New Pens and Pencils.

So new pens then, I got a hold of some more 

1) ZIG MANGAKA this time a set 0.1, 0.5 and 0.8. These are super fast drying, smear proof perfect for speed lines. I really want these in all the sizes but they always seem to be out of stock.

2) ZIG Millennium these are super precise, 0.20,0.25, 0.35,0.45 and 0.65mm a little bit scratchy when they hit the paper but again it has the super fast drying. Very good for precise miniature images as the ink stays where you put it.

3) ZIG Artist Sketching Pen these are exactly what they say they are, kind of up-market felt tips perfect for sketches, really cheap in price too, I am glad I bought three of them.

I noticed while working in my office, I kept grabbing my expensive pens and pencils to jot down notes for my "day job" so I bought some tools specifically for work.

4) & 5) Pilot V7 & V5 super smooth crystal clear ink, perfect for my bad handwriting.

6) Rotring TIKKY mechanical pencils 0.35mm, 0.5 and 0.7mm really incredibly smooth lead, so much so it took time to get used to it, the lead doesn't seem to snap either unlike the cheaper mechanical pencils I use for sketching. The lead being so strong too much pressure will indent the paper making it harder to erase. They are a good weight and if used properly, they are probably some of the best pencils I have used.

I think I am going to start trying out new paper soon, in the meantime here are some robo-sketches.

More scans

I have been drawing loads over the last couple weeks, I just haven't scanned them. I think I am almost there with the character designs. Lot o'bots.

Bamboo, white ink and sketching my spare time.

So first up I have invested in a WACOM Bamboo touch with the Manga Studio / Anime Studio pack. That said I drew this in Photoshop Elements 11, it is a bit wibbly wobbly but I have gotten better since. I haven't had much time with it but I like, a lot and it will be good fun when I start loading in pencil sketches and inking them, this was drawn freehand.

I don't know why but I felt the need to ink in white on black paper, so I bought some white ink. I used the Sakura Ink Gelly Roll for the fine lines (the coverage is very uneven) and Windsor and Newton White Caligraphy Ink (very clumpy) but you can ink over it in black which it lovely to neaten up things. I used my lovely Rotring Tikky pens to re-ink black over the white ink.

I have started a new job and it is fairly full but good, so on my lunch breaks, I have been making sure I sketch to keep up my "skills".

I have a bunch of different bots now, I think I'll put together a little story for them all to feature in soon.

 

That is all for now.

All Images Copyright Matthew C. Applegate ©2013

New pens, new curves and a new style.

OK first up, I have some new pens some ZIG MANGAKA in 0.1 and 0.5, lightfast, smudge proof is what they say on them and they are brilliant. The 0.1 is a little scratchy but 0.5 is brilliant especially with the French Curves / curved speed line ruler set as the ink dries super quick so doesn't smudge when tou move the ruler like a lot of pens. Sadly I couldn't get a hold of the MANGAKA in 0.2mm as it seems out of stock everywhere but I am sure I will as they are great pens to have.

 

The other type of pen I got a set of was the Uniball Eye Needle 0.7mm ball 0.5mm output which are lovely and feel great to hold complete unlike any other pen I have, dries slowly but are good for large areas of inking and are really smooth.

 

I also got his book, it is great it slows you down to look more in depth at the noir comic style. I really like the artist Shawn Martinbrough and this is a great walk through of the style, so it was well worth the purchase.

So with that I quickly and I mean quickly did some of my robots and noir-ised them, although I think they look pretty good for my first attempt, they do need a bit of work and ultimately I don't think I will use this style for the robots in their final form.

That is all for now, new pens soon I'm sure.

G-pens, ink and more bots.

I have spent some of the day playing with my new pens. I have the ZIG Kuretake G-Pen Nibs and the Saji-Pen Nibs. The G-pen is the all rounder with the Saji being the broad pen, but requires more pressure. I used the Windsor & Newton Black ink I already have on the paper test below, I will get some "Deleter" ink in the future and maybe some "Deleter" paper too.

1) Tesco Value Copier paper bleeds a little bit. 

2) Tesco Presentation Card bleeds very little, probably the best.

3) Boldmere High Quality Cartridge Paper bleeds really badly.

I am new to this, so I am not saying any of the papers are bad, they just might not be the best for this specific job. I am just trying them out so I can get the best results with what I have. I 'll try them again when I get new paper and new ink. All of them take ages to dry, probably as it is discharging more ink than a fibre-tip or brush, It seems the smoother the paper the better the results, hot pressed being best.

I am not sure if it is a method of inking I will ever use but it is always interesting to try out different methods.

Here are some more bots. The first one is clearly Manga-Mech inspired.

All images copyright Matthew C. Applegate.

Got Lots o'Bots

I have taken to sketching while waiting for the bus, while on the bus, waiting for a train, while on the train and every other moment I am just waiting around.

I have these "bots" and well I just keep drawing them and they just keep getting sillier.

I got my ZIG "Kuretake" G-Pens today and they are great, I didn't use them for these but I will blog about them soon.

All images copyright Matthew C. Applegate.