Sketch of the day: pen arsenal

by on 30 November 2016 at 4:00 pm
Posted In: sketch of the day

20161129_newarsenal_pensThe usual pens ran out of ink so I went through the pen drawer for options. I am irrationally excited about my new inking arsenal. The next comic (posted tonight if the scanner works) was inked with this variety of pens:

left to right: Sailor Fude Nagomi fine point, Deleter Neopiko Line 3 (super-fine), another Sailor Fude Nagomi (dual fine/medium point), Derwent Graphik, old reliable Sakura Pigma Micron, and Ohto Graphic Liner.

The Sailor brush pens give a different look to the comic than usual, but I am loving them. I almost don’t need any other pen than one of these, since the fine gives so much variation. I had been using the extra fine on previous comics, and it has only a little width variation in comparison. But, I do love extra-extra-fine lines, and the Deleter Neopiko Line 3 at 0.03mm may be the finest (while still reliable) pen I’ve used yet.

Every time I go back to a brush pen after using the Micron pens, I have this revelation once again that I prefer a brush-pen line (albeit a very fine one).

Some random tests of the random assortment from the drawer (click to see larger):

sotd_20161130

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Sketch of the day: work in progress

by on 29 November 2016 at 10:40 pm
Posted In: sketch of the day

I consider these loose pencils, even though they look fairly tight–I’ll go over it to be more precise about proportions, details, and to add backgrounds. The dialogue, also, will probably change before the final comic.

It took hours to get it scanned 😛 But, good news: a wonderful wonderful friend is lending me her old laptop, and that should be a major step up from my old workhorse.

[click to see at normal comic size]
spqrblues_20161129_wip

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Lover, god, birthday boy: Antinous

by on 27 November 2016 at 12:40 pm
Posted In: blog

Today is the birthday (dies natalis Antinoi) of Antinous, deified lover of the Emperor Hadrian, who will be coming along in a generation or so (we’ve already met Hadrian’s foster father, Trajan). Antinous was born in Bithynia, a place which you’ll find reference to in the print version of SPQR Blues (which MUST get sent out before this year is done). Antinous died young and under mysterious circumstances–whether accident, suicide, sacrifice, or murder is unresolved. The emperor made him a god. For almost two thousand years he’s been a symbol of male beauty and enduring love.

I was reminded of the birthday by the very interesting twitter account and website Following Hadrian–well worth following–where there are nice pics of some excellent examples of the many, many statues dedicated to the young man, including one that still has traces of red paint on the hair. (Remind you of anyone?)

Antinous
(Image: Following Hadrian, @carolemadge)

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Sketch of the day: a repeat

by on 25 November 2016 at 6:26 pm
Posted In: sketch of the day

thatonepanel

Today’s sketch is just this one panel from a page in a work in progress, also posted several years ago. For some hard-to-define reason, it’s one of my favourite panels. Maybe because it felt like it captured that moment in the story perfectly. It’s not even for SPQR Blues…it was for a project I didn’t have the chops to finish (which was since done by a creative team that does have the chops). I was reminded of it today when I was interviewed about, among other things, the ill-fated project.

I keep meaning to repurpose this panel. I may have already. My memory is floppy.

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