Oy, this guy again. Not a finished drawing: these are "flats", used in digital coloring to isolate different elements of the image for further processing, hence the false colors used to make sure each element can be selected by color - I'm not that colorblind! Hopefully I'll finish up the color composite tomorrow.
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Try #4 at the drawing behind this page, using the improved layout from #3. In addition to that trick, I increased the size of the page by 50% so I was effectively drawing at 300dpi, and zoomed in to work on the details, using all three previous drawings composited in increasingly ghostly transparency like an ersatz lightbox. Darker outlines were used for Batman and Zombie Wayne.
Altogether, I like how this one came out better. Hopefully, if there are no more disasters with the water or the power or yearly planning, I can color this one tomorrow #dontjinxitfrancis so you can stop seeing this and we can move on to something else.
Drawing every day.
- the Centaur
As it says on the tin: it's late and I'm tired. Based on the Monkey Selfie Copyright Dispute. Seven layers in Photoshop (not counting blank background), five of them still active, including oh I'm too tired to type, here they are:
I go zzz now.
-the Centaur
tl;dr: if the flaw is in the bones of the art, you must change its skeleton, not its clothing
Today's drawing is a revised layout for the "Batman 80's style cover" page. While the previous page had more refined inks, Batman's body posture was a bit off, and the Dreamweaver's hands were floating about like he was Rayman. While I could have finished those inks, when I got to coloring the disembodied Dreamweaver would have posed a problem, and the misproportioned Batman would have just looked bad, no matter how much effort I put into the inks or coloring.
I've seen a lot of people spend a lot of effort trying to fix things with finesse or technique when the problems actually lie in the layout. If the flaw is in the bones of the art, you need to change its skeleton, not its clothing. And one of the freedoms that working in Photoshop on the Wacom Cintiq is that you can take a problematic layer, reduce its opacity to 25%, slap a new layer over it with its compositing set to darken, and --- BAM --- you have an instant lightbox to help you sketch a new one.
When Jim Lee got started, reputedly he spent a lot of time drawing from photo reference to help build up his skills. I'm no Batman, but nevertheless, I spent some time tonight taking reference photos of myself clutching my chest and a throw-blanket, trying to perfect Batman's cape-grab, and other references of me villainously spidering my fingers, trying to imitate this "Dreamweaver" chap.
The result is a layout which, at first glance, looks a lot like the old one. Everything is where it was, more or less. But Dreamweaver's hands are now attached to his body, his helmet makes sense, and Batman's arms and cape now interact in a more realistic way. And his fingers aren't rigid as boards, so it actually looks a bit like he's clutching his heart.
No amount of refining the original drawing in place would have fixed these issues: Batman's arm was too long and bent, his fingers were in the wrong place, and the Dreamweaver's thumbs were actually out of their sockets - never mind the missing arms and shoulders. Finesse and technique only take you so far: at some point you may have to stop and rethink your layout to make real progress.
One step backward, two steps forward. Drawing every day.
-the Centaur
tl;dr: to get good at something, you've got to put in a lot of practice
Hail, fellow adventurers! You may have been wondering what's up with the "Drawing Every Day" on this website. Or, hey, maybe you just got here. But I've gotten far enough into it that I feel comfortable taking a short break from developing this habit to tell you about this habit I'm trying to develop.
I've loved comic books since I was a child. I've drawn since I was a young kid. I even started working on comics in graduate school, consciously refining my art until I was able to launch a webcomic, f@nu fiku, partially inspired by anime, manga, and the FLCL anime.
Then I broke my arm. And while I was recovering, someone stole my laptop. I took the opportunity to switch from Windows to Mac, and, as luck would have it, got my first book contract for FROST MOON. By the time I got enough free time from editing and book launches to go back to the webcomic and pick up where I left off, I found out my hand-crafted webcomic software wouldn't work on the Mac.
The real blow, however, was hidden: my confidence in my artwork had collapsed.
I went from fearlessly putting together two-page spreads way beyond my ability, doing bodies and perspective, and changing my layout theory at the drop of a hat, eventually producing pages that appeared in an art show - to being unable, or more precisely, unwilling to draw at all.
I had become intimidated by - embarrased by - my art. My wife is also an artist, and is familiar with the phenomenon. She and I talked about the reasons behind this at length, and like writer's block preventing writers from writers, one of the things that really affects artists is simply getting started.
If you've only done a handful of drawings, well, then, every one is super important, and there's pressure to make it perfect. But if you've done lots of drawings, then each one is an experiment, and if it doesn't turn out good, well, then, you can always draw another one.
We moved recently, and I made it a priority to set up an art studio. But things by themselves don't create good habits - believe me, I know: purchasing a keyboard and bass guitar all those years ago didn't turn me into a musician, because I didn't build the proper habits around them.
But how do you build a habit if you're too intimidated to get started? At the Write to the End writing group, we tackle it by sitting down to write for 20 minutes, no excuses. At Taos Toolbox, Walter Jon Williams pointed out that this seemingly small amount of writing per day could produce a novel.
So I started to come around to the idea: what if I drew every day?
There's this theory in cognitive science that quantity begets quality. A famous example from the book Art and Fear alleges a ceramics professor graded half of a class on quality, the other half on quantity - but the students who produced more pieces also produced the better work.
There are no secrets: if you want to get good, you've got to put in the work. (Well, there are secrets, but the secret is, you have to put in a hell of a lot of work to take advantage of them). This is such a common thing in webcomics that it has its own TV Tropes page on Art Evolution.
I really want to draw again. I want to make science fiction webcomics like the ones I grew up loving in the 80s and 90s. But to do that, I've got to draw. So, once I finally got settled here and the holidays were in the taillights, once I finally got the Cintiq working ... I started drawing every day.
14 days running so far (counting complex drawings that took 2-3 sessions as 1 per session). How long does it take to cement a habit? 2-3 months, it sounds like from the online research; so, a good ways to go. If I keep at it, I'll have +70 more drawings, five times as many as I have so far.
I bet I'll see some changes.
I bet if you have something you want to change, start working on it every day, and keep it up for 2-3 months, you may see some changes too.
Roughs in Photoshop. Some of the limits of the original composition are becoming clearer here - like, what are the hands of our villain attached to? Has he no shoulders? Is he secretly Rayman?
Enough for now. Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Day 11's drawing, colorized. Lots I would fix in the underlying drawing; many techniques of digital coloring I wished I had learned. But enough of that. Tired, going to bed now.
Still ... Drawing. Every. Day.
-the Centaur
Hello, Porsche, my old friend; time to draw you again.
Getting more comfortable with the Cintiq + Photoshop + Humanscale combo. But only had time for the inks today. Colors maybe tomorrow, or perhaps another drawing.
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Cinnamon is tired and so am I. No-regrets quick cartooning with a heavy ink pen - a Faber-Castell "Pitt Artist Pen bullet nib 1.5", according to the label. It came in a box. (I filled a cup of pens after an emergency run for art supplies and literally just picked this pen at near random tonight).
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur
A sketch of a National Geographic magazine cover that reminded me of the vampire Lady Nyissa from Dakota Frost, Skindancer.
Yeah, I'm not liking the broad lines of these colored pencils or the roughness of the texture I can get out of this charcoal pen, especially compared to my preferred comfort zone of pencils-then-ink for line art then Photoshop for color. And you can even see a bit of the previous page, where I'd been sketching the logo to the old space furry comic Dalgoda. Ugh!
But, as my wife and I were talking ... you have to put pen to paper in order to improve. So ... sigh ... lots more work to be done improving will require lots more work that, um, sucks.
Still ... Drawing. Every. Day.
-the Centaur
Bit of a rush job, as I want to turn in early tonight (and still leave a little time for Editing Every Day). Forehead a bit too high, could have used another rough sketch.
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the year that hell froze over, yes? Well cue the cartoon helicopter noises and ...
SEE YA, 2020! Wouldn't want to be ya.
Ok, OK, it's penguins in a helicopter taking off. Perhaps you had to see the video. Regardless, I am ready to take off and get OUT of here.
Actually, since I couldn't go see a ball drop or have a cocktail at my favorite coffee house or even climb the hill with my wife so we could watch the fireworks, I plopped in the scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture where the Enterprise goes to warp (FAIR USE! or buy it here, director's cut of course - ask me how I know) and the moment the Big E gave Einstein the finger, I held up my glass and said, "Fuck you, 2020!"
So anyway, 2020. Wasn't so bad, by itself. I mean, yes, yes, for the world, but for me personally, 2019 had its own brass knuckles. I lost my mother in 2019 and worked my ass around over the margins of that, so I had kind of hoped 2020 would be an upswing. But, no, I got the zombie apocalypse and an even newer reorg to deal with, and by the end of it I'd lost my uncle Boo. So I'd love to say how horrible 2020 was, but for me personally, it felt like Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones - that is, a repeat, trying too hard, that went on too long. (And remember back when we thought 2016 was bad?)
Still, it wasn't all bad. I got to participate in many conventions online, and to see friends from all over the world that I otherwise wouldn't get to see. And it's the year we saw some truly bizarre things occur in the world of media, such as this little oddity ...
Actually, I might sign up to see a show about a gender-swapped Star Trek (oh wait that's Star Trek Discovery OH SNAP I went there), but that's neither here nor there. This was the year almost all responsible church services went online ...
... and the year when we DID have socially distanced outdoor services, a police chase started in the background behind the priest during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And hey, remember when this graph looked so bad? We didn't know how good we had it!
It's the year I learned the pomelo looks like a Lovecraftian monster on the inside ...
(You eat it, it doesn't eat you, I promise. Tastes like a sweeter version of a grapefruit.)
And last but not least, it's the year I got this place put together the way I wanted it ...
... and maybe the way other people wanted it too ...
... only to have circumstances force me to take it apart again ...
But, in all honesty, they were good circumstances, if a bit bittersweet. Hopefully the new place will start coming together soon ...
So it wasn't all bad. While I really do want to tell 2020 to bleep off because of work and the pandemic, here's hoping that which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Still, what can I say? Hurry up, Aslan, we need you on the East Coast. Bring my wife and cats with you when you come. The other boxes can wait until the next trip.
-the Centaur
Tony Francis at Meteor Crater. Sure was windy that day. Oddly, this is one of the best pictures I have taken of my dad.
Guess I enjoyed spending time with him more than taking photos!
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Ran out of time unpacking and organizing my library, so no digital sketch today. All I had time to do was a hand sketch of Uncle Boo, which I took on in hopes that I'd do better than the digital one (or at least figure out where I went wrong). Other than imagining connections instead of seeing and drawing them, the number one thing I walked away with was, man, I need to find and unpack my art supplies.
Though the resemblance to my dad is more striking in a drawing ...
Perhaps I've found my next drawing subject ...
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Well, today I found out one of my dearest relatives, Uncle Boo, my dad's Mini-Me, so close to him that they took each other's driver's license pictures as a joke - though I could always tell them apart - just died of coronavirus at the age of 90. He hadn't been doing well and this was the final cruel blow.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greenvilleonline/obituary.aspx?n=james-francis-boo&pid=197376995
His pride and joy was his family, and when not spending time with them, he was an avid golfer and sports enthusiast. Boo loved people and never met a stranger. Quick-witted and beloved by many, there was always a story ready to be told. He was a generous, kind-hearted man, and will be dearly missed by his family and all who knew him.
Boo always had stories to tell - some about my dad which made my hair stand on end! I'll always remember the calming presence he had after my dad's funeral, sitting at our breakfast table at the chair Dad always sat at, telling us stories of the Francis family of long ago. We'll miss you, Boo.
I don't even have any good pictures of him.
Thanks, 2020.
-the Centaur
Pictured: a bleak view out our window, all the leaves fallen.
Bit off more than I could chew this time, attempting to do full coloring layers. Had to give up about a third of the way through because it is way past bedtime, even for me. Not happy with the sketch or the result, didn't really get to flesh this one out the way I wanted to.
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Oy, this guy again. Not a finished drawing: these are "flats", used in digital coloring to isolate different elements of the image for further processing, hence the false colors used to make sure each element can be selected by color - I'm not that colorblind! Hopefully I'll finish up the color composite tomorrow.
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Try #4 at the drawing behind this page, using the improved layout from #3. In addition to that trick, I increased the size of the page by 50% so I was effectively drawing at 300dpi, and zoomed in to work on the details, using all three previous drawings composited in increasingly ghostly transparency like an ersatz lightbox. Darker outlines were used for Batman and Zombie Wayne.
Altogether, I like how this one came out better. Hopefully, if there are no more disasters with the water or the power or yearly planning, I can color this one tomorrow #dontjinxitfrancis so you can stop seeing this and we can move on to something else.
Drawing every day.
- the Centaur 
As it says on the tin: it's late and I'm tired. Based on the 
I go zzz now.
-the Centaur 
tl;dr: if the flaw is in the bones of the art, you must change its skeleton, not its clothing
Today's drawing is a revised layout for the "Batman 80's style cover" page. While the previous page had more refined inks, Batman's body posture was a bit off, and the Dreamweaver's hands were floating about like he was Rayman. While I could have finished those inks, when I got to coloring the disembodied Dreamweaver would have posed a problem, and the misproportioned Batman would have just looked bad, no matter how much effort I put into the inks or coloring.
I've seen a lot of people spend a lot of effort trying to fix things with finesse or technique when the problems actually lie in the layout. If the flaw is in the bones of the art, you need to change its skeleton, not its clothing. And one of the freedoms that working in Photoshop on the Wacom Cintiq is that you can take a problematic layer, reduce its opacity to 25%, slap a new layer over it with its compositing set to darken, and --- BAM --- you have an instant lightbox to help you sketch a new one.
When Jim Lee got started, reputedly he spent a lot of time drawing from photo reference to help build up his skills. I'm no Batman, but nevertheless, I spent some time tonight taking reference photos of myself clutching my chest and a throw-blanket, trying to perfect Batman's cape-grab, and other references of me villainously spidering my fingers, trying to imitate this "Dreamweaver" chap.
The result is a layout which, at first glance, looks a lot like the old one. Everything is where it was, more or less. But Dreamweaver's hands are now attached to his body, his helmet makes sense, and Batman's arms and cape now interact in a more realistic way. And his fingers aren't rigid as boards, so it actually looks a bit like he's clutching his heart.
No amount of refining the original drawing in place would have fixed these issues: Batman's arm was too long and bent, his fingers were in the wrong place, and the Dreamweaver's thumbs were actually out of their sockets - never mind the missing arms and shoulders. Finesse and technique only take you so far: at some point you may have to stop and rethink your layout to make real progress.
One step backward, two steps forward. Drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Roughs in Photoshop. Some of the limits of the original composition are becoming clearer here - like, what are the hands of our villain attached to? Has he no shoulders? Is he secretly Rayman?
Enough for now. Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Rough sketch for a cover design a la Batman covers of the late 80's.
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Day 11's drawing, colorized. Lots I would fix in the underlying drawing; many techniques of digital coloring I wished I had learned. But enough of that. Tired, going to bed now.
Still ... Drawing. Every. Day.
-the Centaur 
Hello, Porsche, my old friend; time to draw you again.
Getting more comfortable with the Cintiq + Photoshop + Humanscale combo. But only had time for the inks today. Colors maybe tomorrow, or perhaps another drawing.
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Cinnamon is tired and so am I. No-regrets quick cartooning with a heavy ink pen - a Faber-Castell "
A sketch of a National Geographic magazine cover that reminded me of the vampire Lady Nyissa from Dakota Frost, Skindancer.
Yeah, I'm not liking the broad lines of these colored pencils or the roughness of the texture I can get out of this charcoal pen, especially compared to my preferred comfort zone of pencils-then-ink for line art then Photoshop for color. And you can even see a bit of the previous page, where I'd been sketching the logo to the old space furry comic Dalgoda. Ugh!
But, as my wife and I were talking ... you have to put pen to paper in order to improve. So ... sigh ... lots more work to be done improving will require lots more work that, um, sucks.
Still ... Drawing. Every. Day.
-the Centaur 
Not so successful experiments with light pencils on black paper. A consultation with my wife suggests Conté crayons or oil pastels as an alternative, but really, I think I prefer the brown paper of my other experiments as providing the best midtones. Even Photoshop couldn't salvage this one:
The original came out pretty grainy ... these pencils just won't cut it on black paper.
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Bit of a rush job, as I want to turn in early tonight (and still leave a little time for Editing Every Day). Forehead a bit too high, could have used another rough sketch.
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the year that hell froze over, yes? Well cue the cartoon helicopter noises and ...
SEE YA, 2020! Wouldn't want to be ya.
Ok, OK, it's penguins in a helicopter taking off. Perhaps you had to see the video. Regardless, I am ready to take off and get OUT of here.
Actually, since I couldn't go see a ball drop or have a cocktail at my favorite coffee house or even climb the hill with my wife so we could watch the fireworks, I plopped in the scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture where the Enterprise goes to warp (
Still, it wasn't all bad. I got to participate in many conventions online, and to see friends from all over the world that I otherwise wouldn't get to see. And it's the year we saw some truly bizarre things occur in the world of media, such as this little oddity ...
Actually, I might sign up to see a show about a gender-swapped Star Trek (oh wait that's Star Trek Discovery OH SNAP I went there), but that's neither here nor there. This was the year almost all responsible church services went online ...
... and the year when we DID have socially distanced outdoor services, a police chase started in the background behind the priest during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And hey, remember when this graph looked so bad? We didn't know how good we had it!
It's the year I learned the pomelo looks like a Lovecraftian monster on the inside ...
(You eat it, it doesn't eat you, I promise. Tastes like a sweeter version of a grapefruit.)
And last but not least, it's the year I got this place put together the way I wanted it ...
... and maybe the way other people wanted it too ...
... only to have circumstances force me to take it apart again ...
But, in all honesty, they were good circumstances, if a bit bittersweet. Hopefully the new place will start coming together soon ...
So it wasn't all bad. While I really do want to tell 2020 to bleep off because of work and the pandemic, here's hoping that which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Still, what can I say? Hurry up, Aslan, we need you on the East Coast. Bring my wife and cats with you when you come. The other boxes can wait until the next trip.
-the Centaur 
Tony Francis at Meteor Crater. Sure was windy that day. Oddly, this is one of the best pictures I have taken of my dad.
Guess I enjoyed spending time with him more than taking photos!
Drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Ran out of time unpacking and organizing my library, so no digital sketch today. All I had time to do was a hand sketch of Uncle Boo, which I took on in hopes that I'd do better than the digital one (or at least figure out where I went wrong). Other than imagining connections instead of seeing and drawing them, the number one thing I walked away with was, man, I need to find and unpack my art supplies.
Though the resemblance to my dad is more striking in a drawing ...
Perhaps I've found my next drawing subject ...
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur
Uncle Boo, after his 
Well, today I found out one of my dearest relatives, Uncle Boo, my dad's Mini-Me, so close to him that they took each other's driver's license pictures as a joke - though I could always tell them apart - just died of coronavirus at the age of 90. He hadn't been doing well and this was the final cruel blow.
Bit off more than I could chew this time, attempting to do full coloring layers. Had to give up about a third of the way through because it is way past bedtime, even for me. Not happy with the sketch or the result, didn't really get to flesh this one out the way I wanted to.
Still, drawing every day.
-the Centaur 
Little sketchier this time. But drawing every day.
-the Centaur