Eric Orchard's Blog, page 51

Mimblebot In Layers

One of the interesting, novel things about working digitally is being able to work on layers and separate and inspect different aspects of a drawing or painting. If you're not familiar with layers, many graphic programs use them and they can be best compared to drawing on several sheets of acetate or clear paper. This lets you draw aspects of the image separately so you can decide if something's working without having to erase a lot of work. There are many other uses for layers as well. At top I've isolated just the outlines and blacks and at bottom it;s just the hatching. I find being able to see a drawing this way can really help steer it in the right direction. 

Stay At Home Cartoonist

I thought I'd post a bit about where I currently find myself and why I love it despite the overwhelming frustration that comes with it. My schedule is probably the oddest it's been. In order to save money and justify cartooning we chose to take our three year old out of daycare so I could care for him during the day. I was careful not to announce this at the time so that people wouldn't tell me it was impossible to look after a child and do full time work as well. Lately I'm finding it important to avoid being told something can't be done.

So, I often get up by 6 or so and try to start working immediately. I find it helps to have a project that you can just pick up and start running with at any time. Then my three year old wakes up and the great balancing act begins.

One of the best parts of this life is I'm always dying to get back to drawing but without the mental exhaustion that comes with working a menial job. When I work in retail or wherever I'm just tired and worn out all the time. Looking after my son for about 8 hours every day doesn't leave me worn down, not usually. There are bad days. Awful days. But even awful days with my son beats awful days in retail by a very long shot.

I still work while I'm looking after Henry. But not as much, his needs come first. Since I'm doing Marrowbones all digitally and my Cintiq is all tucked away in a far corner of the house I can't do much with it during the day. Instead I either work on Maddy Kettle on the dining room table or sketch on my iPad.

Three days a week I take Henry to a a drop in center where there are lots of kids. It's mostly moms and grandmothers, occasionally another dad will show up but not often. I grew up with mostly women so this kind of situation doesn't bother me. And artists fit in everywhere. I think so, anyway.

And then comes the weekend! The best time! My wife teaches so she is home all weekend and I work like mad. And love every second if it.

So, my current output looks like this: a page of Maddy penciled every day and a whole page of Marrowbones finished every day. Roughly. Maddy during the day and Marrowbones at night. And i do one Saturday Morning Webtoon a week. And honestly, I don't feel stressed or that I don't have enough time, for the most part.

The big things for me are; having a family makes things better. Working creatively and having responsibilities to other people just seems ideal to me. It makes my art better, I learn things from my family, I'm encouraged by them and nurtured by them. If I didn't have a family I know I'd do less work. I found the most passion and drive after meeting my wife and it's no coincidence.

And secondly, I'm doing work I want to do. I'm telling stories by drawing pictures and I'm able to choose the exact stories I want to tell. This is incredibly important to me.

Some things I should add. I don't go out much. Hardly ever. I've never had a drivers license. Other than very occasionally seeing friends there's nothing I want to do. My recreation time is devoted almost entirely to reading, books and comics. I read a lot and think it's a really important aspect of a creative life. To give you a sense if how rarely I go out, since moving to Toronto three years ago I've gone to the ballet once, went to one Wilco concert seen 2 movies at the theater and the handful of times I've net friends for coffee I've always combined it with work related errands. That might strike you as weird but I've found it necessary to do what I do.

I rarely play video games. I think video games are really cool and almost research for visual artists. But I just don't play them a lot. I'd rather read or draw or hang out with Henry or Julie. This is more of a personal thing.

I don't drink much. I've never been a big drinker. It might be because of all the warnings I've gotten about alcoholics in my family, but I don't really enjoy drinking that much. When I was finishing art school I worked at a wine store. I think working with wine and being able to drink very expensive bottles gave me an appreciation of drinking that has nothing to do with being drunk.

I try and stay healthy. I really need to work at this but I do what I can do. I make sure I eat enough, drink enough water and I try and sleep 7 hours every night. I have issues with anxiety so it's essential I don't wear myself down. I'm useless if I'm mentally unwell. I really don't want to have to take time off because I'm frazzled. I want to take time off because I deserve it.

Zatanna

A sketch I did of Zatanna in Manga Studio and Photoshop. One of my favorite DC characters.

Webtoon!

New Webtoon is up! Come see it here. I think it's my favorite one yet.

Also, a correction for yesterdays post. I wrote that the Procreate app has no way to save images to photos on your iPad, but the people at Procreate contacted me to let me know you actually can. When your in drawing mode the drop-down gear menu will let you do that easily. Sorry for my mistake. 

Procreate For iPad

I just wanted to let everyone know about this great sketching app that Ray Frenden introduced me to, it's called Procreate and it's become my favorite sketching app for the iPad. Unlike other drawing apps Procreate has a lively and organic looking line that is highly customizable, and you can draw in what feels like a much more natural way than other apps that offer a more uniform line. It's a really fun drawing tool. Because the line is more organic you can work out ideas quickly and intuitively. Other drawing apps have a very flat line which can slow you down, I find. The one drawback to Procreate is the inability to save files right to your photos on your iPad, however that's not a huge issue as its so easy to do a screen capture. Right now the app is on sale for .99 cents but I think it's usually about 5 dollars.

Barnaby Marrowbone's Motel

Here's a pen and ink drawing I did last summer of the Marrowbones Motel but never posted because it's a huge drawing and I never got around to scanning the whole thing until this morning. I think I've told this story here before but I'll just quickly mention it again, the whole idea behind Marrowbones came to me last summer while my family was traveling through Quebec, we were traveling through a fairly rural are called Riviere Du loup, which translates as Wolf River, and as we checked into a motel during one of the worst thunderstorms I've ever experienced I couldn't help but imagine that the clerk at the old motel was in fact, a werewolf. I started writing that night and drew this a bit later. 

The Kitchen Lich Rejected Rough

Here's a (self) rejected rough I did for a little monster comic I'm doing called The Kitchen Lich. This was done in Manga Studio. I had a sudden, strong need to do a monster comic. This happens more frequently than you'd think. I've decided to do some monster short stories framed around the character Nora, who works at her uncle Barnaby's haunted motel in a swamp.

It's actually been a rough time getting work done. With my wife working long hours I find myself doing the stay at home dad thing over time. I think I'm learning a new kind of patience every day. I'm using any trick I can think of to draw. So stuff is getting done, just not as much as I'd like.

In other news we may have found a new place, and not far from here. We'll know soon. Can not wait to hang my favorite art on the wall!

Mimblebot And Tars

A drawing of Mimblebot and Tars the cat done entirely in Manga studio. I was about three quarters of the way through it when I realised I wasn't quite getting the effect I wanted so I quickly finished it up and moved on to the next thing. The line width I was using was just to small so I've had to experiment  since with different widths. Still, I'm quite happy with it. I learned a lot about Manga Studio while doing this one, such amazing drawing software. Let me know if you have any questions!

Ollie The Vampire

Ollie the vampire has lived his whole non-life in the ghost infested cemetery behind the Marrowbone Motel, with only a couple of trips into town to see what all the fuss is about. He finds there's more than enough to interest him in the cemetery, as it's a very active place. He is a very minor vampire, feeding on mice and worms his best friend is Nora.

New Laff!

A new Laff has been posted! Come see!