Independent Propaganda » Chris Tinkler’s TOMORROW’S STUDIOS TODAY

Chris Tinkler’s TOMORROW’S STUDIOS TODAY

TOMORROW’S STUDIOS TODAY

Chris Tinkler, Independent Propaganda – aceofspadescomics@gmail.com

http://www.independentpropaganda.com http://aceofspadescomics.blogspot.com

Column #2

Jeff Clemens

Creator of “Obsession”

http://www.jeffclemens.com

Tomorrow’s Studios Today is a semi-regular feature exclusively for Independent Propaganda. The intent of this column is to both educate and entertain, hopefully giving other SP/SP (Small-Press/Self-Publishers) ideas on how to set-up their own studios (without breaking the bank, or buying/renting space). Also, the creators featured in this column will let us into their creative process, in as far as the materials they use… passing on any tips they can.

Hello Everybody! I would like to quickly thank Chris Tinkler for this killer site he has and I’m really excited about the section “Tomorrow’s Studios Today”. It will be fun years from now when we look back on some of these posts. I’m guessing we’ll all get the inside look at artists that will eventually go on to do some great things.

As for me I would hopefully like to pass on any kind of helpful knowledge I can to my fellow aspiring artists. I know as a new artist to the industry I’m struggling to figure a lot of things out the hard way. So I’ll quickly run you through a tour of my studio and I’ll point out a few of the most common tools I use. I’ve also added in the first 4 pages of my first Graphic Novel I just finished in March of ‘08 to show you some of the work I’ve been doing.

Without further ado…

Here we have a picture entering my studio. On the right you can see my “Ecorche”. The Ecorche is a statue that is an “anatomical representation of all or part of the body with the skin removed so as to display the musculature”. Great for learning the bone and muscle structure. This particular one I found at the New York Comic Con in 2007. They’re a bit expensive but probably the best one’s on the market. If you’d like further info you can find them at www.freedom-of-teach.com.

As we enter my studio you can see my office desk and the boxes of comics crammed underneath. The computer I’m using at the moment is an iMac and it works just fine for everything I need right now. The only big program I’ve been using recently is Adobe Photoshop. I learned how to use this program during my two years at the

Kubert School, but it’s a simple enough program where you can teach yourself. I recommend those yellow Dummies books to learn. As you can see, off to the right on my desk I have Dreamweaver for Dummies ready to go. I’m getting ready to sit down and learn Adobe Dreamweaver which is Adobe’s website building program. I’ve been using Yahoo Sitebuilder but I’m ready to move on to a more versatile program. And if you plan to use Photoshop for coloring comics the second best stop is DC Comic’s Guide to Coloring. I still use it because if I don’t color for a while I’ll need this book to jog my memory. This book also covers lettering as well. The scanner on the left of the picture is the A3 USB ScanExpress made by Mustek. It’s the most reasonably priced scanner on the market at $150. It’s an 11” X 17” scanner and it only works with PC’s…not Mac’s. So that’s the only catch. I’m using Mac OSX Leopard, so I was able to partition my hard drive so that I could also run windows on my Mac…allowing me to use my scanner. It’s a huge pain to get working but once it’s up and running the scanner is amazingly great. If anybody reading this purchases this scanner and needs help please feel free to contact me.

And of course, there’s a Mike Mignola Batman statue overlooking my studio.

In this next picture we see my drawing table. Right now I’m using the

Alvin drawing table where the legs can fold up. Don’t buy this one! It’s designed so that you can fold it up and store it under your bed, but because of this it is a bit wobbly. There are plenty of other good tables out there for around the same price range. On my desk I have a small wooden drafting board. I think it’s made of Balsa. My father purchased it back in the 70’s and I’m not even sure if you can find these any more. I usually do my pencils on this because sometimes I’ll lean back in my chair and draw. But when it comes to inking I use the entire drawing table. On the top left of the table you can see the Koh I Noor Rapidograph mechanical pens I use for inking straight lines. I use a lamp that has both a Halogen circular bulb and a flood bulb in the center. You can find these lamps for about $70. I’d recommend both the Halogen and flood bulb inside the lamp. You get a better light this way. I’m actually going to get another cheap lamp to put on the other side of the desk to minimize shadows that my hands cast on the paper. And if you look up to the left there’s my pile of stuff and the name plate for the New York Con this April. I’ll be in the Small Press Section under the company name Heavy Proton. Heavy Proton is owned by William Rees who I worked with on my latest project “Obsession”. Good guy. He also wrote Scars and Bars with artist Jason Moser. And in case anybody is wondering, Spawn #44 is hanging above my desk because it has a piece of fan art I did back in 95’. I have it hanging because it reminds me of how much fun it was to see something in print. And the Daredevil #181 was a gift from a friend of mine and he put a note in it that says, “Kick some butt in your new career!” So it’s a bit of inspiration…not to mention it’s some awesome Frank Miller work.

And lastly here’s just a quick photo of some of the tools I use the majority of the time. The pencils I’ve settled on are the Pentel 120 A3DX. (Like any artist I’m in search of the magical pencil so I keep changing). I have a .3, .5, .7, and a .9mm size with 2B lead in all of them. I use the .3mm for really technical drawings such as vehicles, guns, and buildings. The .5 and .7 are usually used for the final pencils, and the .9mm is what I use to rough out my page. I’ll use a Smooth Bristol piece of paper for my drawings. The smooth

Bristol works well because it allows me to draw and erase multiple times. If I use the Vellum Bristol it smudges a bit more if I do a lot of erasing and re-drawing. When I pencil I like to draw as much of the page as possible with the .9mm and then I roll the kneaded eraser over it to pick up a lot of the excess lead. Then I’ll take the dry erase pad, (the thing that looks like a sock), and wipe it across the paper to get rid of a lot of the smudging. What I’m left with is a nice light penciled “Map” for me to follow up with tighter pencils. I call it a Map but I guess it could also be considered an “under-drawing”. For inking I use Higgins Black Magic India Ink and it flows well onto the page. Speedball is a thicker ink and I use it to fill large black areas, but I’ve found it is a bit too thick for my use. For whiteout I’ve found the white acrylic works best. It goes onto the page well and is easy to use. The electric eraser that I use is made by Sakura. I think it’s by far the most reliable. The brushes I use are the Raphael sizes 2 and 3. And lastly there’s the Ames Lettering guide on the bottom right of the photo. I’ve been doing my own hand lettering lately so the

Ames guide is what I’ve been using to lay down the lines for the words. I like how hand-lettering looks on the finished page. I’ve been using a .6mm and .7mm Koh I Noor Rapidograph for the lettering.

So that’s the quick tour of my studio. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at jeff@jeffclemens.com. You can also stay in touch with me and my latest projects through my website at www.jeffclemens.com. For those of you going to the New York Con April 18-20 stop on by and say hello. Take care.

Below I’ve included the first four pages of my Graphic Novel “Obsession”.

Questions or comments? Post them at IndependentPropaganda.com or send to aceofspadescomics@gmail.com

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