polarized double

OVER at the good ole CCGB, there is a cartoonist quite new to the game called IVOR, who is trying to market his cartoons effectively......some of the older hands on the site discussed the effectiveness of a noticable signature, and this inspired me to create a logo for Ivor....dunno if he really wants it, but I enjoyed making this up, it's very different to my usual stuff. I done a 5-second sketch first, then just put the digital bits directly overlaid on top.

MY QUEST to get to grips with Digital coloring Techniques takes a new turn, with my first 'successful' attempt at effective cartoon flames------- this result is pretty much the sort of thing I was aiming for, it took a bit of perseverence, but I basically got there in the end. This image is composited using two seperate pieces of paper-------here's the original black-and-white inking, which I thought had decent vitality, but the composition could be greatly improved-----this is where the 'digital benefits' come in. Central cat JET BLANC had a wonky leg [on the left, our side]----this is easily moved, and again, the now-standard 'head-shrinking' option came into play. The foreground characters of BABY BOOMER and VERONICA were less than satisfactory in the original draft, and I opted to edit these out. New improved versions were drawn up and scanned in, and the overall character elements were scaled down and rearranged for a more pleasing composition. Once the...

PHASE II of my 'and now a word from our sponsors' occassional series, this entry sees another of my recent T-Shirt designs, tailored using my own cartoon style----a nice simple job after the complexities of highly-rendered BABY BOOMER. Once again, the 'all-new Head Shrinker' technique has come into play [ very handy, this application]. I have a tendency to draw heads [often the most interesting part in cartoonery] a bit on the large side, and I often have to erase 'em [ often very painful to remove vital-looking stuff] , but now I can simply shrink down the best bits, and retain the spontanaeity....... EXAMPLE HERE: Below, we see the original pen-and-ink drawing, before the 'headshrinker' tool came into action: The customer also required the ape's leg to be rotated a bit, [the leg on our left] and it's pretty straightforwards using modern manipulation.

I am fortunate enough to be able to pick up some cartoon work here and there, on a semi-regular basis.  This is after an especially long 'fallow' period, where I simply stopped submitting cartoons and strips anywhere, I was quite happy just developing BABY BOOMER for no financial gain, it was and is all trial-and-error, that will still hopefully reap dividends in the not-too-distant future. One consequence of all that experimentation has been the bi-product attained after I took up the 'Digital Color' lark, in an effort to broaden my cartoon horizons----this journey has been well worthwhile, and the 'knowledge' I am gradually building up via this experience means I can adapt the same colour technology to outside cartoon comissions, and in order to secure work, I assembled a portfolio of some of the more accomplished BB offerings, and lo-and-behold, within a week, I secured my first cartoon work offer [ paid, that is] after several years of effectively 'leavi...

I am fortunate enough to be able to pick up some cartoon work here and there, on a semi-regular basis.  This is after an especially long 'fallow' period, where I simply stopped submitting cartoons and strips anywhere, I was quite happy

WORLD WAR 2 'Frau-lics': ----A departure within this manic series, in the shape of an offshoot from the WAR IS STUPID theme-thread. Now I finally got to grasp with muchos of the complexities offered by the Digital Manipulation process, the sort of imagery I could only dream of a scant 18 months ago are gradually becoming a reality: multi-layered options, more akin the olde-style cartoon animation days, and very close to my heart. I'm not one for all-out digital artwork, but even hand-drawn stuff like mine [that is, pen-and ink on paper] can be radically altered to suit the artists' merest whim...........it's a lot more work though than the 'old days', it has to be said. This is the first in a series of ongoing Mock WW2 Propaganda Posters I have in the works: In the meantime, here the basics [for those of you who are interested] of how this more complex stuff is put together. First up, you need a basic ink drawing on paper.........note that Baby Boomer is loo...

SELF-ASSESSMENT: -----Something a little bit different this time, readers, in the shape of another of my 'self-portraiture' series, which I bung in here, simply for my own amusement, you understand----- The art of caricature is something I dabble into from time to time, but although I can 'do' certain people, I am by no means a master in this field--in fact I feel very few are, it's a pretty rare gift to be a truly great caricaturist! However, now and again it's a brilliant change from all-out fantasy [my preference/forte, I hope] and this one illustrated below is the second in my 'self-portrait' series, and it depicts me as a young man [I don't look like this now!]: here goes....