 1800s story is about criminals and law enforcement and has your stereotypical ‘really bad guy’ and ‘really good guy’ but it’s not lame. The characters are fleshed out and feel interesting in themselves. Throw some classic vampires into this and baby, you’ve got a stew goin’!
The 1920s tells the story of an aspiring actress with a work ethic that makes me depressed. This story is affected by the other and it’s fun to watch both stories unravel at the same pace. Throw in some raw veggies, cup o soup, vampires and baby, you’ve got a stew goin’!
I’m not gonna lie – this story freaked me out in the same way that Dexter freaked me out. It wasn’t SCARY, but I did lie awake at night thinking of it which led to WEIRD dreams. I highly recommend it.

Things I Love: Brett Detar – Bird In The Tangle

March 11, 2011 by admin | No comments

First – this album is a free download on his site brettdetar.com

I first saw Brett Detar play for Zao in like, 1999 or something. He was the guitar player.

Then came the very awesome Juliana Theory, which I still rock out to this day. This band showed me how amazing a show can be.
Brett Detar has decided to go it alone on a solo album called Bird in the Tangle. It’s not what one would expect from the singer of The Juliana Theory. This album is a mix of country and bluegrass, but it’s unfair to leave it at that.
To me, the things that stick out are the things that choose to be different in a sea of similarity. This album is that, but it’s also catchy. I suck at reviewing music, huh?
Lately I’ve been on sort of a western kick (Firefly, True Grit, um… other westerny things…) so I sometimes wonder if my love for this cd has anything to do with that. Oh well, judge for yourself – listen to the song. Who wouldn’t give a free album a shot?
And some Juliana Theory.

When to stop

March 10, 2011 by admin | No comments

That’s a problem I have. I never really know when to stop a project. At what point is a design or a painting “finished.” Most of the time it’s just a feeling I have. I know when something of mine starts to look overdone because it moves past the point of cool and into the realm of confusing.

There’s alot of times when I’ll work on some artwork or graphics and spend hours upon hours tweaking and fixing things only to delete it all and revert back to a previous “more simple” version of it. Less is more – simple is easy to translate and (if done right) makes more of an impact because the message is clear.
I moved into the realm of confusing with the colors for this comic. I cranked it up to 11, but it was too busy and ugly. What should have been grass became an eyesore, drawing attention away from the meat of the panel. So I went back (again) and turned the volume down.
I didn’t know when to stop coloring, but I think I do now. The same goes for everything – when to stop writing a guitar riff, a story, song lyrics, when to stop a design, an illustration, and most importantly, when to stop planning.
You can plan forever, but it’s only when you start moving that great things happen.

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