Topics

(Not really)

http://tinyurl.com/2va73ut

-pj

I know NOTHING proper about composition (being self taught). So I thought I'd try and rally what little it is I think I know about it in this post:

http://pjholden.posterous.com/composition-57

Open for discussion!

-pj

(See what I did there? Puntastic...)

Ok, in response to an email, here's my tool of choice:

I use a Daler Rowney Sapphire Brush (series 51) either a size 0/10 (if I'm feeling confident and it's a good brush) or a size "2/0" which is what I'm favouring right now- they're "rigging" brushes - designed to paint rigging on paintings of boats, so long and very, very fine. I've met people who get the heebie jeebies just looking at them

I tend to tell people to buy a bunch of brushes and try them out - John McCrea once recommended (and gave me) a brush that was also a rigging brush, but it was so long that I just couldn't get my head/hand around it and threw the brush down in dispair never to pick one up again for a couple of years.

===

Now, I do a fair bit of digital touch up - adding borders, sometimes throwing some effects down, etc, but, for the most part the brush is the only thing I use when I ink a page - (dipped in indian ink). Sometimes I have good days and sometimes bad days. On the bad days I hit the dip pens...

Ok, what you got?

-pj

I've updated my blog with a brief overview on image formats, may be dull as ditchwater or very useful (or both)

http://www.pauljholden.com/blog/2010/04/23/tools-of-the-trade-image-formats/

-pj

on Film4 NOW. (and FILM4+1 in under an hour).

B&W obstensibly silent movie, looks like it was made in the 20s, made in 2007. Instead of captions for dialogue the dialogue appears on screen over the characters eyes, or in their hands, or hovering past them. Looks utterly unlike anything I've seen. Lots of incredibly cool transitions. It's fantasys/sci-fi

-pj

Just stumbled across this in a listing. Haven't seen it, but I'm setting the video recorder up now (once I can find a cassette for my top loading vcr - or I might just use the Virgin+ box)

-pj

LOOK AT THAT!



MAGNIFICENT!

Being a selfish sort, I quiet fancy the idea of the Meg turning into some sort of combination of 'Draw' + '2000ad' running comic strips as well as articles about the process of making comics (I'll happily lose an article about movies/tv if we can get more interviews with comic artists)

So, anyhue, here's some articles I'd love to see (which are probably unlikely, but anyways...)

1. The Slushpile

Once a month Tharg and minions trawl the slushpile for the best and worst - printing details about them along with a decent commentary/breakdown of what's right/wrong. Obv you couldn't do this without people's approval - but the reward is that you'll actually start seeing something come from the slushpile. (You could run two versions of this: one for scripts and one for art)

2. Art Attack!

Get artists to go back over some of their oldest work and take it apart, figuring out how they'd approach it now.

3.  How To...

Things like the famous Ian Gibson double page spread 'how to draw' dredd from the annuals - let's see how Henry approaches a page of ... well... anything...

4. Sketchbooks

Let's see lots of sketches by the 2000AD art droids...

Your turn...

Hey, I'm gonna do a blog post rounding up as much advice as I can think of/gather and answering questions - no question too stupid! If you want to take part, put your questions here (I'll be blogging tonight at 9:00 -ish ...)

-pj

Hey, if you're in Belfast and interested in making comics, then pop along to the Garrick Bar from 9:00 where a bunch of us meet up to talk about making comics and 'tings...

(And I'll be there along with Johnny Woo...)
-pj

And by Undiscovered he means by DC or Marvel.

http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=91905&st=0

Say what you like about Millar's 2000AD work, he's VERY good at promotion, and propelling artists / work out there - 2 major movies from 2 creator owned projects? That's an incredible result.

Anyways, take time to read the thread and then post work (3 images max, with a link to a good selection of your work, and a potted - two/three line bio), EVEN if you don't think you're suitable/have a chance in hell, that thread is going to get an AWFUL lot of traffic and it'd be good exposure for anyone wanting to work in comics.


-pj

Hi all,

I've posted a bunch of pencils to inks (well, except for fearless which, for dull reasons, I pencilled FROM the inks - just to have some pencils from it).

You can see them here: http://www.pauljholden.com/blog/2010/02/22/portfolio/
-pj

[Formats]

Following the enormously long thread about the apple iPad, and at vincebot's suggestion, I'm gonna spin off a couple of threads, one of them: this one here is about Buying Digital. What are the options? and the pros and cons, please add to the list if you can think of any I'm missing (and let's keep it, as far as reasonably possible, hardware agnostic - or, at least, let's ignore the competing philosophies and concentrate on the what comics there are available...)

Formats

CBR/CBZ - these are, basically, a directory with image files -which are then compressed using either RAR format or CBZ format. The images are named such that it's obvious which page follows which. I've read somewhere (but been unable to find specifics) that the directory can also contain an xml file describing extras such as artists/writer/title/etc. (if anyone has any info on this, that'd be awesome)

Online Stores

http://www.clickwheel.net - owned by Rebellion, and, as such, probably the best place to pick up 2000AD in cbr/cbz format - they have other formats, and, while I'm not a fan of the layout of the site, I think they're doing most things right, to wit: multiple downloads of the same title (you buy it you can download again and again), available in lots of formats (cbr as mentioned, as well as iComic(?) format and PDF in some cases). I think they're a bit pricey for 2000AD £1.49 for the prog, compared to £2.00 - and I'd really like a tighter integration between the clickwheel and actual site. And I'd love to be able to buy the prog on the day it comes out (£1.49 for the current prog, £1.00 for back issues, seems reasonable to me)

http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/
Best I can tell, most of their content (if not all) is only available as "watermarked PDF". It's a little cheaper than 2000AD, but watermarked pdf? no thanks!
(Also: that website! ugh!)

(hang on, there must be MORE than just clickwheel selling cbr files? right? anyone? help!)

Longbox

Not there yet, and a while off. There intent is to have multiple readers on multiple devices and allow you to buy on any of them and read the content on up to five devices. They've been working away in the background for a while, getting contracts signed. Remains to be seen what's going to be available and exactly how it will work. Their reader WILL import any preexisting CBR files, though. The current software is very raw and I don't want to comment on the state of the actual comic reader, but I'm hoping it gets better.

Graphic.ly

Appeared, apparently, out of nowhere, offering a very similar model to longbox. I've played with a beta reader and it seems to take a similar tack to the comixology reader, displaying art panel by panel - which, on a big screen seems a little odd. No idea if it'll read cbr/cbz, and no idea what they've got going on in the background in terms of contracts. But, to the best of my knowledge, NONE of these guys are locking people into exclusive distribution contracts - so if you can buy it on one, you can buy it on the other.

Mobile Phones

http://www.iverse.com
iVerse chop the art to suit the iPhone (and other devices). Works /reasonably/ well - depending on who's doing the editing. They have a lot of the titles that would come through boom! IDW and Image. Iverse have been concentrating on mobiles (specifically the iPhone). I expect to see a big screen reader on the iPad but no idea of they'll move to desktops or whether they'll ever allow you to load cbrs. Buy the reader and you're locked into the content, on one device. On the other hand: 99cents per title.

http://www.comixology.com
Comixology have a windowing technology that zooms to each panel as you read it, effectively working like iVerse's chop up style though, since it's doesn't edit the comic it's more true to the art though less true to the experience of reading on a small device (ie sometimes you've gotta flip the phone to read it better). As with iVerse, buy the reader and the content can only be displayed here - again, 99cents per title.

Panel Fly
Looks the nicest of all the iPhone readers - but the only one that's NOT available in the UK. But as with all iPhone readers so far, your content is locked in on the device/software you bought it on. (The iPad version they've been showing off looks the closest to what I'd see in my head as an 'ideal' iPad comic reader - if only it read CBR/CBZ)

There are others: IDW - they use the iVerse software but have their own reader, Dark Horse - have their own reader software on the iPhone and about a dozen others, none of which are selling the 'open' cbr files.

Anyhue, that went a little deeper than I intended, but still... the question is: I WANT to buy digital comics, where can I get them officially?

-pj

Hey, so, in a couple of days, Apple are poised to announce the Apple Tablet (or iPad, or iSlate, or Canvas, or one of a dozen other names - I favour Canvas)

What's this got to do with 2000AD? Everything and nothing.

If the Apple tablet does half of what people say it will - for example, if ALL it does is combine the App store ability to distribute/sell content along with a platform that allows you to read comic book content then almost overnight it will completely reinvent the comics industry - in a way that the iPhone has started to make headway in.

2000AD has some unique problems to deal with though, specifically:

Screen size. Largest anticipated screen size I've seen mentioned is around 10" - this is just a little smaller than a US comic, and, combined with really hi resolution screen will keep US comics readable, 2000ad - not so much. We'll either have to see chopped up art, some form of on screen loupe for reading content, or zoom in/zoom out reading - none of which are perfect, but, at with a bit of luck, the entire 2000AD back catalogue could be available on a single device.

I think, screen size may, ultimately, force 2000AD to resize its content, too. Can we, the readers, cope with a smaller print-sized 2000AD?

I also hope that 2000AD go with a pricing model that makes the digital version MUCH cheaper than the comic and available on the same day as the print edition. I think if it's priced, say around 59p per copy, I'd nearly be prepared to buy print and digitial - and, I'd be a lot happier giving my print copy away. Digital pricing at the same price as the print copy means I have to have a serious think about digital or print - certainly not both...



Anyhue, any thoughts?

-pj

Hi all, I've blogged a bunch of Dredd heads that I've drawn over the years. Come and pour scorn on me!

http://www.pauljholden.com/blog/2010/01/22/the-many-faces-of-dredd/

-pj

Arthur Wyatt and I were talking about this, and I've rattled my brain, but can anyone name me any progs/meg issues where an artists has drawn more than one strip? It's happened before with writers (and, in fact, can happen quiet frequently) but with artists, less so...

I have a feeling Henry Flint has been in a prog in two strips - but it's only a niggling feeling...

-pj

Arthur Ranson exhibition opens at Orbital: Tonight (Thursday 14th January)  http://bit.ly/869Z0d (via @johnfreeman_dtb )

Haven't seen this posted here (though I may have missed it)

Hello!

(Just thought it'd be easier to do this in one thread!)

I'm PJ Holden - I draw for 2000AD and will happily contribute to the board (and have done so since before there was a board...)

-pj

So, me and some other comic blokes from NI (and one girl) are gonna be doing eggheads next week - filming on Tuesday - no idea when it'll be broadcast. But we've been asked to do something unique or special that we can give away, so I thought a 2000AD/Eggheads mashup cover would be fun. I have one in mind (http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/judge-dredd-2000-ad/236-1.jpg) but will welcome input. The rules are:

1) Logo must be recognisably 2000Ad but feature the words "EGGHEADS"
2) "Featuring Judge Vine" (so "Judge Vine" must feature prominently
3) I have no idea who the eggheads are, plus the teams change a little - so any way I can hide the teams faces the better
4) our team also features one person as a standby, in case someone can't do it - so we can't be sure who'll be in our team on the day - so, as above - we have to hide the faces...

Any other covers you can suggest...?

-pj

The Seven http://bit.ly/6RAAqO

Some old art, finally lettered and allowed out to breath...

-pj