tom the newbie

[tmadd]

I'm new here and I would like to be able to ask questions and maybe answer some.. I am a working artist. I have been lucky and had work for quite a while and yet i feel I am not doing what i really want.

but, actually, what I am doing is trying to get down to just creating comics for weekly periodicals or something like that.. I think not necessarily an online site but I guess I need feedback in that respect.

[Leah-Admin]

Hi Tom

Welcome to the forum, great to have you here

Leah

[Kathy]

Hi Tom! Welcome! I'd love to see your work. Do you have a website or someplace where we can see it? Please share!

Kathy

[Steve B]

Welcome on board
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http://www.stevebonellocartoons.com

[tmadd]

Glad to be here.. this is my site: sites.google.com/site/tmaddalenaportfolio

[Steve B]

Will admit it is not exactly my style but if I had a bike I'd like your art on it definitely!
I can see your passion though.

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http://www.stevebonellocartoons.com

[Kathy]

Holy Cow, that's some awesome artwork you've done!! Vivid, high energy, cool! I can see how you'd be able to find work, it's very good and I bet quite popular.

Will you tell us about your process and tools?

[tmadd]

thanks kathy- of course everything starts with a concept.. and i talk it over with my client. then i move to several pencil sketches based on those conversations. (i use derwent 3b for almost everything). sometimes i hit it right away and other times it takes a few diagrams to get where they want to be. i usually go to ink right away if i get a positive response before they take it to comittee and i have to start all over again.. ( i use faber castell S markers, and the B which is a brush-type marker). then i will scan the line art and colorize it in photoshop in the channels using primarily the airbrush.

[Kathy]

Can you explain what you mean by colorized it in Photoshop in the channels? I haven't really used channels much in ps, only a little for photo restoration.

[tmadd]

once you open the line art you've drawn in photoshop, you will open channels and pull down the green to create an alpha channel.. then you double clik on it to make it a spot color, which is black in this case. then the easiest thing to do is go back to layers and create a new blank layer. then delete the line art layer you started with.. because you will be coloring under the channel in the new blank layer. try that and you'll see what i mean. you're really coloring in the layers but the line art isn't affected until you want to copy it and drop it on the layer colors.

[DaD O Matic]

Hello Tmadd. Visited your site great work! And welcome. I have so many questions.

What your doing is the direction that I am pursuing. I've been busy with preparing to go back to college,(grant,compass assessment,ect.)I will be taking computer graphics and web design.fall classes are closed,next are in the spring.

Let me start with 3 questions if you don't mind.

Would you recommend this profession to a person who is considering it for a career? why or why not?

Is it in demand or is it in decline?

What personal qualities are necessary to succeed in this career?

Sorry if I started on the quick, but I was inspired. R. Leon

[Kathy]

Hi Tom! Why the green channel? And why not use the line art? Usually if I'm going to color in Photoshop, I ink the drawing, scan, and use it as the line art layer. Your process sounds interesting! Next time I get into Photoshop I think I'll experiment with the air brush tool-I don't even remember seeing one! I tend to favor illustrator.

[Simon Lake]

Just noticed this thread. Very interesting and very welcome tom. Keep it steady!

[tmadd]

i have to say, toad, i think as someone who actually can DRAW, you are needed in the industry. people like us with drawing ability are getting rare believe it or not.. and are being replaced by what i call "paste-up jockies" who take a lot of credit for somebody else' talents... so if i were you i'd at least keep up my craft. as far as it being a career i'm glad i am in the thick of it.. because i can do survival jobs even when i am totally out of work. but you'll never get rich at it.

[tmadd]

kathy, there's nothing wrong with illustrator.. i use it in a similar fashion as well as corel draw. the whole idea of getting the line art into channels for me is to get the scan into full transparency so when i lay down colors the line art will always be on top... and it keeps me from coloring into the outline layer by mistake... i have done that a million times. because in my case i also do separations for screenprinting most of the time and this is a great time saver. i only use the green channel because generally it is a good divider in RGB... there's a lot more to go into as far as how the file gets used.... for instance if you leave the file in grayscale you can still colorize separate areas in the channels.... which will look the way you want it (the colors and color mixes are there for you visually but they print out black in separations) without converting to CMYK... (you are totally creating print channels for film at that point and CMYK is meaningless.)