Post Your Best Stickman

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, txomsy said:

That deserves a bonus, adding up to two (2!) score points!

Thank you, sir!  (And your fun drawing made it easy - BTW - Pelican, end of road...)

[A Smug Dill]

Inspired by:

Question aboot caps revolutions

 

 

 

Better late than never to ask.

 

[A Smug Dill]

[LizEF]

9 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Inspired by:

Question aboot caps revolutions

 

 

 

Better late than never to ask.

 

 

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Have they gotten so bad that you're declaring the thread dead before the end of the year?

[A Smug Dill]

13 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Have they gotten so bad that you're declaring the thread dead before the end of the year?

 

I actually haven't read any.  That was just a bad joke of my own, upon seeing that thread title float up to the top of the All Activity feed.

[LizEF]

12 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I actually haven't read any.  That was just a bad joke of my own, upon seeing that thread title float up to the top of the All Activity feed.

  I thought maybe you were like the Christmas advertisers, getting a start before Halloween!

[Frank C]

Thanks for keeping this topic alive. I have been uninspired lately. I had a patient on Friday who had quite a few homemade tattoos; one was a stick figure. I considered asking him if I could photograph it to share with you, but I concluded that it would take too much time to explain FPN. 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

5 hours ago, LizEF said:

  I thought maybe you were like the Christmas advertisers, getting a start before Halloween!

Ha!  Back when I worked in a fabric store, we had the "Christmas" fabric on the shelves by the FOURTH OF JULY!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[nealc]

These are amazing!  I'm trying to figure out how best to easily and quickly make a some comics, so starting in light pencil, then tracing an fp & ink version, then wait for ink to dry and erase the pencil, then scan it in.  but im having trouble with the quality of the final images, sometimes there's a smudge or it's blurry... 

 

 If any of you can let me know how you're making and scanning your drawings?  are you using a scanner or your phone? any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

thanks!

-Neal

[LizEF]

22 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Ha!  Back when I worked in a fabric store, we had the "Christmas" fabric on the shelves by the FOURTH OF JULY!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Well, for fabric, that makes some sense - you need time to actually sew whatever it is you're making.  For fake trees and decorations, it doesn't take even 2 months to get it and set it up, and yet, every year, the Christmas ads come earlier.  <sigh>

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, I was in a local-ish Lowes yesterday, and while they still had Halloween stuff for sale they also had a big display of Christmas trees and such....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Frank C]

3 hours ago, nealc said:

These are amazing!  I'm trying to figure out how best to easily and quickly make a some comics, so starting in light pencil, then tracing an fp & ink version, then wait for ink to dry and erase the pencil, then scan it in.  but im having trouble with the quality of the final images, sometimes there's a smudge or it's blurry... 

 

 If any of you can let me know how you're making and scanning your drawings?  are you using a scanner or your phone? any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

thanks!

-Neal

I have made a few drawings for this topic. I used a Moleskine graph paper notebook. I made a draft with my fountain pen to get the spacing and perspective. Then I made the "final" version on the Moleskine and photographed it with the iphone. I did some modifications using the photos application on my computer. Part of the fun is that these drawings are supposed to be rudimentary. The people on this topic are helpful and encouraging. I encourage you to try something and don't try too hard to make it perfect. 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, nealc said:

 If any of you can let me know how you're making and scanning your drawings?

 

Almost exactly as you described:

1 hour ago, nealc said:

starting in light pencil, then tracing an fp & ink version, then wait for ink to dry and erase the pencil, then scan it in.

 

I use a (naught-point-something from twenty-odd years ago, or recently purchased 2.0mm) mechanical pencil to draw guidelines and preliminary sketches lightly, then either trace or complete the main outlines I want in the final product with ink, before erasing all the pencil marks. After that, I fill in the details with black or coloured ink, wait for all that to dry, then (usually) scan straight from the book on my (CanoScan LiDE 300) flatbed scanner. Only very occasionally will I be so lazy to use my phone camera, when there is not much detail in the drawing; I tend to use my larger, standalone digital (not exactly an SLR) camera if I need to capture colour that defies my scanner's sensors.

 

2 hours ago, nealc said:

but im having trouble with the quality of the final images, sometimes there's a smudge or it's blurry...

 

You need to somewhat carefully select the paper and ink somewhat carefully. Paper with a highly textured surface can make rubbing the light pencil marks off cleanly quite difficult. Some paper that rely on its sizing (i.e. coating) for “fountain pen friendliness” could have that quality compromised by either microscopic abrasion or heat generated by rubbing with an eraser; and some sizing may be quite sensitive to sweat and skin oils from one's hand. (I find it easy enough to write while covering the yet unused part of the page with a sheet of paper towel, but it isn't so easy or pleasurable to draw like that.)

 

The sketchbook I'm using right now is a Paperblanks ‘Midi’ sized hardcover notebook with 85gsm paper. I went crazy buying heavily discounted, beautiful looking Paperblanks notebooks from Amazon some years ago, some of which were intended for giving away to family and friends' children (aged 8–17); and we got all four cover designs in this collection (but, oh, I see four new ones have been added since, with 120gsm paper instead), plus a duplicate in one of them (because it was cheapest at the time) as a tester. Its 85gsm paper performs better for fountain pen use than the 100gsm paper found in Paperblanks Flexis softcover notebooks, which is my preferred type (but I'm disappointed with the paper, which leaves me quite constrained in the choice of pens and inks I ‘can’ use to write in them). The sizing on it seems to stand up to rubbing fairly well, and not readily compromised by parts of my hand touching the page while sketching or erasing.

 

Platinum Carbon Black ink is nigh waterproof, and Noodler's Ink Heart of Darkness as well, so I usually use either of them for outlining my drawings with fountain pen. Drawing over them with other inks later, when filling in details and/or colour, is usually no problem; the black outlines will not spread or bleed laterally, or seep to make the other colours “dirty”. I tend to use what I imagine the average fountain pen hobbyist would deem “very dry”-writing pens, with exceptionally precise nibs, for outlining and detailing.

 

(Note: Avoid rubbing marks made with Platinum Carbon Black ink when they have been rewetted, including by other inks or moisture from a water brush; a very small proportion of black pigment particles can be displaced that way and cause smudging. If you're doing to draw over PCB outlines with a fountain pen, then don't let the nib linger. Also, lines drawn with PCB can be ever-so-slightly broader than some other black inks, so if you want to draw a lot of detail and fine lines, choose your pen/nib accordingly.)

 

3 hours ago, nealc said:

any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

All my attempts at filling outlined objects with colour turned out poorly, so my advice is not to do that; use stippling, hatching and cross-hatching, etc. instead for your comics and cartoons drawn with fountain pens.

 

[txomsy]

Wow! You guys take it serious. I just sketch whatever quickly and take a picture with the cell phone.

 

[A Smug Dill]

23 minutes ago, txomsy said:

Wow! You guys take it serious. I just sketch whatever quickly and take a picture with the cell phone.

 

 

Not everyone has your talent.  Some of us have to work at it to produce something remotely presentable.

[txomsy]

You make too much of my nonexistent abilities. I rather attribute it to may absolute lack of shame for posting rough stick figures.

 

I hope that others will venture so shamelessly as well so I can feel less embarrassed and we can all have more fun.

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, txomsy said:

I rather attribute it to may absolute lack of shame for posting rough stick figures.

 

I hope that others will venture so shamelessly as well so I can feel less embarrassed and we can all have more fun.

Ditto!  No shame!  Post poorly-drawn stick people (and other things) - like I do!

[Frank C]

 

 

[LizEF]

12 minutes ago, Frank C said:

 

 

  There is no try!

 

(Alternate response: I'm not that old!)

[txomsy]