Stories from a clever mercenary in a wild world.
I have a new drawing program that I’m learning how to use. Clip Studio Paint (aka Manga Studio 5) can do a lot and I’m over here like “Wait…how do I select that?” But I’m loving the program anyway.
Have a look at peasant-dressed Zare whipping out Shiharr and Azzad.
Jemin is a burly man. Not terribly tall, but if you charge him, you will bounce off.
The Hoopskirt Job was a memorable job for Zare and Quill…hoop skirts, assassins…good times…
I have got to come up with a better way to do large swathes of black. But I had a picture in my head, and a sharpie in my hand.
Can you guess where we’re headed in this story?
This is Hook, rendered in ink and ink pencil. Every now and then I indulge and throw myself into drawing a horse. Alright, fine, perhaps it happens often.
In my mind, he is somewhere between a Lusitano and an Arabian in build and carriage.
Ink pencils are fairly new to me, but I fell pretty hard for them once we met. They forced me to learn about blending colors–but they also rewarded me extremely well when I did. I’m getting better with them, and they are so much fun to use.
They are like water color pencils, but better. You lay down the color with the pencil, and then activate the pigment with water on a brush. You essentially get two chances to blend. Once the water and pigment dry, however, they are permanent. Which I love because it means you can add layers of color. You can go back and add details or shading–which fits much better with my drawing style than having to get it all in place before adding water.
It’s also easier to mix with pen and ink, and I’m all about mixing media.
This sketch is from earlier this year, one of the first on my tablet that was any good. Still have a lot to learn about that tool–but I’m really enjoying it. The Sketchbook app by Autodesk is pretty nice. I’ve been using the free version, and flirting with the subscription. I think, though, that first I need to master the features of the free version before I can justify adding features by paying for it.
I’m learning that wagons are extremely hard to draw–straight lines and boxes aren’t my strong suit. Though, the hardest part is the wheel. I have an embarrassingly hard time drawing wheels. I must find them boring, and therefore feel no motivation to practice so it isn’t a monster fight every time I try to draw a wagon. I should probably work a bit harder at that–because Fang and Seyba’s wagon was really cool looking in my head.
I bought a Surface Pro this spring, partly due to the drawing apps that you can use with it. It was a bigger learning curve than I was expecting, but I do love this tablet.
I tend to get a picture in my head and draw it over and over and over until I feel I’ve actually drawn it well.
In this case I was desperately trying to come up with a silhouette for the cover of The Badlands Job. Granted, we’re still in the editing stage (somewhat complicated by the launch of the River Rebellion), but since cover art is hard and inspiring, I figured it wasn’t too early to start.
The Legend of Zare Caspian 