Well… Hoover had a lot of issues with this episode. Buuuuut, at least it wasn’t animated by Akom? Thankfully there were SOME redeeming things in here that we were able to call attention to. Still didn’t stop us from talking about it for an hour and a half. It’s got Frenzy, and it’s got Skyfire, so each of our hosts had SOMETHING to like. And it’s got… Paul??? Give it a listen!
Watch the episode before listening to our commentary:
I’m continuing to practice digital watercolors in Procreate while developing ideas for another Doctor Baer book.
For those in Team Pickles who have been following along with the process materials for the next book, this is the scene where our heroes follow the anxious monk into a secret chamber wherein the Hoary Harpoon is kept. Naturally, Pickles is more interested in the opportunity for music-making.
I might go so far as to say that the watercolor brushes (at least, the ones I’ve found), feel even more natural than the ones I’ve used in Clip Studio Paint. But that comes with its own trade-off in that their realistic color mixing pulls the transparent pixels into the edges of my selections. I’ve tried to adapt to that in my approach.
But one big plus I wish someone told me about a while ago is that, unlike CSP, Procreate lets me paint in CMYK. That’s reason enough to keep practicing.
The environment was made in Blender, imported into CSP for penciling, inked on watercolor paper, and colored in Procreate. And big thanks for the color production assistance from Cailea Williams!
Back in September I shared my excitement over learning Blender well enough to create a 3d model of Doctor Baer’s house:
Blender models can easily be imported into Clip Studio Paint, which will make drawing the next book much easier. Here’s a piece I’m working on supported by the model:
But having recently purchased a Flashforge Adventurer 3, I was ready to see if I could also make a print of the model.
It worked out pretty well! I’m excited about what this means for future Doctor Baer support materials. As I design models to support the comic’s production, I’ll also have an eye on how they might make for fun little tchotchkes to include in a convention table display.
For my last Art Soundoff entry for 2023, I’m sharing a previously Patreon-only entry from 2022. It’s a longer entry, but I think it clearly states the reasons behind my love of making comics.
I’ll be at Genghis Con Sunday, November 26 with students from my recent residency in Cleveland Heights (funded by a generous grant from the Ohio Arts Council!). And as always with these public events, I’ll be hiding art drops around the place:
I’ll have free Doctor Baer stuff, too! I hope to see some of you there.
The Art Soundoff prompt was WIP, so I talk about a drawing I’m working on. Thinking about the procedure, leaving space for story development, and how much I hope the line art will carry in the final piece.
