Better to stumble then to not walk! Steampunk Cross promotion offer!

Steampunk Cross Promotion offer

I am Not an expert!
The whole reason why I started this comic was for the challenge. (another post about what started the whole challenge will be in a later post) I have always felt it is better to start something and discover you are really bad at it then to wait till something is perfect and don’t do anything at all.
I am comic artist. Well maybe after posting 30 pages I am. But I have no special training in drawing other then a book i read 1/3 the “how to draw the marvel way” by Stan Lee . I got that book when I was 14. Most of my art experience is actually in painting and clay sculpture. Sure I do a little better then drawing stick Figures but not much.

I’m not a writer. If the grammar police are still reading I am suprised I can’t spell and I am sure I’m wanted in at least 3 states for crimes against punctuation and the English language . I continue to write because its better then waiting for someone to proof read my work while they plan everything else that is more important to them like reorganizing the sock drawer. I can’t pay someone to edit my crap and my brain just does not work in a way that I can’t do it myself. But why wait.

What I have is a story to tell. I’m not expecting to have “steampunk adventure comic the movie” or have Todd McFarlane come out with a limited addition Victoria “Red” Redfern collectible action figures or even have a booth at comicon or Dragoncon !!! What you will see is that my artwork will get better over time. I have challanged myself to keep working on this project till I have finished the first book. I have challanged myself to get better at drawing.

My point is why are you not creating something!?!? Why are you waiting for the conditions to be right to start that project you are always talking about? What is holding you back? Funding? Time? most likely is ambition. WHAT am I calling you lazy? ..YES I AM! If funding is what you need then what steps have you done to find it? If time is what you need when was the last time you said “No I’m not going to go on Facebook today I am going to work on my project” most likely you cannot come up with an example for either one. Stop being an “Imgunna” “I’m gunna do this ” but never get around to it or even take the first step

So here is what I’m proposing! If you have a project that you are working on. IF you have a comic , story or painting that even comes close to steampunk I want to showcase your hard work on this blog. I want to celebrate someone who is actually creating something! Actually taking an idea overcoming their own challenges and making it happen. Sure I understand this is something that will come in short bursts. (We are all artists and “Muse” does not hang around all day … and there is the whole thing of day job)

Submit your project to Artofpaint@gmail.com
What I need from you!
-Email
-Links to your site
-A challenge you had to overcome to make this happen.

• -Steampunk Clothing
• -Steampunk Stories or Novels
• -Steampunk Artwork
• -Steampunk comics
• Steampunk societies, clubs or workshops
• Steampunk models of photography

Just to be clear I have the right to no post anything but if it does not fit in this blog I will let you know! All works must be YOUR creation. Sorry no fan fiction unless the original fiction is public domain.

How I do it! Part one! (Air Pirate)

So I know there is a lot of people that read my comic that know more about making comics then I do …. but there are a few folks out there that have no idea what so ever. so I’m going to walk you through a day of drawing for me. This is going to follow the path from sketchbook to your web browser.

This is drawing is of  “Sarah the Steampunk Polyamrous Air Pirate” (Some title huh)

This image .. She is PISSED OFF! She just discovered someone trying ….oh wait I’m not going to give that away! The drawing was done over a few days with my sketchbook. and a 4H hard pencil!

Drawing of Sarah

This is how it looks right after being scanned into iphoto.. The problem I have been having is that the paper is too big for my tiny scanner . so you notice that the center of the image is sharper then the edges. this is because I place my hand down on the center of the image so it can be properly scanned .. I’m looking to fix this problem later.

The image was Scanned in as full color and not gray scale. at 300 DPI. I choose to not use gray scale or B&W because of some issues with Iphoto only liking RGB color pallets.  I use Iphoto to keep my images organized till I can have a chance to edit them in GIMP

Once I have them in Iphoto I categorize the image so I can find it quickly later . Keyword and bookmarks are my best friend.

Sarah in Gimp

Here I start to remove the background caused by the light escaping because my scanner is too small for the size of paper I use. One the background is removed it will be easier to add any kind of background that I wish!

Once I have done that. I add Layers ..

• Jacket
• Clockwork Arm
• Hair
• Sarah skin
• Eye Patch
• Brass works
• Gun
• Bullwhip

The idea is that each object should have its own layer .. I like to make changes to those layers later on.

Next time I will show you what happens when I add color.

http://steampunkadventures.smackjeeves.com/

 

Chapter 1 Page 1

Chapter 1 Page 1

The Adventure begins!

So when I say that the adventure begins, I’m not talking about the comic – but my life; and you get to come along for the ride.  When I was growing up many of my goals were squashed by the same people that should have been pushing me towards those goals.  One of the major goals in my life was to create a comic.  Welcome to my therapy!!  I’m always looking for feedback please email me at Artofpaint@gmail.com.

About the Comic

The comic is hand painted in watercolor and heavily influenced by my fascination with Stan Lee.  I have deliberately chosen to not ink the comic in order to keep the watercolor feel.  The images below started as doodles and then inspired the rest of the comic.

Steampunk adventure.

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