FAN ART!

Bitten
Tried something a little different this time, and colored over pencils rather than inks. It gave the thing more of a painterly look, and I'm very encouraged by the results.

Here's a little insider information. While I choose the girls I draw based on an initial reaction to their sets, or even just their general appearance, the actual shots I draw from are chosen for some very different reasons than you might expect. For one, I like to draw shoulders:

But there can be other reasons. I chose this picture of Macabria as an excuse to draw all that cool drapery:

I was drawn to this shot of Amarena:

Because I liked the challenge of capturing that high contrast light. And I settled on this shot of Bitten:

Because I wanted to draw those bat tattoos.

I also chose these shots because these girls are gorgeous, and I like drawing gorgeous naked girls.

And now, without further ado, everyone's favorite new blog segment, ASK NERDMACHINE!

Our first question comes from suispud1
"Zombie, vampire or ninja as a political candidate?"
Ninja would rely too much on discipline and a strict code, so not them. Vampires would be all about sex, sex, sex but wouldn't care about health risks (I view vampirism as an STD, so it's hard to get behind their loose morals). Zombies wouldn't be much of a change. So I'm going to go with Son of Kong. That's right, I'm voting independent!

Our next question is from Neon_
"Live in any time period as any kind of person (position of power, famous, peasant, etc.) which one and why?"
The Old West as a famous and feared bounty hunter. Because "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" is one of my favorite movies.

And our final question comes from Siriuss
"In your comics do you have a template of the boxes that you use, or how does the storyboard work?"
This is one of those annoying instances where I have to say there isn't really a right answer. Even how I...

FAN ART!

Bitten
Tried something a little different this time, and colored over pencils rather than inks. It gave the thing more of a painterly look, and I'm very encouraged by the results.

Here's a little insider information. While I choose the girls I draw based on an initial reaction to their sets, or even just their general appearance, the actual shots I draw from are chosen for some very different reasons than you might expect. For one, I like to draw shoulders:

But there can be other reasons. I chose this picture of Macabria as an excuse to draw all that cool drapery:

I was drawn to this shot of Amarena:

Because I liked the challenge of capturing that high contrast light. And I settled on this shot of Bitten:

Because I wanted to draw those bat tattoos.

I also chose these shots because these girls are gorgeous, and I like drawing gorgeous naked girls.

And now, without further ado, everyone's favorite new blog segment, ASK NERDMACHINE!

Our first question comes from suispud1
"Zombie, vampire or ninja as a political candidate?"
Ninja would rely too much on discipline and a strict code, so not them. Vampires would be all about sex, sex, sex but wouldn't care about health risks (I view vampirism as an STD, so it's hard to get behind their loose morals). Zombies wouldn't be much of a change. So I'm going to go with Son of Kong. That's right, I'm voting independent!

Our next question is from Neon_
"Live in any time period as any kind of person (position of power, famous, peasant, etc.) which one and why?"
The Old West as a famous and feared bounty hunter. Because "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" is one of my favorite movies.

And our final question comes from Siriuss
"In your comics do you have a template of the boxes that you use, or how does the storyboard work?"
This is one of those annoying instances where I have to say there isn't really a right answer. Even how I do it isn't the right way, it's just my way. So I'll start by showing you my method.

First, I start with a loose script (if I'm writing- a freelance job will usually involve a more detailed script). One of my scripts might look something like this:

The Samurai and Nancy enter the house.

Nancy- You can throw your stuff anywhere.

The Samurai drops his coat on the couch. Nancy walks towards the kitchen.

Nancy- You want a drink?

Samurai- Sake?

Nancy- I'll see what I can do.

From there I'll do a couple thumbnails, just to get an idea of the layout. Then I'll do a full rough on a piece of printer paper:

I've made the first panel bigger since I'm establishing the setting. Panel 4 is the smallest because I'm focusing on a particular detail. Panel 7 reestablishes a character, while panel 8 establishes a new setting. By panel 9, we've established the setting, so I chose to focus entirely on the other character.

I keep my roughs fairly loose, mainly so I can do the real work on the actual board. This one turned out pretty close:

Composition is mainly about story telling. You never want to keep showing the same angle over and over (though I did twice here and no one's complained but me), so it's mainly a matter of moving the camera around. I've shown the setting in panel 1, so panel 2 is about the characters. Panel 3 is one character moving around in that setting. Panel 4 is a specific detail, panel 5 is the reappearance of a character while showing a specific emotion on the first character. Camera movement, framing, and composition should always be dictated by the needs of the story.

As I said, though, this is just how I do it. Some artists use simple grids (take a look at Watchmen or Love and Rockets), while some artists use very complex layouts (read anything by Chris Ware and feel like less of an artist). A lot of it's a style choice. In the end, it's about story telling.

If you'd like your question answered, send me a PM and it'll be featured in my next blog.

Picture time!
Going to see Radiohead on Thursday, so I made this the background on my phone:

Some spoiled little brat from my hometown got to meet a famous musician, and had his picture in the local paper:

Some new additions to my record collection:





I've done a lot of shameless self promotion in this blog, so I thought I would promote someone else:

Go check out Hexxus's new set, Hardwood. It's hot and sexy and really just what every great SG set is. So I expect her to be pink in no time.

Gosh, so much skin around here. It's nearly impossible to not want to join in. So, here it is, folks, a hot, steamy shower pic of yours truly:

And, finally, some good news. A digital comic distributor has gotten in touch with me about publishing collections of my webcomic, Trench Coat Samurai. So that means I might make a few bucks on the thing by the end of the year. Not bad. Everything is coming into place.


And that's the way it goes.