D. Bethel Draws Long John #09

Jul28
by on 28 July 2017

After a few weeks where things got busy (and drawing got sparse because of it), I’m back at the table getting pages done. I’m actually well ahead of the page in the video and have been since I started uploading these for this chapter, so progress progresses, so to speak. For the few pages following this, however, there will be no videos as that felt too filled with spoilers to be comfortable showing them out of context. So, I’ll be trying to go back to some Sketch Friday drawings to make up for that.

I’m sure I’ve talked about this, but making videos of drawings mostly feels like a guessing game in terms of what people want. I’ve seen artists I like a lot put out drawing videos but the structure and format varies wildly aside from it’s a video showing someone draw.

I made a few videos with my previous comic where I would try to talk through the whole thing, speeding the process up between bits of interesting conversation (often leading to humorous moments). Recently, I have live-streamed some inking and tried to engage in conversation with live viewers. While very emboldening if a lot of people show up, it can be distracting and, I think, slows the process down which I really don’t need because I’m slow enough as it is.

My current format is sped-up inking with copyright-free music I made over the top. I’ve heard from some people that instead of the music they’d like to hear me talk about the drawing. Others said they’d like a real-time video with me drawing and talking or just silence. Most people have been really positive about the videos I’ve been putting out, but––maybe it’s the teacher side of me––I feel like they could be more useful for people who like drawing, are learning to draw, or like the comic itself.

What would you like to see in these videos? Please let me know in the comments of this post, commenting on the YouTube video, or e-mail longjohncomic@gmail.com with your two cents.

See you next week with…something, no doubt.

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Sac Indie Expo 2017

Jul10
by on 10 July 2017

 

This weekend will be the inaugural show for the Sac Indie Expo, a show that “brings the top local indie artists, creators, and writers under one roof.” This time, that roof will be owned by the local craft brewer, Big Sexy Brewing Company. Here are some details about the event.

I hope to see you there!

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D. Bethel Draws Long John #08

Jul07
by on 7 July 2017

I’ve been asked if I worry about these videos spoiling anything in the upcoming chapter. That had crossed my mind, but it’s not something I’m particularly worried about. A single panel shouldn’t be enough to ruin a story.

To be honest, I am being a little selective about what I show in these videos, and even though I show the full page at the end of the video, I think that the story is only fully appreciated when read in its final form, which is definitely not what is being shown here. Once so far, I have redacted images from the video, but that was more to have fun than to actually safeguard readers from any potential spoilers.

This video shows a lot of how decisions are made in the art. The pencils are usually pretty loose, allowing for decisions about adding details to be made during inking, usually. In addition to details, the choice about rendering (adding elements to indicate lighting, depth, etc.) are usually left for the inking as well. With the panel inked in the above video, I really was aiming for a specific look which I mostly hit, but the final panel is a bit messier than what I had wanted and, had I done more planning, it would look better. But, that would go against, a bit, about the creative ethos of how I create Long John. I want it to be a learning experience that will rely on my experience in making comics for ten years (TEN YEARS) now (well, in September) and to trust my talent and sensibilities to guide the art for the comic.

Such trust also allows for happy accidents, which has happened often; however, this also allows for stumbled attempts along the way. There have been a fair amount of wobbly perspective, strange anatomy, and bad compositions. With that in mind, it all still passes my own bar for clarity. As poorly drawn as a panel could be, I always ask the question, “Does this make it hard for the reader to understand the page?” If yes, I redraw the panel, usually on a separate piece of paper that I cut out and tape over the rejected one––that has happened a few times. If no, which is most often, I roll with the punches or try to improve it with coloring. The one thing I don’t do is use Photoshop to redraw, remove, or replace any art. What is on the page ends up on the screen for the reader (with some very, very slight exceptions), because that’s the comic I want to make.

At this point in my creative development, I would rather have my best efforts in the hands of the reader than a “perfect” comic. The latter would just be boring.

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