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How do you draw Chopping Block?
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I start with a 7" x 8½" piece of smooth Bristol board. I use a pre-cut cardboard
template to outline the frame, then I sketch in the rough form of the picture with
a pencil. I cover the sketch with a piece of clear contact paper, then use an
X-acto knife to cut the different elements out (being careful to penetrate ONLY
mask with the blade). Then I peel the mask away from the background, leaving
the foreground elements covered.
With the cardboard template in place,
I moisten a small sponge (I'm currently using one of those little sponges kids
use for painting. This one is orange, and in the shape of a capital 'F'.
This is my third sponge. The cat and the letter 'E' both wore out. VERY important bit of
info, that.) with India Ink, and proceed to describe the outline of the frame,
and to darken the background, using whatever dabbing, smearing, swiping motions
which strike me as particularly amusing at the time.
Then, bit by bit,
I remove different pieces of the foreground masking and ink those sections
appropriately, working from the farthest back element to the nearest, always doing
Butch's mask last. I use 2 different brushes for inking in detail work.
I dip the empty tip of a mechanical pencil in ink for eyeballs, buttons, and
the holes in Butch's hockey mask. Finally, I scan the pieces, and add all text
using Corel PhotoPaint 8.
In all, each comic probably takes me about an
hour to execute (pun intended). |
