A very Gorey rip-off

I did a presentation on Edward Gorey and was assigned an illustration "inspired" by my research. I elected to do a straight-up Gorey tribute because it seemed like fun, and why not?

I used a crow quill dip pen on Bristol board. It stopped being fun by about the second or third hour and I thoroughly wrecked my drawing hand. I don't know how Edward Gorey did it; he probably took frequent breaks to pet his nice soft cats.

These are some of the images I referenced/stole from:

Longer post with more stuff in it coming a little later, stay tuned!

Rhosymedre

Pronounced Ross-uh-me-dray, if you were wondering. It's Welsh.

This was my first time making a comic that was more than one page. Also I had a week to do it, so...it was hard.

Comic, then process.

I don't quite know how I feel about it. I think I need some time to cool off before I can look at it objectively, since I worked on it pretty much nonstop for a week.

This was mostly traditional. I worked on Bristol board with water-soluble ink, using a flexible quill nib for linework.

Here's an example of what was scanned:

I then brought it into Photoshop to fix up the values and downplay the worst of the streaks and splotches in the ink washes. There are some other minor tweaks, like the sizes of the word bubbles.

I'm not all that good at using ink, but I feel like my skills improved. Also I somehow managed to complete this project without upsetting the ink pot once!! This is a big deal.

Some fun facts about this comic:

1. I added the llamas on the hillside later, using a custom brush. I've never had so much fun with custom brushes. Clearly:

2. I needed a light table, but sadly don't possess one. However, my roommate improvised one, using...a shard of broken glass and a clamp light.

3. This was my home while making this comic:

Notice the printer tray doubling as storage. Pure class.

Charles in Charge

Sorry, this isn't actually about Charles in Charge, but the kid with the flashlight's name is Charles. Also sorry if you now have that song stuck in your head (I do). Also sorry if you have no idea what I'm talking about...

What? Oh right. This is an illustration based on Phillip K. Dick's short sci-fi story "The Father Thing." It's some kids trying to kill a bug in a hole. An evil space bug. Or something. Little punks.

COMIC THING

If I never made anything other than these quick doodle comics I think I'd be okay with that. Comics make people happy.

Tiny fat noodle-armed self. FUN FACT! I actually was wearing pants, but fat noodle legs are fun to draw.

Hello Duchess, where have you been? Since...a month ago? (I am in the process of making a short comic for her!!)

I actually drew lots of Duchesses, but these were the only two decent ones. It's very easy to make the Duchess look...somewhat derpy, to put it delicately.

PUMPKIN-HEEEEEEAD

See you after Spring Break! I'm working on some stuff that I think will turn out to be pretty exciting.

Mystery and some daily comics

Another time, another place
If there was an answer, he'd find it here.

A little (HA) something I whipped up (HA) for Book Illustration based on the above prompt. Okay, truthfully, this took for-freakin-ever.

I keep planning my glorious return to traditional art but then I realize, "Wait, this is hard, and there's no ctrl+Z, and I know it's gonna look bad" and so I end up finishing it on Photoshop and faking traditional media with textures.

Someday, though.

HAVE SOME BIOGRAPHICAL DAILY COMICS

THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT