ScribblerWorks Activity and Working On Zoe
I just posted some small news over on my website about some current things I'm up to. I'm going to be doing that more often in the future, so I can make the LiveJournal more about works-in-progress and general creative musings. I like the community aspect of LJ, and mean to stick to it.
As for current stuff I actually am working on, I'll make the observation that one of the reasons I've been working on coloring old ink drawing is to better learn Photoshop so that I can do in "Zoe Alone" all the things I want to do. I admit that Zoe feels more like an art project for me than a writing one. Mainly because the "writing" is mostly done, but I'm just beginning to get into the artwork.
One of the things I did in preparation for working on Zoe was to do some modeling in soft clay. Because poses and lighting are important to the story-telling in this 12 page comics story, I wanted to be surer about what I was doing than I usually am. Usually on something like this I work completely out of my head, with very little consulting of visual references. But for this piece, I just wanted to do more. The whole 12 pages feels like a major art project for me - and it's exciting me. I haven't been this jazzed by an art project in quite a while.
Just to show you, here's some photos of the "references".
First off, I made a "Gumby" type figure - this is for light references, to remind myself of what the light looks hitting a body. I took a couple of shots from different angles - more than I'm going to post here.
And then I got to worrying about being consistent in drawing Zoe's head and face in the 12 pages. It's my weakest point and I know it. So I took the clay and remodeled in, sculpting her head. Obsessively, because it's about three inches tall, and I was using the pick end of a floss-pick as my sculpting tool. On the other hand, I'm actually pretty happy with the results.
And facing the other way....
It's not actually a perfect job, her face is a little lop-sided. But because it is so tiny, I figured I'd stop while I was ahead. It's good enough for reference purposes.
As for current stuff I actually am working on, I'll make the observation that one of the reasons I've been working on coloring old ink drawing is to better learn Photoshop so that I can do in "Zoe Alone" all the things I want to do. I admit that Zoe feels more like an art project for me than a writing one. Mainly because the "writing" is mostly done, but I'm just beginning to get into the artwork.
One of the things I did in preparation for working on Zoe was to do some modeling in soft clay. Because poses and lighting are important to the story-telling in this 12 page comics story, I wanted to be surer about what I was doing than I usually am. Usually on something like this I work completely out of my head, with very little consulting of visual references. But for this piece, I just wanted to do more. The whole 12 pages feels like a major art project for me - and it's exciting me. I haven't been this jazzed by an art project in quite a while.
Just to show you, here's some photos of the "references".
First off, I made a "Gumby" type figure - this is for light references, to remind myself of what the light looks hitting a body. I took a couple of shots from different angles - more than I'm going to post here.
And then I got to worrying about being consistent in drawing Zoe's head and face in the 12 pages. It's my weakest point and I know it. So I took the clay and remodeled in, sculpting her head. Obsessively, because it's about three inches tall, and I was using the pick end of a floss-pick as my sculpting tool. On the other hand, I'm actually pretty happy with the results.
And facing the other way....
It's not actually a perfect job, her face is a little lop-sided. But because it is so tiny, I figured I'd stop while I was ahead. It's good enough for reference purposes.