Archive for ‘Sketches’

23 results.
Sep10

Brainstorming Sketches

by Dan Long on September 10, 2009 at 03:00

Honestly, most of the characters in my strip were drawn before they were created.  That is, I started with a circle for the head, worked around it and in it, and ended up with a random drawing of a random character- for example, a guy with red goggles and a top hat.  “Hm, who is this strange character,” I ask myself.  The answer ended up being Lord Werriam, who travels the world in a hot-air balloon.  That’s how my stories are created.  Then, sometimes I draw things and don’t know what to do with them.  This guy still doesn’t have a name or a story:

?

Perhaps I’ll think of something soon.

Sep09

Comicking: The First Phase

by Dan Long on September 9, 2009 at 03:00

Hello!  Want to see what the initial stages of one of my comics look like?  A lot less interesting than one might think.  Or just as uninteresting as one might think.  When I get an idea, I jot it down in boxes that might resemble what the final arrangement might look like, as well as illustrate the joke.  Sometimes, I jot it down and forget what my idea was, so I just see four boxes with a tiger shape in mid-flight with a stick figure yelling “Jones!” and I completely forget what my joke was, and the idea goes to the joke-that-might-have-been graveyard.

Here is the initial sketch of A Musical Ambush, a fan favorite here at EQComics.  Click on it to open a new window with the finished strip!

Click to see the finished strip! (new window)

See why I forget ideas?  What if I sketched this after a night of drinking and woke up the next morning, trying to decipher what joke I was attempting?  Cartoonists, don’t try this method at home.  It barely works for me.

Aug12

First Concepts: Trick-or-Treat Kid

by Dan Long on August 12, 2009 at 03:00

See why I need to document the first sketches of characters I use? Below is how they turn out, torn and under a stack of things. Here is the first sketch as I brainstormed the introduction to Fearville, in this strip. As a reader commented, he may have a slight resemblance to Calvin, of Calvin & Hobbes, but I think that was accidental.  Calvin & Hobbes is pretty much the reason I’m a comic strip artist, so I wouldn’t be surprised (nor ashamed) if little tidbits from it slip into my comic for many years to come.

Fearville Kid

Aug03

First Concepts: Nigel the CEO

by Dan Long on August 3, 2009 at 03:01

So, in the interests of documenting the first concept sketches of characters I use, here is the first sketch of Nigel, a corporate CEO who was introduced in this strip.  Strange as it might be, the way I write storylines is by sketching a random character first, and then brainstorming about what I think this character does and how Edmund would interact with him.  Here’s Nigel:

Click to go to the storyline

The other CEO to be posted next…

Jul22

Misconceptions

by Dan Long on July 22, 2009 at 03:00

that, and the staring

A sketch…just a sketch. Because sometimes I sketch things when I’m bored.