tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127829702024-03-16T04:18:40.119-05:00Big Time AtticAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02567485336304809225noreply@blogger.comBlogger984125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-50192504440875310452012-06-04T21:53:00.000-05:002012-06-04T21:53:52.551-05:00Time to Update Your Rolodex…<br><br>
<center><strong>WE'VE MOVED! FIND US AT:</strong><br><strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com">BarrelMag.com</a></strong></center><br><br>
Hello to the few and faithful Big Time Attic readers! Zander and I are pleased to announce that we both have brand new graphic novels that are going to be published through Top Shelf next spring. Zander's <strong><em>HECK</em></strong> is about a washed-up high school football player who discovers a portal to the Underworld in his basement. And my book, <strong><em>CRATER XV</strong></em>, is the sequel to 2009's <strong><em>FAR ARDEN</strong></em>. Army Shanks is back, and this time gets himself caught up in a black market space race heating up in the Canadian High Arctic.<br><br>
But the BETTER news is that we'll be serializing both books through our brand new monthly magazine, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com"><em>DOUBLE BARREL</em></a> (Two Cannons... double barrel... get it?).<br><br>
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com"><em>DOUBLE BARREL</em></a> is a digital-only monthly magazine that will serialize the aforementioned graphic novels, plus have lots of great bonus content like short stories, guest strips, a letters page, and an in-depth tips & tricks section. The first issue comes out in just two days, on Wednesday, June 6, and you can get it pretty much anywhere you get your ebooks -- Comixology, iVerse, iBooks, or the Top Shelf Digital app. Each issue will have over 50 pages of content for just $1.99. Yep. A buck a barrel.<br><br>
I'm going to put this next part in bold, because it's pretty important:<br><br>
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Zander and I will now be writing all of our blog posts on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com">BarrelMag.com</a> -- the <em>Double Barrel</em> homepage. Please add <a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com">barrelmag.com</a> to your RSS feed!
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If you're in town on Thursday, swing by Big Time Attic for our launch party. Here's your official invitation:<br><br>
<center><a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/242957665804662/"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/doublebarrel/bigtimeattic_party_flyer_400px.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
With that, we're going to shut off the lights here and shutter the windows. We're not shutting the Big Time Attic blog down completely, but we might be gone for a while. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.barrelmag.com">BarrelMag.com</a>!<br><br>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-72714553365273110852012-04-26T13:05:00.000-05:002012-04-26T13:05:25.576-05:00MN Original Video on the Cartoonist Conspiracy<p>Thanks to Joel Zimmerman over at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mnoriginal.org/2012/04/international-cartoonist-conspiracy-the-minneapolis-chapter/">MN Original</a> for producing this great video postcard. It's a snapshot of what we do during our monthly jams and I apologize if I screwed up any facts in the interview!<br><br>
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/heB_gvWGZQI.html?p=1" width="400" height="255" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#heB_gvWGZQI" style="display:none"></embed>
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<p>If you're a Twin Cities cartoonist and want to kill some time hanging out and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/">drawing with some of the nicest folks around</a>, stop by Diamond's Coffee Shoppe on the first Thursday of every month. The jam officially starts at 6:30pm, but people trickle in and out between then and 10pm. If you're shy and worried about being the "new guy" don't worry, just come in and put your head down and draw -- that's basically what I did for the first two years of Conspiracy. But seriously, these are the nicest people in Minneapolis.
<p>And if you'd much rather draw on table cloths and drunkenly shout out answers to trivia questions (I mean write them down quietly) while eating the best food in Uptown, then come to the monthly <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/?p=4161">Bad Cartoonist Trivia Night</a> hosted by Danno Klonowski. Last Mondays of every month at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bad-Waitress-Diner/120456251303252">Bad Waitress</a> on 26th & Nicollet. The next one is Monday, April 30th. 9 pm start time but come early and grab dinner!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-71637466617636341322012-03-06T07:00:00.001-06:002012-03-06T09:38:04.415-06:00Game Infarcer: The Making of the Mortal Kombat Gag Cover!<div style="text-align: center; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7FpyI0HA4njSlP15ifhnV3o-hMUChllGhSsX9Jak5QdUmGEaN8pCFp9BPsa76FQA5uPDG8KHV1jp8R_JK5jrE_S4bDTdLpipBFWYLiBLow-1q7zt7WWRgeC3m4t5pqdWAs2yGA/s1600/MKWB_COVER.jpg" style="text-align: left; "><span ><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7FpyI0HA4njSlP15ifhnV3o-hMUChllGhSsX9Jak5QdUmGEaN8pCFp9BPsa76FQA5uPDG8KHV1jp8R_JK5jrE_S4bDTdLpipBFWYLiBLow-1q7zt7WWRgeC3m4t5pqdWAs2yGA/s400/MKWB_COVER.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715348279892762258" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >It's Game Infarcer time, everyone! I only tend to do a handful of actual illustration jobs each year (that is, single images that are colored by me), and I always look forward to Game Infarcer, Game Informer's snotty look at various games and game trends. I've provided the 'cover' (first page, that is) to this section for seven years now, and it's always great fun to call upon my funny-makin' skills as well as my coloring ones to crank this sucker out.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >CONCEPT</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >As usual, the process starts with a meeting at Game Informer, and I knew I was in for a bit of trouble when Joe Juba said, "I didn't really think it was funny when they first told me, but now I do." Uh oh. Is this drawing going to need a paragraph next to it so anyone will know what they're talking about? But really, I thought, anyone can make a funny illustration when a rock-solid concept is laid in their lap; it's just going to take a little of that little thing I call "The Zander Cannon Magic". Okay, so. If you think that this sounds like foreshadowing for the part later in the story when I shoot the whole thing to hell, I say to you, "Shh, you're going to ruin it."</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >So I met with Joe Juba, Dan Ryckert, Tim Turi, Jeff Cork, and probably Ben Reeves. I don't know. Probably. Ben's always creeping around somewhere. They told me that the game we're riffing on is Mortal Kombat, then gave me a little back-story. The company that makes Mortal Kombat, NetherRealms, was purchased by Warner Brothers, and they've done some crossover things like Mortal Kombat Vs. The DC Universe, and now they've permanently added Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street to the MK roster. So the gag is that Mortal Kombat isn't going to stop there; they're going to start grabbing characters from all of Warner Brothers' movies. They give me a list of notable movies in WB's film catalog, and we start brainstorming. The big idea they wanted in there was to make Tom Cruise's character from Risky Business be pulled across the floor by MK's Scorpion (the guy who says "Get over here!"). </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Now, whenever anyone says "Warner Bros", the only thing that anyone really knows that they made is Looney Tunes. I know, people might know that The Matrix or Harry Potter were Warner Bros movies, but it's like Disney-- you know the cartoon characters; everything else is a little fuzzy. And obviously as a cartoonist, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck and the rest are very appealing things to draw, particularly the idea of them bloodying up -- or being bloodied up by -- Mortal Kombat characters. We even had a gag worked out where Bugs Bunny would be front and center, eating someone's arm like a carrot, and the drippy blood letters that usually say "Finish Him!" in MK would say "That's All, Folks". </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZnS_Awh8mJrBXE8jFAleeB3mlHoDHdO17SnGLmpderk8Hw10JduTN2pMRAQIcIn6tpCUBNpU8KE-pMY4HTFNx8TiWPRYvt_aBedfhPkBoVndpcCAylRXVcKxSDWx9oW7-NC_Dw/s1600/FINISHHIM.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZnS_Awh8mJrBXE8jFAleeB3mlHoDHdO17SnGLmpderk8Hw10JduTN2pMRAQIcIn6tpCUBNpU8KE-pMY4HTFNx8TiWPRYvt_aBedfhPkBoVndpcCAylRXVcKxSDWx9oW7-NC_Dw/s400/FINISHHIM.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715344877193724898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 400px; " /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Now the problem came when I wanted to flesh this gag out for the full illustration. If you have Bugs Bunny front and center, how do you put Tom Cruise's character in the background and have people realize what's happening? Bugs Bunny puts you in a certain frame of mind, and you're just not going to understand who some guy in his underwear is, and what he's doing there. So I started putting forth the idea that we could have the rest of the illustration populated by the rest of the WB cartoons; they make for great sight gags, their art style clashes appealingly with the "realistic" Mortal Kombat characters, and they're just plain old fun to draw. Wow, great! It's the old "Zander Cannon Magic" that everyone loves, coming through in the clutch!</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Except... that's not what the gag is supposed to be. And that's not what they asked for. And with the setup of Freddy Krueger, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And finally, it turns out in the world of video games and the internet, the gag of 'cute characters killing or being killed' has been done once or twice or possibly ten million times.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >So I went back to the drawing board and really thought about what the GI folks were asking for. The Freddy Krueger setup is there to prepare us for the idea of NetherRealms going back into the film catalog and just looking for brand recognition at the expense of appropriateness. So I took another look at the big list of movies that Dan Ryckert gave me and went back to what we had discussed at the GI offices. So then I dropped in this sketch, assembling it from various mini-sketches into one document.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bY9Ge07upFcm5t_G90DK5FelBI6eeSz17_1ucBPS-_K1M3LvcjHc8QD-R2tTpPKv1KerjsDtH3mkkH3DciJNOmPPBjXkwhAQB4kRuMYdn6rZbktL-HvJugGpDDt_T7m-wppMNw/s1600/MKLAYOUT.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bY9Ge07upFcm5t_G90DK5FelBI6eeSz17_1ucBPS-_K1M3LvcjHc8QD-R2tTpPKv1KerjsDtH3mkkH3DciJNOmPPBjXkwhAQB4kRuMYdn6rZbktL-HvJugGpDDt_T7m-wppMNw/s400/MKLAYOUT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715345706724161794" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 400px; " /></a><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >We've got Free Willy in the foreground, getting uppercut, Harry Potter getting struck by lightning, Tom Cruise about to be speared by Scorpion, and the part I was most happy with -- Bugs Bunny as the uppercut "Toasty!" guy. This illustration, and last year's illustration, are heavy with movie references, so I was really happy to put in a semi-obscure video game reference. In the earlier Mortal Kombat games (i.e. the ones I played), every time you uppercut someone, a little image of one of the programmers came out in a purple shirt and said "Toasty!". And so there was my excuse to put in Bugs Bunny.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >LINE ART</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Since this drawing was much more about the various gags in it than a unified composition, I took a different approach to the line art. <span>After getting approval for this sketch, I printed out several 10% cyan copies of this layout to use as guides for the final line art. What I ended up with was a pile of illustrations, all having very little to do with each other.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKjsguVQwQPBfB8HmvQiWfs8Dln705DMWCngLUhOLzQA5CRBRIsJh0r5LwgUunMm7bWHVQElYFqpLnVsfq8pksgZZiQfEnM-BKotU6KoN8vX-v9wp13K1nJIWUxlppPuA2wYweQ/s1600/lineartpic.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKjsguVQwQPBfB8HmvQiWfs8Dln705DMWCngLUhOLzQA5CRBRIsJh0r5LwgUunMm7bWHVQElYFqpLnVsfq8pksgZZiQfEnM-BKotU6KoN8vX-v9wp13K1nJIWUxlppPuA2wYweQ/s400/lineartpic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715352534223692578" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 158px; " /></a><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Then I scanned them and assembled them all into one document to figure out the final placement, as well as leaving room for the subhead text and logo.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhMx7ClHG78YJYEJhtc05BivDpnJ8RwNFcnlx1P2pWklREx-XCjeBChtpoPgH-tQhIn65vGRqnAuznnEgMssiUoT4i0STNV09muGvzW-nTmPaI65_pqs2SzhdIbS6uxDCTRDMUQ/s1600/linearttogether.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhMx7ClHG78YJYEJhtc05BivDpnJ8RwNFcnlx1P2pWklREx-XCjeBChtpoPgH-tQhIn65vGRqnAuznnEgMssiUoT4i0STNV09muGvzW-nTmPaI65_pqs2SzhdIbS6uxDCTRDMUQ/s400/linearttogether.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715353157519832898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><span >The nice thing about creating final art elements separately like this is that you can work on the layout and get some solid feedback about how they look together, tweaking them at even a late stage. The tricky thing about it is that you end up with a lot of tangents that you have to futz with. Tangents in this case are places where a line in the foreground just barely touches a line in the background and makes it look like these two things, which are supposedly a large distance apart, are touching. Like this: </span><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWx_I2soDw5fv0oztg77ZrFlw-QbpPzuHAMfPg6R6_cNMMHZMWjra1CZcbX0UDv-6GG-T1pb5aRIjuGOPwhC44bzrAZW-B-1ZOStVE7dJcLkDLTNtm9zx2XUw7IqEqM7bDW-l4A/s1600/TANGENTS.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWx_I2soDw5fv0oztg77ZrFlw-QbpPzuHAMfPg6R6_cNMMHZMWjra1CZcbX0UDv-6GG-T1pb5aRIjuGOPwhC44bzrAZW-B-1ZOStVE7dJcLkDLTNtm9zx2XUw7IqEqM7bDW-l4A/s400/TANGENTS.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715370293862276178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 99px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br /></span><div><span >Once everything's in its place and I more or less have the kinks worked out, I go in and edit the lines so that things behind other things have their lines obscured, and the whole thing looks like a real drawing. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >COLORING</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >I wanted to keep my ability to move the characters around as long as I could, so I decided to keep all the characters in their own layers as I colored. As you may know if you use Photoshop, having this many layers in a high-resolution file is extremely memory-intensive, and a slow computer like mine was at the time (that also limited the amount of RAM available to Photoshop) was not going to be able to handle it. So I saved the line art as a separate flat image and imported it into my new color file, making it a channel instead of a layer. This places it above all of the other layers, but saves on memory because Photoshop doesn't have to contend with all of the layer properties involved. A nice workaround for a situation where your memory is limited.</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJr6seMEUH8ZYWJu9xHZ33pZDe_cFzCU39lxpKkNBsjNcYenc2XCU4rfhp6uwyY11AuUE8PTLRNN24VHtyzSwS0vt5gw-B81n1iWcNR5G4NJcAEaL1wa3PuFLPaTTBB2rF_8XCw/s1600/NOHIGHLIGHT.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJr6seMEUH8ZYWJu9xHZ33pZDe_cFzCU39lxpKkNBsjNcYenc2XCU4rfhp6uwyY11AuUE8PTLRNN24VHtyzSwS0vt5gw-B81n1iWcNR5G4NJcAEaL1wa3PuFLPaTTBB2rF_8XCw/s400/NOHIGHLIGHT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715371243572712658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 334px; height: 400px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >Then I went in and colored that sucker. I usually struggle with color for the first 75% of a job because you're basically putting in placeholder colors and everything looks terrible, so for this one, I scrapped that plan and basically just started coloring each character in their own layer. The only guide that I used was that each character was uplit by the lava pits, so I used the established colors of all the characters, cheating them slightly toward yellow, and put shadows on the top of shapes. I dropped in the orange of the lava pits, then put in pools of yellower lava (that's a thing, right?) to give it a texture. The drawing looks pretty solid now; if anything, it needs the people in the foreground to pop, so...</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMxoXvEBeibwTqfKHPH1c9o_KkTifp4uKJnvMqX8VuH-xe-Tx7uJNESywH6S-7PVHxyOr_zGLE2p7LrRCorW442lUfQg6bL7_0Yy__LWUU3v-4uayggVOKS1RZ1knhSlGEyGBoQ/s1600/HIGHLIGHT.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMxoXvEBeibwTqfKHPH1c9o_KkTifp4uKJnvMqX8VuH-xe-Tx7uJNESywH6S-7PVHxyOr_zGLE2p7LrRCorW442lUfQg6bL7_0Yy__LWUU3v-4uayggVOKS1RZ1knhSlGEyGBoQ/s400/HIGHLIGHT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715371632088965346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 400px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >I created a layer above everything else where I then drew in some very harsh, hot rimlights on the top of all of the characters, popping them out of the background. I also made a white glow on the ground where they are standing to draw attention to the environment and not make it look like they're floating.</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSFpSPYTXEhFfKKBJUn-xWeZdVUGoSxVLuvfPhbJ66KYMqWyHUm5G_7DATMmwxRWQmB3yRYrMtRW__DAzJX55aidW29KmonFWuZFQxZmMbHsETdSuWcHjuOwEoE2CEvANtLrVSQ/s1600/HIGHLIGHTCLOSE.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSFpSPYTXEhFfKKBJUn-xWeZdVUGoSxVLuvfPhbJ66KYMqWyHUm5G_7DATMmwxRWQmB3yRYrMtRW__DAzJX55aidW29KmonFWuZFQxZmMbHsETdSuWcHjuOwEoE2CEvANtLrVSQ/s400/HIGHLIGHTCLOSE.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715371892160628178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 365px; " /></span></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi242LvC896Zbsbu-Y4uQeVoOmlXisF2yWEs7ZGA31HlQyfwNyS9UEyq6BxwxF38F6VfAeSarGusYPC-wNIxrHko7PcwWNTKykVPBmQIsSxinfVUCjZF5BmXEOz58pIr9pudQXuCg/s1600/NOLINEART.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi242LvC896Zbsbu-Y4uQeVoOmlXisF2yWEs7ZGA31HlQyfwNyS9UEyq6BxwxF38F6VfAeSarGusYPC-wNIxrHko7PcwWNTKykVPBmQIsSxinfVUCjZF5BmXEOz58pIr9pudQXuCg/s400/NOLINEART.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715374361765665410" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 400px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >It's funny to look at the artwork after all that without the line art and realize how I've basically entirely recreated the drawing I already did. And I want to point out here that this is extremely sloppy. Any proper colorist would probably be horrified at the holes in the color and the lack of precision under the lines. I will say don't emulate this, but I will also say that it doesn't matter a great deal as long as 1) no one else has to deal with your sloppy work and fix it up, 2) you're not making any hard-to-fix mistakes like anti-aliasing your lasso tool, paint bucket, or magic wand, or using a pencil tool on less than 100% hardness, and 3) it looks good. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span > At this point, the drawing is essentially finished, but there were a few things I still wanted to do.</span></div><div><span ><br /></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >SPECIAL EFFECTS</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><span>I'm usually simple man with a simple plan when it comes to special effects in Photoshop, but I needed to give this drawi</span>ng the<span> sense of unreality that Mortal Kombat has, so I wanted to do two things: give the white highlights a glow, and screen down the background line art. In order to do this, I moved the final, flattened color art back to my line art file and then went in to adjust the colors of the lines.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><div><span >ATMOSPHERIC DISTANCE</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkm3Ph1n1f7HRKMciz2JCVLp8z7BVFRO5OS8rG5K7CrvhvWjny6mnM1xps_Zqrhb5NGQZWAJwglUhC_GUbUIyqsPSk4T30QzDc1qtpXT8bu8DeKeyPP6yxB-GpWYwjFP9z8kW4w/s1600/colorlineart.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkm3Ph1n1f7HRKMciz2JCVLp8z7BVFRO5OS8rG5K7CrvhvWjny6mnM1xps_Zqrhb5NGQZWAJwglUhC_GUbUIyqsPSk4T30QzDc1qtpXT8bu8DeKeyPP6yxB-GpWYwjFP9z8kW4w/s400/colorlineart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715373565083212690" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 247px; " /></span></a></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >I wanted to give the heated air above the lava pit a sense of thickness, so I placed a low-opacity layer of yellow over the background areas of the color layer, and then went in with the pencil tool and colored the line art of those background a dark brown. It's hard to notice the difference except when it's next to a stark black line, but it really works to push those characters back to the background. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYkibr1wldcfVT7q4E69k4fOL9yzHKOAK1rmbaTNO41zDxbWLkYMtcgurJIP_8eNRqFnbjqJF27BicwLhp4b7yrPzA1HXYoBC_p6vFRQrvNO9Vy42j2qgdE3GJg_a08kLzyHEzA/s1600/lightning.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYkibr1wldcfVT7q4E69k4fOL9yzHKOAK1rmbaTNO41zDxbWLkYMtcgurJIP_8eNRqFnbjqJF27BicwLhp4b7yrPzA1HXYoBC_p6vFRQrvNO9Vy42j2qgdE3GJg_a08kLzyHEzA/s400/lightning.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715373830616878594" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 323px; " /></a><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >I also colored the line art of the flames and the lightning to add to their effect. </span></div></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >GLOW</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >What I did with the glow for this final step is:<br />1. Select the line art with the magic wand tool.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >2. Go to the white highlight layer, and delete. This should delete all of the white that was under the lines.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zui4klK7cgIWf99Ncv10DYhQURevZwWtWpdjd-QvajWXTI6xmH8nQiu2GVrv6Vrtom5HMYxExwwb2jwUYwqBN-uDs5YhR4r8hZK8Ne0183lAw6nEPMjSBeJclr961eX7jh2ufw/s1600/comparison.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zui4klK7cgIWf99Ncv10DYhQURevZwWtWpdjd-QvajWXTI6xmH8nQiu2GVrv6Vrtom5HMYxExwwb2jwUYwqBN-uDs5YhR4r8hZK8Ne0183lAw6nEPMjSBeJclr961eX7jh2ufw/s400/comparison.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715379126069986658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 180px; " /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >If you look very closely, you can see that it trimmed away a tiny bit of the white. This is because the White layer is going to be above the line art layer, and we don't want it to block any of the line art. </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >3. Deselect, then copy the white layer. Name the two identical layers 'White' and 'Glow'. 'White' should be on top of 'Glow', and both layers should be above the Line Art layer.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielc44B_mGyqJImLFv3cbC1TEL07DNp9-m1l2i65Eet9jTZ4MAwLOgpSidnGgkWew6GU-smdvqEbgKKieM_SfLk8G8v0fuoDRVQn0W3RgFG7h1uW4TxC9AQ04PUS27PEG-FH0O_Q/s1600/palette.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielc44B_mGyqJImLFv3cbC1TEL07DNp9-m1l2i65Eet9jTZ4MAwLOgpSidnGgkWew6GU-smdvqEbgKKieM_SfLk8G8v0fuoDRVQn0W3RgFG7h1uW4TxC9AQ04PUS27PEG-FH0O_Q/s400/palette.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715382066563501458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 315px; " /></a><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >4. On the Glow layer, make sure nothing is selected, and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur...</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD75veID05CEAS1ksS11qXq297h3GgORWl7OILa-ksxty8WOw8Qv4Eaj4dkXcZQWVhiSGnM5gjl0ZBx4_Gzvd6QqxmmMHa_DnvHYkDXePD-7qhAWVE4BEm1nnuOZqZz2ZkI-Aorg/s1600/glowcomparison.jpg"><span ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD75veID05CEAS1ksS11qXq297h3GgORWl7OILa-ksxty8WOw8Qv4Eaj4dkXcZQWVhiSGnM5gjl0ZBx4_Gzvd6QqxmmMHa_DnvHYkDXePD-7qhAWVE4BEm1nnuOZqZz2ZkI-Aorg/s400/glowcomparison.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715380909507726306" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 180px; " /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >5. This makes the Glow layer blurry. In fact, if you're not looking very closely, it may seem to have disappeared altogether. But it's there. The White layer provides the harsh white light, and the Glow seeps the light out over the black and surrounding colors.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >PRINTED IMAGE</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67QBHfjPe4Jh2Cn40aSVvb6_PTgGXw2Ji7VDckPg5D1BpYXFUbset7gX2cZbTuaZS5IrGRdDPASCvyXULMJRgASiSHxJ9hFq5P0SSrAsu9Rtc-NObUm0STSlJx_Te8EcTq-ENMw/s1600/MKWB_COVER.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67QBHfjPe4Jh2Cn40aSVvb6_PTgGXw2Ji7VDckPg5D1BpYXFUbset7gX2cZbTuaZS5IrGRdDPASCvyXULMJRgASiSHxJ9hFq5P0SSrAsu9Rtc-NObUm0STSlJx_Te8EcTq-ENMw/s400/MKWB_COVER.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715382440677200386" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 400px; " /></a>And there we go! What do ya think? </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02567485336304809225noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-37882823053791925252012-02-21T20:06:00.000-06:002012-02-22T10:00:52.274-06:00Crowded Comics -- Now in Beta!<p>If you've been around me the last few weeks you've probably heard rumblings of a "secret project" that I've been working on in the off-hours. Well, I'm happy to announce that after months of brainstorming, planning, and building, the project is no longer a secret -- it's live, and I'd love for you to be a part of it.
<center><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/crowdedcomics_logo_200.jpg"></a></center>
<p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta">CROWDED COMICS</a></b> is a one part social media site, one part online newspaper, and one part toy. It's a website that offers up timely editorial cartoons -- minus the punch line. That part is up to you.
<center><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/crowdedcomics_downtonabbey_400.jpg"></a></center><br>
<center><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/crowdedcomics_obama_400.jpg"></a></center><br>
<center><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/crowdedcomics_marvel_400.jpg"></a></center>
<p>Our goal with the site is to democratize the editorial cartoon by letting you add your own captions and rate the captions of others. We also want to get people more engaged with current events, so we've got news briefs and news article links to go along with each cartoon.
<p>The idea for the site came from my friend David Burnett, who I went to Grinnell College with. After several years working as a business consultant, he left in order to build a start-up company that would be fun, profitable, and give something back to the community. David pitched Crowded Comics to me last November, and we've been having early morning Skype meetings ever since (he lives in New York). The third founder of the site is Oleg Terenchuk, who is a <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal">drupal</a> wizard. I say "wizard" because the things he's able to do with the site might as well be magic, they're so complex. We're fortunate to also have the help of Rob Simon, who has been instrumental in testing the site, and my mom, who has been helping with copywriting.
<p>Currently we've got four great cartoonists on board: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crowdedcomics.com/user/388#profile-cartoonist_profile">Ken Avidor</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crowdedcomics.com/user/385#profile-cartoonist_profile">Kirk Anderson</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crowdedcomics.com/user/389#profile-cartoonist_profile">Lance Ward</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crowdedcomics.com/user/386#profile-cartoonist_profile">Dan Murphy</a>, and we hope to expand the stable in the future.
<p>Right now the site is in BETA, meaning there are still a few minor glitches to work out. If you <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta">go to the BETA site</a> you'll see that registration is required. That will disappear once we're out of BETA, but I hope it won't deter you from signing up now, checking out the site, and adding some captions. I think you'll find the process of writing and rating captions pretty addicting -- but not <i>Skyrim</i> addicting, so don't worry.
<p>Here's a simple primer showing how the site works:
<center><a target="_blank" href="http://www.crowdedcomics.com/?utm_source=bta&utm_medium=bl&utm_campaign=beta"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/crowdedcomics_howto_400.jpg"></a></center>
<p>After you play with the site we'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions for improvement. You should see a Feedback button on the right side of your screen.
<p>If you like the site, PLEASE spread the word. We're bootstrapping this start-up and have no real marketing budget to speak of, so word of mouth goes a long way.
<p>Thanks, and happy captioning!
<p>PS - you can follow us on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/#!/crowdedcomics">Twitter</a> (<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/#!/crowdedcomics">@crowdedcomics</a>) and see behind the scenes photos on our <a target="_blank" href="http://crowdedcomics.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and on Instagram.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-82641881573636042772012-02-05T17:23:00.001-06:002012-02-05T17:24:12.964-06:00Craig Finn Live Concert DrawingsToday I got to see one of my musical idols, <a target="_up" href="http://steadycraig.tumblr.com/">Craig Finn</a>, taping a live in-studio performance for Minnesota Public Radio, so I thought I'd bring along a sketchbook and see what I could muster up. This was a big deal for me because I played Finn's "Separation Sunday" album on repeat for pretty much all of 2007, and only recently did I learn that we both went to school together in '87 (I was in first grade and he was in high school, which means that while he was skipping class and going to Replacements concerts, I was feeding our classroom's pet rabbit, Twinkles, and listening to Raffi albums).
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The concert will air on Wednesday at 5pm, and I'm sure a video of the whole thing will be on <a target="_up" href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/ongoing/current_performances/">The Current's site</a> shortly thereafter.
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So anyway, here are some live drawings I did during the concert. You can click these thumbnails to see a larger version:
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing04.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing04_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing06.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing06_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing07.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing07_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing01.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing01_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing03.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing03_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing02.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2012/craigfinn_MPR_drawing02_thumb.jpg"></a></center>
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Thanks for the ticket, Jamie!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-39525798746535175362011-11-22T10:55:00.001-06:002011-11-22T10:59:21.134-06:00Messy Giuseppe Video PostcardHere's a video postcard of the best Italian food truck in the Twin Cities, put together by the Delmont brothers. If you like the design of the truck, that's great, because Zander and I may have had something to do with it...<br><br>
<iframe width="400" height="233" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ngYBaVojods?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-31452918855567728282011-11-19T09:04:00.001-06:002011-11-19T09:16:13.614-06:00Evolution Makes YALSA, Maverick Lists<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Story-Earth-Jay-Hosler/dp/0809043114/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1285696587&sr=8-4"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/evolution/evolution_comic_cover_150.jpg"></a></center>
We're happy to share that our most recent graphic novel, <a target="_up" href="http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Story-Earth-Jay-Hosler/dp/0809043114/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1285696587&sr=8-4">Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth</a>, has made two prestigious lists.<br><br>
First, the book is a nominee for YALSA's 2012 "<a target="_up" href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/nominations">Great Graphic Novels for Teens</a>."<br><br>
Second, and most exciting, is the inclusion in the Texas Library Association's "<a target="_up" href="http://www.txla.org/groups/Maverick">Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List</a>."<br><br>
Thank you, YALSA, and TLA -- we're honored!<br>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-14415903332892651122011-11-02T22:29:00.000-05:002011-11-02T22:29:42.078-05:00The Making of a Mini-Comic: Beard Hero<img align="left" src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_fullfigure.jpg">
I don't do a lot of mini-comics these days -- for various reasons -- but a few weeks ago I had a burst of inspiration and decided to get something produced in time for <a target="_up" href="http://mplsindiexpo.com/">MIX</a>. MIX is, of course, the biggest and best indie comix convention in Minnesota, and is celebrating its last year in existence this weekend. You should totally go.<br><br>
"Beard Hero" is a condensed version of a much longer story that I've been toying with for the last few months. Unfortunately its sheer size was keeping me from actually sitting down and drawing any of it, because long projects, well, take a long time and can be exhausting to even think about. So I decided to compromise and just take the heart of the story and turn it into a mini, and frankly I think it's more interesting because of its condensed nature. The reader can fill in the gaps and frankly it's a one-gag story that probably wouldn't have been able to carry a big tome. <br><br>
So because I like showing process, here is an annotated look at how I created this mini. I hope you enjoy.<br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 1: Story</font><br><br>
The story was already written, albeit in detailed notes, in a google doc somewhere. It's about a six year old boy who wakes up with a full beard, and his parents take it as a sign that he's now a man and they send him off to war and other various adult-only activities. Along the way the boy falls in love with a bearded circus girl whose visage he sees only on posters and advertisements, and he spends the rest of his life trying to meet her in person. So that's the story in a nutshell. The trick is to fit it all in the size of a mini-comic. That's the next step.<br><br>
Here are some doodles that eventually inspired the full story:<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_sketches.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_sketches_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="helvetica, arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 2: Figuring out the Specs</font><br><br>
Since this is a peripatetic story, I wanted the mini to have ridiculous, landscape-driven proportions. I also wanted to try a new printing technique, where I would print the entire mini on both sides of an 11x17" poster. Thus, I decided to cut the poster lengthwise three ways, folding in the middle, so that I would end up with a 12 page mini where each page was 3.66" high by 8.5" wide, which would give a maximum length of 17" when the book is opened to an interior spread.<br><br>
I used a vendor called NextDayFlyers.com for the cover of Just Add Ink, liked their product, and decided to use them again. So I priced out what it would cost to print on a double-sized 11x17 sheet of 100 lbs paper with a 1-sided cover on 14pt card stock. Here's the sheet where I chicken-scratched all that stuff, and figured out pagination.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_script.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_script_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 3: Script</font><br><br>
I usually like to script out every shot and word balloon before I start drawing, but I wanted this mini to have a more kinetic feel, so I just wrote dialogue on the fly. But I didn't want to leave anything out, so I wrote down what I wanted to have happen on each spread (see the notes page above). If you read the final comic you'll be able to tell that by the end of the story I was leaving out old plot points and adding new ones as the story demanded.<br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 4: Loose Pencils</font><br><br>
Now the fun begins. Since there are no panels in this particular comic, the trick was to fit everything in, word balloons and all, while still maintaining a readable flow throughout the page. On a few occasions I drew out the page on a scratch sheet, but normally I just dropped everything in loosely with a light pencil. Here, I'm drawing on a thick Xerox paper I like, called Color Xpressions Planet 20, #3R11811, 12x18". It's heavy, like bristol, but pen & brush pen ink dry on it really fast, so it's virtually smudge-proof (at least with the tools I've used). The pencil I'm using for this stage is a hard lead 2H, applying very light pressure so it's easy to erase.<br><br>
Note that in this image and the next one I've beefed up the contrast so you can see the lines, but in reality the lines are pretty light.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_loosepencils.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_loosepencils_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 5: Tight Pencils</font><br><br>
If everything looked good I went back over the lines with a darker pencil -- nothing fancy, just a drugstore No. 2 Bic mechanical pencil. There was no need to eras or alter the light pencils underneath; I just went over them with the darker pencil and made changes along the way.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_tightpencils.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_tightpencils_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 6: Inks</font><br><br>
I find that the penciling is the most stressful part of the process, because that step requires the most juggling & problem-solving. The inking stage, however, is a lot more relaxing. Even though I need to be precise and everything, this is the stage when I can crack open a Molson, tune in a hockey game, and turn off most of my brain. For this book I used a Micron 01 for all art, and a Micron 005 for the lettering. Both are available at any art store worth a dime.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_inks.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_inks_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 7: Scanning</font><br><br>
Scanning this was pretty basic. I drew it at size, meaning that the final book would be the exact same size as the original art. Most cartoonists draw larger, usually at 150%, and then shrink the art down when they print it. This makes the art look cleaner and tighter. However, for this book, and for a lot of my work, I want to keep that gritty look, hence drawing at size.<br><br>
At work we have a large scanner that could easily scan this 4x17" art right at 1200 dpi, no problem. Unfortunately I was at home using my crappy low-budget scanner, so this is how I get to a good scan:<br><br>
<ol>
<li>Scan each section of the art at 600 dpi grayscale (no correction)
<li>In Photoshop, use the ruler tool to level each section.
<li>Drop each section into one big canvas and, with each layer on "multiply", line everything up.
<li>Turn off "multiply" and flatten the canvas. Crop as needed.
<li>Gaussian blur at 1.0
<li>In the Image Size window, upsize to 1200 dpi using "bicubic smoother".
<li>Adjust levels (to your preference).
<li>Change mode to bitmap, 1200 dpi, at 50% threshold.
<li>Save your file. Include the info "lineart", "bitmap" and "1200" somewhere in the file name. (e.g. "BH_lineart_bitmap_1200.psd")
</ol>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 8: Basic Colors</font><br><br>
To start coloring, I like to flat big sections of the canvas and drop in my basic colors to set the palette. It's a lot easier to change the palette at this stage than later when you're dealing with tons of little details. I prepped my files like so:<br><br>
<ol>
<li>Always "save as" first so you don't overwrite the original lineart. (e.g. "BH_color_600.psd")
<li>Change image size to 600 dpi using "nearest neighbor." Go down to 300 dpi if you have a slow computer.
<li>Change mode to grayscale, then to CMYK.
<li>In the layers palette, double-click on the background to turn it into a layer. Name it "inks." Set it to multiply at 50% opacity.
<li>Create a new layer underneath called "flats". If you want to be a huge nerd call it "Stochastic Flats" -- it's an Alan Moore reference.
<li>Choose pencil tool (NOT the brush tool) and set the size to something small like 20 px.
<li>Start drawing your big shapes of color. Having the "inks" layer set at 50% allows you to see where the edge of your color planes go -- obviously you want to tuck your planes under the lineart so there's overlap.
<li>Note that there are many ways to flat your art. Some people use the lasso tool, some people use the BPelt plugin. Here, I'm using a pencil.
</ol>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorsbasic.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorsbasic_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 9: Final Colors</font><br><br>
I was pretty crunched for time on this project, so I tried to limit the amount of fancy photoshop work I would do. Which is fine, because I try to stay away from lens flares etc. anyway... Here's an example of the level of detail I dropped in after the flats were finished. Again, this is all done with the pencil tool. Note that the lineart looks washed out because it's at 50% opacity.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorcloseup1.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorcloseup1_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
I use the pencil tool at a high resolution (instead of say, the brush tool at a low resolution) because that allows me to go back in and easily change colors with the bucket tool.<br><br>
Okay, so after I finished all the detail work I wasn't quite satisfied with the colors, so I played around with color adjustment tools. Here's a snapshot of the layers so you can see what all happened:<br><br>
<center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_color_layers.jpg"></center><br><br>
From top to bottom:
<ul>
<li>MASK: This is a white border I put around the trim lines so I know what the page will look like when printed. This layer gets trashed before printing.
<li>INK: The lineart at 50% opacity. This layer will also get trashed before printing (more details later).
<li>FAUX AGE: This is a cream color that sits over everything and gives it an aged look. In the mask to the right I've knocked out all whites from the mask, so anything that's white (like word balloons) will retain their crisp whiteness. For this particular faux aging I used the color 5/16/34/0 on multiply at 50% opacity.
<li>HEADLIGHTS: I added headlights to Beard Hero's car.
<li>COLOR BALANCE & HUE SATURATION: These are a bunch of adjustment layers I messed around with to get the colors I wanted. As you can see, they each have masks attached to them because I was doing very surgical adjustments as opposed to one big global adjustment.
<li>FLATS: The original flat colors.
</ul>
And here is another closeup of the result:<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorcloseup2.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorcloseup2_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
... and the whole spread:<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorsfinal.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_colorsfinal_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 10: Post Production</font><br><br>
Next I create an InDesign file at the print size, which will be 11x17", double-sided. I then import the flat color file for each page, and then add the 1200 dpi bitmap lineart layer on top (and make sure they're aligned perfectly). For this particular book I split the lineart layer into three distinct files because I wanted three distinct colors: black, white, and red. Here's a detail of how it turned out. Note that the billboard lettering is now red.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_composite.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_composite_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
Why have both CMYK files and bitmap files in InDesign? Because by keeping your lineart (your ink lines) on a top-level bitmap file, you can keep your lines crisp while keeping your press-ready file size LOW. To see an example, look through the ads in your local alt weekly newspaper. Most have crisp lettering and low-res art. That's because the lettering is separate from the art in InDesign. Now look around until you see an add with blurry lettering. That ad was probably created in Photoshop and was exported at 300 dpi (which is way too low for fine detail). I'll do a blog post later on exactly how to construct this file in InDesign if people want to see it.<br><br>
<font face="arial, times" size="4" color="#940f04">Step 11: Print, Collate, Sell</font><br><br>
Okay, the rest of the process is pretty obvious. I sent the files to the printer, waited a few weeks, then a few days ago received a 25 lbs shipment with all the pages -- cover and interior -- and everything looks great (phew)! I painstakingly cut the 11x17 poster pages down to 3 2/3" x 17" strips (because I didn't give myself any room for bleed) and stapled them with my handy long arm stapler.<br><br>
And viola!<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_photo_cover.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_photo_cover_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_photo_interior.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/beardhero_photo_interior_web.jpg"></a></center><br><br>
If you'd like to learn more, or ask questions directly, I'll be giving a lecture on Photoshop fundamentals on January 5th, and InDesign fundamentals on February 2, 2012, as part of the <a target="_up" href="http://www.nordeastcomics.com/">Nordeast Comics Summit</a>. There's no info on the site just yet, but check back closer to the date for full details. And feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below!<br><br>
FINALLY... please come to <a target="_up" href="http://mplsindiexpo.com/">MIX</a> on Saturday and Sunday and if you want to drop five bucks on Beard Hero, I won't stop you.<br><br>
If you can't make the convention but would like to purchase a copy, here's the solution for that:<br><br>
<center>
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">
<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="FGGWWC3QYVGE8">
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynowCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!">
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
</form>
</center>
Thanks!
<br><br>
Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-44259794545952418742011-10-30T23:02:00.001-05:002011-10-30T23:02:09.947-05:00Food Fight!I'm happy to report that I've got some artwork in November's Altered Esthetics <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/95_food_fight">"Food Fight"</a> show! While I've been behind the scenes for the AE comics shows over the last few years, this is the first time I've submitted work to a NON-comics show -- you know, like as a regular Joe Artist. So it's pretty exciting to have work accepted by the curatorial team.<br><br>
This is "XOLOTLAN" and it's pretty much the most fun I've ever had drawing anything. Please click on the image to view it in detail. See if you can find the caricature of Louis CK.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/foodfight_cannon_xolotlan.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/foodfight_cannon_xolotlan_web.jpg"></a></center>
This piece is part of my CMYK phase, where I'm trying to draw color images only using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. So a while ago I bought microns and pitt brush pens with those colors and have been experimenting with trying to get different colors like green, brown, etc.<br><br>
<center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/micron_pitt.jpg"></center>
In XOLOTLAN, above, the first thing I laid down was the yellow base with a yellow pitt brush, and then used a magenta micron over it to make red, and used a blue micron over other parts to make green. The same blue micron was used in the center, but since I was drawing over white paper and not yellow, it just stayed cyan.<br><br>
Anyway, this piece will be part of AE's <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/95_food_fight">"Food Fight"</a> show, which opens on Thursday, but the big opening reception is on Friday night. Because <a target="_up" href="http://mplsindiexpo.com/parties/">MIX parties</a> are also happening on Friday, I will probably start at AE at 7pm, hang out for a little while, and then wander down south to <a target="_up" href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175648262510456">Pink Hobo</a>.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-91072738192562370832011-10-27T06:26:00.000-05:002011-10-27T06:26:51.788-05:00Help print Altered Esthetics' 2012 Artists Calendar!<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469564467/help-print-altered-esthetics-2012-artists-calendar"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/alteredesthetics_calendar2012.jpg"></a></center>
Altered Esthetics, a community-run art gallery here in Nordeast Minneapolis, has bent over backwards to help the local comics scene, and now we have a chance to help Altered Esthetics! Please consider donating to their <a target="_up" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469564467/help-print-altered-esthetics-2012-artists-calendar">Kickstarter fund which will go toward printing AE's 2012 calendar.</a><br><br>
Our very own <b>Zander Cannon</b> drew the image for November, as he will be the featured artist for "Lutefisk Sushi: Volume E." Yes, that's "E" as in "E"veryone should chip in. As an added incentive, if AE reaches their goal, we'll post Zander's image here on the blog. If not, well, it will disappear into the ether...<br><br>
So, please go <a target="_up" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469564467/help-print-altered-esthetics-2012-artists-calendar">HERE to donate!</a><br><br>
... And here's more info from our good friend Lupi:<br><br>
<blockquote>Hi, I’m Lupi. I help direct press and communications at Ae, and I’d like you to check out the <a target="_up" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469564467/help-print-altered-esthetics-2012-artists-calendar">kickstarter page for Ae’s 2012 calendar</a>. Ae didn’t have a printed calendar for 2011, and a lot of people missed that. I hope we can raise funds to print one for next year.<br><br>
As you know, Ae is the non-profit gallery in Northeast Minneapolis that collaborates with the Cartoonist Conspiracy each year on a comics exhibition. The Ae board is made up of volunteers who donate hundreds of hours of their time to organize 14 group exhibits each year, plus workshops and a solo exhibitions program.<br><br>
We work hard to keep our shows inexpensive and accessible for artists, and we encourage all styles and media. If you appreciate what Ae does for the artistic community (and the cartooning community), <a target="_up" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469564467/help-print-altered-esthetics-2012-artists-calendar">show some love by helping us print our 2012 calendar</a>. A pledge of only $5 gets you an art calendar, which you can pick up at the gallery. For a pledge of $10, we’ll mail it to you. That’s a fraction of the cost of driving to a store and buying a mass-produced calendar. If you plan on participating in Lutefisk Sushi or any other Ae events next year, this calendar is nice to have, because it lists openings, deadlines, and workshops.</blockquote>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-88194537082949510412011-10-26T11:23:00.002-05:002011-10-26T11:23:32.309-05:00MIX Sponsorship MapAs you're well aware, I'll jump at any chance to draw a goofy map of the Twin Cities, so fortunately Sarah Morean didn't roll her eyes too hard when I pitched the idea of drawing a map of all the sponsors of the <a target=_up" href="http://mplsindiexpo.com/">Minneapolis Indie Xpo</a>. So here is the finished product!<br><br>
<center><a target=_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/minneapolisindiexpo_map.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/minneapolisindiexpo_map_web.jpg"></a></center><br>
This map will be printed on the back of the catalog, so go to MIX early on Saturday morning and get a hard copy for yourself. The first 500 attendees will also get a free MIX ballpoint pen so you can fill out the scavenger hunt game on the bottom there.<br><br>
<center><a target=_up" href="http://www.nordeastcomics.com/2011/10/sarah-glidden-and-gordon-mcalpin-at-mix.html"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/sarahglidden_gordonmcalpin.jpg"></a></center><br>
Speaking of MIX, I am also sponsoring two <a target=_up" href="http://www.nordeastcomics.com/2011/10/sarah-glidden-and-gordon-mcalpin-at-mix.html">celebrity cartoonist panels</a> that you should attend on Saturday and Sunday. They involve Pizza Island star <a target=_up" href="http://www.smallnoises.com/">Sarah Glidden</a> and local digital guru <a target=_up" href="http://www.multiplexcomic.com/">Gordon McAlpin</a>. Full details on the <a target=_up" href="http://www.nordeastcomics.com/2011/10/sarah-glidden-and-gordon-mcalpin-at-mix.html">Nordeast Comics</a> site. See you there!<br><br>
<a target=_up" href="http://mplsindiexpo.com/">MIX</a> is a little over a week away! November 5 & 6 at the Soap Factory.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-90238430274132897802011-10-18T10:38:00.001-05:002011-10-18T10:38:06.835-05:00Big Time Attic Featured in The JournalJeremy Zoss wrote a great profile of Big Time Attic in this week's Journal (we found it in the NE Journal, but I'm told it's printed in the SW Journal as well). Anyway, thanks for the ink, Jeremy! <br><br>
Click on the image below to see a larger version. But if want to actually read the text, go to the Journal's <a target="_up" href="http://www.downtownjournal.com/index.php?&story=17515&page=65&category=134">online version of the article</a>.<br><br>
<a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/NEjournal_oct_2011.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/NEjournal_oct_2011_web.jpg"></a><br><br>
If you're local, go pick up a copy! It should be on news stands until October 23.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-54587426633517859412011-10-12T09:37:00.000-05:002011-10-12T09:37:02.836-05:00Huge Convention Weekend Summary... or more appropriately, "Summary of Huge Convention Weekend."<br><br>
You have a ton of options for comic book conventions this Saturday, and I highly recommend the three that I know about. In no particular order:<br><br>
<b>1) <a target="_up" href="http://www.raintaxi.com/bookfest/">RAIN TAXI BOOK FEST</a></b><br><br>
<b>SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 10am-5pm<br>
Minneapolis Community & Technical College<br>
1501 Hennepin Ave, Downtown Minneapolis</b><br><br>
This one is actually a book festival with an increasingly heavy emphasis on the sequential arts. Big Time Attic has had a table there for most of the last seven years, and it's been great to watch the evolution of book lovers' reactions from "What's a comic book?" to "These are awesome! I'll take one of each."<br><br>
This year I'll be premiering a brand new book, not a comic book mind you but an honest to goodness illustrated long-form poem, written by my old friend and mentor Tom Hegg.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/littledickens_cover.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/littledickens_cover_web.jpg"></a><br></center>
<i><b>Little Dickens</b></i> is the story of a boy who sets off to Revolutionary France to prove his worth, and ends up encountering friends and villains from Charles Dickens' world of novels, including Marley's ghost, Madame DeFarge, and the Artful Dodger, among others. It's a fun read, and I'm heading out in twenty minutes to see the printed book for the first time -- it's literally hot off the press.<br><br>
To that end, I'll be <b>signing books with Tom Hegg at the Nodin Press table from 2-3 pm</b>. You should buy lots and lots of copies. Your Christmas shopping could be finished by Saturday afternoon.<br><br>
Also catch me on a <b>panel discussion about the subject of "place" in literature from 12:30-1:30 pm</b>. The panel is made up of poets, photographers, artists, novelists ... and they even let a cartoonist sit up there to provide some color commentary. <br><br>
The entire day, from 10 am to 5 pm, <a target="_up" href="http://bigtimeattic.com/">Big Time Attic</a>, the <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/">Cartoonist Conspiracy</a>, and <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/">Altered Esthetics</a> will all have a table together in the comics alley. I'll be selling the aforementioned <b><i>Little Dickens</i></b>, as well as <b><i>Far Arden</i></b> & <b><i>Evolution</i></b>, but you should really stop by and pick up a copy of <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/justaddink/"><b><i>Just Add Ink</i></b></a>, the comic cookbook that came out in August.<br><br>
Also, bonus, <b>Ben Katchor will be at Book Fest, and will be giving a talk at 2:30pm!</b> The man is a genius, and his <b><i>Julius Knipl</i></b> book is one of the first comic books I read after college and it really made me rethink the modern punchline. Click this little image for more info:<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/benkatchor_raintaxi.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/benkatchor_raintaxi_web.jpg"></a><br></center>
<b>2) <a target="_up" href="http://midwestcomicbook.com/">FALLCON</a></b><br><br>
<b>SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 10am-4pm<br>
MN State Fairgrounds, in the Progress Center<br>
1621 Randall Ave, St. Paul, MN</b><br><br>
I am sad to miss this one as there are going to be many cool comics creators there, and the MCBA always puts on a great show. If I were you, I would spend the morning at Fallcon, and then jet over to the Rain Taxi Book Fest for the afternoon.<br><br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/fallcon_2011.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/fallcon_2011_web.jpg"></a><br></center>
<b>3) <a target="_up" href="http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/">NEW YORK COMIC CON</a></b><br><br>
<b>SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13-16<br>
Javits Center, Manhattan</b><br><br>
I don't know much about the New York con except that Zander Cannon will be there showing off his brand new vinyl banner, so go say hi and buy some books from him so he doesn't have to lug them back on the plane.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-75178524141475141402011-09-05T20:57:00.000-05:002011-09-05T20:57:42.120-05:00Wally Wood Said It Best...If you haven't seen a lot of posts from me and Zander in the last year, we apologize! We've just been very, very busy with really cool projects, and stuff like blog posts have fallen to the wayside as a result.
<br><br>
Wally Wood summed up our current situation very well in the last few panels of the premiere issue of "Cannon":<br>
<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/cannon_wallywood.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/cannon_wallywood_web.jpg"></a></center>
<br>...Except that it's not "the end" of our blog! Keep checking back because we'll eventually post some sneak peeks of these projects that are eating up all of our time...
Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-12409128706681910692011-08-14T14:47:00.000-05:002011-08-14T14:48:28.846-05:00Lutefisk Sushi: Volume E -- The Ballot Boxes Are Open!<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/nordeastcomics/lutefisk_sushi_e.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/nordeastcomics/lutefisk_sushi_e_web.jpg"></a></center>
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<br />Hey cartoonists!
<br />
<br />Minnesota's premier comics art show <b>LUTEFISK SUSHI</b> is back for its fifth season in 2012. While the opening reception is over fifteen months away, we need to decide on a featured artist ASAP! As in past years, the featured artist will design the sushi box, and will have a whole wall devoted to their artwork during the gallery show at <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/">Altered Esthetics</a> in November, 2012. See websites of past shows <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushi/sushi-history.html">here</a>.
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<br /><b>NOMINATION PROCESS:</b>
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<br />To nominate a cartoonist, please send the following info to <i>nordeastcomics [at] gmail.com</i>:
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<br />- The artist's name
<br />- The artist's website (if there is one)
<br />- The artist's email (so we can contact them to confirm if they want to run)
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<br />NOTE: Artists must reside in Minnesota or have some strong connection to the state.
<br />NOTE: If an artist does not wish to be nominated, or does not respond to us before August 25, they will not be listed as a nominee.
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<br /><b>CALENDAR:</b>
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<br />August 15: Nominations open
<br />August 25: Nominations close; Voting begins
<br />September 1: Voting closes at noon; Winner is formally announced at 6pm at the Nordeast Comics Summit, and online.
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<br /><b>VOTING PROCESS:</b>
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<br />As in past years, voting will take place on <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire">www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire</a>. So jump on that site between August 25 and September 1 to vote! Voters must <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/board/profile.php?mode=register">register</a> on the Cartoonist Conspiracy website (it's free). Voters may vote only once.
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<br />Past featured artists are Vincent Stall, Ken Avidor, Kevin Cannon, and Danno Klonowski.
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<br /><b>Questions?</b> Post them in the comments section below.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-217133437531906962011-07-04T16:09:00.003-05:002011-07-04T16:45:59.805-05:00Mealtime Hero Viral VideoNearly two years ago Zander and I were asked by Lunds & Byerly's to create a superhero character for their <a target="_up" href="http://www.lundsandbyerlys.com/Mealtime-Hero.aspx">Mealtime Hero</a> campaign. The campaign launch coincided with the revamp of their Golden Valley Byerly's store, and they printed some life-size cardboard cut-outs of our character for the grand opening event. <br /><br />Here's a small jpeg of the cut-out as well as a screencap of the online comic we produced:<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_04web.jpg"></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_03.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_03web.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />Today I stumbled upon a <a target="_up" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOX-J6re23o">youtube video</a> showing another aspect of Byerly's campaign -- a surprise in-store musical put on by U of M opera students. Quick eyes will spot our cut-out at 0:07 and also at the end of the video. For those of you with slow eyes, here are some screencaps:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_01.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_01web.jpg"></a></center><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_02.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/mealtimehero_bigtimeattic_02web.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><br />And here's the full video, for your viewing pleasure. Turn up your speakers:<br /><iframe width="390" height="252" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rOX-J6re23o?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />To date, this is the most musical theater I have ever been a part of.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-13248316968155753672011-06-22T22:34:00.003-05:002011-06-22T22:42:41.616-05:00City Pages Pride MapSome more cartography for you. This is a somewhat navigable map of Downtown Minneapolis, highlighting some of the events and locales from Pride Week 2011. Click the image below for a <a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/pridemap_citypages_hires.jpg">high resolution</a> version. Visit <a target="_up" href="http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2011/06/a-list_pride_fest_map_kevin_cannon.php">City Pages' blog</a> to learn more about the map and to see some of the preliminary sketches I sent to the art director.<br /><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/pridemap_citypages_hires.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/pridemap_citypages_lowres.jpg"></a>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-85020464196298019812011-05-03T18:27:00.003-05:002011-05-03T18:40:16.361-05:00Just Add Ink -- Comics due JUNE 15<a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/justaddink/submissions/"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/justaddink_subad_400.jpg"></a><br /><b>JUST ADD INK: A COMIC COOKBOOK</b> is this summer's blockbuster comics show at Altered Esthetics. Instead of a box of comics or a newspaper of comics, this year we're making a COOKBOOK of comics. Draw whatever you feel like as long as follows the theme of cooking -- Could be an illustrated recipe, a kitchen horror story, or even a "recipe" for how to make great comics (meta, right?).<br /><br />Like with any good recipe, you need to follow the guidelines EXACTLY. The submission guidelines pdf can be downloaded <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/justaddink/submissions/">here</a>!<br /><br />BONUS: This year a limited number of artists will be REIMBURSED for a big portion of their printing costs! Again, details <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/justaddink/submissions/">here</a>.<br /><br />Good luck, and please TELL YOUR FRIENDS! The more pages in the anthology the <strike>butter</strike> better!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-48757725598859598482011-04-13T22:20:00.006-05:002011-04-14T00:00:04.589-05:00Some Recent Watercolor IllustrationsThis fall I'll be coloring a graphic novel for a major publisher so I thought it might be time to get out the ol' watercolor tray and take a crack at this subtle yet unforgiving medium. Unforgiving because unlike digital coloring I can't paint on disposable layers or magically hit the UNDO button. <br /><br />To begin, I reviewed some of my old watercolor "how to" books, but in the end I found it more interesting and educational to crib off the process blogs from watercoloring cartoonists like my old pal <a target="_up" href="http://samhiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/snake.html">Sam Hiti</a> and Pizza Island guru <a target="_up" href="http://www.smallnoises.com/blog/2010/11/7/watercolor-process.html">Sarah Glidden</a>. And if I REALLY needed some inspiration I would just stare at <a target="_up" href="http://beouija.blogspot.com/2011/03/practicing-watercolor.html">this post</a> all day, by Master of the Watercolor Universe Eleanor Davis.<br /><br />Anyway, the best way to learn is to actually DO something, so here are some sketches, doodled with microns onto Arches hot press paper:<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_doodle_hand.jpg"></center> <br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_doodle_beastieboys.jpg"></center> <br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_doodle_camping.jpg"></center> <br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_doodle_shanks.jpg"></center> <br /><br />One commission I did recently was a gigantic world map, so here was my "look & feel" sketch for the client. And yes, this was painted BEFORE Sudan split up, so it's not entirely accurate:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_africa_map_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_africa_map_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />And now another commission, this one for my high school. I usually do computer coloring for their posters, but since I'm on this watercolor kick I thought I'd try out something a little more challenging. For the fun of learning, here are all the steps. You can click on the images to see them in greater detail:<br /><br />First the rough, at around 150% size. This was done on a thick bristol-like paper I use a lot. Ink bleeds on it a tiny bit but it's soft like butter and mad cheap:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_rough_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_rough_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />Next, the tight pencils:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_pencil_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_pencil_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />Then the inks. This is all done with an .01 micron:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_ink_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_ink_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />Then I scanned in the ink and shrunk it down to final size, and changed the black lines to 8% cyan (so light you can barely see it). Then I printed that on a sheet of Arches hot press. Actually, before I printed it I deleted any unnecessary lines, like the words on the banner. That's because when I paint yellow over the 8% cyan it becomes a muddy green, which is bad. Here's how the watercolor turned out:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_color_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_color_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />Then I put the two images together in InDesign. The watercolor is at 300 dpi but the line art layer is at 1200 dpi so it's nice and crisp. As you can see I changed the black lines to blue and made the field lines and some other details white. Although it was difficult to paint over the cyan print-out, I like having the post-production flexibility of being able to change the line art separately from the watercolor layer.<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_breck_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />Finally, here's a painting I did for Altered Esthetic's <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/99_7!_">7th birthday party</a> silent auction. AE has been VERY good to the Minneapolis cartooning community so I thought I'd do something extra time-consuming and hopefully earn them a few bucks during the auction (the auction is April 29, by the way, and you should totally go and bid on this piece or the tons of other great stuff in the show). <br /><br />This drawing was also done with an .01 micron, but it was drawn right on the watercolor paper. Then I did something really stupid which was to start painting without doing any color samples first. Basically what happened was I started painting in the characters in lots of random colors with no real color scheme and it looked terrible. This is the pitfall of watercolor which is that you can't paint over it like with acrylics and you can't subtract from it so I figured I had just ruined a week's worth of work. Eventually I just painted GREEN over my terrible colors, and after enough layers it looked muddy but at least consistent. Then I painted the rest of the characters green and added some orange coloring to match the muddiness of that first patch. You can see in the lower right how the color looks denser -- that's because there are layers of crappy color I'm trying to hide. Secret's out. And lesson learned: always do test swatches to get your color scheme picked out before jumping into the final.<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_large.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_400.jpg"></a></center> <br /><br />So the painting itself is just a series of random jokes, one-liners, and musings. Here are some of my favorites:<br /><br />A nod to our neighbor across the river:<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail1.jpg"></center><br /><br />T.S. Eliot and some horny bookworms:<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail2.jpg"></center><br /><br />This is actual Inuktitut I cribbed from a bilingual arctic newspaper called Nunavut News/North. Each issue has a "man on the street" Q&A (kind of like The Onion does, but for real), and that's where I pulled this from. The first guy is saying something like "What's your best fishing tip?" and the second guy is saying, "Be patient."<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail3.jpg"></center><br /><br />Here is the cast of the next Shanks book, which I should really be working on right now instead of blogging:<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail4.jpg"></center><br /><br />The title of the painting is "I'm Not Actually a Dentist" and this is the gag that the line is from:<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail5.jpg"></center><br /><br />A nod here to Ted Anderson who has openly admitted to buying not one but FOUR happy meals just to get the My Little Pony toys. If you're interested in hearing his defense, it's discussed at length on a recent <a target="_up" href="http://theblatshow.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/geek-report-03262011/">Geek Report</a>.<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail6.jpg"></center><br /><br />Speaking of the Geek Report, here's a nod to Lance Ward and his ever-evolving crew:<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail7.jpg"></center><br /><br />And finally, here's Xeric winner Britt Sabo surrounded by her favorite creatures (not counting ghosts):<br /><center><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/watercolor_alteredesthetics_detail8.jpg"></center><br /><br />As another incentive to come to the Altered Esthetics party on April 29, the gallery printed up posters of this painting that you can have for a small donation. "C U" there!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-47164195955348468092011-03-23T12:02:00.002-05:002011-03-23T12:45:14.523-05:00"How Do I Make a Mini Comic?"If you've asked the above question, it's time to head on over to <b>Wet Paint</b> in St. Paul. Specifically, go on <b>Thursday, March 24</b>, from <b>5:30-7:30pm</b>. There you'll witness a bevy of local mini-comic greats spewing forth tons of knowledge on the subject. And by "greats" I'm talking about <a target="_up" href="http://www.stwallskull.com/blog/">Steve Stwalley</a>, <a target="_up" href="http://staplegenius.wordpress.com/">Danno Klonowski</a>, <a target="_up" href="http://actionathena.com/">Athena Currier</a> and BTA's own <a target="_up" href="http://bigtimeattic.com/">Zander Cannon</a>.<br /><br /><center>What size paper to use? <br />What kinds of materials? <br />How do I work a photocopier? </center><br />All of these questions and more will be answered. Plus you'll be inside the warm, dry oasis called Wet Paint -- Minnesota's (and possibly the nation's) best and friendliest art supply store. The Wet Paint crew are the ones who sponsor tons of local art events and have even been known to give away goodie bags of art supplies during 24 Hour Comics Day.<br /><br /><center><b>FULL DETAILS:</b></center><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.wetpaintart.com/Events_at_Wet_Paint.htm#5">Wet Paint</a><br />Thursday, March 24th 5:30-7:30PM<br />1684 Grand Avenue<br />Saint Paul, MN 55105<br />651.698.6431<br />email: info(at)wetpaintart.comKevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-44502213477742123262011-03-14T22:26:00.003-05:002011-03-14T22:53:56.145-05:00Last Chance to Get Involved with "Just Add Ink"<center><a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/?p=3001"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/justaddink_thumb.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />Apologies, I was supposed to post this information much, much earlier. <br /><br />In any case, the planning for <b><a target="_up" href="http://bigtimeattic.blogspot.com/2011/02/just-add-ink-looking-for-organizers.html">Just Add Ink</a></b> -- this summer's Altered Esthetics gallery show about comics & cooking -- is ramping up, and the next meeting happens tomorrow night. <br /><br /><b>WHERE:</b> Psycho Suzi's<br /><b>TIME:</b> 9pm<br /><b>WHO:</b> Anyone who wants to be involved in this year's comic art show at Altered Esthetics<br /><br />If you'd like to be a part of the process, please show up, as this will be the meeting where we nail down who's doing what over the next several months. If you're planning on coming, please read through the agenda carefully and try to think about binding options for the eventual cookbook we'll be producing. At the last meeting we had a pretty lively discussion about how to produce the book, like:<br />- How to bind: pay for perfect binding or make spiral bound?<br />- Limit copies to a one-time short run, or have pdf available to do print on demand?<br />- Do artists print their own pages, or do they send in digital art and AE takes care of printing?<br />- What size? <br />- How many pages will we accept?<br /><br />Anyway, that's just one aspect of the show we need to figure out. Here's the rest of the agenda, from Jamie:<br /><br /><i>Hello All,<br /><br />Just a reminder that we’ve got a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, 9:00pm, Psycho Suzi’s.<br /><br />Preliminary Agenda<br />Decide roles<br />Decide on how submissions will work (Maybe a “Plan A” and “Plan B” depending on funding)<br />Talk about print processes and options (bring budgets and figures if you have any)<br />Website stuffs<br /><br />Tuesday March 15th, 9:00pm – Psycho Suzi’s.<br />___<br /><br />Action Items (from last meeting)<br />Everybody to look into the cost of printing various types of pages and books. (binders, etc.)<br />We can bring this information with us to the next meeting to make an educated decision.<br />Everybody think about roles and how you want to be involved.<br />Jamie to draft sponsorship level and create spreadsheet for sharing<br />Jamie will bring a few budget drafts to the next meeting<br />Danno to bake us all a cake<br /><br />Some things to establish:<br />Submission guidelines<br />“Mini-grants” guidelines and budget (and checklist for Ae staff)<br />Distribution guidelines (This came up last time. 1 book per artist? Or 1 book per entry?)<br />What will go on the preliminary site (and who is creating it?)<br /><br />Looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!</i>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-66240528471910920542011-03-03T01:08:00.003-06:002011-03-03T01:23:51.974-06:00ICC -- More Like IOOOur beloved <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/">International Cartoonist Conspiracy</a> has its 100th monthly jam session tonight. What were jams like back in 2002? As I remember, 5-10 of us pushed a few small tables together at the Spyhouse in Uptown and drew for a few hours, mostly silently. What are jams like now? A lot bigger; fifteen is a low turnout and we've been known to squeeze in 20-30 cartoonists. New venue; after getting kicked out of the Spyhouse for being too awesome, we found a home at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Nordeast. Different atmosphere; it's a much more raucous event, especially if Ted Anderson is there. But same leadership; Steven Stwalley is still the Grand Poobah, even though the two smaller Stwalleys he's produced recently keep him from showing up until after 8:30.<br /><br />100 jams. That's a lot of fart jokes. And other kinds of jokes.<br /><br />If you've been going to all or most of the meetings, don't feel old. Not until you consider this: In 2002 Kriske was nine.<br /><br />Happy centennial, Twin Cities Chapter of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy. Click on Shanks' head for your present:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/?p=2961"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/cartoonist_conspiracy_100_head.jpg"></a></center>Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-41715715362400216372011-02-28T18:40:00.004-06:002011-02-28T19:14:16.411-06:00Sketching at MCAD -- Part OneThe oft-parodied nude modeling session is actually a great way to develop one's artistic chops. Drawing in public (coffee shops, etc.) is fun, but people move around so quickly that it's difficult to focus on anything but basic shapes. With a modeling session you can dig into the subtleties of light and shape, etc.<br /><br /><a target="_up" href="http://famib.com/index.php">Britt</a> and <a target="_up" href="http://staplegenius.wordpress.com/">Danno</a> invited me to a session at MCAD yesterday, and here are the results:<br /><br />My drawing materials are similar to what I brought to last month's <a target="_up" href="http://bigtimeattic.blogspot.com/2011/01/sketch-night-at-opera.html">Opera Sketch Night</a>:<br /><br />- brown pitt brush pen [B] (the thick brown lines)<br />- brown pitt fine pen [F] (the thin brown lines)<br />- Pentel pocket brown pen (the black lines, thick and thin)<br />- Copic markers (the gray and tan tones)<br /><br />We started out with some quick gestures:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_001.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_001b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_002.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_002b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_003.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_003b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />Then we went to some longer 10 and 15 minutes poses:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_004.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_004b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_005.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_005b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_006.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_006b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_007.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_007b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_008.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_008b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_009.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_009b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />For the longest (20+ minute) poses I twisted Danno's arm and stole his large drawing pad. I'll post those later this week after I get the big sketchpad back from Danno.<br /><br />The session lasted four hours. In the final few minutes we switched gears and did some quick gestures to cool down. This first one looks like how I feel most of the time:<br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_010.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_010b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_011.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_011b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br /><center><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_012.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/nude_model_022711_012b.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />I fully realize I didn't really draw these correctly. You're supposed to lightly sketch in the full form as basic shapes in order to find the figure and then slowly build up the tones and detail. Unfortunately I'm too impatient for that, plus I really like the messed-up look of an oddly proportioned model, so there you go. <br /><br />Not sure when I'll be heading back to MCAD in the near future, but I'll be hitting up the <a target="_up" href="http://www.bellmuseum.org/">Bell Museum Sketch Day</a> on Sunday. Looking forward to drawing some prairie landscapes!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-17358704849273367452011-02-27T22:13:00.004-06:002011-02-27T22:34:29.613-06:00"JUST ADD INK" Looking for Organizers<center><a target="_up" href=""><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/justaddink_thumb.jpg"></a><br /><font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"><i>Art by Lance Ward</i></font></center><br /><br />Every year, the kind folks at <a target="_up" href="http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/91">Altered Esthetics</a> gallery in Northeast Minneapolis invite members of the local cartooning scene to curate a comics-themed show. Past shows include 2010's <b>Lutefisk Sushi: Volume D</b> and 2009's <b>Big Funny</b>, and Big Time Attic has been a proud sponsor of all of them.<br /><br />This year's show is entitled "Just Add Ink" and will explore the crossover appeal of the comic arts and the culinary arts. Artists are invited to submit cartoons for a "comic cookbook" and will be encouraged to display their original art during the show itself (submission and event details forthcoming).<br /><br />If you'd like to be included in the planning process, please come to Just Add Ink's first meeting, this <b>Tuesday, March 1, at 9pm at Psycho Suzi's</b>. If you can't make it, continue to watch the <a target="_up" href="http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/">Cartoonist Conspiracy</a> website. Shortly after Tuesday's meeting we will post the minutes along with details about the next meeting. <br /><br />If you have any further questions about any of this, leave a comment below!Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12782970.post-18091508892934207152011-01-28T11:10:00.004-06:002011-01-28T12:18:59.058-06:00Sketch Night at the OperaLast night I had the good fortune of being able to doodle during a dress rehearsal of the Minnesota Opera's <a target="_up" href="http://www.mnopera.org/season/performances?module=performances&showid=1945"><i>Mary Stuart</i></a> at the Ordway Center. I was invited by <a target="_up" href="http://www.mnopera.org/tempo">Tempo</a> and the <a target="_up" href="http://blackhatcollective.blogspot.com/">Black Hat Collective</a>, and was part of a group of about fifteen cartoonists who tried to visually capture the opera. Our little group must have looked strange from the stage, fifteen dark-clad cartoonists scribbling madly under a haze of blue booklights, our rapt silence broken only by paper rustling or the occasional pencil dropping on the floor.<br /><br />I haven't done any life drawing since college, when I spent a <a target="_up" href="http://kevincannon.org/art/index.html">ridiculous amount of time</a> drawing in coffee shops and around campus, drawing people who either didn't notice me sketching them or didn't care. This guerilla sketching style forced me to get used to drawing people who moved around a lot, resulting in distorted or fractured drawings like this one:<br /><a target="_up" href="http://kevincannon.org/art/prepostpj/pjsleepypaul.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/pjsleepypaul_thumb.jpg"></a><br /><br />The actors in last night's opera, however, moved around significantly more than someone sitting in a coffee shop, so it was a major challenge trying to capture a pose. Because of this, my first sketches of the night are kind of a mess:<br /><br /><center><i>[ Click for larger versions of each pic ]</i></center><br /><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart02.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart02_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart03.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart03_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart04.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart04_sm.jpg"></a><br /><br />Realizing that I didn't want to end the night with a jumble of frantic half-drawn sketches, I decided to try a blend of life drawing and imagination. I took a mental snapshot of something that happened on stage and stuck with that pose, even while the actors were busy moving around standing in different positions. I also thought it would be fun to incorporate lines from the opera, translations of which were conveniently shown on a screen above the stage. So here's the result of the less-lifelike, more imaginative set:<br /><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart05.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart05_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart06.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart06_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart07.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart07_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart08.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart08_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart09.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart09_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart10.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart10_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart11.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart11_sm.jpg"></a><br /><a target="_up" href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart12.jpg"><img src="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/uploaded_images/2011/MNopera_cannon_marystuart12_sm.jpg"></a><br /><br />A note on materials: These were drawn on 80 lb Strathmore drawing paper (the sketchbook with the brown cover) and I used sepia Pitt brush pens for the linework and Copic markers for the tones and color.<br /><br />The only downside of the night is that I spent so much time focused on drawing that I failed to grasp exactly what was happening on stage. But whatever plot was lost to me was made up in a greater appreciation for all the little details in costume and background that I don't usually catch when watching a performance like this. All in all a terrific experience and I highly recommend that other cartoonists jump at the chance to do this should the opportunity come up again.<br /><br />Thanks to Tempo and the Black Hat folks for allowing us to sneak in and draw for three hours. It was a blast!<br /><br />Update: MinnPost's Max Sparber <a target="_up" href="http://www.minnpost.com/maxsparber/2011/01/28/25303/exquisite_agony_mary_stuart_at_minnesota_opera_and_a_wild_night_at_the_st_paul_grill">wrote a review of "Mary Stuart"</a> and he even mentions our little sketch troupe and includes a photo of yours truly.Kevin Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835779643598660838noreply@blogger.com9