Breaking the inertia. Welcome!

A day at the office where I work part time was cancelled at short notice so had time to myself. I am trying to finish off the last few pages to the latest Chuffin’ Billy but it is taking forever to finish. I don’t get paid for drawing the comic strip so it is more of a ‘passionless’ project at the moment.

Page 5 Panel 4 The River Folk disembark.

I know there are a few people that enjoy the Chuffin’ Billy comic strip but no where near enough to make it financially viable. I spent 15 years as a freelance illustrator earning a living from drawing and designing. Disillusion set in the more corporate work I did. Being asked to continually revise content for a perceived audience that didn’t really care was the end for my drawing career. Don’t get me wrong, I love editing and believe constraint can be creative. Why employ creative people if you whittle away everything creative. So I stopped, downsized, had a little mental breakdown and eventually got a part time job to support myself.

Panel 4 detail. White out background was too busy.

When I do get time to draw I really feel and appreciate it. I think it’s my ageing, depressive mental state that stops me a lot of the time. ‘Living in the moment’ might seem like the ideal but it means I have no plans, other than taking care of the cat and making food in the evening. So breaking the inertia, ignoring the internet and mobile phone and putting some ink down was a pleasure.

Panel 4 detail shady background figures.

Pens are great. For years, I lived by the dip pen thinking it the cleverest drawing instrument going. Then came the Pilot Parallel Pen, a mark making marvel that almost drew things by itself, then the ‘future of art’ defining computer graphics tablet. The drawing stops at points along my time line. Once reliable tools would be picked up with frustration. I would blame atmospherics, paper composition, ink density for my struggles. It’s with a certain trepidation that I now find myself in the era of the Brush Pen. As my allotted time on earth runs out, I can’t draw with anything else at this point.

Panel 4 detail shady background gulls.

I refill my Pental Colour Brush Pens with Platinum Carbon ink. It’s a good ink, not as saturated and smooth as the ink that ships with the Pental original cartridges but it is more economical to refill than constantly throw away good brush pens with empty cartridges. I have got quiet good at judging how much Ink I can inject into the pen barrel. The early days were very messy with a wasteful amount sacrificed to the kitchen roll gods. Perseverance is important. I feel like it’s been a tear of trial and error but the time spent drawing with the brush pen is now paying off. The one thing I like is although its a chunky pen it is also capable of extra fine lines. Flicking the wrist Putting energy into the brush strokes. It means I can only do so much rendering before there is no more white paper to cover. With the dip pen in particular my wrists and fingers would ache from cross-hatching.

 

Page 5 Panel 3 River Folk characters.

Panel 3 detail. Crosshatching! But only in small amounts.

Panel 3 alternative warehouse background.

Panel 3 River Folk characters face redraws.