Sketches ... 03-06-06

I was just about to go night-night, and received an e-mail from my friend Virginia nudging me to post. I had these in blue pencil already, so I tightened them up .... yaaaaawwwwwwnnn, good night Virginia ;)
.... and thanks for the nudge ;)

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack ... ;)

First of all, sincere thanks for all the kind words and encouragement from my fellow bloggers. It really is a wonderful thing to draw, share, and communicate with people who are doing it for the pure enjoyment of it. Being a commercial animator and doing A.B.C. (Art By Committee) work most of the time is mind-numbing. (Wait.... did you hear it.... the sound of me shooting myself in the foot ...?)

But anyhoo .... I'm up and running again, but not where I was a couple weeks ago (uuuggg, it's been two weeks already). Here's the statistics....

My computer .... still in the shop.
However .... my lovely wife Laura has allowed me to use her laptop .... Thank You :)

Cable internet .... modem still fried, will wait until computer is fixed.
However .... we still have our dial up service (sloooooow, but it works) which my lovely wife Laura insisted we keep while trying out the new cable internet .... Thank You :)

Scanner .... Epson 636U not compatible with Windows XL.
However .... I ordered a driver which makes it compatible, which my lovely wife Laura installed ...Thank You :)

Moral of the story, ..... you figure it out ..... (Laura and Lucy are too cocky as it is).

Take Care,
Darryl (a.k.a. diddle)

:)

:)

Lighting Strikes!

I'm writing this post from my local library because of a recent freak accident.

Late Thursday morning a thunderstorm in my area fried my internet modem, my computer, and my phone line. It was really a bizarre thing, and I was sitting at the computer when it happened, just booting it up. We (my precious-pup Lucy and I) heard a loud explosion just outside the house, a spark of electricity flashed from the modem, and it was over. The strange thing is that I have a surge protector, and it remained unbothered. Thank goodness for cell phones.

So, it looks like I'll be down for about two weeks while the computer is in the shop and I schedule a technician to re-hook up the internet. Please excuse my tardiness of comments and pic-posting. Thanks for all the kind words and support and I'll see ya' all soon ...... maybe this will give me more time to draw ;)

Take Care,
Darryl (a.k.a. diddle)

Train Sketch ... 2-14-06

Happy Valentines Day!

Sketches ...2-13-06

Beauty and the Beast ...?

Sketches ... 2-10-06 ...

... just for the hey of it *__*

Arrrgghhh!

My internet service has been down since Saturday evening, and just got back up and running today. I didn't realize how bad a 'net junkie I was until I was without it *__* Now back to posting, leaving comments, and other intellectual endeavors....

Thanks to everybody who has been stopping by :) !!!

Red Riding Hood....

... and Dr. Strange's love child?????

Time to do new things. *__*

Train Layout ... 1-30-06

... finished at home :)

Train Sketch .... 1-26-06

... with home touch-ups :)

Train Sketch ... 1-24-06 ...

...with some homework added :)

Thanks to everyone whose been stopping by, and especially thanks for the comments, they're always appreciated and very welcomed.

Home Sketch ... 1-23-06

*_*

Home Sketch .... 1-22-06

Some character concepts.....

Home Sketch .... 1-21-06

:)

Dave Sim talks.....

.... about working on Gun Fu: Showgirls Are Forever.
You can read the interview at Comic Book Resources. :)

Gun Fu: Showgirls step-by-step #3

Rough Layout

Finished Pencils

Inks (by Howard)


Colors (by Etienne)

Train Sketch ..... 01-17-06

...been a while for one o' these.... :)

Big Barda inks.....

...by Howard (Swashbucklin') Shum and his mighty brush!
This is why I don't do finished drawings, after seeing Howard's inks I've thrown out my Rapidographs (anybody remember those?).

Gun Fu: Showgirls step-by-step #2

Rough Layout

Finished Pencils

Inks (by Howard)

Colors (by Etienne)

Gun Fu Thumbnails

I did some rummaging around and found the thumbnail drawings for Gun Fu (I thought I'd tossed 'em out). Nothing spectacular, but this is the very first step in doing a page. These were done on a 10 1/2" x 12 1/2" piece of animation paper, and are for pages 1-5. (By the way, the previous page posted is pg.#1.)

Gun Fu: Showgirls, step-by-step

For those interested, I'd like to briefly show the steps taken in completing a comic book page for Gun Fu: Showgirls Are Forever (Image Comics, March 2006.... shameless plug #1).

Step One:
Howard Shum (along with Dave Sim) writes the script. The script is very similar to a screenplay, but each shot is an individual panel. Descriptions of what goes into each panel are given, along with character dialogue that needs to fit into the panel.

Step Two:
I get the script, read it over a few times, and start to visualize things. I make a list of characters and reference items needed for the story. Are they existing characters (which I can use past comics for reference), or are they new characters (which I'll need to design)? The list of reference items may include anything from a hand gun to a World War 2 bomber. A trip to the library and Google image searches are soon underway.

Step Three:
Thumbnail the whole script out in little 2" x 1" sketches. These are decipherable by nobody else but me, but an essential first step in transforming the written word to the drawn image. Page layouts really begin at this point. (Unfortunately, I tossed the thumbnails out...aarrgh)

Step Four:
Do a rough layout of the page and send it to Howard for his thoughts. I like to do these on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, with the drawing being the printed comic size, 6" x 9".

Step Five:
Blow up roughs on xerox machine to original comic art size (about 11" x 17"). Trace off, and use as refer for final penciled page.

Step Six:
Fed Ex batches of penciled pages to Howard for inking.

Step Seven:
Howard e-mails high resolution files to Etienne Simon for coloring.

Step Eight:
Etienne e-mails high resolution colored files back to Howard for lettering (in process as we speak).

Final Steps:
Completed book is sent to printer.

Printer sends book to Distributor.

Distributor sends book to Comic Shop.

Hopefully you will buy it from Comic Shop (Image Comics, March 2006... shameless plug #2)

;)

Big Barda

One of my favorite Jack Kirby characters, and the main squeeze of Scott Free (Mister Miracle). From an age of comics long dead and greatly missed ...sigh.

V, W, X, Y, Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR!