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Archive for the ‘The Chelation Kid’ Category

Dabbling in Digital!

Monday, September 10th, 2007

I first worked on a tablet, drawing directly on the computer, for my last animation contract as lead character designer on CAILLOU season IV. My job had me spending one week drawing any new characters and costumes on paper one week, and the next week “inking” them digitally and breaking the character down into movable parts for the animators to use. Since the first day playing around with the new tablet at work, and seeing the range of pressure sensitive brushes available, I’ve wanted to try my hand at inking a comic digitally.

For the first run of the Chelation Kid, I drew everything by hand. I ended up doing a lot of reuse of poses in the sequences where Bob as the narrator would be talking directly to the audience. Instead of doing what most other strip artists would do and cut and paste the poses, changing the odd facial expression, I would light table my pose, then trace it out on the pages and re-ink each pose individually. So, I decided a while back that when I was able to return to CK that I would take the plunge and do it start to finish digitally and take advantage of the quick cut and paste options that digital would open up to me.

A lot of artists I know through The Engine message board, and now Panel & Pixel, swear by Manga Studio Ex. I played around a little with the demo and wasn’t convinced, but two weeks ago we got enough funding to do two new weeks of CK, so I took the plunge and downloaded the $50 intro version of the software. After a bit of playing around, I found with the intro version I could import photoshop art and export the finished art to photoshop (my only main requirement) and then discovered I could rotate the canvas like I would turn a physical page while inking. I’m going to have to pick a few brains to find out what the $300 version has that I might need that would make me need to upgrade. So far this luddite is happy with the dumbed down version.

Anyway, so far I have completed one week, and the second week has two days that need to be finished off. It’s taking a bit of getting used to, but I’m getting there. While the cut and paste option is freeing up some time, it’s taking me a lot longer to draw and ink, so it’s about equal, but I’m sure the speed will come in time. One advantage of working digitally that I think will eventually speed me up is that I can now do a large part of my initial drawing in “ink” cutting out a chunk of the pencilling stage. I do a lot of my pencilling with the eraser, refining what I’m drawing by erasing the lines I don’t want. Well, digitally it’s as easy to erase ink lines as it is pencil.

The first digital week of The Chelation Kid (running right now) is, to my eye, not the best of CK, but a couple of the strips of the second digital week I feel that I’m starting to match my traditional work.

To illustrate, here’s an example of one of next week’s strip’s “pencils”. Much rougher and sketchier than I would ever start inking from on paper.
ck_digitalpencil.jpg

And now here is the final “inked strip.

ck_digitalink.jpg

One of Manga Studio’s main features are the pre-set zip-tones. I haven’t use tones in my work in over a decade, but they are just too easy to use in MS to resist.

I’d be curious to hear comments on what anyone thinks of my early digital attempts. I can’t imagine changing to completely digital on all my projects ( I love the feel of pencil, pen, and brush on paper too much) but it is definitely a skill I want to cultivate, and for the time being the Chelation Kid is acting as Guinea Pig

The Chelation Kid Returns!

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Yup, after a nine month Hiatus the Chelation Kid is returning for a two week run.

Hopefully the return will spur some more donations and we will be able to keep it going a little longer. But, in the meantime, come back every day this week and next for your fix of The CHelation Kid.

It An Honour To Be Nominated!

Monday, September 10th, 2007

I’m back from the Baltimore Comic Con. It was a fun time, and many thanks go out to Mark Wheatley and the Insight Studios gang for letting me crash their party.

The Harvey Awards were fun, the dinner was fantastic, and the awards ceremony was well organized and moved at a very nice pace. The very worthy Perry Bible Fellowship won the best on-line work, beating out the Chelation Kid. But, y’know what, it really is an honour to be nominated. I got to dress up in my spiffy new suit, have a fantastic meal, hang out with my peers, and received a nice gift bag with some pretty cool swag ( I was especially thrilled about the copy of Two Fisted Tales EC Archives Volume 1 in the bag!).

All in all a good time.

Baltimore Comic Con and The Harvey Awards!

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

I made a last minute decision to attend the Baltimore Comic Con. What tipped the balance for me was the desire to attend the Harvey Awards, as I’m up for an award for my work on The Chelation Kid.

I’ll be flying to Baltimore early Saturday morning and should be at the con by noon and will be there all day Sunday as well. I will be hanging out at the Insight Studios booth, so if you are attending the show, stop by and say hello. I’ll have some original art on hand, and will be doing the odd commission sketch.

Harvey Award Nomination for The Chelation Kid!

Monday, June 4th, 2007

Well, the post says it all.

I was reading Comics Worth Reading this morning and came across the Harvey Awards nominations list. I was only casually skimming the list when I came to the On Line Comics Work category.I had assumed that nominees got a heads up about their nominations, so it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to see The Chelation Kid nominated.

The full list of nominations follows:

The 2007 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry’s most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They will be presented September 8, 2007 in Baltimore , MD , in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

BEST WRITER
* Ed Brubaker | DAREDEVIL | Marvel Comics
* Grant Morrison | ALL-STAR SUPERMAN | DC Comics
* Steve Murphy | UMBRA | Image Comics
* Don Rosa | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing
* William Van Horn | WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing
* Brian K. Vaughn | Y: THE LAST MAN | DC/Vertigo

BEST ARTIST
* Brian Fies | MOM’S CANCER | Abrams
* Renee French | THE TICKING | Top Shelf
* Stuart Immonen | NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF HATE | Marvel Comics
* Frank Quitely | ALL-STAR SUPERMAN | DC Comics
* Don Rosa | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing
* William Van Horn | WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing

BEST CARTOONIST
* Jaime Hernandez | LOVE & ROCKETS | Fantagraphics
* Kevin Huizenga | CURSES | Drawn & Quarterly
* Bryan Lee O’Malley | SCOTT PILGRIM & THE INFINITE SADNESS | Oni Press
* Don Piraro | BIZARRO | King Features Syndicate
* Don Rosa | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing
* William Van Horn | WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing

BEST LETTERER
* Jon Babcock | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Comics
* Chris Eliopoulos | FRANKLIN RICHARDS | Marvel Comics
* Hope Larson | GRAY HORSES | Oni Press
* Troy Peteri | NECROMANCER | Marvel Comics
* Stan Sakai | USAGI YOJIMBO | Dark Horse Comics
* Willie Schubert | WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing

BEST INKER
* Jaime Hernandez | LOVE & ROCKETS | Fantagraphics
* Ryan Kelly | LOCAL | Oni Press
* Steve Leialoha | FABLES | DC/Vertigo
* Danny Miki | ETERNALS | Marvel Comics
* Joe Weems | HUNTER-KILLER | Top Cow / Image

BEST COLORIST
* Susan Daigle-Leach | WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing
* Steve Firchow | HUNTER-KILLER | Top Cow / Image
* Jamison Services | WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT, VOLUME 19 | DC Comics
* Lark Pien | AMERICAN BORN CHINESE | First Second
* Scott Rockwell | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing

BEST COVER ARTIST
* John Cassaday | ASTONISHING X-MEN | Marvel Comics
* James Jean | FABLES | DC/Vertigo
* J.G. Jones | 52 | DC Comics
* Don Rosa | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing
* Marc Silvestri | HUNTER-KILLER | Top Cow / Image

BEST NEW TALENT (Representative work listed)
* Lilli Carré | TALES OF WOODSMAN PETE | Top Shelf
* Brian Fies | MOM’S CANCER | Abrams
* Alexa Kitchen | DRAWING COMICS IS EASY! (EXCEPT WHEN IT’S HARD) | DKP
* Matthew Loux | SIDESCROLLERS | Oni Press
* Stjepan Sejic | WITCHBLADE | Top Cow / Image

BEST NEW SERIES
* CIVIL WAR | Marvel Comics
* 52 | DC Comics
* NECROMANCER | Top Cow / Image
* THE SPIRIT | DC Comics
* WASTELAND | Oni Press

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
* DAREDEVIL | Marvel Comics
* LOCAL | Oni Press
* THE SPIRIT | DC Comics
* UMBRA | Image Comics
* WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL
* ANTIQUES: THE COMIC STRIP | J.C. Vaughn, Brendan Fraim & Brian Fraim | Hero Initiative
* DOONESBURY | Garry Trudeau | Universal Press Syndicate
* THE K CHRONICLES | Keith Knight | United Comics / Salon.com
* MAAKIES | Tony Millionaire | Self-syndicated
* MUTTS | Patrick McDonnell | King Features Syndicate

BEST ANTHOLOGY
* THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS | Houghton Mifflin
* FLIGHT, VOL. 3 | Ballantine Books
* HOTWIRE COMIX AND CAPERS | Fantagraphics
* MOME | Fantagraphics
* WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES | Gemstone Publishing

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
* ABSOLUTE NEW FRONTIER | DC
* CASTLE WAITING | Fantagraphics
* THE EC ARCHIVES: WEIRD SCIENCE | Gemstone Publishing
* GHOST OF HOPPERS | Fantagraphics
* POLLY & THE PIRATES | Oni Press

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY
* CIVIL WAR # 1 | Marvel Comics
* FUN HOME : A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC | Houghton Mifflin
* GANGES # 1 | Fantagraphics
* MOM’S CANCER | Abrams
* PRIDE OF BAGHDAD | DC/Vertigo
* SCHIZO #4 | Fantagraphics
* SOLO #11 | DC Comics

BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL
* ABANDON THE OLD IN TOKYO | Yoshihiro Tatsumi | Drawn and Quarterly
* KAMPUNG BOY | Lat | First Second
* KLEZMER: BOOK ONE: TALES OF THE WILD EAST | Joann Sfar | First Second
* MOOMIN | Tove Jansson | Drawn and Quarterly
* ODE TO KIRIHITO | Osamu Tezuka | Vertical

BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK
* AMERICAN ELF | James Kochalka | americanelf.com
* THE CHELATION KID | Robert Tinnell & Craig A. Taillefer | webcomicsnation.com/taillefer/chelation_kid/series.php
* GIRL GENIUS | Phil & Kaja Foglio | www.girlgeniusonline.com
* PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP | Nicholas Gurewitch | www.thepbf.com
* PVP | Scott Kurtz | www.pvponline.com

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
* THE ABSOLUTE SANDMAN | DC Comics
* CARTOON AMERICA : COMIC ART IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS | Abrams
* THE EC ARCHIVES: WEIRD SCIENCE and SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES | Gemstone Publishing
* THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK COMPANION | Gemstone Publishing
* LOST GIRLS | Top Shelf
* POPEYE : I YAM WHAT I YAM | Fantagraphics

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – ORIGINAL
* AMERICAN BORN CHINESE | Gene Luen Yang | First Second
* BILLY HAZELNUTS | Tony Millionaire | Fantagraphics
* FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC | Alison Bechdel | Houghton Mifflin
* PRIDE OF BAGHDAD | Brian K. Vaughn & Nino Henrichon | DC/Vertigo
* SCOTT PILGRIM & THE INFINITE SADNESS | Bryan Lee O’Malley | Oni Press

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT
* COMPLETE CHESTER GOULD’S DICK TRACY | IDW Press
* COMPLETE PEANUTS | Fantagraphics
* EC ARCHIVES | Gemstone Publishing
* POPEYE: I YAM WHAT I YAM | Fantagraphics
* WALT & SKEEZIX | Drawn and Quarterly

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS
* Evan Dorkin | DORK | SLG Publishing
* Michael Kupperman | TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE | Fantagraphics
* Bryan Lee O’Malley | SCOTT PILGRIM & THE INFINITE SADNESS | Oni Press
* Don Piraro | BIZARRO | King Features Syndicate
* Don Rosa | UNCLE SCROOGE | Gemstone Publishing

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION
* ART OUT OF TIME: UNKNOWN COMIC VISIONARIES 1900-1969 | Abrams
* COMIC ART | Buenaventura Press
* THE COMICS JOURNAL | Fantagraphics
* MAKING COMICS | HarperCollins
* OVERSTREET COMICS BOOK PRICE GUIDE | Gemstone Publishing

Congratulations to all the nominees!