[Artemesia Posts: 4,014 Status: Offline WWW]

Hey, I'm glad it's clear what my art style is targeted for.

Lately my wife has been teasing me and saying all my characters look like sock puppets!

LOL What's she got against sock puppets?? Sock puppets are awesome...

[SYoon Posts: 706 Status: Offline Novelty and Picture Books WWW]

Ask and you shall receive . . . but somehow I think you knew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYM__s3R5q0

Man... that's just NUTTY!!! I see it, but it's still hard to believe! How did he do that shading? And he made that ball so round! Impressive skilz!

Wonky--- yay! Seems I've gone international! Thanks for noticing!

[Simon_Turnbull]

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to be rude. I'm just saying a thing is a thing.

In my opinion an artist is  going to rack up a big wad of rejections if they start submitting artwork done with cheap pens to publishers.

If you have to do that kind of linework, I recommend investing in a some quality inking tools: a set of technical pens and a good fountain pen at the least.  And tech pens (which are what artists used before ceramic tipped markers were invented) are much more environmentally friendly. Look after those things and you'll still have them when you retire.

[Artemesia Posts: 4,014 Status: Offline WWW]

I hear what you are saying, Simon, I use pen & ink myself, but I believe Wonky's end product is completely digital, so the actual "pen on paper" sketch isn't going to be submitted. For his purpose (interior MG illustrations) I think his technique is totally appropriate. I've seen a lot of interior MG illustrations that are meant to look like they were drawn with a marker or other readily available implement. Especially those that are meant to look like a character in the book drew them. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian all come to mind.

[Wonky Posts: 402 Status: Offline]

I hear what you are saying, Simon, I use pen & ink myself, but I believe Wonky's end product is completely digital, so the actual "pen on paper" sketch isn't going to be submitted. For his purpose (interior MG illustrations) I think his technique is totally appropriate. I've seen a lot of interior MG illustrations that are meant to look like they were drawn with a marker or other readily available implement. Especially those that are meant to look like a character in the book drew them. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian all come to mind.

Thanks, yes, that's what I'm doing. I would never submit the raw line art to anyone...it does look pretty pathetic. I might as well just submit a photocopy of my pencil!!! I scan it, then enhance the lines, fix any boo-boos, add shading, etc all digitally. And like Artemesia says this is line art for an MG book. If I were doing full-collor illos for a PB I'd use a completely different technique.

And I have had my work using this style published - as newspaper/magazine comic strips. When I was in high school it was my ambition to become the next Berkeley Brethed!

[christripp Posts: 1,101 Status: Offline WWW]

For published  work I often used not sharpies per say but pigment liners ( thin ) as outline over a very watered down acrylic. Most of the book work was outlined with either, black or sepia colour pencil. These days I work exclusively on a Wacom Cintiq for books and other illustration projects. I LOVE it!:)
In fact, a month ago I packed and stored in the closet all my paints, watercolor paper and brushes. Haven't touched them for over a year now, the studio is certainly tidier!

[Debbie Ridpath Ohi Posts: 58 Status: Offline Twitter: @inkyelbows - Instagram: @inkygirl WWW]

I work entirely digitally.

When I began illustrating I'M BORED, I was using Corel Painter. Then I discovered (duh) that Painter didn't handle CMYK and the crashiness of the newest version made me nervous, so I used Lynda.com to learn Photoshop CS5 and made the switch, haven't looked back.

Debbie

[Steve Feldman Posts: 34 Status: Offline WWW]

Debbie, your post makes me feel a lot better. This year I made the big switch and every job I have done has been done digitally. For some reason I had the idea that Painter was the ultimate and ultimately necessary program for the digital illustrator. Very happy to put that idea to rest and stick with Photoshop!

Christine, I still haven't packed away my traditional tools that I used professionally for 25 years. That seems way too sad to not have those long time trusted friends out and ready at any moment.   

[christripp Posts: 1,101 Status: Offline WWW]

Steve, I had the same idea, that painter would be necessary to really be effective with the Wacom. Wow Debbie, so glad you posted about lynda.com.
Did you sign up? The tutorials look fantastic.
Steve, putting away my old paints and brushes really didn't hurt, after all, the stylus and monitor are just replacements, like buying a new brush or using a clean sheet of paper ( it's all in our minds:)

[Steve Feldman Posts: 34 Status: Offline WWW]

I've actually used Lynda.com a few times. Years ago I purchased a vhs tape that was very helpful. Then several times they sent me "24hr free passes" to lynda.com which was very informative. I will probably use their services again as I make the switch from GoLive to Dreamweaver.

Christine, do you still draw traditionally and scan in or do you draw initially directly onto your tablet? I am comfortable re-drawing or correcting on the tablet but can't seem to yet muster the same creativity starting a drawing on a blank tablet.
Maybe I am a little sentimental about the old tools, but still need them anyway for my fine art, when I get the time to get back to it.

[christripp Posts: 1,101 Status: Offline WWW]

Steve, from pencil sketch to finish it's all on the Cintiq. It's such a natural tool that once into sketching I have found myself, after flipping the "pencil" over to erase, whipping away  nonexistant eraser crumbs as a matter of habit, ha:)

[Steve Feldman Posts: 34 Status: Offline WWW]

Christine, the ability to eliminate scanning altogether is very appealing. As I progress that may happen. I'm still really happy working on the Intuos 4 right now, but it seems wise these days to always be prepared to "move up" in technology, so I'll keep the cintiq in mind.  

[Jeff Smith Posts: 109 Status: Offline The Boy Who Wouldn't Sit Still! WWW]

I use it all. Coming from a 15 year graffiti artist background, I have learned to use everything. In my book Th Boy Who Wouldn't Sit Still! I used mainly acrylics and Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator RULES! The process I used was to first hand paint the backgrounds. I would then scan them and import the images into Illustrator and create vector art on top of the paintings. My characters and detailed scenes were hand drawn and then recreated in Illustrator.

Each artist is going to use what they feel is the most effective approach to showcasing their art. I have been seeing a few children's books lately with photographs and illustrations on top of the photos. At first I didn't like this and then I thought about why I didn't like it. IT IS BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK OF THIS FIRST.

Wonky I like your sharpie art. Keep it real and stay with what you are comfortable with.

[Gregor]

Acrylic paint on 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper... pretty basic.

[Wonky Posts: 402 Status: Offline]

Wonky I like your sharpie art. Keep it real and stay with what you are comfortable with.

Thanks. I've never illustrated a book but I've gotten comics published and been paid for them! (My first big writing ambition was to be a newspaper comic strip writer.)

I may have to invest in Illustrator at some point...