scarygoround

2011 pencil-only recreations

Added 2020-09-05 11:48:59 +0000 UTC

Nine years ago I was very well-drilled with my sketchbook work and had a go at redrawing old comics with no inks, just pencil, in my looser sketchbook style.

I managed these five wild looking recreations of some 2003/4 comics. But I could never make this style work when I applied it to something new. I really had to hold my nerve because a. I had to press down quite hard with the pencil so it would scan properly and b. mistakes, even if I erased them on paper, required a lot of clean-up on the scan.

To work like this, you need a soft pencil, considerable time to warm up, and a willingness to live with your mistakes. I have at least two soft pencils now but I'm still looking for the other two factors. I do like these pages though - lots of fun drawings. I've tried a few times to recapture this effect, but it's not been possible to finesse my process enough for finished work.

I had a combination of Photoshop actions and a decent pro scanner that I used to prep my pencil art for easy colouring. I've never managed to recreate that setup since selling the giant, under-used scanner.