Take That Photoshop

Scott Wegna

Just thought I’d pop on real quick and say hey.

So, “hey’.

Busybusybusybusybusybusybusy.

The more I look at this Robo/Avengers schedule, the more pissed off I am that NYCC is in October, that I have a signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe this Thursday (everyone should come!), and that my family actually expects me to spend time with them. I’m also irritated at my need to get some exercise and move my bowels every now and then. This is all valuable work time, lost forever!!!

So yeah, I’m going a little nuts. How are you guys?

I’ll leave you with a bit of art.

The other day I started questioning my disdain for using Photoshop short-cuts to Andy Warhol backgrounds on a comic book page. However, after drawing this:

. . .5 times on a tiny lightbox that makes my wrists bleed so that I could make this:.

. . .I’m really starting to question my position on Photoshop vs. light boxes.

However, when it was all over I had an actual piece of art that I’d sweat and cried over that I could trot around the house shoving in everyone’s face going, “see what I did? I drew this. That’s pretty fucking rad, right? Bet you wish you could do this.”

So I guess it was worth it, if only for the juvenile pay-off.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 9:20 amand is filed under art, volume 5. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Josh_B

If it’s any consolation, it’s awesome.
Mike

I saw video once of Rob Schrab as he was drawing those last view issues of Scud: The Disposable Assassin, and I noticed something interesting about the way he does things. It looks like he would draw his pencils on paper, and then do his inking an a clear acetate sheet that lay on top of the paper. Would something similar work for you in a situation like this? Draw the background, and then use a clear sheet to add elements and change them out easily…kinda like an animation cell.

Did that even make any sense?
Anonymous

Next you’ll tell us you’ve abandoned woodcut images for those new-fangled “halfe-tone-screenes” that have been staining the local broadsheets of late. HAR-RUMPH.
http://www.nuklearpower.com Brian!

A pox on these new-fangled contraptions.
Anonymous

are there 8 errors to find from panel to panel?
http://serge-lj.livejournal.com/ Serge

“…my family actually expects me to spend time with them…”

Don’t they know that you must suffer for your Art?
(Your wrists probably disagree.)
http://twitter.com/GeekyWhiteGuy Eric White

Scott: you continue to dominate the universe with your awesome. You know I’m one of your biggest fans!! Keep up the great work!Also…if you’re starting to come around to the Photoshop side of things I recommend you check out check out Freddie Williams’ (DC exclusive artist) book ‘The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics’ http://tinyurl.com/m45dnk He gives the whole tutorial thing as well as time savers and scripts. It’s a great book (plus Freddie is as amazing guy).
Anonymous

I’m with Scott on this one. Newfangled isn’t everything. I still write all my web pages in Notepad, even though I know better. It’s just the same kind of stubborn as changing your own oil, in a different medium. And everybody should be a stubborn jackass about *something*…
Ben

Ooh! Liking the new site layout guys!
Anonymous

The new layout is sweet and looks handcrafted from raw pixels, in keeping with the down with Photoshop vibe.
Scott!

That does make sense. But it would be such a huge shift in my work process I’m not sure it would be helpful. It’s not like I do this very often.

Still, I am intrigued. Might just give it a shot and see how it goes. I know that some artists will do the rough pencils on one sheet of paper, or on the back side of the page, and then lightbox it when they ink.

I’d need a much bigger lightbox to make that practical, but it’s an idea I really like.
Scott!

I still ahve a few sheets of real zip-a-tone laying around.

God that stuff was fucking brutal.
Scott!

There are actually.
Scott!

I firmly believe that more people need to suffer for my art.
Scott!

Yeah Feddie’s work is pretty rad. I’ve always thought he put way more work into the perspective and his environments than into his figure drawing, which I find a fascinating approach. I remember reading an interview with him once about some page -some Hawkey looking dude, and how he obsessed about digitally mastering all these little nuanced bits of the shot’s perspective.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/638971/benjamin_herman.html Ben Herman

Great meeting you and Jeff Powell at Jim Hanley’s Universe today. Thanks for humoring my rather odd request for the “Wolverine meets Mephisto” sketch. You can see a scan of it on Comic Art Fans. Here’s a link…

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=674520&GSub=69968

Actually, looking through some of the other sketches & commissions you have done that are posted on CAF, I see that my request was certainly not the strangest you have ever received. That honor might go to the drawing of Dr Teeth and Bert in bed together. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry! I thought the John Constatine sketch totally rocked, though. Keep up the good work. I look forward to reading the latest Atomic Robo collection.
Ben Herman

Okay, I posted a couple of photos on Flickr of Scott and Jeff at Jim Hanley’s Universe. Here are links to the two pics…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bh123/4994923142/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bh123/4994923146/

I’m looking forward to the Avengers book that you said you were working on. Sometimes the Marvel Adventures series are more enjoyable and fun than the “real” ones.
Dave

Zip-A-Tone was always my favorite , I try and pick up any ’70′spage with Zip on it.. I have a couple spectacular Michael Golden and Mike grel pages with just panels and panels of the stuff..
Brian M.

Scott you hit the nail on the head when you talked about the pride of showing around the original art. If you go the photoshop route, then you have a page with blank panels which, at least to me, always looks wrong.