New methods on a rainy afternoon

It has been a while since I have posted a cartoon, primarily because I’m travelling. So I don,t have my scanner or access to the myriad things in my normal software in my corel draw and paint tool kit. It was rainy today so I decided to investigate if I could achieve the typical “alvin look” (hand draw, but computer inked) cartoon with a simpler kit. Turns out I could, and it was easy once I assemble the right tools.

I started as usual with a pencil sketch in my sketch book. Then did some basic inking of the main linework. Now the tricky bit, how to scan it and clean it up. Using a camera gives a grey image with poor line definition and uneven illumination. Not the greatest starting point for cartoon. Then I remember a utility that I had reviewed years ago that lets a cameraphone function like a scanner. That system is still around but a quick look on the android app market revealed CamScanner. It worked like a charm, not only doing the basic scanner stuff, you can adjust for perspective, cropping and stretching the image and it will also write to nice compact PDF files.

Then I just used paint.net, a much under-rated general graphics program, to do the colour fill, and linework tidy up. I then did a bit of magic wand selection to cut and paste my characters onto at photo I had taken. Ok it took a lot longer than the 30 minutes I had set myself in the quick pic days, However developing the new technique was fun on a rainy afternoon.


See the final cartoon below

There are a couple of earlier post about my original technique and then the Big Step Forward.

Alvin at the Noorderzon Festival

Alvin enjoy’s trying out a dutch version of the port-a-loo just for blokes

The Noorderzon festival is current on in Groningen, the Netherlands.

IF:: Asleep

Alvin has learned to feign sleep whenever it is time to mow the lawn.

for IllustrationFriday 's topic asleep.

IF :: Bicycle

Lila finally decides pearls over lycra are ok for a quick trip to the shops (after 10am and before 5)

For Illustration Fridays topic Bicycle

IF :: Cultivated

Lila is an equal opportunity gardener. She heaps love on every new sprout, well at least until she recognises the weeds.

For Illustration Friday's topic Cultivate

IF :: Dusting

Lila discovers she has left her spring cleaning a little late this year.

For Illustration Friday's topic dusty
 

IF :: we seem to have been here below

Alvin senses he's had this idea for a self referencing cartoon before.

For Illustration Friday's Topic deja-vu

IF :: careful what we resolve

Lila decides not to go with her standard New Year's Resolutions this year

For Illustration Friday's topic resolutions

On unwanted notoriety

Alvin hadn't planned to be the first casualty of the decade at the new district hospital.

Happy New Year to all

IF:: a real winter

For Illustration Friday's Topic Winter

IF :: its in the mail

Lila remembers fondly being able to mail her first letter.

For Illustration Friday's topic mail

IF :: engulfed by a Time Warp

Alvin is innocently tricked by a Bizarre Time Warp Phenomenon into drawing last weeks theme and posting it this week

For Illustration Friday's topic Phenomenon

IF :: Positively Prehistoric

Wearing Leggings to a Zumba Class! now that is "Prehistoric".

For Illustration Friday's topic prehistoric, but opps Alvin is tricked by a bizare time warp phenomenon to drawing and posting last weeks theme

Dealing with leaks

Alvin learnt long ago to leave all leaks to the professionals

Julia's first task

RIP - TwitPic Quickies

I'm not sure what changes TwitPics have made, going over to Oauth authentification via twitter, but the net result is I can no longer display TwitPics in this blog. Rather than stress about it I figured it was easier to post the cartoons directly in here and put a link on twitter. Same result just a few more keystrokes.

So look for the quickie cartonns right here.

IF :: Immovavble

Even without the high power management theory Alvin knows better than come between a hungary lady and her cheese.

For illustration Friday 's topic immovable

The count continues

This is a new direction in my cartooning. A Wacom Bamboo Tablet (non scanned) drawing directly into the computer.

A close call

Julia may have underestimated the passion in Western Australia and Queensland, which stands to loose most under the Mining Super Profits Tax and the uneasiness with all the ongoing corruption and naivety in the state labour governments

Behind the "real" Julia