ComixStreet Recap #3
Item 1- Talking Azure 2.0 with Dan Govar
Last week, the post-apocalyptic webcomic Azure
started up its second season at Zuda Comics. I had a chance to check in with series creator Dan Govar about the launch of Azure 2.0.
Dan, congrats on getting another season of Azure at Zuda! Tease us with something we can look forward to seeing as the story continues this month.
DG: Thanks so much, and to everyone who demanded it! As for a tease with what to expect…Let’s just say it starts with a bang, and things pick up a year after the events of Season 1. This month we get a crash course on the state of the world circa 2023 AD.
I’m deathly afraid of sharks, and damn near soiled myself when I got to page 8 of Azure when it first came out. What’s the shark count looking like in 2.0?
DG: Haha! The shark count…they do make an appearance, and there are many more than in Season 1. I can’t say much more than that.
Do you have any snarky come-backs to people who are still saying they’d check out comics on Zuda if it wasn’t for the flash viewer?
DG: That horse isn’t dead yet? To those nipping at the flash viewer on Zuda, there is little that I haven’t said about my love for it, especially since the new viewer modifications went into effect. The text is legible at any resolution, the images are crisp and non-pixelated, the fullscreen mode has a quick load and is a must for comics like High Moon, Supertron, Deadly, and Azure. I’m a huge fan of the zoom slider, as I and other creators work on the imagery at much higher resolutions than the 800 x 600 the comics on Zuda launch at. Who doesn’t have a relatively high bandwidth connection and FLASH installed on a browser? In this day and age it comes standard with nearly every system produced, so I’m truly baffled at the gripe. Is it the ability to trade and send the comic pages that you are thirsting for? The comics are free! Why gripe at all?!
You’re a talented all-around artist, but for Azure, you work exclusively digitally. Tell me about your process?
DG: Why thank you for the kind words. And yes, since page 8, Azure is completely digital.
Here is a process study showing how I generally work to build pages for Azure:
1 – Loose gestural sketch for placement of characters/objects/balloons
2 – Linework or inking pass on individual layers for each object. This allows me to put glows and shadows easily behind objects.
3 – Flat color pass on all layered objects/characters
4 – Detail lighting/shadow pass
5 – Final details with overlay layers of colors to add brightness and warmth to certain areas. By adding specific colors here you can cool or warm certain areas.
Click for Full Image
Any advice for artists thinking about making the switch to digital?
DG: My advice when making the transition or toying with the switch, is:
a. Invest in a decent tablet – Wacom Intuos 3 or better – the size is your preference, but note that the larger tablets allow you to draw with your arm instead of your wrist.
b. Figure out your tools for yourself – Everyone has a different technique for working digitally. Looking at Livestreams and Ustream, you will find tons of digital creators who share their process. The key is figuring out how to work faster – the real impetus for my moving to a digital environment.
c. Brushes and textures – there are tons out there, people give them away, some sell them – find ones you like and don’t just use the standard set that come with Photoshop or Painter. If you just use what comes out of the box, you will lessen the chance of a good digital experience
d. Use the techniques you know from traditional mediums – Simple principles of composition, perspective, light and shadow, line weight, colour balance, etc, all translate to the digital world. Having a strong traditional foundation will only make you better when working digitally.
Anything else coming up from you we should keep an eye out for?
DG: Hrmm…A few things I can and some I can’t talk about. One big one will be kicking off next month – A Comic Challenge blog. It’s a monthly challenge for artists to hone their skills and ideas. This is actually something that was spawned from your November 30 Characters 30 Days challenge, and during the month of November the Comic Challenge blog will go on hiatus for artists who wish to jump in on the 30/30 challenge that month. I was hoping to kick things off this January, but with Azure’s launch and the holidays, I ran out of time to finish off the blog. The first challenge will begin on February 1st and it’s a doozy. There are a good number of artists I’ve lined up to participate and it is open for any who wish to participate. Information on what to do and when will be up soon. Probably best to follow me on twitter or facebook for the info.
Again, a special thanks to Dan for taking time away from the Wacom to talk about the cool stuff he’s doing. Make sure to check out Azure each week at Zuda and leave him a comment telling him to keep up the great work!
Item 2 – How To Say Everything E-Book
I stumbled across a free E-book recently that is worth adding to your digital collection. How to Say Everything by Tom Hart is a great book full of practical tips and exercises for artists and cartoonists. Later this month, I’ll be starting a new Creating Comics! class for kids in grades 4/5. I’ve already found a few lessons in this book I’ll be adding to my syllabus.
Check it out. You can grab the book from this link here, and if you like it, you might as well stumble it forward as well.
Item 3 – Sketch-A-Day Blog with Cory Walker
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? Cory Walker, co-creator with Robert Kirkman of Invincible (a book I finally got around to reading this month) did. Cory is doing a sketch-a-day this year. Okay, so most professional artists draw every day. But Cory’s posting his sketches each day at his blog. Additionally, Cory posted this offer:
“I’ve added a link list to the sidebar for sketch-a-day (s.a.d.) blogs. If you’ve got one going, let me know and I’ll add it to the list. Doesn’t matter if I’ve already got you linked elsewhere.”
Super Girl by Cory Walker
So, if you’re doing a sketch-a-day blog as well, why not share it with Cory?
Item 4- Who Will Fill the Webcomics.com Void?
It’s been two weeks since Webcomics.com surprised the webcomics community by switching to a paid subscription service. I thoroughly covered my feelings about the decision in a recent ComixStreet Special Comment, and many creators chimed in on the comments thread, mostly agreeing with my assessment.
As I said I would do in the comment, I subscribed to the new Webcomics.com. I can say that Brad Guigar has been working to deliver on what he promised the changes would bring. He’s negotiated a special deal for subscribers at the big C2E2 Convention, already posted an contribution from PVPs Robert Khoo, and written a few columns with some ideas I’ve already put into practice.
I do wonder, however, if by moving to a subscription model, Brad has shifted too much of the burden onto himself. Prior to this change, Webcomics.com was a great venue for creators to freely submit interesting and informative articles to be read and evaluated by fellow cartoonists. Getting an article on the front of Webcomics.com was good exposure. It’s unlikely non-subscribers will be submitting articles, and less likely that subscribers will submit content (why give away content for free to a site you’re already paying for?) Thus, the burden will be primarily on Brad (and Half-Pixel) to keep the great content coming. I hope he realizes the challenge he’s taken on here.
And, as I predicted last week, the void for a free webcomics community site is trying to be filled by a number of sites. Webcomic Planet, We Make Webcomics, and Webcomics Community are three such sites that seem to be stepping up their game to fill the void, and I’m sure there are and will be others. It’ll take a while before one rises to front runner status. It’ll be interesting to see which one does.
Item 5- Advice for the Week
I’m currently reading Seth Godin‘s Small Is the New Big. It’s basically a book collection of his better blog posts over the past several years. I’ve mentioned Godin before, and likely will again. Here’s a a quote:
“Sales
…in just one easy step: Make something people want to buy.”
He goes on to describe an awful sales pitch he sat in on with Yahoo execs that ended in a multi-million dollar deal. Why? Because the product Yahoo had to offer, was just that good. One of the running themes in Godin’s work…it pays BIGTIME to be the best in the world at something.
This simple advice applies to creating comics:
“Comic Success
…in just one easy step: Make something people want to read.”
It sounds obvious, but I’m not so sure that everyone gets it. Yes comics (and writing, film, art, etc.) are great forms of self-expression. And yes, you should do work that you are passionate about and meaningful to you. But if you want to be successful, if you want to reach an audience, you HAVE to make sure you’re doing work that people want to read.
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The ComixStreet Recap posts every other Thursday at TylerJamesComics.com. Pass it along if you know someone who might enjoy it. And If you’ve got a story or a link you think might interest me and the readers of ComixStreet, feel free to email me at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, send me a Tweet @tylerjamescomic, or leave a comment below.
Previous Columns
ComixStreet Recap #1: Welcome to ComixStreet…Lee Nordling’s ComicsProPrep…DC’s Earth One…JAVILAND Podcast…Indy Comic Book Week
ComixStreet Special Comment: Webcomics.com Becomes a Subscription Service
Filed Under: ComixTribe
