Announcements and Comments...

[Ilaekae]

http://photos.imageevent.com/aljmary/conceptarts/CA-POWexLOGO.jpg

The first Challenge will be posted before Midnight, Tuesday 15th.

This thread is being started to give us a place for announcements, notices and comments. Feel free to totally pollute it... :P

[arttorney]

:az: :ao: :aw: :ai: :ae: :a!: :a!: :a!:

[yoitisi]

Sounds absolutely great :D and a good excuse to finally start doing something like storyboards and sequential panels and stuff.

If you need any help or whatnot from the IDW side of things let me know :)

[chaosrocks]

likewise.. from ... EOW.. and kitty..you know where to find me

roxie

[Rist]

Awesome. Definitely finding time for this one.

[Ryuartyi]

I have been waiting for this for a LONG time. I'll be sure to participate in every one.

[FlipMcgee]

.....

[Call0ps]

another section of insane creativity will start =D:yayca:

[S.C. Watson]

This is really great Ilaekae. Congratulations :)

[Ilaekae]

This is a clarification note...

I changed the final dpi from 72 to 96 in the posting specs in the "Read this first" thread. I did this on the assumption that most of you have non-Mac machines/monitors which usually display at 96 dpi for actual size.

On the assumption that someday we may want to actually print these pages as a collection (not very likely at this early point, but why rule it out?), I would recommend working at a dpi that would allow proper reproduction later--for example, if you work same size, do your art at 300dpi at least. If you're working up in size (say at 150%, which is pretty close to the norm for most people in comics) and then reduce to size, you could get away with something in the 200-225 dpi range. I normally work at 150% to 200% at 300dpi automatically just so I don't make a bonehead mistake and realize it only after I'm half finished.

Save these files at the higher dpi as "original art" and make a jpg copy (different name so no overwrites) at 96dpi to the final size for submission to the challenge.

For those few of you who work in pure black/white (bitmap--not grayscale), the higher the dpi for FINISHED ART, the better--at least 600dpi minimum, and a lot higher if your machine can handle it (1200-1600dpi). This prevents ragged art because you don't have that nice anti-alias thing making you look good... When making the jpg for posting, just go to gray scale and you'll be fine.

[arttorney]

Interesting that Attachment Manager is allowed. May increase participation. Must WIPS and finals appear in the same post?

[Ilaekae]

"Must WIPS and finals appear in the same post?"

No. Just in the same thread for that challenge.

[FlipMcgee]

After reading the "read first" post may I suggest if a template of a page with "official" dimensions already delineated be provided (here or in the readfirst) as a .tif or .psd file. So, kinda like the bristol board Marvel provides its artists.

Just an idea.

[Grief]

10x15" original
scan at ungodly high resolution
share at 90dpi*, 6.66x10"

got it. time to do some pre-battle shopping tomorrow to make sure my checklist of supplies are up for the task.

*also, maybe i'm just ill-informed but i was always taught the microsoft dpi standard was 96dpi. maybe someone would be sharp enough to clarify this before we get rolling.

[Ilaekae]

yadda yadda yadda...

Just tryna get some shit done an' all I get is grief...





...correcting a mistake for me. Thank you much, Grief. Mac is 72, MICROSOFT is 96, not 90. You're gonna love this, but I wasn't sure, so I googled it before I posted, and I had "90" confirmed by a site I checked at random--which WAS WRONG!!! Remember--ALWAYS trust the 'net. Would they lie to you? :P

Thanks again, Grief. I'll make the correction above and other places.

I was going to prep a board like you mentioned, Flip, but figured I'd wait to see what size everyone ended up working at. I know some guys who work at 200% from force of habit, and because it's easier math...

I'll get something together by Wednesday to post as a .pdf.

[wheezy]

Who will claim the first P.O.W.!!!!!!!

[xenos]

Ilaekae, just post it at the size it would be printed. Then every body can resize it easily to whatever size they want.

[xenos]

Its 16.1 already! Plz, would somebody post the topic for us. I want to begin making komiX!!1! :bounce:

[El_Bert]

Hmm..I got two weeks off, so this might be good :)

[MiniGoth]

It's the fifteenth!!!

[Ilaekae]

Bite me, xenos... :P

Actually, I'll post earlier in the evening next time so you guys in the early time zones don't have to wait. Sorry about that.

[Boolean]

I have a suggestion for the next challenge :)

What if instead of a general theme or a fully written script, Ilaekae comes up with the opening dialogue of the first panel and we have to build a comic off that. For example, we get the line:

"I don't understand, it should be here".
That could be people digging through a tomb, people exploring space for a mystical object, people on a pirate ship looking for treasure, anything :)

* "Don't worry we're perfectly safe" "--What was that noise?"
or
* "On 3, get ready to move, 1, 2 -- BLLLAARRRHHGGGG"

I think it could be fun :D

[Ilaekae]

Excellent idea. Let's try it for the next Challenge...

[Ifman1]

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this...

What are the chances that we can do a more traditional comic book process for an event. Maybe have a couple page script (a loose one), let everyone do some pencils one week. Then the next week let everyone do some inks, either traditionally or digitally. And on the next week let everyone add colors. Perhaps even have a poll for the best pencils, then everyone inks or colors that page, just to see the differences that people bring to the story and artwork.

Well, this is traditional by the Big Two american companies. LOL. I'm not sure what process is used elsewhere. Oh, and I guess I need to actually do a POW before I get to suggesty, huh?

[arttorney]

Well it's actually interesting, though I feel some dread at the prospect of printing a sheet of pencils out on my cheap printer to try to ink and color. I kind of like bristol board but I doubt if my printer does.

Still, it could give people a chance to assess their skills in each of the individual areas.

[Ifman1]

Well... tracing <ahem>... I mean inking isn't necessarily as important as it used to be. If you don't think your printer can handle it you can just skip to the coloring stage. I lot of artists are doing this now. I think an awesome example is Liquid! coloring right over Joe Madureira's artwork in the Ultimates VOL 3. I think that's also how most of the Darksiders art is getting done.
Check out some of the examples of what I'm talking about here: http://www.joemadfan.com/gallery/p17_sectionid/22 Sorry, but the art is in some weird pop-up thing and I can't link it directly.

Just a thought. And there's always digitally inking.

Oops, disregard that whole pop up thing....

pencils: http://www.joemadfan.com/plugins/p17_image_gallery/popup.php?categoryid=3&p17_sectionid=22&p17_imageid=413

and then: http://www.joemadfan.com/plugins/p17_image_gallery/popup.php?categoryid=3&p17_sectionid=22&p17_imageid=412

Yeah. I think that works.

And... no. Epic fail. But the links are there. Stupid goblins. Oh yeah... it was the goblins. Couldn't possibly have been my fault.

[arttorney]

I'm sure something could be worked out. This is an extremely user friendly challenge section. Ilaekae has already started a thread for sequentials that don't fit the current challenge, or were done late. He also started a thread for undone challenge WIPS that nevertheless had a bunch of work invested. He started a thread for just the writing without the art. He even provided digital templates. If it wasn't obvious that people often struggle in here, I would suggest calling this place SPOW (Silver Platter of the Week).

If we ask nice he would likely start something like "the Official Sequential Paintover Thread" or something. It's of value for me because my skills are uneven. I can write ink and color and letter but my penciling is for shit.

[Ilaekae]

The staged idea is an interesting one...it would make an excellent tutorial if we could get enough people to go through the entire process. (We can take everybody's entry--touched up for presentation--and make it a really useful guide for people who don't know the procedures...)

X time for roughs
X time for pencils (if done)
X time for inking (hand or digital)
X time for color (Hand or digital)

I could get together a rough scenario that has enough leeway for a lot of personal interpretation, and we could keep it to something small, like two to four pages, to keep boredom at bay and allow it to move faster.

Any thoughts?

I'm also developing a cover challenge, an illustration-style book challenge where a series of full-page illustrations/graphics are used to break up a standard bok text format--like the old illustrated mags and books, a political cartoon sequence (say five days editorial comment), and a simple strip cartoon just to give those who don't feel comfortable with the "book" format a chance to get involved.

[arttorney]

They all sound like fun, and I think they are all pretty relevant too. Watchmen, for example, had those sections at the end of the issues simulating illustrated book text even though it was fictional material clearly part of the overall sequential package.

Strip cartoons and political cartooning are both awesome, and hot stuff for self published webcomics. There always seems to be room on der internetz for that kind of stuff.

[Ifman1]

That's silly how tracing... dang, did it again, I meant inking of course, gets a small x while all the other stages got capitol X's. Tracers get no respect. Well, except Bernie Wrightson. His inking was magnificent. Oh, and Mike Mignola. Oh, and... nevermind. There are a few good ones out there. :nohope:

[Ilaekae]

Oh shit! I'm always screwin' up. Lemme fix that for you... :P

[Sundance]

I think this sounds lovely. I would have to tear myself away from Sarah Palin bashing in the lounge though...

[Ilaekae]

You're right on time to Palin bash, Sunshine...

The new Challenge is a set of Editorial cartoons. Give her hell. :P

[Jazz]

Hey!! I'm just polluting this section with my issues about making a comic. :bashful: See, I want to make comics of my own projects, and join into these challenges to get my creative juices flowing! But for some reason I just can't bring myself to do that. :(

I think I'm nervous because I can't complete even a small story...I have some ideas but they seem crappy to me, incomplete and going nowhere. For 5 years I haven't done much of anything with one story, yet I still want to make a comic from it. :P I'm also weird about panels. I see how awesomely they can be put together, but it doesn't click with me! I think the panel thing is my biggest issue. I've never been able to figure out how to make them awesome yet...coherent with the story progress!

I need help but I noticed, at the very least, you guys had a "staged idea". I was just wondering if you're going to do that still? If I try it, maybe it might help me step forward in comic creation. I'd really like to try! I'll also look around for any related tutorials. :D

Errrr, sorry about this, because I'm sure it sounds like a bunch of those "help me do better!" type threads in the forums. XD I DO need help but I'll try not to be such a pest! :D :bashful:

[Ilaekae]

Okay, Jazz', let me get a set-up together for the 19th Challenge. I already have something planned for the next Challenge that also won't necessarily require panels if you want to go off on a tangent. It'll be up this Sunday and run one month because of the Holidays...

[Jazz]

Awesome!! Thanks a lot, Ilaekae!! :D This should be fun! ^_^

[Cy-AN]

This message is for all types of artists but especially for those who want to become comic book artists,
- First let me introduce myself My name is "Florea Ciprian" but everyone knew me as "CyART". I'm an artist and a huge fan of comics and concept art.
- For some time I"m teaching and training myself to become a better artist and for this I applied a strategy inspired by comics and ConceptArt.Org CONTEST & ACTIVITIES FORUM.
- No matter what you want to become of designers (industrial designer), concept artist, illustrator, or maybe you want to do storyboard or animations. For me all those begins in a single place Comics. An comic books artist must know how to draw anything from characters to cars to buildings etc. must know how place a scene in a page, how to choose the camera angle and intensity of the light source or sources etc. (at least this is my opinion). And I decided to study and learn to draw comic books/manga
- I'm still a student and I have a lot to learn but enough about me and let's get to what's important part, what is my process and How do I gather inspiration and ideas too create a (mini) Comics/Manga. Honestly is very simple . . . ConceptArt.Org - COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES FORUM (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?74-COMMUNITY-ACTIVITIES (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?74-COMMUNITY-ACTIVITIES ("[url)) creates almost everything for me and for FREE all I have to do is just put them together :):))

Example:

- First of all the story or act, for inspiration the first place is "P.O.W." (Panels of the Week) ([url]http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?145-Panels-of-the-Week) and a brief description of a story is given, simple, but from here the trouble starts. The hard part is to look for ideas for characters, places, etc. and sometimes nothing comes to mind, no problem, this is where my idea comes into place:
- Gathering ideas for characters and creatures: for Characters go to "C.H.O.W." (Character of the Week) (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?84-Character-of-the-Week) page and the description of a character is there, and for the Creature the same thing go on "C.O.W." (Creature of the Week) (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?81-Creature-of-the-Week) you have ready description everything you need. Now for the scene/place/Environment, I think it is very clear go to "E.O.W." (Environment of the Week) (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?82-Environment-of-the-Week) and finally but not least for more ideas and inspiration go to the other pages as "I.D.O.W." (Industrial Design of the Week) (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?85-Industrial-Design-of-the-Week), "I.O.W." (Illustration of the Week) (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?231-Illustration-of-the-Week) and for even more inspiration go on other forums such as "Design Lab" and "1 Hour Design Challenge" ETC . . . usually I try to take the current week topic for all threads :)
- Everything is ready combine them, mix them and the story is done, Now all you have to do is write them and then draw :)
I usually start with the script, once wrote the story in a few words. move on to characters and creatures design, make a page for each character or creatures in several positions and some expressions... move to sketch several locations and places, based on the description of E.O.W.
- In a way you participating in all the events at the same time :) For the time limit or Deadline I use one week for one story (mini comics), 1 day for the characters or creatures, 1 day for the Environment, 1 day for the Industrial design type things, 1 day for the thumbnails and sketches of the pages layout, 1 day for the finishing pages layout and ink or, 1 day for colors and 1 day for finishing touch. END