At last, "Me & Pete" #1 is complete and near ready for purchase.  I have enjoyed the process of it's creation, and am glad to see it go to print.  ComiXpress will be doing the printing (on-demand), and will soon have it available there for sale for only $3.99!

Wow, still going on coloring 'Me & Pete' one shot...

Well, I have spent the last 3 days practicing and painting using PhotoShop on the #1 'Me & Pete' issue.  I have no idea why I have waited so long to purchase this software!  I have picked up the basics and have been going steady all day everyday for the last several days...  (Is that enough days?)

It seems also that with this software, I tend to use my airbrushing techniques.  Layering from dark to light, and sometimes light to dark.  I suppose my years of experience in the airbrush field lends to the ease of use of this program.

Don't be fooled though.  I am still old school at heart, and will have a job using my airbrush and spray guns when the computers are shut down, and have taken over the earth  SPOOKY!
 
Stay tooned for posts!

PT

Well, hopefully not too bad~

Just ordered Photoshop CS3 for a deal, and got to work immediately trying to figure it out.  My colorist on 'Me & Pete' #1 is behind on his regular work, and I've decided to throw in a 10 page preview of 'Dosta City' in the issue, so I figured what the heck...  It gives me time to kind of sort through things, become a bit more self  sufficient and learn a new program all at the same time.  

I'm not looking to necessarily shun the colorist, but maybe lend him a hand, especially on the 'Dosta City' preview.  I always intended to do 'Dosta City' completely independent of any other artist anyway, so the added time just gave me an excuse to get the PhotoShop program in, and get it running smoothly.  I have ALOT to learn!  All of this digital coloring and painting is new to me.  I also have invested in Corel Painter X, and Adobe Illustrator...

As soon as I can digitally color something worth viewing, I'll post it here to get your feedback!


IN OTHER NEWS:

Formula D! Yes, as most of you know I am a die-hard car guy at heart, and will attending the Formula D finals this coming weekend!  It'll be my first drift race - should be interesting to watch, not to mention the networking I can do while I'm there.  After all, my primary artisty is automotive conceptual drawings~

#0 has turned out to be a little unforgiving...  a little play on words since this is a "western"....   (cough)

Anyway, I have bluelined the initial comic, and am not pleased.  Back to the drawing board! 

I am going to redesign the charactors... Send them back to original concept I had way back when.  ...not my normal style, but cool none-the-less...  This is my baby and I want it to be the best it can be.

Stay tooned,
Paul

I began working on Dosta City #0 recently!!  Yes, #0.  I have decided to do an 8-12 page intro to get folks on track, and give a bit of a back story.  The intro is actually the extension of the extended issue of #1, but this way I can do the intro, then get on with issues #1-#4.  Keep your eyes peeled

MY WEBSITES:

paulbtownsend.com - My general art and info site~

My ComicSpace - Uh, my comic book site~

My MySpace - ~More info and pics~

MyRideIsMe -     My automotive art~

Wow, where did the summer go?!  My colorist and I both got side-tracked, and dropped the ball, but summers over, the kids are back in school, and the US Postal service is delivering script and pages of the 1 shot issue "Me & Pete: True Heroes?!" to his doorstep!  Finally~

My next project is getting back on track with my graphic novel, "Dosta City".  Since dealing with my fibromyalgia (Yeah, it's true - I was diagnosed just a few months back), doctors visits, and summer sessions for the kids, zero work has been accomplished on the pencilling of the 1st of the 4 issue series~  Its hurts to draw, so cut me some slack!  What?!  Why can't I use that as an excuse? ...damn!

Well, to get back in the swing of things, I will be assisting in the development and look of another comic - Carlos Orta's "Gabriel".  Carlos is a motorcycle builder by trade, and one of the best fabricators EVER!  Anywho, he has asked me to help him bring a story to life that will ge hand-in-hand with his new bike build - 'Gabriel'.  This will be developed slowly, as he builds the bike, so really it's more of a project, and can be done a couple pages a month, leaving plenty of time for me to be working on "Dosta City".  By the time I get the 1st issue to my colorist, he should be done with "Me & Pete", so the transition will be smooth~  You should start seeing the comic come to life as advertisements or teasers for the bike build... Pretty freakin' cool!

That's it for now - Stay Tooned!

Paul

Wow, it took twice as long as suspected, but I have finally completed the "Me & Pete" pencils.  Now off to the colorist.  We are not going to ink it, just use the pencils for a softer, more natural look...

I feel great about this.  Finally finished!

More to follow~

As January will soon come to a close, I am reflecting a bit on the journey of my soon to be 1-Shot comic "Me & Pete".  I decided in December ('07) to go for this comic as a kind of primer to my big title 'Dosta City'; a 4-issue mini series I wrote in 2006.  This 1-shot is to be a catalyst of sorts to propel me into doing the art for Dosta City in that, it will get me in the habit of drawing everyday. (I do work full time, by the way)

I began by writing the comic - more of an outline really.  It only took about an hour to take my thoughts and throw them on paper.  I'm throwing in my sense of humor, body language and a kind of poke at the seriousness of comics today.  It's just a fun little story - 24 pages - of 2 friends' thought processes.  As shown in another post, you can see it has something to do with superheroes, but don't be fooled.  It really gets to the heart of the charactors, and who they are deep down.

Ok, enough banter...  What a learning experience this has been!  First, this is my 1st attempt at many aspects of this medium.  I have never done sequentials with exception of 3-4 panel strips, and have only done a few of those.  Setting the mood, "camera angles", body language, motion, pacing... you name it, it has reared it's head!  As of today, I have completed 14 pages of pencils - and the pages will stay pencil - it's fairly detailed.  I have 10 pages to go, but in the 14 pages I have completely re-done 3 full pages to better tell the mood and setting.  For another 3-4 of the 14 pages, I have added scenes within the already "set" layouts to capture a shift or mood.  And I think only 1 page has just disappeared - period.  I felt it was repetative, and needed to go.  Having removed that page however allowed me to adjust pacing in the early part of the story, and will allow me to slow down, and explain better the last few pages - where i will have to do another completely new page or two - more slow downs.

It's OK though, because I am learning, and if we are not learning, we are nothing.  My original goal of having this comic pencilled in a month was unrealistic, and arrogant - At least I'm learning

Until next time~

PBT