Free Form Friday: Walter White’s Choice

by Max Miller Dowdle on February 10, 2013 at 8:43 pm
Posted In: Blog, Freeform Drawing

 

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That’s right, Artajammers, another drawing of our dear pal, Walter White.  Can’t the summer hurry up and get here; I’m jones’n for the last eight episodes of Breaking Bad. Those who are fans will recognize this from a pivotal scene in the first season.  The above image is graphite on bristol, 11 x 14, and it is for sale.  Inquire if you’re interested.

I have to say, it’s been a while since I actually sat down and did a full-on pencil drawing.  I forgot how much I missed it.  If you’re so inclined you can click the pic and check out the detail, it’s a pretty high quality upload.

Hey, don’t forget to push that blue button on the right hand side of the site (Vote Top Web Comics 100), if you have a spare moment.  You’re free to vote as much as you want (once a day), and it really helps this site get exposure.  Thanks!

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Shattered Update # 9

by Max Miller Dowdle on February 8, 2013 at 8:39 am
Posted In: Blog, Shattered With Curve of Horn

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Good Morning, Friends!  Well, as previously noted, I have reached that delightful tipping point, the half-way mark.  67 pages, I can hardly believe it, not to mention the fact that a quarter of the book is colored, a task that takes much longer than drawing.  Also, I should note that even though the online version of Shattered With Curve of Horn is 132 pages in total, the print version will be slightly loneger as I’ll be adding a few scenes as a bonus, so just one more thing among many to look forward to.

As an aside, just a simple appeal to my wonderful readers out there, whatever you can do to share Shattered via social media, word of mouth or carrier pigeon would be greatly appreciated!

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Free Form Friday: Ned Stark, and Voting

by Max Miller Dowdle on February 1, 2013 at 9:07 am
Posted In: Blog, Freeform Drawing

 

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Good Morning, and Good February. That’s a thing people say right?  Anyway, in my continued quest to be a better inker I whipped up this fine pic of our dear old friend Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark from A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. This is just plain old Speedball Superblack brushed on to Bristol paper. Is there a finer pairing of media? They go about as well together as Peanut Butter and Honey.

Speaking of delicious treats I have this:

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That’s a button that I’d like you to press.  It takes you fine readers to TopWebComics, a webcomic indexing site where I’m listed.  The short of it is that if I can garner enough votes over the course of the month it result in better exposure for Shattered With Curve of Horn, and then EVERYONE WINS!  It doesn’t cost anything to vote, you don’t even have to register, and you can DO IT EVERY DAY!  Remember, Artafolks, the more votes the better, so press that button!  You can always find it right to the right on any page, right under the RSS Button. All you supporters out there are the best, couldn’t do it withoutchya!

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Setting Free A Mission Statement

by Max Miller Dowdle on January 25, 2013 at 8:04 am
Posted In: Blog, making a graphic novel

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I’ve been putting off posting this for awhile, and I’m not even really sure that my thoughts are entirely in order, but now’s as good a time as any.  You see, I think it’s important to have a direction, a statement of purpose, if you will, with this site.  Sure, it’s a webcomic/online graphic novel site, but beyond that it needs to serve as a platform for my personal preferences in regards to graphic storytelling. So, in the interest of finding my own way, I’m attempting to put down some of the reasons for my new pursuit here, in one place so I can keep them straight.

First, I suppose that much of my drive can be summed up in one line: I want readers to be drawn in by the art, but to stay for the story. It’s extremely important for me to have good, recognizable art propping the story up.  I don’t know how many graphic novels I’ve picked up, flipped through, and set back down because I was turned off by the art.  Perhaps I’ve missed out on some good stories, but I find bad art to be an incredible turn off.  I don’t believe that all graphic art has to be realistic, that’s a personal preference in my own working style, and there are plenty of loose, “cartoonish” artists out there that don’t adhere to reality that I really like (Paul Pope for one). But I also believe that every story has a certain art style that would serve it best, and that many times the art and story are simply not a good match, and this drags the book down.

Of course, you can have the other problem as well.  Good art and bad story.  I can usually get through those books, as long as the story is somewhat serviceable, but boy have I read some stinkers. The Green Woman by Peter Straub and John Bolton comes to mind. That book was this close from being hurled across the room.  Anyway, in terms of writing, I find that there are more subtle forces at work. It’s not enough any more to just write a crackerjack plot for me.  I need to have resonant themes, living characters, and most importantly…a point.  What the hell is the point of the story? What is the point the author trying to get across? Why spend so much time on a project that doesn’t have a point.  And believe me, entertainment in and of itself can be a point, but it damn well better be entertaining.

Honestly though, I’m still finding my way, and I expect that my style, in art as in writing, will change over time, but I wanted to lay out my thoughts now as at least a sort of baseline, 2013 version of the way I think.  Ya dig, Artacats?

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Ink Quest, The Guide

by Max Miller Dowdle on January 18, 2013 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Blog, making a graphic novel

Quick addendum to last week’s post.  I did another exercise, this time instead of using the same ink and varying the tool, I decided to make the same series of crosshatched marks but change up the pens used.  Also I threw in some different pencils for variety.

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So you don’t have to try to read my goblin-scratch, from the top left we have: Staedtler .1, Staedtler .3, Staedtler .5, Prismacolor (Fine) Marker, Mechanical Pencil 2b .5, Pilot G-2 05, Carpenter Pencil, Litho Crayon, Pilot Precise V5, Sharpie Ultra Fine, Ball Point Pen, Faber-Castell Brush Pen, Microperm 01, Microperm 03 (low on ink, Sanford Expresso, and a Traditional Wood 2B.

This exercise was a lot of fun for seeing how each tool has its own use and that you need to keep a variety of them laying around depending on the kind of effect you’re trying to achieve.

Also, very exciting news in the next step toward my understanding of the empire of ink, this book: Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptill.

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From all I’ve read, this is the quintessential book on the study and understanding of the ways of ink and I’m just now delving into it.  Expect regular reports!

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