Hey gang! I’ve got a brand-new comic up over on The Nib. It’s called Your Baby (The Movie) and it’s all about the lights and glamour of HOLLYWOOD. Oh yes. Hope you enjoy it!
Category: Art
It’s that time of year again, folks. 2015 Hourly Comics are here! Be warned there are mild boobs and sorta-I-guess spoilers if you’re committed to never knowing how Moby Dick ends? That’s all the warning you’re getting though.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the premise of this exercise, on February 1st cartoonists around the world attempt to draw a panel (or series of panels) for every hour they’re awake. The result is a tiny snapshot of everyone’s lives, which is generally a ton of fun. Google around and you should be able to find comics from many great creators. I’d recommend Eleanor Davis and Boum to start.
If you’d like to see previous HCD efforts, here’s 2014, 2013, 2012, and (gulp) 2011. It’s amazing to see how much my art’s changed year to year. My skills are improving but I’m also getting…tighter? More static somehow? Next year I’d like to draw straight to ink and loosen up a little—maybe work in something larger than my sketchbook to keep things flowing. Also it’s physically painful to me that these are uncolored pages. Nrgh, perfectionist tendencies.
ANYWAY. Comics. Have at ’em!
HCD1.1
HCD1.2
HCD1.3
HCD2.1
HCD2.2
HCD2.3
HCD3.1
HCD3.2
HCD3.3
HCD4.1
HCD4.2
HCD4.3
Hey gang! I’m trying out something new for Emerald City Comicon this year: pre-show commission slots! This hopefully means I’ll be able to deliver a higher calibre of work to those of you looking for original art, while prioritizing my time talking to everyone on the show floor rather than hunching over my sketchbook desperately trying to complete larger art pieces. Everyone wins!
There’s a couple different options for con commissions. Read on to find out which is best for you:
1. Little Paintings (Full Color / $20 – $40)
These cuties are done on high quality cold press watercolor paper and measure either 3″ x 4″ or 4″ x 6″. Featuring a bird or animal of your choice with an optional word balloon, they’re ideal gifts or tiny talismans of your favorite beasts.
2. Pin-Ups (Ink Only, Grayscale, or Full Color / $40 – $70)
These are larger pieces (generally 6″ x 9″ or 8″ x 10″, but I’m flexible) with minimal background elements and one or two figures. More figures or full-color generally equal higher costs, but let me know what you’re after and we’ll work together to achieve it!
3. Ships (Grayscale or Full Color / $75 – $100)
A handsome portrait of a tall ship of your choosing on a calm (or tempestuous) sea! 8″ x 10″, full-color, lotsa rigging guaranteed.
Sign-ups are limited since there’s only a couple months before the show, so shoot me an email at lucypcbellwood [at] gmail [dot] com and let’s get rolling! Payment for commissions is due up front via PayPal or your online money transference service of choice. All pieces will be ready for pickup at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle March 27th-29th.
Long-haul readers of the blog will recall that I have a habit of drawing 100 Hands every now and then, thanks to an exercise set by my mentor Eben Matthews ages ago . Last week I finished my annual pilgrimage, which I now present here for your viewing pleasure. References include: Pixelovely Reference Tool, Animopus Hand Reference Post, and the inimitable Jordi Lafebre.
I like mixing photo reference with work by artists I admire (especially animators) since it keeps me thinking in terms of what can be simplified and exaggerated. There are so many masters to learn from, and the mechanical act of replication plus an awareness of form can work wonders on your technique.
To everyone who looks at this exercise and says “Wow, I could never do that!”, remember that a) all you have to do is draw one hand at a time, and b) even though this batch was drawn in a handful of days, this practice is a process that was set in motion over a decade ago. I really wish I had scans of the very first set of these I ever did in 2003, ’cause lemme tell you they didn’t look so good back then. Heck, they still don’t look so good to me right now, but they’re better. And better is what matters. Here’s some from a little over two years ago, here’s some more from two and a half years ago. Now: a little less stiff, a little more expressive.
Next year? Let’s find out.
A couple months ago I was delighted to receive an email from Glenn Fleishman, who some of you might remember as the fella who interviewed me for The New Disruptors earlier this year, asking if I wanted to work on an article about an imaginary friend for his publication The Magazine.
I love the idea of imaginary friends, even if I never had one of my own as a child, and as soon as I received the list of this friend’s characteristics from writer Lisa Schmeiser I knew this was going to be a lot of fun. You should really just go ahead and read her essay, which does a far better job of explaining Black Hand than I ever could.
But since this is a blog about my creative stuff I thought you guys might like to see a little step-by-step process of the creation of this piece. The graphic below was created for one of my weekly Patreon Process Posts, which I put up every Friday with updates on my current projects and behind-the-scenes info on how I get stuff done. If you dig it, why not subscribe? It only costs $2 a month, and helps ensure the creation of bigger, better comics just for you!
I created this piece start-to-finish in Manga Studio 5EX. You can see my initial sketch with the pencil tool, which actually went through three versions. First I’d given Black Hand these loopy bellbottoms, but Glenn asked for something a little more like Morpheus from Sandman, so I added bulky Goth boots and snugged up the pants—tight jeans or flowy sweats. We ended up going for the latter.
After the sketch was approved I went in with the Hairpin Sable inker and laid down some lines. Glenn wanted a psychedelic, dream-like color scheme, so after blocking in some bright colors with the fill tool I added shadows (on a separate layer set to Multiply) and highlights (on a separate layer set to Screen) before going in with a watercolor brush and adding splotches and clouds on the background.
And there you have it! Again, you can read the whole finished article here, and tune in for more weekly process posts like this one over on Patreon.
A Real Thing That Actually Happened at Thought Bubble (don’t worry, I washed my hands).
You guys know I’m posting a lot of stuff every week on Patreon, right? Head over there if you want front row seats to all the latest comics and behind-the-scenes info.
Well well well, December already and I’m back in the States! I hope you all had a fabulous month.
England and France were absolutely spectacular. I had a sell-out show at Thought Bubble, met a load of great UK creators, explored some of London’s best museums, decompressed in the French countryside, and ate waaaaaaay too much cheese.
(Just kidding. You can never eat too much cheese.)
This is just a quick post to let you all know that my shipping deadline for holiday orders is THIS THURSDAY (December 4th), since I’ll be out of town visiting my family in California for most of December and won’t have access to my stock. If you’ve got a maritime enthusiast in the family, why not get them some quality nautical comics? You can check out all the stuff I’ve got right here. Be sure to request if you’d like me to sign ’em to someone special.
Also, because I feel bad that I don’t have enough time to do a full, in-depth write-up of the trip: have some pages from my sketchbook! (If you’d like to see absolutely everything I’ve done each month, there’s a Patreon tier especially for you! Supporting me making more comics gets you access to exclusive high-res PDFs of all my sketchbook stuff month-by-month.)
That’s all from me for now!
In case you haven’t heard, I’m on my way to England! I’ll see all you US cats in three weeks. The laptop is staying here in my absence, so please expect some delays on email communication. I’ll be around on Twitter, most likely, and posting art as I go. If you’re around London on the 20th there might even be a sketch meet-up. Keep your eyes on the web for more details.
If you’re in the UK this month, be sure to come say hello at Thought Bubble in Leeds November 15th and 16th. Otherwise I’ll catch you when I’m back in the States at the end of the month.
Huge thanks to all you Patreon supporters and kind-hearted Thought Bubble Fund contributors. You made this happen. I’m so grateful.
P.S. Want some comics to tide you over till I return? Down to the Seas Again is up in its entirety for free on The Nib! Check it out here.
Happy Friday, comics friends! I come bearing tidings of a new Baggywrinkles installment. Pacific Passages is a historical story that’s been in the works since earlier this year. It’s written by R.J. Mockford, a maritime historian who’s done a lot of work on the history of the original Lady Washington, and illustrated by me!
If you’d like to order a print copy listen close: I’ve only got 20 of them available right now and I’m flying to England next week so the order window is only open between now and Monday. You can get the individual issue here or the five-issue Baggywrinkles bundle here. You can also get a shiny PDF version on Gumroad!
And now, without further ado, THE COMIC:
Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting me on Patreon! This comic couldn’t have happened without you.
Big big big news, everyone: I have my first-ever solo show opening a week from today at Portland’s Sequential Art Gallery! Down to the Seas Again will collect all my original art from this summer’s voyage aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship in the world. I’ve been slaving away over this comic for the last month or so, and I really can’t wait to share it with you all in person. We’ll have all 20 watercolored pages up for your browsing pleasure, as well as nautical comics for sale and a lot of process-centric stuff for you to investigate.
The opening reception will take place during Portland’s First Thursday Art Walk on September 4th from 6pm-10pm at:
Sequential Art Gallery + Studio
328 NW Broadway #113
Portland, OR 97209
I’ll be on hand selling comics, showing off originals, and getting excited about boats. I would absolutely love to see you there.
If you’re the Facebookin’ type, you can keep an eye out for the official event on Sequential Art Gallery’s Facebook page. If you can’t make the opening but would still like to check out the show, you can do so all month during the gallery’s regular hours: Mondays from 2pm-6pm, Saturdays from 11am-5pm, and by appointment.