The Realm Ethereal "Story" page now up

[artofrene]

Preview of the final inked page:

[artofrene]

This one finally came out today...and it kicked my butt! I missed my deadline by a day, but it was a busy work week, so there you go. I've also started adding videos of the pages in something I call Video Guided View. Here is a link to what it looks like on my Youtube.

[artofrene]

I did something I haven't done in a few years...worked with actual pencil and paper! These are some upcoming thumbnails. What I've done is take some 11x17 copy paper and folded down some sheets to the exact page count and I'm going to thumbnail out the majority of the first issue this way.

Here are the first few pencil breakdowns of some upcoming pages:

[pandayboss]

Wow! That's amazing how you stage your sequences. It's cool too you're using those "wachamacallit". I used to have one of those, but never used it for comics. Just for my display in my office. Maybe I should try to use it.

[pandayboss]

The dialogues placement are really good. Love it.

[artofrene]

Thank you, Dario! Yep, I use just about everything for reference: I have some male and female 3D posing apps on my iPad, model pose reference images, and the poseable manikins. Thanks on the lettering as well. Not something I enjoy honestly, but it's something I do to keep costs down for now.

[pandayboss]

Originally Posted by artofrene

Thank you, Dario! Yep, I use just about everything for reference: I have some male and female 3D posing apps on my iPad, model pose reference images, and the poseable manikins. Thanks on the lettering as well. Not something I enjoy honestly, but it's something I do to keep costs down for now.

You're welcome Rene. In this day and age, you need references to compete. I've seen comics with just too much details of a city square. In the 80s and 90s, we'll just used lots of blackings. I can see nowadays, that artists use pictures for back drop and just add lines over it. It's faster this way and it gives the good accuracy of the setting. Gone are the days where a comic book artist draws from imagination.

One thing I haven't explored yet on Clip Studio is the lettering. Like you, I also need to keep down the cost.

[artofrene]

I think you can draw from imagination, but I agree on the cityscapes, etc. For imagination, I think it comes down to having a good composition, then trying to tighten things up with reference.

I keep my lettering in Illustrator these days. On a separate note, the other thing about coloring comics that is kind of a pain is color flatting

[artofrene]

Latest update, inks preview of page 7:

[artofrene]

Latest page is up. True fact: writers need to throw in some splash pages to keep the artist happy from time to time

[artofrene]

Pages 8-9 preview spread...back to working traditionally! Just got my new scanner today. I have to admit, the urge to lasso and reposition elements on this page was driving me crazy (I'm already missing Procreate), but I'm looking forward to making some original artwork again. Yep, this is lead on paper.

[artofrene]

​Been taking a break from digital for my comic art. And enjoying working in pencil and paper again! I'm going to stop posting a page a week and actually work to finish this comic book issue I think I can be much faster if I just go dark for a while and emerge with a printed product. Here is pencils for pages 8-9 for the current Realm Ethereal storyline "Enter the Realm".

[pandayboss]

Looks good with either digital or traditional. I also missed doing traditional but I've just started digital work for two years now. I have yet to learn more.

We need splash pages to break the monotony of panels. Awesome work as always, Rene.

[artofrene]

Thanks, Dario. I think I have a tendency to get a little bored somewhat. I was on a comic book kick for years, then switched up to full digital paintings, now back to comics. I guess I like doing it all. Jack of all, master of none