Day 27: The Lone Ranger #tzadvent

No, I haven't seen the new film, so don't ask. I might catch it on cable or Netflix. But I'm a fan from way back. I used to get the radio shows from the library, and I watched a couple of the shows and the Filmation cartoon. And I knew all the lore, from where he got the silver bullets to what made the holes in his mask to who his descendant was.

And I loved how Clayton Moore never showed his face in the show. I borrowed a little of that when I created Ben, the mysterious leader of the Benefactor Agency in my Raider series. I never let him show his face unmasked either.

Nothing bold or new in my process here. I am turning the screen a little bit more, zooming in and out a little more, so that I can make the most comfortable and smoothest stroke possible. When you ink on board, you're spinning the paper all the time. I'm still finding that level of comfort when drawing digitally.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here is this year's Christmas card. If you didn't get one from me this year and you usually do, I had some problems with my address list. These things will be fixed next year. Also, they went out late, so you may not have received yours yet, either.

Inside it reads:

Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
(and we'll know if you don't)

<

Day 24-25: Frank and Sadie Doyle #tzadvent

Today I offer this two-fer… meaning, I've drawn characters for today and tomorrow, so you won't get a #tzadvent drawing tomorrow, sorry. But it's in color. It's a Christmas miracle!

Frank and Sadie Doyle are characters in the excellent Thrilling Adventure Hour, a new-time show in the style of old-time radio. It was one of the favorite things about being in LA. The show was always delightful, frequently hysterical, and I've had the chance to meet many of the cast. I love this thing so much. Hey, they have a graphic novel out, so if you've left some comics fan or other fan of quality material off your Christmas list, why don't you think about that?

Download their show on iTunes, too. The Christmas special is up now. You'll get to hear Paul F. Tompkins and Paget Brewster as the Nick and Nora of ghost hunting. These two loveable lushes get into all sorts of trouble, all while being madly in love with each other. Other installments include Sparks Nevada, Marshall on Mars voiced by Marc Evan Jackson and Mark Gagliardi, and sometimes even Nathan Fillion, and Phillip Fathom, Undersea Detective starring the voice of Hal Lublin. Episodes are written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker of Supernatural fame. It's so good.

It was also one of my first dates with Amy, so it's got that going for it, too. You meet someone who loves that kind of thing as much as you do, you've got a keeper.

There were some techie things on this one. I drew the martini glasses on a separate layer, making it really easy to make them glass colored. And I used the perspective rulers to draw the box in the background. That perspective ruler is a powerful tool. I need to learn to use that better.

Hope you have a great Christmas Eve!

Day 23: Machine Man #tzadvent

Not all these grand experiments work. This drawing is maybe 80% of what I wanted it to be. It's not bad. There's a fair amount of Kirby in it (as it should be, since he created Machine Man for, of all things,the Marvel Comics adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey) and I like the pose. But what I was really trying to do was make custom rulers to ink the bands and the extending arm on the character. The rulers are great because they let meuse pressure sensitivity to add that directional weight.Check out how the telescoping arm lines go from thin to thick. That went well.

I was less successful with the arm and leg bands. What I did was ink the figure without those bands, and then create rulers to put them on a second layer. I had a hard time creating the right shape rulers.Years of working in Illustrator make me expect pen tools with bezier curves to work a certain way. They don't. I know I'll figure it out eventually, but three iterations of this drawing and I just said "Let's do what I can with what I can work."

That's partly a failure, but it's also a decent work habit, I think. I could have spent another co

uple of hours or more figuring it out, but I decided to use the tools I did have in my toolbox to finish it. You don't always have the the luxury of infinite time. Sometime deadlines don't allow that. So you have to figure out a way to finish with the things you have and still make it appear in your acceptable percentile of professional.

Day 22: Animal Man #tzadvent

Day 22: Animal Man Drawing-wise, I kept this one pretty loose. I was attempting to record this (which didn't work) and was working at a lower screen resolution to try to get around the lag. Somehow, working at the larger size kept me from tightening up the drawing. It may not be apparent, but there's a touch of Kubert and Severin in this. At least to my eye.

The tools and Nostromo at this point have become almost second nature now. So I think we're doing pretty well.

Day 21: Red Tornado #tzadvent

Day 21: Red Tornado

I didn't change my workflow at all on this one, but I think I'm getting faster with the programs now. For being a color one, this seemed to go a lot more quickly.

I fought with the pose on this one. I didn't want to skimp and tornadoify his legs. I had to come up with a pose that worked. Him using his powers lent itself to a cool vertical, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Four days left until Christmas. Get to shopping!

Day 20: Dark Phoenix #tzadvent

Day 20: Dark Phoenix I've settled into a nice rythym on these. I'm pretty comfortable with all the tools and key commands. There are a couple of more ones that I'd like to figure out how to implement (Quick Mask, Inverse and switch Foreground/Background respectively) but for now, I don't use them enough to make them replace existing ones.

I also tried to screen record making this one. Right now, it seems like recording is causing an unacceptable lag in the drawing tools, so I can't make that work. Maybe I'll see if I can do a uStream broadcast or something like that on one of the next ones, at least. I'd like to post a video ofdrawing if I can do it. I think it might be fun.

If anyone knows how to smooth out the drawing process, I'd appreciate it. I have a new iMac that's pretty fast, so I'm surprise by the added lag.

I've always loved Phoenix, light and dark varieties. I started reading the book after her death, but her long shadow always made her a part of the book. This drawing is based on my memories of a splash page from X-Men 

#175, drawn by Paul Smith. I loved his run on the book. It's what made me start picking it up. My cousin bought his first issue and brought it over for me to read and I was hooked. Smith's art was a huge part of why.

At this point, I've got about ten more drawings to do in this grand experiement. As alwaysm, your suggestions are welcome on Twitter (#tzadvent), Facebook or on email!

Tomorrow! Me! Comics and Friends!

I'll be appearing at Comics and Friends in the Great Lakes Mall here in Mentor, Ohio this Saturday from 2:00-7:00. I'll be signing and sketching and smiling for pictures and many other things that begin with the letter "S". I'll have a chunk of Love and Capes and My Little Pony and other things for sale. Drop by and see me. I'll be the oasis of calm in your hectic holiday shopping.

Day 19: The Question #tzadvent

Day 19: The Question

I used the Question piece to start experimenting with brushes. I downloaded some from the internet, and I'm not sure how well they worked. The inking was good, but they seemed to slow down my computer. I'm not completely sure that the two things are related, though I did see some things about that on the internet. I'll go back to the standard brushes and see what happens.

Still, this is all about experimentation. So totally worth it. I want to try some more.

I really dug the Question, especially the Eighties series. And DC is missing a bet by not turning him into a TV show. Great visual, easy concept, and it would work great.

Day 18: The Phantom #tzadvent

Day 18: The Phantom

I love the Phantom! I first read his strip when I was six, I think. Maybe younger. I think my family just started subscribing to the News-Herald. I remember that first comics page I read, and it was the arc where the Phantom discovered a stegosaurus (Steggy!).

I love the traditions associated with him. The whole Ghost Who Walks thing, the fact no one may see his face and live (except his wife Diana), the good and bad rings, the history of all the Phantoms… I just adore it. I hope to get a chance to work on him one day.

And yeah, I even kind of like the movie. It's one rewrite away from being something really solid, and I loved Billy Zane's portrayal. He seemed to bring the confidence of twenty generations with him, and that was pretty cool.

At this point in the process, most of my commands are set. I'm starting to change the presets on my Cintiq now. There are a couple of commands, like resetting brush size and moving items, that I want to have quickly accessible and I can't get to from the Nostromo. But there are perfectly good buttons on my pen that I can tweak.