The Challenges Of Real Media

One of the reasons I've been so blog-quiet is that I'm working on some artwork for a charity auction. All of us story folk at work are donating/creating artwork so we can decorate our new story pod, Joe's Place. The trick is that, since it's being auctioned off, it really needs to be original, non-digital art. Eek!

I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've bought art supplies - I've been drawing digitally for years now, even on my own projects (like the Happy Beaver comics - I know, I know). I stopped by Blick's Art Supplies, and dropped enough cash that it made me wonder if it might not be better to simply give the story team the money! Still, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.

My original plan was to rough out the drawings digitally (since that's the most malleable step), back-light some watercolor paper, and do the Sharpie 'inking' that way. I wouldn't have to worry about bleeding, since Sharpies are waterproof. If I still had any courage left (it usually evaporates after the line art is done), I'd color the art with Dr. Martin's dyes, just like the old school guys did!

As you can see, the line art is finished for three pieces - the poster design, plus two others. All of the planning has worked out so far - I bought a light box for the back-lighting, and it worked great - so well that I didn't need to use the sheets of treated acetate I bought as a backup. The biggest question mark was using the dyes, since I didn't have any experience with them.

I was going to try to hedge my bets at first and paint the treated cels - I could frame it with the art as an overlay, and if I messed up the color, I could grab another cel and try again. But even though the cels were supposed to be able to take watercolors, washes were just plain invisible on it. I took it to mean that God wanted me to grow a pair and paint on the original, so I did.

I started with the poster design, since I needed to get it finished first. The results were mixed - the parts that I knew what I wanted were labor-intensive (it took me four hours to paint one drawing) but successful. The part that I was the least clear on my approach going in - the auction crowd - was much less so, and I wound up really overworking it:

It turns out that these dyes aren't great for layering - they bleed in really unpredictable ways, and it's best to use them as solid colors. It's ironic, because that's the way I color ninety percent of the time - this particular piece seemed to ask for a little more nuance. I learned a lot about the medium, though, and I still have enough time to redo the line work and try again. If I run out of time, well, at least I've got something for Monday!