THE STORY
Really excited with how weird things are about to get.
Rawn Gandy gave me some good input on getting rid of some of the dialogue as well as changing the last panel. I illustrated a few endings, but decided on what is above.
THE ART
I used a Pentel Color brush to ink this strip. I really really really love them. I'll probably start inking most of what I do with this tool. Using the pen was stressful at first, but I started getting the hang of it after I inked this strip for the fourth time.
It was stressful because my hands tend to be very shaky due to a genetic anomaly. As a result, I've acquired the habit of drawing heavy handed to steady myself, but I recently learned about a comic artist with severe nerve damage who also uses brushes. So I no longer have an excuse not to make the leap to a new pen.
I've been studying what Jeff Smith, Rafael Grampa, Paul Pope, Farel Darlymple, Eric Powell, Nate Powell and my friend Meg Gandy do with inking to help me. Meg Gandy helped me out with a few tricks and pen upkeep. So I am confident that the next one will only be better.
I also messed with the way I approach color after taking note from the coloring techniques of Dave Stewart, Eric Powell, Lee Loughridge, Scott Roberts and Moebius. I've come to the realization that surreal color choices can be about establishing planes in space - not just establishing mood.
I'm using a combination of both soft shading and flat blocks of value as well as thinking about helping the background recede using contrasting tonal values.
THE FUTURE
Some of the logistics of my new commissioned job have been resolved so I will be dedicating most of my free time to it, but I'll still try to update this strip as frequently as possible.
