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Post by whitecomics on Aug 23, 2022 13:26:49 GMT
I love process talk and often the most interesting, useful aspect of a process interview is some tossed off, tiny nugget of wisdom. So let's talk about those - either ones that you've come across or that you've come up with yourself. A few from me: * I've started keeping a short text doc in the same folder as each book/project. I've briefly flirted with various note-taking/organizing systems over the years and don't think they're for me in part because I enjoy sketchbooks and notes that are a bit chaotic, retaining some room for possibilities and mistakes. But a single, dumb doc is nice for noting when I last worked on a project, particular ideas I want to keep in mind, etc. * I almost never draw panel borders. There are exceptions but I generally find I can get away with either drawing them digitally (when perfectly ruled lines are appropriate) or drawing a few templates that I'll then drop over the pages digitally. Saves a lot of time. * Saul Steinberg on "appetite and materials" (and Kevin H's commentary on same, which is how I originally found it) has been very helpful to me over the years, in part because it's either a set of "small useful tricks" or it's an entire philosophy and mindset for how to approach creative work.
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GHO
Full Member
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Posts: 196
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Post by GHO on Sept 2, 2022 22:35:36 GMT
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Post by benhinz on Apr 27, 2023 21:04:54 GMT
* I almost never draw panel borders. There are exceptions but I generally find I can get away with either drawing them digitally (when perfectly ruled lines are appropriate) or drawing a few templates that I'll then drop over the pages digitally. Saves a lot of time. I haven't drawn them in on my last few projects. I like to lay 'em in in the final digital composite. The only downer is I end up with a stack of layers called "rectangle x."
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Post by bluebed on Apr 28, 2023 12:59:04 GMT
Adjusting pressure curve on ipad or tablet is a game-changer, can really reduce wrist pain if you don’t have to press hard. Can’t do nibs anymore, myself—too exhausting. If you’re only doing colors etc you can set it up as light as possible, otherwise it’s worth adjusting it to your own hand.
And the whole separate black pixels process can be made into a photoshop action, and assigned to an F key, so you just open the scan, do levels and press one button.
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Post by whitecomics on Apr 28, 2023 22:25:29 GMT
I'm definitely lazier about Photoshop actions than I should be, it feels like such a pain but like most things is probably fine once you understand it.
Wrist pain is worst for me with lettering these days, I'm considering investing the time/money in a handwriting font...
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Post by bluebed on Apr 29, 2023 13:58:39 GMT
I'm definitely lazier about Photoshop actions than I should be, it feels like such a pain but like most things is probably fine once you understand it. Wrist pain is worst for me with lettering these days, I'm considering investing the time/money in a handwriting font... Same, I can't afford to letter anymore at all, even drawing is too much. Fontself is the best option I found: www.fontself.com/ It's a pretty decent system, works straight in Photoshop and you can make ligature glyphs to replace common letter combinations so that the letters don't look too similar. You can take a look at mine here: bluebed.gumroad.com/l/HJBKP?layout=profileThough I only used it for one thing, then just started typing with a simple sans serif 'pasted' around a-la Schrauwen/Haifisch. Don't care if it's good or not, got to save the ol' wrist for drawing... plus I tend to rewrite things until the very end, and that just makes it so much easier.
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Post by whitecomics on Apr 29, 2023 16:55:35 GMT
I like the sans serif in your new book bluebed, it works well. It's funny, I do drafts with a simple font for the same reasons, rewriting often, but then do a final hand-lettered pass. So maybe it is time for a change, thanks for the recommendation. Another useful trick for everyone! I'm not a fan of fancy notetaking systems (zettelkasten etc) even if the motivation and benefits appeal to me quite a bit. But I've started simply using big, color coded headings for the various projects about which I have running notes in sketchbooks and have found that convenient when skimming through months, years of past notes in search of something.
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Post by whitecomics on May 6, 2023 18:52:24 GMT
Thought I'd check in with a progress report on fonts. Fontself requires fancy Photoshop CC, if like me you're hanging on to a copy of CS5 and dreading every move to a new computer, the best option seems to be Calligraphr. That's what I tried. Free for basic fonts, $8 a month for ligatures, letter variants, etc. But as long as you download your font you have the raw file, no need to keep paying. Just a risk you'll notice a suboptimal letter combo in six months and want to tweak it. I've found it straightforward if tedious to tweak spacing, sizes, etc. in their little web interface. The only downside I've found so far is they bitmap the images you upload. Fine for ink but I letter in pencil regularly and want a pencil font. I wrote to their support and asked if there was a way to keep the images unadjusted. I made a gnib font and a micron font, one example of each examples below. The font version followed by the hand lettered version in both cases.
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Post by bluebed on May 7, 2023 7:46:18 GMT
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Post by bluebed on May 22, 2023 14:31:29 GMT
Font chat update: just saw that fontself is now on iPad, which might be a way to do it without Adobe (will check it out and see), and more importantly, there's an 'alternatives' feature which (I assume) allows you to have several variations on the same letter that the font picks itself, so you don't have to mess with fake ligatures like I did years ago! www.fontself.com/featuresAlso, they have an artist/student/teacher discount if you reach out to them, if I remember correctly.
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Post by whitecomics on May 22, 2023 18:42:07 GMT
More font chat: Calligraphr doesn't support greyscale images and has no plans to do so. Guess I'm out of luck on my pencil font, though I'm fonted out for now so I'm glad to have a break! I'll get back to it at some point...
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Post by bluebed on May 22, 2023 19:15:04 GMT
Hmm, I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure it's not possible, the only options are vector or bitmap. Still, if there are pixel 'holes' in the letters, it would probably read pencilley, especially if it gets scaled down in print. You can also do a workaround of placing a thresholded dust texture on top of your flattened final type and erasing bits from it to give it a rougher finish.
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Post by eheitner on Jul 7, 2023 14:53:57 GMT
Ok, I don't know if this counts as a "small trick" but just...how do artists who make sketchbook pages like this do it? thebristolboard.tumblr.com/post/722056798203478016/antoinemaillard-sketch-book-of-my-trip-in-usaLike, at one level I'm asking a rhetorical how the fuck question, but also, no, like, really, what is the process for you artists who make these immaculate elaborate sketchbook pages? Do you take lots of reference photos to finish work later? Do you keep a messier sketchbook somewhere else? Is it just "hey I'm really good"?
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Post by eheitner on Jul 7, 2023 14:54:33 GMT
Any other tips/tricks for drawing "in situ" "en plein air" "on the go" would be appreciated.
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Post by whitecomics on Aug 6, 2023 23:51:35 GMT
This is in most ways the opposite of a small useful trick but it's in the area code of process talk and it's certainly been on my mind lately so thought I would share something I wrote this evening. Maybe it'll elicit some interesting conversation: whitecomics.co/2023/08/06/on-asking-questions/
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