Tools Of Tragedy

In one of my recent posts I explained how I generate an idea for the 'tragedy series' and what sort of reference I like to have as I'm drawing. Some of my readers have asked what artistic implements I use so here is an exhaustively detailed breakdown of my day to day drawing arsenal.

Here you can see my drawing tools in their travel case and a few other things that I use on a regular basis for almost all my jobs.
I stole this diagram idea from my studio-mate Dustin Weaver
A. Four of my Staedtler lead holders and a Pentel detail pencil.All of them contain regular H leads. I don't get too fancy when it comes to pencils because I like to be able to get my materials easily.


B. My corrective tools.I use Uniball 'Signo' white gel pens (they seem to be waterproof?) for little white-out lines and some highlights and Papermate 'tuff Stuff' Eraser Sticks for fine line erasing. It is super helpful to be able to get in with the erasing equivalent of a scalpel


C. Microns and the remainder of a Staedtler eraser.I use a size 8 for Tragedy Series lines because I didn't want to get too detail heavy. Most of the time I use four sizes: 01, 03, 05 and 08. It can be very easy to get fussy about line weight and buy a bunch of pens but I don't find a need for much beyond those so I feel comfortable limiting my tools out of pragmatism.


The eraser is good for big areas and broad strokes when tidying up originals. You can see me erasing in the video at the bottom of this post before I do my large black areas and/or toning.

D. One Pentel detail pencil, 2 Pentel pocket brushes and 1 Pentel FRH water brush.
The pencil is just redundancy. The brush pens are really fantastic tools. I use them every day. I refill them with Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Ultradraw Waterproof Ink. You can fill them with the little refill cartriges that Pentel makes, which are great too, but I prefer to use ultradraw because I like the black it makes while being both cheaper and more environmentally conscionable than buying a bunch of little plastic capsules that require international shipping.

Disassembled to show the capsule filled with Ultradraw
The Gray-tone 'Lightsaber' brush pen. It is awesome. Another studio-mate and friend, Ron Chan, gave it to me a long time ago and for a long time it was filled with pure ultradraw. One day I heard fellow Periscoper Jonathan Case say to some interns that 'you need to keep your waterbrushes wet or you'll ruin them.' This prompted me to fill my waterbrush with some water instead of ink because I hadn't been able to get to the art store. Kablamo. I had stumbled upon a fantastic tool that has been in constant use ever since. I only have the one and it is perfectly broken in. If I lost it or didn't have it, Tragedy Series would be in big trouble.


It looks like a lightsaber to me so I nicknamed it as such.
E. 2 Pentel Stylo pens, A Backup Waterbrush and a Utrecht sable hair Paintbrush.I don't use the Stylos for my T.S. but they are a great bridge between a micron and a brush line. It has a flexible tip that can vary the line width. The backup brush is being broken in because I need it to be an alternative to the old gray lightsaber.The sable gets used for little gouache paintings, watercolor and occasional touch-ups

F.G.H. Grey Prismacolor markers and a Prismacolor white color pencil.I used to use these all the time and feel guilty about environmental impact (not to mention how short lived or expensive they are.) Inow use them on rare occasions for sketch cards, con sketches and the occasional catch-all drawing project. I use the white prismacolor color pencil for highlights and corrections on semi rough surfaces like gouache paintings or you soften the edges of greys in more deatil oriented drawings. It is a great little option to have.

I. One of my 3 Beloved 'C-Thru' Rulers.
If you draw and you don't yet have one of these then you need to stop reading this and go buy one right now. It is the most useful item I own. There are countless uses for this thing. You will be really glad you got it. The name on it comes from Bern helmets. I just cut out the 'R' and add them to the front end of each ruler so they don't get accidentally absorbed by any of my studio friends.

J. Masking tape.
I use this stuff all the time to hold drawings and reference materials in place.

K. Yellow Crayola crayon.
I use this to fill in the number of the tragedy I'm doing for the day, on a chart I made, so I don't repeat the numbers or Sadness Reprieve letters.

L. Canson 300 series bristol board.
Studio-mate-mentor-pal Steve Lieber buys this stuff in bulk and the rest of us buy from him. A page costs 50 cents or so and it is well worth it. I used to work on typing paper because I was poor and ridiculous.



Next time will be shorter and filled with drawings. Hooray!

Tragedy Series Breakdown

I thought it might be fun to do a walk through of how I make my posts for the tumblr I started in recently. Hopefully this won't ruin your enjoyment (if you do enjoy them- I shouldn't assume) of the 'tragedy series.' It would be a shame to ruin it for you like when I found out that Rivendell is a bunch of foam and Christmas lights and now I can't stop seeing that.


If you want to preserve your neutrality on their development and execution you should stop reading now!

Number 222 is a good example of how these little notions I get can become a thing I was proud and surprised that I made. First I try to think of a subject I haven't done yet that falls within the parameters I've set for myself (that I will spell out more clearly in a bit.) As I progress it gets a bit harder but generally it can prompt something unexpected, since I'm trying actively to avoid clear repetition.


In this specific instance I had thought of a news story Lindsey and I saw while we were in Lincoln city, for our anniversary, about a safari park here in Oregon where they have lions that like to play tug of war. That image is enough in and of itself! once I have a self evidently odd or funny situation then I try and compound that comedy if possible. In this case I tried to imagine what sort of opponent would be funny. It occurred to me that a group of kids in a scout troop might do but they had to be capable or else it would be too close to something genuinely sad (the first of the tenents I try to uphold; No genuine tragedy) At that point I write it down to be addressed later.


I generally do a little drawing (like the image of #57 seen above) if I can't fully imagine it but in this case I had it pretty firmly in mind. It is at this point that I will do an image search to find good refrence that coincides with what I have sketched. I lucked out and found these two images:


Even though I had the elements of the final image, the phrasing wasn't quite there yet though and I went through several iterations of what would work best. I often ask Steve Lieber for advice; this questioning runs the gamut from 'should I buy a house?' to 'what sort of pen do you use to ink nostrils?' He is also a super funny guy who gets how to translate humor into drawings because he has studied it extensively for his own development so I go to him first for comedy.


I had written out a bit about 'ragamuffins' challenging a hungry lion to tug o' war but that seemed too plain. It struck me that a 'rematch' would be funny but it didn't quite fit yet. Steve said "Rematch is funnier if there is evidence of the previous encounter...make some of them amputees." I was hesitant to go there but the more I thought of it the more I realized that he was right about the necessity for notes from the first lion vs. kid showdown. I put a few shoes and scraps around the lion and Steve added the cherry on top the sundae by suggesting that I wrap the ragamuffins in bandages and give a few of them ragged clothes. He was so right! Once I did it the whole thing came together and I got this:


There you go. Thanks for sticking with me through that description. Also much gratitude to all of you out there who support my tumblr and read this blog. I am a lucky guy.

Behind The Scenes Of TFTWP

I thought I'd share some aspects of how I put a recent page together. You can see the script here below. I start by printing out what Nathan sends me (which is his distillation of ideas that we've talked out or things he has a firm grasp on that will move the story forward.) I highlight the relevant parts of the script so that I can keep track of what I'm supposed to keep in mind for dialogue and description.


In this case I had some elaborate descriptions to work off of and some other panel descriptions that leave a lot of room for interpretation. You can compare the script with the thumbnail layout I did and then the finished page (here or seen below) that Nathan is working on (lettering as) I type this. It is also interesting to see how he will sometimes alter the interchanges based on things I've drawn or new ideas he has.


I've been trying to finish my pages really fast because I have a serious work load to catch up on but I don't want to neglect our beloved web strip. I've taken to using methods that I've seen Terry Dodson and Mike Mignola employ. One of those tools is the use of an establishing shot followed by several images that either only hint at or neglect the background when it is not necessary for telling the story. I rely on the mind of the reader to fill in the parameters of the location once I've given them the prompt.


This is a sketch of some possible banners for the revamped website. Nathan and I have been trying to do this for a while and with the approach of the Emerald City Comics Convention (where we'll both be in attendance) we have a concrete deadline for the launch. The only problem is that I have, literally, a dozen other White Pony related art projects to finish in the same time frame. This would all be in addition to the ongoing story (which is getting better and better; you guys just wait and see!)

I'm also drawing an 80 pg. Star Wars GN for Darkhorse (as I've mentioned before) so February is going to be one busy little month. Wish me luck friends!

Return Of The Thumbnails

I'm working on a Star Wars GN for Darkhorse and since my thumbnails don't reveal any dialogue or give any plot points away I'll post a couple here so you can see my process. I usually take a few minutes to look over the script, write down any specific reference I need and then sketch out my initial impression on printer paper.



The hardest part of comics is the problem solving; choosing the best framing, angles and panel size to clearly evoke the atmosphere that the writer intends. Storytelling isn't about how well you draw. It is about how you think.

My favorite comics artists consistently try to serve the script more than the vague notion of what the fans might want. My hopeful assumption is that fans respect a well crafted script and an artist who can bring that script to life in such a way that never leaves them feeling overly distracted by the flourish of the drawing. I am continually refining my approach to have a balance between allegiance to story and quietly compelling image-craft.

Plateaus and Launchpads.

I suppose there is a point in every creative endeavor where you look back, at all the work you've done, and you just want to quit and start from scratch because you've learned some new precept or series of clarifying ideas that suddenly color everything a grayer shade. Add watching the final two seasons of "The Wire" (the most brilliantly written show I've ever seen) to the mix and you have a recipe for a good portion of self doubt.


I had such a revelation/doubtfest recently and I can attribute the information influx to a couple of unrelated but mutually relevant (although disparate) sources:

The flawed (any scene featuring the weird misogynistic serial killer subplot) but brilliant (any of the clever academic analyzing) reviews of the catastrophically terrible 'Star Wars' Prequels:

The Phantom Menace

Attack Of the Clones

Revenge Of The Sith

Steve Lieber showed me this memo written by David Mamet to his staff of writers on "The Unit" about the difference between drama and information:

Mamet Makes It Clear

The good news is that after a bit of time away from the initial mind expansion and a few conversations with Nathan about the current state and future of our webcomic we now have an informed way forward. Many of my colleagues at Periscope Studio want me to scrap the project but I've always felt that it was better to admit to a lack of clear communication and see if you can redeem a situation rather than just walk away. It can be a good thing to recognize flaws in your own work/approach and turn that stagnant stage into a springboard.


I am somewhat intimidated but genuinely excited by the challenge ahead. Nathan and I both want to be the best storytellers we can be; that is an ongoing process with ups downs and uneasy middles. Stick with us and we'll do our best to reward that investment.