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Inkthinker — Exalted 05 pg07
Published: 2007-03-20 10:21:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 9047; Favourites: 82; Downloads: 0
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So! Finally got the go-ahead to share something neat with you all...These pages (more to follow) are from my unfortunately aborted participation with the fifth issue of Udon Comic's Exalted, based on the RPG of the same name from White Wolf.
I agreed to draw pages as a subcontractor for an agent, and when that agent dropped out the art team (myself and a couple others) were left holding the bag, so to speak. By the time things were sorted, Udon had made the call to go with another team. I can't blame anyone at Udon for the whole thing, because they were just as badly let down as we were.
The final pages from the script will appear in the Exalted trade paperback, but unfortunately they won't be these pages. I look forward to comparing these with the finals, though. And if you happen to be a fan of the comics or the game, then this might be a nice sort of alternative preview for the upcoming book from Udon.
Ultimately it was a hard lesson in misplaced trust in an agent with whom I had enjoyed a profitable relationship to that point. But it's not a complete loss... I still appreciate the experience of drawing the pages (since I so rarely get to draw comics), and I really like the Exalted setting. My only caveat to these pages was that I was specifically instructed to try and follow the style of the previous artist, and each page needed to be rushed along as quickly as possible (hence the lack of shadows and the minimal backgrounds), but I did my best and I got a stronger sense of the time it takes to draw comics pages, at least part time (each page took about 6-8 hours, but I generally only get 2-4 hours a night for such things).
This is page 07 (I did about 15 pages of the script), in which we find the Exalted heroes Kidale and Faka Kun on the run through the circus camp, fleeing from a raid of soldiers and Dragon-Blooded.
Drawn in Manga Studio using an Intuos tablet. On to page 08!!
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Comments: 73
All in Manga Studio, I think. These pages are very old, and were drawn with a lap-tablet rather than my current Cintiq setup, and I don't remember exactly how we did the layouts (I know some of them, at least, came from the client).
These days I do it all inside Manga Studio. Sometimes I'll do rough thumbnails in my pocket sketchbook, especially if I'm away from my computer, but I rarely bother to scan them... instead I just lay them down next to me and work from them as visual reference.
Sketching in Manga Studio is easy, I don't even switch away from the pens. Once I've taken the sketch far enough, I lower its opacity (and in Manga Studio, I usually give it a blue color) and then draw the clean linework on a new Layer over it.
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Thanks, I were interested, becouse I finally got manga studio, and I don't know if you know, but you're my biggest inpiration for me
So I wanted to know
Let's make comics! WOOHOOO!!
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Wow, thanks!
I really wish they'd kept it named "Comic Studio" (as it is in Japan), but other than that minor irony it's my favorite software for drawing, especially drawing comics.
It won't do the job for you, but it's a great platform for practice and work! Get to it!!
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sure! It's awesome!
Did you publish any comic?
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I've been focusing on animation for the past ten years, so I haven't had any comics work published in a long time. Back in the those days I drew on board with ink, and the material was very different (cartoon-style stuff, there's a little of it in my Gallery).
I've done a bunch of other published stuff using Manga Studio, mostly games work, but Joe is Japanese will be the first major comics project.
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OK; wow, your comments and your art is really inpiring, keep it up that way!
I'm trying to find manga paper by internet, becouse in my country nobody sells anything of that (bleh, I don't know anyone) and I can begin with my manga, becouse my tablet is not working as it worked time ago.
I'm saving to buy a Cintiq, but, until that time, I just have to draw traditionally, and sometimes digitally
GOOD LUCK!
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Shame this wasn't used, it's better than the ones in the book.
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wou... i like this one the most.. it also gives me some ideas...
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You depict movement so well! I really admire that about your comic pages since not many can do that on such a professional level. *_* Your inking work is excellent too! Nice, clean and crisp. I've viewed all the comics you posted of this series but for some reason this page is my favorite.
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there's a really frantci feel to theswe pages, soemthing that rea.ly captures the nature of the chase and the way the charater seems to blindly hurtle through the pannles. the way which you arrest this speed at the end by having him practically throw his body back while skidding to a halt really works tro juxdipose that sense3 of fowards momentum present in the other pannles. prehapse that last gusture's a tad exagerated though, since it dosn't really look as though he'd stay upright due to the fall of his body over his center of gravity.
it's amazing just what an effect speed lines can have; they really work to push up the tempo of the peice while the slight angle everything's at works to make it alot more dynamic.
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brilliant as usual. but sorry about the letdown. will u leave it black and white or are u gonna color it just fot the heck of it?
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Nope. These pages represent a job, however aborted, so they represent the output that I delivered. If I color 'em, they become something else entirely.
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true... well very nice job anyway.
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Great layout! I love the sense of motion in the final panel.
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The layout on this page (and about half the others) actually came to me from further up the chain. It made things a little easier, except that I didn't always agree on some of the choices (for instance, I like action to go from left to right, so that the eye follows along with it).
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Hmm, I see what you mean. Perhaps the right-to left structure of this page was Manga-influenced?
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Might've been. I think the person who drew the original layout was Korean, though, and they go left to right, same as West.
I occasionally have to break out of that myself, though, 'cause I read too much manga. I catch myself doing thumbnail layouts starting at the upper right and working left, and I have to shake out the cobwebs and start over.
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You drew this directly on the computer? Impressive...
Your work is always a thrill to see. You should definitely do more comics if the opportunity presents itself.
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Yep, 100% nonexistant.
I'd like to, if I can.
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It is awesome. It makes me very sad that it will never see print thanks to someone outside of you control. Frankly, i have not purchased any of the Exalted comic but if this was how its was going to look, i would.
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Check out the collected edition... it's a good chance to get the whole set in one shot, and you can compare my pages to the finals.
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Nice man, I remember seeing some of the previous issue pages, why don't you do sequentials more often? You're great at it!
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TAKES... SOOO... LONG...
No, seriously, nobody really wants to pay WFH rates for a page every 3-4 days (nor should they). And I can't afford to take on "back-end" jobs (which, at least in my experience, are a bit like gambling anyhow), so for the time being I keep my comics jones on the back burner.
I really like doing 'em, though, and I'd like to get a lot better at it (I'm not so good as I ought to be)... it's just a matter of time and opportunity.
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You don't have to blame them, I'll do it enough for everyone.
This page is beautiful
I could read a whole book on this just for your art.
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How come you drew it in manga studio? Is there a bigger advantage using that then photoshop? Im just curious cause im gonna be making a comic soon, and i want to know the best tools to use.
Nice job though its great!!!
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Manga Studio EX has some very specific advantages when it comes to creating comics in particular... it's a dedicated comics production application, it allows you to organize panels as Layer Sets, it can do both Raster and Vector Layers within a single panel, and it has some unique tools that are particularly useful (such as perspective grid generation and an excellent tool for drawing curves). It also has excellent zip-tone applications, which is ideal if you want to incorporate that into your style.
That being said, Photoshop has its own bag of tricks. I absolutely love the Transform tools in CS2, espescially the Warp Transform. Photoshop has a more robust functionality and a more deeply established base, and it's capable of (I think) better memory allocation and faster application. While Manga Studio is largely restricted to a black and white palette, Photoshop is a leading tool for coloring, and is overall a more powerful bit of software.
The beautiful thing is, you don't necessarily have to choose. Manga Studio can both import and export PSD files, allowing for a certain amount of smooth transition back and forth... you can apply each program to your pages to create a final result.
If you HAD to choose between the two, I'd say that Manga Studio is much cheaper ($299 for the full version, $99 for the limited version which is still VERY robust, and I think you can upgrade for the difference in cost) but Photoshop is an essential tool in the professional illustrator's digital kit.
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Thanks a lot i appreciate your advice. I have photoshop 7, and i had a demo of manga studio. Ill probably get the full version and take your advice in using both.
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That's too bad, Ben. You do great work! I'd love to read some comics by you.
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Not so often in my contract work. That's really a gag that only appears in my personal illustrations.
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ah! The page looks great anyways. Awesome shiz man!!
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Aw, man...
Such a pity. I'd too would liked to see that fifth issue with your style. Been waiting like a moon to rise.
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Oh man, that would have been amaizing if you were able to draw that comic. I've been waiting for issue #5 forever! Noi Sakada is a great artist and I love his style, but honestly I like your style better.
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action lines!, action lines!, action lines!, action lines!, action lines!
you see, this text adds action to the message! And so do the "!", too! Looks cool, sorry to hear it won't go! I'll wait for the "more to come" (but it will be the most active wait you'll ever see) !
action lines!, action lines!, action lines!, action lines!, action lines!
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Manga Studio makes 'em reeeeaaaally easy, so it's possible I went a bit overboard.
Not only can you auto-generate 'em, but there's also a tool that allows you to create a locked focal point so that all the lines you draw have a consistent VP (which is what I was usually using).
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Real nice work on that page! Sorry the job didn't work out as planned. You drew this whole page in Manga Studio? I've heard of that program. Do you enjoy using it or was this a one time thing?
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I've actually been pimping for that software since long before it was released in the US... in the course of my animation work we have contacts with Celsys, the creators of Manga Studio (called "Comic Studio" in Japan), and so myself and a couple others were on one of the first beta test teams for the English version. I spent a couple years with the old beta of Debut, and when e frontier and Tokyopop got together with Celsys to release it in the US, I was lucky enough to be gifted with a new version of EX.
I don't get to use it a lot, but I do use it whenever I can. For creating comics (or even for just dedicated inkline simulation), it's hard to beat.
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That's awesome. I'll have to give that a closer look now. Thanks.
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This is nice. Though I not the comic type. Very clean work.
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