Word of the Absurd

• There's no inks on this picture. I discovered, through simple trial and error, how to manipulate my pencils in PhotoShop (program of the gods) so they look nice and dark. While I occassionally still do ink my work, I've found I save bunches and bunches of time taking the pencils straight into PS. Yeah, I do miss the line weight variances, but I'm truly happy with the overall look. I honestly never realized how tight my pencils were until someone pointed it out to me.
• At this point, I had PS for about 6 months. I didn't even know how to get that glow around a figure (thanks, howy, wherever you are). The background was generated through another program, which I still need to download (thanks, Scott, wherever you are). I have a couple different starry backgrounds I use just for pin-ups, but I really do need to make a few more.
• He's supposed to be holding a flagpole. When this was done, I had yet to design his logo, a problem which has been fixed and you'll see on his final version. I like the textures, another bit of experimenting. Let me tell you, don't be afraid to screw around with your settings or filters in PS; the results can be utterly spectacular, and so long as you save before you make changes, there's truly nothing to worry about.
• Like I said, I only had the program for a few months when this was done, and my coloring was left fairly simple because of that. I've learned a lot since then, and can now achieve some fairly dramatic effects. The trick is to know when to pull back to suit your style; I'm cartoony, and getting colors that are too realistic would only serve to detract from the character.
• You'll note that his costume is a complete and utter throwback to Buck Rogers. I purposefully left out a bulky suit, preferring to keep him in a simpler outfit. This should prove an interesting dichotomy when he meets up with some more modern spacefarers.

Okay, that puts us to about 7 months ago. The next installment catches us up to 5 months later.

Now to get working on the story.

Doc "To Infinity" Absurd