The Miracles - shivers

Krank · Post by **Krank** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 1:32 am

Well, this is just another topic where we can pour praise on Jim...
Anyways, Jim, I must say that you send shivers up and down my spine on a regular basis... I REALLY like today's strip (going down the tree)...[This message has been edited by krank (edited 01-29-2002).]

Tar Baby · Post by **Tar Baby** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 2:20 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Zubkavich:
 By working in layers, I can build up the light and shadow bit by bit until I like the way it's working. When I've got a clear idea of what I want to see, I can color a page in 45 min. or so. When I'm going in and figuring out the light and shadow as I go, it can take a while longer.Blab, blab, blab... I need to stop talking so much.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>nah....i like the info. talk away! and it's the layering that has me muddled...i need to play around with that more. i have adobe photoshop on my comp and i've found that the "adjust levels" trick that you mentioned in your tutorials does amazing things for my sketches....i need to work on it some more, though. finding a couple hours where i can just sit down and play with it is hard...derned day job keeps getting in the way. ah, me.....

Tar Baby · Post by **Tar Baby** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 3:29 am

well, krank....looks like you managed to start a topic about today's strip before i did.....i have an artsy kind of question, though, for the Z-man. i really like the use of shadow and light in today's strip. especially in the second picture where Colby is more or less suspended over a deep pit and the light is shinning upward and his whole body is illuminated by what is happening below. i've looked at your tutorials (been using it to help me clean up my own drawings that i post on my own website, thanx a heap), but i do wonder if you're drawing from anything...or if these images are all out of your head, sharpened by a basic understanding of where light falls, etc.bleh. am i making any sense?

Templar · Post by **Templar** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 6:18 am

Today's page is very cool. I sort of see the depth of the tree being intended to reflect the depth of the story, that despite the amazing things Colby's already seen, there's still so much more to go.

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 8:09 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Tar Baby:
 i've looked at your tutorials (been using it to help me clean up my own drawings that i post on my own website, thanx a heap), but i do wonder if you're drawing from anything...or if these images are all out of your head, sharpened by a basic understanding of where light falls, etc.
bleh. am i making any sense?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Thanks Tar Baby,The characters are drawn without specific reference. Practicing drawing the human figure from real life in all sorts of poses is the best way to improve. If you check out the life drawings from my general art page:
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/zubkavich/LifeD01.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.geocities.com/zubkavich/LifeD01.html</A> you'll see a variety of poses and drawing time lengths. The more you draw from real life, the faster it is to create poses from your imagination.For backgrounds, I tend to gather some reference. It's not tracing or anything like that, but pulling images of the types of elements I want to draw and making sure that they look proper, even if I draw them from a different angle or change them substantially.The coloring and lighting has been a real trial and error thing for me. You can see that I barely used Photoshop at all for lighting effects when the comic started. It wasn't until I dug around for some good Photoshop tutorials myself and did some experimentation while working on page 8 that I started to expand my understanding of doing light and shadow in Photoshop. I don't actually use reference for the lighting or colors.It's a matter of looking logically at where the light source is coming from and thinking carefully about what parts are blocking others to create cast shadows or gradients. Obviously, the type of surface (metal, skin, clothing) and intensity of the light makes a big difference. I should do a tutorial on it...By working in layers, I can build up the light and shadow bit by bit until I like the way it's working. When I've got a clear idea of what I want to see, I can color a page in 45 min. or so. When I'm going in and figuring out the light and shadow as I go, it can take a while longer.Blab, blab, blab... I need to stop talking so much.------------------
Jim Zubkavich
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The Makeshift Miracle <A HREF="http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com</A>
------------------[This message has been edited by Zubkavich (edited 01-25-2002).]

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Sun Jan 27, 2002 9:35 am

Photoshop is seriously bottomless. The more I read and learn about it, the more amazed I am. I'm constantly finding new ways to color and composite the pages together.Where the first few pages I created for Makeshift had 3 or 4 layers, my latest ones can have 15-20+... it's pretty nuts.As well, learn the hot keys for Photoshop. They can make your work go by WAY faster. Instead of dragging and clicking for each little thing, you just intuitively nail a hot key and keep working.Actually, here's a short list of hot keys for Photoshop 6 that I've found especially useful:Spacebar- Hold the spacebar to move around the image while zoomed in. Saves you zooming in and out constantly.Tab- Hit Tab to get rid of all the tool bars so you can see your image free of clutter and work on it. Hit Tab again to bring them all back and choose tools.[ and ] the two square brackets increase or decrease brush sizes. Way easier than clicking through the groupings of brushes.b B is the paintbrush hot key.
e E is the eraser hot key.
x X switches your foreground and background palettes.
z Z pulls up the magnifying glass.
There's obviously many many others. Using the Action menu, you can even create your own hot keys for functions you use often.More later when I think of other things...------------------
Jim Zubkavich
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The Makeshift Miracle
http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com
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Tar Baby · Post by **Tar Baby** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 3:47 am

yo. that's a lot of neat information. now i've gotta pigeon-hole some time this week so i can play around with that...and have another thurough read through your tutorials....thanx a heap. 15 - 20 layers, eh? hmmmph. *ponders that one for a bit*BTW, i really like today's strip (as usual). Blake doesn't seem to be such a pushover (for the moment) as he seemed last week. <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">------------------
he hath not so much brain as ear wax

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 5:35 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Tar Baby:
Blake doesn't seem to be such a pushover (for the moment) as he seemed last week. <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>The big difference being that he puts up a front whenever other people are there. The real Blake beneath that defense mechanism is a lot more vulnerable than he lets on.------------------
Jim Zubkavich
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The Makeshift Miracle
http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com
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Tar Baby · Post by **Tar Baby** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 6:16 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Zubkavich:
 The real Blake beneath that defense mechanism is a lot more vulnerable than he lets on.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>.....as we all are, i suppose.... <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/wink.gif">------------------
he hath not so much brain as ear wax

Krank · Post by **Krank** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 2:54 am

For one reason or another, I am actually beginning to accept this guy as a part of the story.Quite intriguing...

Tar Baby · Post by **Tar Baby** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 6:48 am

somehow i'm beginning to think that Blake is in some way wrapped up at the center of all that's going to take place in this story. maybe his exploitation by Esurio is the key, maybe he's important in another way that the Z-man hasn't revealed yet, but I get the feeling that Blake is in fact one of the major players in this story.personally, though, i'm wondering (a) what colby has found at the bottom of that tree, and (b) when iris is going to make an appearance again.....does Esurio even know that they are all standing in the same house? or is he just toying with Blake to see what he knows? or has iris hidden herself away somewhere?i'm glad the Z-man updates more than once a week....or i'd have to do a lot of evil spamming to the MM email account..... <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/wink.gif">------------------
he hath not so much brain as ear wax[This message has been edited by Tar Baby (edited 02-03-2002).]