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AlphaCMT In reply to razsolo [2013-01-25 19:04:04 +0000 UTC]

Agreed! The client for whatever reason focused on this era of the Legion. Little did he know [or perhaps he did from my evolution of style] that I LOVE these Legion uniforms and overall aesthetic. This was so not a chore and a labor or love.

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AlphaCMT In reply to hobzart [2013-01-25 08:38:28 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much hobzart! I'm tickled by the Charles Burns/Zot comparison! I'm not quite sure I see that but ok! I will say this... I love Astro Boy, and in my mind Zot invokes the whimsey and stylings of that manga. On that alone, I could definitely see myself doing a homage illustration of ZOT! 99% percent of all my illustrations are completed traditionally. I use a H lead pointer, ink with Microns and Sharpies on bristol board and I tweak in photoshop if I need to. I'm glad you're interested in seeing my pencils... stay tuned! I have some more Legion-centric illustrations in the pipeline that will be just pencils. I might be even be able to convince a friend of mine to take a stab at inking those pencils!

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hobzart In reply to AlphaCMT [2013-01-25 10:35:42 +0000 UTC]

the hatching lines have a really nice fluid taper to them, and they are fairly large as well which is where the burns thing came in. i am surprised that those aren't brush strokes. is it a micron brush pen or are you drawing out all those tapered lines?

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AlphaCMT In reply to hobzart [2013-01-25 18:59:08 +0000 UTC]

I even wanted the cross hatching lines to "flow" so I purposely pencilled it out that way to convey movement. I then went back and inked it strictly in 03 Micron pen as best I could. In some cases I didn't follow it line for line, but at least I had a "roadmap" of sorts.

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hobzart In reply to AlphaCMT [2013-01-26 06:39:52 +0000 UTC]

have you tried inking w a brush? if you have a decent brush it gives you the same effect w one stroke. it does take some getting used to but very worth it. i inked with a no 2 rafael for years until going digital.

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AlphaCMT In reply to hobzart [2013-01-26 12:15:13 +0000 UTC]

I appreciate the suggestion, but I know my limitations. Ironically, I receive more compliments on my inking than any other aspect of my work. Except, I'm not really a inker, just a penciller who happens to ink his work as if he's still pencilling. I like the "sharpness" of the line I can get with a pen. That precision and control is just easier for me to control with a pen as opposed to a brush. All of my weight lines [and I'm big on them, I think it's important, with a style like mine to easily establish foreground and background] are pre thought out at the pencil stage.

Admittedly, I bring a certain amount of bias to the table. All the inkers I really admired growing up [Austin, Kesel, Story, Williams, Thibert] had a real "technical" feel to their work, now whether that precision was achieved mostly through pen as opposed to brush... I'll never know. I just know it was easiest for me to replicate that style with initially rapidographs for tight lines and a brush to fill in blacks. These days I just use Microns and Sharpies [disposable and cheap], then tweak in photoshop as needed.

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hobzart In reply to AlphaCMT [2013-01-26 19:27:34 +0000 UTC]

gotcha. not sure who all those inkers are. i am guessing karl kesel (i found a batman piece where he uses charcoal and grafite to create mid tones i would guess all of this is tech pens and crow quill [link] ) and probably scot williams art thirbert, not sure who story is though. i should look it up. i met inker ralph calbrera at a con once he is an amazing artist. nice as hell and he talked to me for like 20 minutes giving me all sort of advice on inking. including using brush pens (personally fabercastel makes a better brush pen than micron to me also if the tip dulls you can pull it out flip it and the other end is like a new tip so they each have two tips.) but you can take out the sponge let it dry out and ad real india ink to it and the lines are darker and waterproof and smoother.

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AlphaCMT In reply to hobzart [2013-01-27 03:08:21 +0000 UTC]

You got it! Karl Kesel is the man. I forgot to mention Gary Martin, and Story is Karl Story. In fact, you might as well include most of the Gaiijin Studios alumni as a influences especially Brian Stelfreeze and Jason Pearson. I too like Fabercastels as well! It's nice to chat with someone who's so serious about the medium! I'm so whatever's going to give me the effect I want with the least amount of headache. I admit it, I'm a luddite and heretic. Forgive me!

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hobzart In reply to AlphaCMT [2013-01-27 07:41:06 +0000 UTC]

yeah i can say the same as being a luddite in some areas. so no prob there. and i agree it is rare to find people who talk art like i do. so any time i find someone else its awesome. sorry if i come across like a caveman in me words just got off really long night at work.

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AlphaCMT In reply to jonvin [2012-07-13 09:40:40 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much and thanx for watching! Wink!

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