Sunday, January 23, 2022

Original Art Sundays No. 289: Sharp Invitations: Curt, p. 27

 As promised, here's a fill-in page to clarify some stuff from the last page.


After my page discussion, I will re-post the three pages in this scene in proper reading order. I should probably do that more often anyway. A week is a long time to wait to see what happens, and we all have full lives.

When the story left off, I had agreed to return to Curt. One of the things that came up was the possibility of therapy, which leads us to the events of this page, followed by the events of the page posted last week.

For this layout, I wanted the page to feel off balance, yet be legible. Hacking off the edges, first alternating, then both, seemed an effective tool to accomplish this. It's a straightforward dialogue page. I kept it visually interesting by just moving the "camera" in. I dropped Photoshop gradients in the first two panels. The astute reader will note the continued absence of my mother's art and the presence of a replacement guitar.

This page got really messy! I don't mean the art itself, though that was hit and miss. For some reason, the art itself got very smeared and dirty. A bit frustrating, since I didn't work it any differently than my usual process. Ah well.

I kept the facial expressions very simple. While I like complexity, my style does seem to lend itself to simplicity. No overt influences on this page, just telling the story.

Here are the three pages in proper order.




Well, I hope that clears things up. I don't often step back and look at the book in progress. It's actually helpful.

Not much brush work on this page. Tool list:

  • Canson Bristol board
  • tech pencil, #2B lead
  • Ames Lettering guide
  • Lead holder, #3B lead
  • Good old Ticonderoga #2B pencil
  • Straightedges, triangles, curves
  • Micron pens .005, .02, .05, .08, 1.0 and brush tip
  • Pen nib and holder
  • Dr. Martin's Black Star Matte ink
  • FW Artist's Acrylic White
  • Faber Castell eraser and kneadable eraser
  • Blick #6 synthetic brush
  • Tight Spot brush for corrections 
  • Photoshop 2019

Next: a stroll through the park.