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  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyOldHermit View Post
    It's difficult to uncover the history of the brand (there is surprisingly little documentation out there for an 80 year old company) but I have never seen a single complaint about them changing a formula like I have for other brands. I have heard that the Radiants will bleed into each other if you allow them to touch on the surface. Is that true?

    I'm not into gouache, I'm barely into color as it is. I have a set of watercolor pencils and thats it.

    The radiants always bleed, sadly. I once airbrushed Radiants, waited for them to dry completely, then *lightly* airbrushed delicate acrylics over it, using all precautions listed by all airbrush experts, using both a Pasche and an Aztek, and the Radiants always bled through. This did not happen with WN and Grumbacher traditional tube watercolors oversprayed with acrylic/gouache. When I used them "simply", in an attempt to recreate coloring from 1961 - 1981, they worked well (on xeroxes).

    I am doing a test of Bombay on textured gesso of a Joker piece; frustrating so far. I might post results later.

  2. #47
    Incredible Member CrazyOldHermit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TroubleWithTrebles View Post
    The radiants always bleed, sadly. I once airbrushed Radiants, waited for them to dry completely, then *lightly* airbrushed delicate acrylics over it, using all precautions listed by all airbrush experts, using both a Pasche and an Aztek, and the Radiants always bled through. This did not happen with WN and Grumbacher traditional tube watercolors oversprayed with acrylic/gouache. When I used them "simply", in an attempt to recreate coloring from 1961 - 1981, they worked well (on xeroxes).

    I am doing a test of Bombay on textured gesso of a Joker piece; frustrating so far. I might post results later.
    One of my fears has been working on a piece, carefully coloring everything, then letting two different patches of color touch across the outline and ruin the thing. Thats the biggest reason I'm going to go for the Hydrus. Speaking of which, do you have any recommendations for mixing a good fleshtone?

    And please post those results.

  3. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyOldHermit View Post
    One of my fears has been working on a piece, carefully coloring everything, then letting two different patches of color touch across the outline and ruin the thing. Thats the biggest reason I'm going to go for the Hydrus. Speaking of which, do you have any recommendations for mixing a good fleshtone?

    And please post those results.
    This took 3 layers of Bombay violet to get ANY depth at all.



    Flesh tones using watercolor:

    Standard comic white person wasp:

    1 drop sepia
    1drop rose madder or crimson
    1/4 drop mauve or violet
    2 drops water (more to lighten; the recipe is a base like a soup base)

    Latino, African, African American, Native American, Greek and Gaelic are different of course. *wink*
    Last edited by TroubleWithTrebles; 06-16-2014 at 12:02 AM.

  4. #49
    Incredible Member CrazyOldHermit's Avatar
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    That looks really good, even if the results may have been difficult to achieve.

    And thanks for that formula.

  5. #50
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    Hey, this is just a quick, dumb question regarding lines and whatnot.

    I'm a bit of a newb at Photoshop and the likes, and I was attracted to the work of James Kochalka in his "Superf*ckers" series.
    Not sure if I'm allowed to post images of other artists' work, so here's a link:
    http://37.media.tumblr.com/776ddd0d8...1z3o1_1280.png

    Anyway, my question is concerning the line colours. How would you think he achieves them? I've been conditioned to simply work in blacks and then colour afterward; do you think he works in pencil, and then just re-draws over each line digitally in colour? It's such a simple look, but the idea of coloured outlines totally blew my mind.

    Thanks for any help! I didn't think this warranted a new topic, so I hope posting it here is okay.

  6. #51
    Incredible Member CrazyOldHermit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Renjo View Post
    Hey, this is just a quick, dumb question regarding lines and whatnot.

    I'm a bit of a newb at Photoshop and the likes, and I was attracted to the work of James Kochalka in his "Superf*ckers" series.
    Not sure if I'm allowed to post images of other artists' work, so here's a link:
    http://37.media.tumblr.com/776ddd0d8...1z3o1_1280.png

    Anyway, my question is concerning the line colours. How would you think he achieves them? I've been conditioned to simply work in blacks and then colour afterward; do you think he works in pencil, and then just re-draws over each line digitally in colour? It's such a simple look, but the idea of coloured outlines totally blew my mind.

    Thanks for any help! I didn't think this warranted a new topic, so I hope posting it here is okay.
    He could have inked in color. He also could have colorized the lines afterwards. There are a few ways to do it. You could just select the lines and colorize them with the Hue/Saturation tool. A more organized way would be to group each color on its own layer (red lines on one layer, blue lines on another) then colorize using a Layer Effect.

  7. #52
    Spectral Member Ghost's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Renjo View Post
    Hey, this is just a quick, dumb question regarding lines and whatnot.

    I'm a bit of a newb at Photoshop and the likes, and I was attracted to the work of James Kochalka in his "Superf*ckers" series.
    Not sure if I'm allowed to post images of other artists' work, so here's a link:
    http://37.media.tumblr.com/776ddd0d8...1z3o1_1280.png

    Anyway, my question is concerning the line colours. How would you think he achieves them? I've been conditioned to simply work in blacks and then colour afterward; do you think he works in pencil, and then just re-draws over each line digitally in colour? It's such a simple look, but the idea of coloured outlines totally blew my mind.

    Thanks for any help! I didn't think this warranted a new topic, so I hope posting it here is okay.
    Hey Renjo, definitely not a dumb question.

    To me it looks like he did indeed just do the inks in color, probably on top of a pencils/sketch layer. Since all the shapes are fairly simplistic he probably just planned the colors before he drew them. It also could be achieved in the ways CrazyOldHermit explained by recoloring black inks.

    Coloring lines like this can make things a little complicated for more elaborate art, but can create some neat effects as well. Off the top of my head Ive seen it used to color inks outlining hair, flames or energy, the entire body to create a ghostly effect (maybe with a glow fx also), and to color all background lines so that the black inked foreground characters stand out more. Its worth experimenting with.
    Last edited by Ghost; 06-16-2014 at 02:06 PM.

  8. #53
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    Oh wow, thanks for the help! Hmm...it's all very inspiring, and drives me to experiment with various techniques, both digital and traditional. I guess there's no right or wrong answer when it comes down to it.

  9. #54
    Incredible Member CrazyOldHermit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Renjo View Post
    Oh wow, thanks for the help! Hmm...it's all very inspiring, and drives me to experiment with various techniques, both digital and traditional. I guess there's no right or wrong answer when it comes down to it.
    No rules, only tools. If it works it works.

  10. #55
    Spectral Member Ghost's Avatar
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    Ideas for Publishing your comicbooks.

    In the modern age of comics there are more ways than ever to get your work distributed. There are a varity of options for selling your comics for profit or just getting them out to be seen.

    Below are some of the topics I would like to discuss:

    Web Comics
    Digital Comics
    Paper Comics
    Outside the Box



    Web Comics
    Over the years webcomics have seemed to grow immensely popular with both readers and creators alike. Likely due to their free availability and often less complex stories. Or at least less demanding on the artist.

    Webcomics are unique from other forms of comics in the addition of new pages over time and are most similar to newspaper or magazine comic strips. There doesnt seem to be any set in stone timeline for adding new pages, but there is the risk of possibly losing readers the longer you wait. Otherwise, this form seems to be the easiest way to experiment with new styles and ideas at a minimal cost of time and money.

    Many seem to host their webcomics on a personal website or free blog. I prefer to use Tumblr, as it is free and very easy to customize to fit your needs. Here are a few free Tumblr webcomic themes (you'll need to create a Tumblr account to use them):
    Simple Webcomic Theme
    Simple Webcomic Theme V4

    Something to consider with webcomics is page orientation and size. Since readers will be viewing this on some form of tablet or computer screen you have the option of adopting a more horizontal 'landscape' orientation in contrast to the more regular print comics 'portrait' style. Though again, there are no set in stone rules for how you make your own webcomic.

    If you plan to ever have your webcomic printed into a collected format like a graphic novel then the size and orientation again comes into play, and will require you to plan things out a bit beforehand.



    Digital Comics
    Another fairly new avenue for comics distribution is Digital Stores. Though the prices are sometimes comparable to print, digital comics take up no physical space, cant be damaged, and can all be easily accessed through any appropriate digital device.

    Whether a comic is created by traditional means or on a computer it can be compiled and sold through a variety of online digital comic shops like Comixology, Amazon, iBooks, iVerse and direct from the publishers. This saves both the creator and publishers the price of printing and shipping your comics, though they still charge a fee in some cases. Jim Zub goes into more detail is his price vs profit breakdown:
    Zubs Digital Comics Breakdown

    If you are an indie artist and have no publisher thats ok too. Comixology has began taking submissions from any and all creators, and there are a growing number of smaller publishers that cater to indies. Though Amazons recent acquisition of Comixology leaves a few questions about what they plan for its future alongside their own digital store.



    Printed Comics
    Printed Comics are the oldest and still most profitable course for publishing at this time. Though it is also the most costly and complicated as well.

    As I discussed in an earlier post about printing, there are basically 2 types of printing for comics. Digital and Process. Digital is less expensive for lower quantities but has generally lower print quality. Process has superior print quality but is more expensive unless you plan to print 1,000 or more issues. And a word of caution, most of us wont need anywhere near 1,000 issues unless you already have a large fanbase.

    If you are published by a company they will usually deal with all of the printing, shipping and distribution logistics while you only deal with creating the comic. In return they take a percentage of the profit. If you are self publishing then you keep all of the profits but have to do all of the legwork and must find a way to create the comic, get it printed for a reasonable price, and then find a way to get it into comic shops or sell it through conventions or a personal webstore.

    Then there is the matter of submitting your comic to Diamond Comic Distributors. Diamond is a distribution company that takes comic submissions from indies and big names and (if deemed potentially profitable) agrees to solicit them to comic dealers and consumers for preorder.

    These columns offer better explanations on distributing:
    Marketing & Distributing Indies
    Diamond Distribution Cycle


    Outside the Box:
    With all of the thousands of different great comics out now sometimes it may be hard to be noticed. Thats why i think it pays to be extra creative in your approach to publishing and advertising.

    I know that some people now will offer special limited covers to individual comic shops. This will be good to create possibly a collectible item as well as build loyalty with certain dealers. Another more obvious consideration is sharing advertising with another indie creator. One page ad in your comic for a one page ad in theirs, possibly something tailor made for that specific comic.

    If you plan on making a webcomic, maybe consider trying to sell it to agencies that deal with newspaper comic strips? These agencies will sell it along with other comics in subscriptions to thousands of newspapers that are then read by who knows how many people. Talk about great advertising. Newspapers are ALWAYS looking for fresh entertaining content to draw new readers.

    A little good will goes a long way, and word on the internet spreads fast. If you have a printed comic out maybe offer a few pages for free in a webcomic format? Or if you think your graphic novel will be pirated beat them to the punch and upload your own torrent with a little message thanking them for their interest and explain that you hope they will support you in the future so you can make more comics for them.

    Crowdfunding has become a big deal for all hopeful creatives. Often our dreams and ambitions exceed our ability to produce due to the expenses of materials and shipping or hiring help. With sites like Kickstarter and Indie Gogo we can now skip over the middle man and pitch out ideas directly to the consumer. This can be doubly beneficial in that not only can you potentially receive the funds to create your work, but you are also gaining fans and visibility to publishers in the process.
    Last edited by Ghost; 07-03-2014 at 08:00 PM.

  11. #56
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    Yup, as crowdfunding is basically a quasi instant prepay system.

    Dunno if newbie authors have made $$ from Thrillbent, but that company did something many of us claimed, for years, would work: just sell high class pdfs.

  12. #57
    Spectral Member Ghost's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TroubleWithTrebles View Post
    Yup, as crowdfunding is basically a quasi instant prepay system.

    Dunno if newbie authors have made $$ from Thrillbent, but that company did something many of us claimed, for years, would work: just sell high class pdfs.
    I respect Mark Waid and like the idea of Thrillbent (no DRM). But I have no idea how profitable it is now? Seems theres a fairly small selection and many are free to read.

    I imagine crowdfunding and Kickstarter could probably have a thread all on its own. Would that be helpful to anyone? I get the feeling this subforum is pretty dead.

  13. #58
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    It would be helpful particularly talking about fullfilment problems (getting the £$ then using that to make the books then all the effort in getting the books to the backers)

  14. #59
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    Assuming your line layer is transparent, you can just colour over your lines easily if the line layer is locked. Check out these couple chapters from my web comic Comic Chunk.
    Line Layer
    Opacity Lock

  15. #60
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    Default Comic Chunk

    Hey, comickers.
    My web comic is actually about tips and tricks for creating comics. Please check it out at Micah Manga.

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