Pages in Progress 2

It's been another busy week, painting, painting, painting.


The Masking Process:

After I've stretched and inked a page, I apply masking fluid (sometimes called 'frisket') to the speech bubbles and lines between panels (where tape won't do.)

I use Winsor&Newton Colorless Masking Fluid. I paint it on with an old junky brush, since it's guaranteed to destroy a nice one.

It's very important that your paper be dry before you apply the masking fluid, and also, that the fluid be completely dry before you begin painting. When you're done with your painting, you just peel off the mask to reveal the clean white paper below.






Like I said, it's been a busy week. I think I'm juggling eight pages currently stretched, inked and in various stages of completion. The task for today is to finish all the little details I've been putting off, calling it the super-human feat of eight pages finished in a single day, then drinking a nice bottle of wine to celebrate (rather than drinking cheap wine to survive.)

Here's a couple I'm working on from this last week, in no particular order:

Across Thin Ice: Page 28 & 80

ComicCon in San Diego is this weekend! Check out Sofawolf Press at booth #1236 (in the Webcomic's area) to pick up a short sneak-peek of Across Thin Ice!

And, for anyone unable to attend ComicCon, you can click here for the preview's .pdf! :]


Art-wise, here's a couple of the pages that I finished earlier this week:

Page 28:








Page 80:



Lastly, here's a couple quick color studies I did for page 80, trying a out few different color/lighting schemes.

Across Thin Ice: Page 37

Here's the finished page 37 from Across Thin Ice, text and all!




Here's a bunch of progress photos from this one.



Above, a couple small studies I painted before starting the scene, and a photo of the page, stretched, inked and with one panel finished.











I used some salt in between washes on the ice overview, which adds a nice bit of random crystallization.

Pages in Progress 1

This last month has been pretty busy. A whole lot of things happening at once--but mainly, trudging along Thin Ice.

I like to work on several pages at once. On one hand, it keeps me from getting burned out painting the same thing over and over. On the other, it allows me time to step back from the work and return to it later with a fresh eye. Here's a couple of the pages I'm currently working on, all in various stages of completion:


Page 15



Page 37



Page 80


Also, here are some dog studies from the last few weeks. They are a nice way to warm-up in the mornings (along with copious amounts of coffee, of course.)

Nordguard Pages 12 & 16

A few more painted pages, specifically 12 & 16.

Page 12:


Sometimes, as far as reference is concerned, the best thing you can do is keep a well stocked liquor cabinet. ;]


Page 16:



Here's a couple progress photos of page 16: