Unrequitted Love

So some of you who visit the North Side have probably already seen the Valentine comic I’ve posted (though, an hour after Valentine’s Day officially ended). What I never bother to mention on the blog are the boring things that go into making the simple, non-inked comic.

So here’s a small blurb about their beginnings- at least the materials they’re drawn with:

From the beginning they were hastily drawn directly into my sketchbooks. I’d literally abuse the paper, liberally applying pressure with the pencil when it came to shading. Later when I found that I had a bit of an audience I moved on to regular sized sketch paper to take advantage of the spacial freedom. The weights in paper over the different comics varied and with that, I had to mind how much pressure I was using when it came to shading. It’s obviously nothing new to most artists who regularly draw out there, but as can be seen in this recent comic, I’ve been lightly applying shades by layers then only applying heavier pressure when it came to defining the edges. It’s a little tedious, but the results are worth it.

Almost each new comic presents some sort of challenge for me. One had the challenge of me drawing a good number of panels with one character’s backview and reflection. And most challenges deal with me drawing characters holding objects like plates of spaghetti or guitars. The Valentine comic was no acception when it came to a character holding the same object in nearly every panel. But I was pleased with the way the hands came out. While they still resemble wedges, they still have hints of appendages. But anyway, I can’t really say I meet these challenges completely. I’d like to think I’ve met them more than half of the way.