Brush Pen Spidey

Here's a quick Spidey sketch. I am experimenting with a brush pen on this one. I used it for everything except the web lines on his costume (that was a tech pen). I usually use traditional brush and ink, but I wanted to see if maybe I could cut some corners/save some time with this utensil. I think with some more practice it could be a useful supplement to my arsenal, but I don't see it fully replacing my brush altogether. I like the variation in line that I can get with a brush. I'll keep both handy for now.
Anyway, I think I'm rambling a bit.
It's Spidey! What's not to like?
I think I drew him everyday of my high school years.
I got to work on some design stuff for the Spider-man 3 action figure packages, which at the time, I was really excited about. Then I saw Spider-man 3 and almost cried during the Emo dance/muscial sequence. It's still kinda cool that I got to work on a Spidey toy line, but you know, I wish the movie was cooler.
That's all for now.

BatsGiving

Here's a quick Batman for the holiday weekend.
I like to think he's reaching for a gravy dispenser in his utility belt!
Please to enjoy.

Big Ed Panel Progression

I thought I would share a step by step progression of a comic book panel. It's a panel from the Bumps & Bruises of Big Ed issue #0.
The first step is in non-photo blue pencil (and somehow I made a copy of the image). The blue pencil is kind of a left over from the old days when you needed to use a camera and shoot the finished artwork... the blue pencil marks wouldn't show up on the negative, hence non-photo blue! I use it in a similar fashion. I pencil the panels in blue pencil, then ink the panels using a mix of pens and brushes, and finally scan in the finished panels (after the ink has dried of course).
When I bring the image into Photoshop I can eliminate the blue pencil by going under Image/Adjustments and selecting Hue/Saturation. Then changing the drop down window from "Master" to "Cyans" and drag the Saturation to -100 and Lightness to +100. Presto! The pencils are gone. It's a lot easier than trying to erase standard pencils and getting those little eraser nubbies everywhere.
The second step in the panel progression is the inked art. I like to use a mechanical pen for a lot of my backgrounds and mechanical/inanimate items ...in this case the bike. The brush work is used largely on the characters. There are moments when one of the inking utensil will cross into the others terrain though.
Lastly is the finished panel. The gray tones are added in using Photoshop. For the Big Ed book I used a lot of flat tones with a few simple gradients thrown in. I wanted to stay away from an airbrushed style for this story. Rendering the artwork for Big Ed would have brought it closer to a realistic feel. I want Big Ed to be believeable, but retain some comedic and superhero values.
So, there it is. A little wordy, but I guarantee that most posts will not be so in depth. I'll try to keep something new posted every week and continue to develop the rest of my site. See you soon!