Thingsbydan

Finally found a folder

Dan — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:45:18 +0000

I’m sure I mentioned it somewhere else on the site, but I draw my pages on Goldline watercolour paper. I love that paper – really nice bite to it, not too thick, not too thin. I’ve bound sketchbooks with that paper so I can get used to it while doodling out and about. I find everything about it predictable now. Plus I’ve got 600 pages of the stuff.

The only problem has been that it isn’t a ‘normal’ size; 24 x 32 cm. I have to scan in sections and put it together afterwards. It also won’t fit inside an A4 folder, and gets lost in an A3. I know that these are small problems, but when you want to keep pages nice and un-tattered, it’s a big deal. So I was very pleased to find a folder at this particular size. Very pleased indeed.

Suitcase bits

Dan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:45:52 +0000

Sneak peep at some bits from The Suitcase.

I Saw This

Dan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:11:23 +0000

I’ll be honest – the dialogue is mine, but I really saw this on the streets of Wrexham yesterday. A stocky feller in a tracksuit dropped his chips, immediately accidentally trod on them and then became so enraged that he then kicked them as if to say ‘if I can’t have you, no-one can.’

Cat Island

Dan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:10:07 +0000

So here’s the 24h Comic I made at the Maison des Auteurs in Angouleme this year. I finished in just under 20 hours this year, but my hand did swell up like a blown up glove. It’s a bit shaky here and there as a result, but on the whole I’m very pleased with it.

Last day in angouleme.

Dan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:28 +0000

On my last day in angouleme, I did a lot of drawing. I sat outside Le Chat Noir and drew people making their way into the festival, then spent some time on trains and planes just doodling an getting strange looks. I should add that only the first page is of people at the festival the rest is doodling.

24hBD

Dan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:08:13 +0000

So again this year I took part in the 24 comics marathon at the Maison Des Auteurs in angouleme. I really enjoyed myself doing it. It seemed to go much much faster than last year though. I finished in just under 20 hours, which I’m extraordinarily proud of. Here is a selection of some of my favourite bits.

Work in progress

Dan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:11:10 +0000

A sneak peek at a bit of work in progress.

Getting somewhere with this.

Dan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:15:42 +0000

Well, I’m not entirely happy with it, but I think I’m getting somewhere with this. It’s a mix of ink & watercolour. There’s plenty more I could show you on this but I’m not going to – don’t want to give the game away too soon.

A scanning breakthrough

Dan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:09:51 +0000

Not sure how many people out there will be as excited as I am for this, but I made a bit of a breakthrough with my scanning technique yesterday.

As I use watercolour paper with a fairly heavy grain and I’ve struggled for ages to find a way of scanning my pages so I don’t lost quality. I’ve tried all sorts.

So anyway, I remembered last night about Joe Decie’s ‘white paper technique’ and decided to throw caution to the wind and try something out.

As I’ve said in previous posts, I use a very thin flexible lightbox. I put that into the scanner, on top of the artwork facing down. Here are the remarkable results;

(note – I did this in a rush – the eagle eyed amongst you will notice the right side is darker than the left. This is my error that I was too lazy to correct)

Now, if you can’t tell the difference, move along, there’s nothing for you here.
If you can tell the difference, Wow! Am I right? Photoshop has just become a much friendlier climate for me!

UPDATE- I’ve had a few people asking why on earth I’d want to get rid of the paper texture, they like the paper texture. Well, I like it too. The aim isn’t to eliminate the texture entirely, it is to make it more manageable for reproduction. Although it can look great on screen, trying to get it cleaned up for print can be a real nightmare. This way leaves you with less abrasive photoshopping at the end.

Announcements

Dan — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:50:31 +0000

Two bits of news. The first rather exciting bit of news is that Blank Slate are publishing my next book. It’s going to be a Chalk Marks book, and is a trilogy of connected stories. It’s probably appropriate to call it a dark comedy. The working title is The Suitcase.

The second bit of news, to celebrate the good news and the arrival of the year twenty-dozen is that there is currently 20% off everything on my store for the the whole of January when you use the code LEFTOVERTURKEY. Keep checking back, I’ll be posting up original artwork from After We Shot The Grizzly and other odds & ends over the month.