Studying the Way of the Samurai

Preparing to work on an upcoming Usagi Yojimbo commission, Michelle and I realized we knew little to nothing about the character. So, this past week we’ve been researching the Stan Sakai comic, doing some sketches, and, in this week’s video, a full ink, wash, and watercolor study of the samurai rabbit.

Wikipedia tells me Usagi Yojimbo is heavily influenced by Japanese cinema, Kurosawa, and other samurai pop culture icons. And it’s here that I realize there is a giant hole in my pop culture/cinema foundation. Aside from flipping through some issues of Lone Wolf and Cub back in college, I never really dove into stories involving samurai and ronins and swordplay. I read a few issues of Groo the Wanderer, which Sakai lettered, but it was mostly for the comedy and the classic Sergio Aragones cartooning. Look, I like comedy and monsters. Who knew there was such rich storytelling going on involving feudal japan and anthropomorphic rabbits? Everyone but me, apparently.

The watercolor study this week doesn’t do much to shore up my knowledge of that culture, but it does help me put a shape to the character. I think what little research we’ve done informed my decisions on how to pose the character, and to try to convey a quiet strength in his stance and expression.

And though the character and storyline of Usagi Yojimbo are set centuries ago in feudal Japan, this study prompted me to use modern technology to develop a new tool to help in the inking and coloring process.

Worried I’d lay down a wobbly or broken line when inking the katana and sheath, and having no flexible ruler to mold to my drawing’s sketch lines, I used a scan of my sketch, vector software, and a laser cutter to create a custom ruler out of wood.

Was it an over the top move for a simple study? Probably. Should I have just used the opportunity to strengthen my freehand inking skills? Definitely. But like the ronin’s of feudal Japan, I have no master. And I have cut ties with my family and clan. So if I want to buck the traditional methods of inking an anthropomorphic rabbit to turn out a half decent illustration, who’s to say I can’t? No one. You’re not the boss of me.

We recorded my process for creating this Usagi Yojimbo illustration. If you want to see how the illustration turned out, or watch me wield my deadly samurai custom ruler, the link to this week’s video is down

*blog originally posted at vincedorse.com

Making A Mini-Comic: The Sequel

If you’d have told me two years ago that I’d have to spend time making a sequel to our popular “How To Make A Mini-Comic From One Sheet Of Paper” video, I’d have whined and complained for hours. But as it turns out, Michelle said that very thing to me just a couple weeks ago and I had the exact same reaction.

It’s not that I don’t like making videos…or mini-comics. But I thought we’d already answered all the questions about how to do that. Then Michelle pointed out the literal arm-long list of questions in the comments section of that video, and I agreed that maybe a followup would be helpful.

Since some people like to work digitally, we did a deeper dive in the second video on the different drawing apps you could use to set up your mini-comic. I dusted off my iPad and dug into Procreate for the first time in way too many months. Actually had a lot of fun working in that app and I look forward to experimenting with it a little more.

We also covered using different-sized paper, adding pages, and before it was all over, I’d put together two different new mini-comics to use as examples. Granted, one was just a portfolio of horrendous caricatures of Michelle, but what do you want? I was under a time crunch!

We also brought back our friend, voice actor Owen McCuen, to do some voicework on a dramatic reading of my new mini-comic about public domain cartoon characters. So if you want to see that, and maybe learn a little about making mini-comics, the video link is below.

And for anyone who missed the first part (nearly 3 years ago) here’s a link to that video too:

Beware, Spider-Villains…I got new brushes!

During our month-long summer break, Michelle and I hit a few different art stores in a quest to find some new, decent brushes for inking and watercolor. I decided to try Princeton Velvetouch brushes, and I thought we’d test them out inking and coloring some scary Spider-Man villains.

The Green Goblin was inked entirely with a number one round. Even the smallest detail lines where I’d normally use a fine liner, I inked with that brush.

I liked the way this brush handled. It has a great point, and the bristles held plenty of ink for me to draw long, variable-width lines without going back to the ink jar too often.

The inks went down smooth and dark on this hot press watercolor paper. And after getting used to the feel of the brush with the Goblin, inking the Lizard was a breeze. However, we wanted to color these villains. But unlike our reptile friend above, hot press paper does not have a lot of tooth. And we knew that watercolor was not going to lay down as nicely on a paper with so little tooth.

There’s a bit of a trick to it, but if you’re careful, you can get decent results with watercolor even on the hot press paper. I imagine the colors would look even nicer on cold press, but then I’d have to sacrifice that smooth surface I love so much for inking.

And I wasn’t the only one trying to get watercolors to work on hot press. Michelle, once again, took the Ink It or Stink It challenge with a Spider-Ham I sketched for her. However, there was a new twist: Sure, she doesn’t ink and yet is forced to ink during this game. But to balance that out, she has also never worked with watercolors. So I threw my palette in front of her and had her color the image she inked. Did she get an Ink or a Stink from the judges? Did I enjoy the Princeton brushes enough to start using them on a regular basis? Am I way off base with my choices for scariest Spidey-villains? You can find the answer to these questions (and a whole lot of art tips) in the video below.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider Sketches

No elaborate diorama building this week, just some basic ink and watercolor practice. For inspiration, we used a couple of Spider-Man characters that have been trending lately. First, because Across The SpiderVerse was king of the box office, we decided to do a quick ink and watercolor sketch of Miles Morales.

There was also a lot of buzz about Aaron Taylor Johnson and the upcoming Kraven The Hunter movie. So far, I’m not sure how I feel about a young, model-handsome Kraven, so I went with the old school, fed-face-angry, teeth-clenching Kraven from the comics. That guy was unhinged.

I like to try to stay in practice with the illustration tools I want to become proficient with, so for these sketches I used a couple different brush pens, as well as the old school brush and ink. With the watercolors, I challenged myself to mix the flesh tones with just the primary colors.

So, all in all, a good week of practice. I’m thinking about doing it more often. I go over the pros and cons of the tools I use, as well as my techniques, in this week’s video. I linked it below in case you want to see how it all turned out.

How To Make an 8-Page Mini-Comic from One Sheet of Paper!

That’s right! No staples, no stack of paper…just one sheet of typing paper, some creative folding and cutting, and you can make your own mini-comic! I’ll show you how in our video this week.

I mean, you’ll also have to write and draw your comic, or story, or whatever you wanna fill 8 pages with. But once you figure out what you want to say, there are a number of ways you can go about getting it on paper.

In the video, I talk about drawing and lettering it by hand directly onto a piece of paper. But I also create a mini-comic from scratch using some graphics software (Clip Studio Paint) and a printer. Either way, the process is pretty simple.

I hope you give it a try. And if you do, I hope you have fun! -v

Two Hellboys for the Price of One!

And since nobody’s charging an admission fee, that price is free. Free to watch me ink this Hellboy.

I used traditional, brushed ink on watercolor paper, something I’ve been trying to get better at.

But that’s not all — I said two Hellboys and I meant it. In an episode of Ink It or Stink It, Run Red Run also took a shot at inking a Li’l Hellboy drawing I did!

How did she do? You’ll have to watch the video to find out. Hope you like it! -v

Inking Daredevil

Did a quick video where I practiced my spot blacks with a Daredevil piece. (First image digitally colored)

Most of the time, when I’m doing comic-style work, I go light on the inks, leaving the image open for color.

But I know that even a heavily-inked piece with big patches of black in the right places looks great once the color is added….and has the further benefit of looking amazing as a black-and-white illustration.

So, in this video, I’m practicing dropping more ink into an image than I’m used to. And I’m having fun talking with Run Red Run about inking, commissions, and Daredevil:

Inking The Green Goblin

Norman Osborn is a wealthy businessman, a doting father, and an evil super villain. Eh. Gotta take the good with the bad.

I inked a sketch of Green Goblin this week, and you can follow my process in the video below.

While I ink, I talk with my friend Run Red Run about cherished friendships, deadly enemies, inking, and Dave Wachter. Enjoy the video.

Inking The Thing

When I inked The Hulk last week, I did it knowing that I’d be inking another bruiser this week that the green-skinned goliath has gone toe-to-toe with many times, the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed THING!

In this week’s video, I ink Ben Grimm, while Run Red Run and I talk about the inking process, and try to decide who would win in an all-out slugfest between these two Marvel monsters.

I also drag out my old ToyBiz Fantastic Four toys just for fun. Do you remember these? Did you own these? We ended up playing with them for an hour after shooting the video.

I’ll tell you right now, I’m not sure we figured out who’d win a fight between The Hulk and The Thing. But we had fun. If you have fun watching the video, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Run Red Run and I are always posting videos where we make art and talk about pop culture. -v

Inking The Hulk

What life-threatening, rage-inducing incident would cause you to turn from logic-driven scientist into a giant, fury-fueled, green monster? Could it be something as harrowing as a traffic citation?

Run Red Run and I discuss that and some of the other reasons Bill Bixby turned into Lou Ferrigno in the old Incredible Hulk series. We also discuss some of our favorite Hulk toys.

And while we babble about the Hulk, I ink a sketch of the green goliath. Here’s the video. -v