This is an illustration [3 color versions] I did for a chapter of “The Physics of Animation” dealing with the topic of balance. Uh, she accidentally came out looking A LOT like me… except with long hair. And also, a cartoon. Thought I should throw that out here before someone I know points that out. Anyway, I learned a lot about adjustment layers in Photoshop this summer and had some fun messing around with that. Normally I think images put through Hard Mix look pretty ass-ish, but this time around it came out cool. I cleaned up the linework in Flash and did the rest in Photoshop.

Below: This is where I’m stopping with this piece. I may go back and add a mule caravan in the foreground later but I’m going to cool it now and move on to the next piece.

A sketchbook page I’m lukewarm on but other people really liked. So here:

I get a lot of questions on what media I use in my sketchbook so here’s the skinny. This is the core of my arsenal… these are by no means the only materials I use in my sketchbook, but they are the ones most frequently used:

1. Sumi Ink: I use it mainly for flat washes.

2. White Gouache: Used on most highlights and blocks of light value.

3 & 4. Grey Tombow Markers: Kind of all-purpose. I use the light gray for basic lay-ins… you usually can’t even see it on the toned paper once the drawing has been completed. I use the medium gray for dark patches and core shadows and sometimes blend it out with the light grey marker because Tombows are water soluble. I try to keep the strokes to a minimum because markers get muddy-looking really fast.

5. Uniball Signo [White]: Used for small white accents or for light areas with more texture. It’s water soluble and very workable.

6 & 7: Pilot Hi-tec pens: Used for all the linework. These are water soluble so I often throw a wash of water over them right after drawing (once the ink dries, it’s not as workable) to get light shadows or a flat, grey wash.

8 & 9: Japanese Brush Pens: I use these on my core shadows and black areas. Then I go in with the water pen and bleed out the middle values. You can get all kinds of effects with it depending on how much water you use or where you start your stroke. I usually put the water down on the page where I want the ink to bleed out to and then connect the stroke to the ink and bleed it out. Beginning your stroke on the ink creates a completely different effect that isn’t as soft.

10. Pentel Sign Pen: Just a water soluble black marker that bleeds like a muthah. I like to use this one on small dark shadows. This marker wields a lot of variation.

11. Water Pen: The tool that makes all my value drawings happen. I think everyone knows this one but… it’s a brush that holds its own water supply. You just squeeze out the amount you need. I use it to bleed pens and apply gouache and ink.

Not pictured: the sketchbook I usually use. I like this particular sketchbook because I love toned paper, it holds wet media well… there’s minimal warping and media almost never bleeds through to the other side of the page, and it’s 100% recycled! Oh yeah, and cheap. We like cheap. I get almost all my pens at Maido, although Tombows are available at every art store. Almost all the media I use are water soluble… I like media that bleed. Materials I occasionally use: fountain pens, tissues, watercolor pencils, alphacolor charkole, china markers, bamboo brushes, crayons, black electrical tape (cut up for dark patches), etc.