Thursday, March 23, 2006

Step Away From The Pencil

For anybody remotely familiar to comic books, should now be fully aware that most of the innovative stuff are not coming from DC or Marvel anymore. So where can it be found? And What's the price for innovation? Well the answer is simple, you can easily find them across the web, and most of them are absolutely free!

Well actually this is not news to anybody who has been living on the internet for the past couple of years. What I mean about "living", is for people who don't bother to go to "real" shops anymore (or rarely). People who download music, instead of going to record stores, download porn... I mean movies, instead of going to the theater, gets advice from an online shrink, etc. Well those people have been aware of webcomics for the longest time. Funny thing is, very few really know its history (short as it may), and how this revolution is changing sequential art as we know it.

I've been a comic nut for years. I made a few of them back in gradeschool, and even up to early college years. I still buy some, and totally appretiate this unique artform. It feels like, I've been studying it all these years, despite my hiatus from it all. Well webcomics has reinvegorated my interest, and for a while I really wanted to get something done. But alas, I found out I had no art supplies anymore. Then again, if you were going to go digital, why not go all the way? All the tools are in my harddrive. Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, plus hardware such as a wacom tablet, everything was set! Wasn't it?

Well apparently, I had to unlearn a few things, and learn new stuff. The web is rich with tutorials as well, but if you're still one of the old fashioned who prefers a book than a browser, well you should go buy Webcomics Tools and Techniques for Digital Cartooning. I found it pretty useful, and informative. Lots of Walkthroughs and Work Flows, plus the ins and outs of digital comics. Highly recommended read for comic nuts like me!

When everything has gone digital, can someone sample my soul, and post it on the web?