Random Doug Gillard Sketch

Boy, am I having a terrible week. Don't want to go too into it on this post but it has been rough. Regardless, progress on Pop Zeus continues to inch forward...

Drew this sketch more than a month ago, I think. Wasn't so fond of the initial drawing. But then I busted out my new Japanese brush pens and inked over it, using the opportunity to give them a whirl. I think the drawing is much improved inked, though it is just a sketch and not a finished part of Pop Zeus.

When I first started drawing comics, I inked over my pencil lines with a pen and knib. It was as close to using a pen or pencil that you could get, but still get a nice variety of line thicknesses. At some point I can't recall, I decided to give inking with a brush a try. And I never looked back. I just grew more and more comfortable with the free flowing feeling of using a small brush, my hand hovering just above the page.

Then when I moved to San Francisco, I took notice of the Kinokuniya Japanese stationary store in the Japantown Mall. With its difficult (for me at least) pictorially based written language (and love of comics), Japan has some of the best writing implements in the world. And one of those brilliant inventions is the modern brush pen- pretty much a pen with a brush hair tip instead of a ball-point. Sounds too good to be true, but damn if they don't work wonders.

Always looking for new options for the laborious task of inking, I took a trip to the Japantown mall a while back. I went kinda nuts a bought about 50 bucks worth of pens- some cheap, others not so cheap. And there are some that are refillable and nearly 50 bucks or more by themselves. But I want to see how these work out before making that sort of investment. So far so good, though.

Take it easy folks!