adamwarren
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WORK STAGES for my first illo depicting the assembled cast of fantasy comic THE LAST PARTY!
🕑 Added 2023-10-06 13:00:06 +0000 UTCBehold my latest digital-art experiment and my first time drawing the complete cast of fantasy project The Last Party, which combines the protagonists from previous, now-defunct fantasy comics Party of Two and Hushed Half-Elf:
Below, a closer-up view of the Half-Orc Healer and Dwarf Barbarian, formerly from Party of Two:
..and a closer-up view of the Human Mage and Half-Elf Knight ("of a Thousand Armors"), formerly from "damsel-in-distress" Patreon project Hushed Half-Elf:
I used this illo to see if I could render high-contrast, "harsh B&W" imagery in Clip Studio Paint, which is not something I've tried very often in digital media, mainly because I hadn't found a halfway viable inking brush until quite recently. With my recent discovery of the Frenden "Pigman Mycon" digital tool, however, the time seemed right for an inking test carried out on the ol' Wacom Cintiq. (Note that my Cintiq work experience has improved roughly a thousandfold since I hooked it up to a handy-dandy Flex Arm mount.)
Going backwards in Work Stages, here's a view of the inks with the "blue pencil"-formatted roughs still visible:
...and a view of the rough sketches, before I turned 'em blue in CSP:
Wellp, not surprisingly the illo proved immensely time-consuming and in fact is still unfinished, as I'll likely add a mockup logo and a few more art tweaks in the future. The experience was quite educational, though, as I learned a few very helpful new things about working in CSP; alas, the piece was also educational in that I quickly realized that I don't care to work in such a brutally slow and meticulously detailed manner in the future.
I had thought that working "high contrast" might have been a time-saving graphic technique but that's clearly not the case, at least when I'm drawing in such a "crisp 'n' clean" art style. A looser, more flexible and less grindingly "fussy" art approach to the ol' "harsh B&W" might still be worth considering, at least as a sporadic visual riff in my future comics work.
Anyhoo, progress was made, folks, even if in a manner skewing towards "one step forward, two steps back." Further digital-art tests and further exploration of The Last Party's cast will continue, never fear!
NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: No idea, TBH, but something should be coming up in the next M/W/F slot. Let's find out together, shall we?
Comments
Adam Warren
That was the hope, though I certainly didn't experience any savings in worktime with this particular illo; wellp, experimentation will continue!
Adam Warren
Gotta say, it's no joke that one of the best things about working digitally (IMHO) is having constant access to a "white-line pen" at all times, as opposed to using white-out or an inked overlay with analog-media artwork.
Dean Reilly
Maybe they could timeshare the Avatarhood? 😁
Steven W
I wouldn't have even thought of using a brush for, essentially, a scratchboard technique
Adam Warren
Yeahp, "Avatar of the Chained Goddess" status has been punted over to the Elf Mage in THE CHASTE AND THE CHAINED, though the Half-Elf's former stint as the DiD-beset Avatar will remain part of her history in THE LAST PARTY (and might be revisited in flashbacks).
JKurt
Oh! Is the HHE no longer going to be subject to bedamselment?
Loyola
Gorgeous!
Andrew Dederer
Kinda reminds me of Dave Trampier's (Wormy, lots of old D&D art including Player's Handbook) Titan piece artwork. Which I'd say is appropriate.. Maybe lean more into the silhouettes, less into the shading?
Sabrina Pandora
So... cool...?
