Spain & Morocco t-shirt

Hello! You can vote for my t-shirt on Threadless! Voting is open for one week. And you have to be a member, which is more elaborate than electoral voting in many parts of the world, but hey, c'mon this is fashion we're talking about.

Page 47 of Spain & Morocco, step-by-step.

A) Scribbling, writing in the margins, trying out ideas, working out the dialogue.

B) Settling on something more concrete, picking out "anchor" panels; they will not change, while the remaining panels, "floaty" panels, could change a few more times.

C) Tightening the whole page up, making more changes as I see the overall layout. In this case, I got worried because of the floor tiles in the bird's eyes view (panels 1-3-5). They seemed jarring when placed close to each other, like they should somehow be connected, but were not (like some bad trompe l'oeil). I toned down the lines, which helped. Is your heart racing? Mine is.

D) Step D, inking. I love inking, but I have to force myself to take breaks. I can ink a page in one hour, but I force myself do housework every twenty minutes or so, or else it starts looking too rushed and sloppy... although some people might argue my work always looks like that.

E) More inking.


F) Inking finished. I now erase the pencil lines. This is always a bit of a downer because I feel the pages look better with that smooth gray sheen.


G) I start putting down the watercolor. "Code" color usually comes first, meaning I paint in the colors that don't change. For example, Dan's shirt, which he's been wearing for 20 pages or so, is Japonica Scarlett Red. Write that down, scholars.


H) Putting in the green.

I) Now I start putting in washes. I have to be careful not to put too much, or else the paper buckles. I work on simple Strathmore Bristol board, which isn't really meant for watercolor, but is perfect for inking. Also, it prevents me from getting carried away and putting ten washes of color on every panel.

J) Last step, blue washes. Finished? I guess. I'm tired of looking at the page at this point, so I put it away for a day or so while it dries. I do a few more touch-ups before scanning, and that's it!

Baby Sketches

Thomas, born January 23rd 2010. He likes to kick it.

Vintage Fellows

Brochure I drew at age 7, promoting forests. I asked my parents to make a photocopy of a picture of a forest, of which I cut out an area for the little man.

Life Drawing-ing-ing