So I made my first comic-related purchase yesterday with the money and got a Cannon ELPH. I reference from photos some in my work, but they’ll be MY photos, not the latest cover of Playboy or whatever as a few notorious comics artists do. I mostly reference the figure work – poses, body language, and especially hands, since I can’t simply model for myself like most artists do. I’m sorry if this admission disappoints anyone, but referencing is very common in the industry, and as I said, it’s the only way I can really draw certain things.

And they’ll be my photos.

If you’re wondering, no, the people who model for me look nothing like the characters. I often have different people each time, for starters, as they’re friends helping me for free, so I change a lot of the details. Faces are ALWAYS different, as I want my characters to look consistent and I don’t need refs for faces. Builds are often different – I generally work with average or slender models and add weight and muscle a needed, as another example. Clothing is almost always different, too. I have them all wear tank tops or form-fitting shirts and pants so I can focus on their build and not their clothing. So really I’m just using the refs for posture, body language, and hands.

In other news, I’m 3 pages away from finishing the script for #1, then it’s off to the editor. My lawyer is sending out the contracts for editing services as I write this. As soon as that’s done (to protect my sole ownership of the title and set the official rate I’m paying), the script will be edited and I’ll write a second draft. Usually that’s all it takes as far as edits go, and then I can get down to drawing the pages.

So that’s the latest. Things are a bit slow right now as I wait for all the funds to go through, wait on the contract, and finish the script. I’m not good at waiting. I should be hard at work by next weekend, though, and well on schedule for the planned release dates. It shouldn’t take me 55 days to draw 15 pages. If anything, I’ll be ahead of schedule.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave comments and ask questions!