I’ve been using the IllustStudio demo as much as I can, and I’ve yet to be disappointed by it.
So: what is THE PROJECT?
Apart from the Dead Clowns comic, which has been sitting on the back burner for some time, it’s my next major effort and will probably end up as a regularly updated web comic. I’m not sure I like calling it that, but it’s a comic and it’ll be on the web, so … it fits.
Is it going to be called THE PROJECT?
No. Of course not. I’m not sure what to call it yet, considering what direction the script’s been going in, but once I finish up the first major story arc I’ll hopefully have something to call it. Worse comes to worse, I’ll pick a random word in French. That always works, right?
Now, about this color test:
The vast majority of my work is in black and white, since – and let’s be honest here – black and white is a lot easier than color. Apart from the usual considerations like line quality, composition and detail, there’s only one more factor: value. Things are generally either black or white, crosshatching aside. Color means I have to think about hue, the effects of reflective lighting, the play between different colors and how to make certain ones pop out against others, yadda yadda wargh wargh wargh. It’s a lot to think about and the admittedly kludgy process of digital coloring gets in the way. That’s why it’s so important that whatever tool I’m using is 1) fast, and 2) unobtrusive.
Paint Tool Sai, and now IllustStudio, meet both of those. IllustStudio wins out over Sai because it also has gradients, which I didn’t realize I missed until I was trying to get smooth gradations in Sai using an airbrush that was entirely too small.
The point is I’ve found the sweet spot of speed and utility, and I don’t quite miss gouache as much as I used to. HOWEVER: I don’t think I’m quite ready to work exclusively in color. I barely touched on the subject in my one year of art school, and now all my learning comes through looking at the work of other illustrators, painters and designers. I’ve got a long way to go yet.
