Blue Pencils

[secondlina]

Reh. Yeah, that solution seems really obvious now. The thing is, I usually use traditional mediums (read : watercolors and inks), so I kinda usually color by hand in between the clean pencil lines and the inking step. So I never really used blue pencil, only normal pencil, because you don't really want blue lines behind your watercolors. However, this would be a great time-saving method for digital art, such as the Namesake comic pages.

I guess it takes someone who draws and models on a computer to point it out.

No, I never learned animation or comic-drawing, so I think this is an honest mistake. And a great discovery! Good god does this ever make things faster! The finished pages look less pretty on paper (plenty of blue and ink) but since they are designed for the computer...

On another subject, I discovered Florence and the Machines 's cd "Lungs" which as really interesting music! The singer is intense and puts a lot of energy in the song. You can really feel the beat and the emotion. My favorite songs are "Cosmic Love", "Howl" and "Drumming song". Most of her songs start off slow and get really dynamic at the end. I really like that! Look her up, you guys!

-Isa

p.s. I tagged everything on the journal! I did! I've only got half a year to tag left. I tagged about 300 posts up to now. And I plan to finish. So enjoy the tags :D

Comments

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Link gets smart points. I will admit, I sometimes switch between using a regular pencil or a coloured pencil. No real reason why, but I like the feel and look of the coloured pencil for sketching. XP

Hmm...I may have to look up this music now.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I still want to use regular pencil for tradiational medium comic pages and Lj sketches. But for Namesake I think this blue thing will come in handy!

[cxco.livejournal.com]

That's what animators use. It's a huge life-saver. I also think it's easier to sketch with a blue pencil than with a normal one. *shrugs*

omg gurl...you've got so many tags

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I know! there's so many! I was trying to make more general tags, but then I still had about 100 posts under each tag, so I made sub-categories... and it became THIS.

I never got any animation or comic training (I was trained in visual arts, so I know how to paint and stuff) so I never used blue pencils before now! I have to admit, it's a great idea! I really see the appeal!

Heeeyyyyy. Japan soon right? :D Japan!

[cxco.livejournal.com]

Yeeees Japan is 3 days away ;_;

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

OMG! OMG! OMG!

I hope you plan to visit the Ghibli museum!

How long are you leaving again? Will you post trip updates on your LJ?

[cxco.livejournal.com]

I'm probably only gonna post stuff once I get back. And I'm leaving for 2 months and a half.

I HAVE TO GO TO THE GHIBLI MUSEUM. HAVE TO.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Guess i'll talk to you in about 3 months then! We you get back we have to get together to draw!

HAVE THE MOST AWESOME TRIP IN THE WORLD!

[putri-nih.livejournal.com]

I cheat with my artwork LOLOL XD. I draw it in red/blue with inked/pencilled black on top and you just go to the R,G,B Channel window in photoshop and TAKE OFF THE RED OR BLUE.

MUHAHHAMUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Or ou can draw the underdrawing VERY, VERY, VERY thinly and generally it doesn't scan.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

See, see, that's what I want to do for my pages! I wanna cheat too!

All the comics on the lj are done directly in pencil and are pretty much the sketch step. Hence the crappy-ness of some XD

This is going to be such a useful little trick. I LOVE IT SO

[darksyx.livejournal.com]

Congrats on learning new techniques, a lot of modern comic artist who colour pages via PC use the blue pencils, it really seems to buy time.

I also discovered Florence and the Machines recently, with the "Drumming Song", it's a type of music I should call epic in a way XD.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

(EEEEE TOTORO!)

Yeah, blue pencil seems to be a commonly used time-saver. I just never used it myself due to my usual mediums. I'm glad I was told!

Drumming song is full of EPIC, especially towards the end! Someone should make more fan videos with these songs!

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

NOW I get it!! ^_^

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

XD

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Now there's an idea! I ought to invest in those pencils animators use...

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Dude. I tried it out yesterday.... it's....it's so good. And easy! I'm amazed I didn't try this before. I recommend it!

[lunaoh.livejournal.com]

OOOOOH.

...Umm, how do you remove the blue on the computer then? This really sounds like worth a shot.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Add a "Fix black and white" adjustment layers, then play with the cyan and blue.

It seriously takes TWO. SECONDS.

Then do a "copy merged" and paste it in another document. And voilà!

World's greatest tip.

[lunaoh.livejournal.com]

...Now I know what it must feel like when you accidentally stumble into the lair of some massive otherworldly monster. *fails at editing. XD;*

More seriously, thanks a lot! I'm sure I'll figure it out. ^^

[putri-nih.livejournal.com]

...I dunno, to me it sounds like you stumbled upon a treasure cave.

[lunaoh.livejournal.com]

That's quite possible too. XD

[engelen.livejournal.com]

I should try this...

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I recommend it!

[kitesareevil.livejournal.com]

GO LINK! *give cookie* And also *cookie to Isa* It's for the pain you've been suffering. ^^;

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

...cooooookies! *eats* *doesn't share*

[brendala.livejournal.com]

I'm also used to the "sketch, ink, erase pencil lines" method. And I've been meaning to invest in some nice blue pencils for a while. Not just because erasing the pencil lines is messy and time consuming; but also because I've accidentally ripped one or two nice drawings while doing it (did that ever happen to you?).

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

YES. YES IT DID. I HATE THAT!!!!!!

Stupid fragile paper.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

If I could just find some blue lead refills for my mechanical pencil I'd be all set. I wonder if anyone makes that...

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Pentel does!

I love pentel products

(sorry, wrong link before)

https://www.pentelstore.com/index.php?ctgy=31

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Thanks!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

So you used the time you saved on drawing to tag instead? :->

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Kinda tagged on my lunch breaks actually XD

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Well, I was reading that on my lunch break, so there you go!

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

I've never used a blue pencil, do they draw differently?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Not really. They pretty draw exactly like a regular pencil, but depending on the brand the lead can be softer (mine or like that, I had to get used to it.) for the rest it works great.

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

Besides the digital work, do you find them useful?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

They are pretty much just for the digital work for me. Any watercolors I do need a black lead base so that you don't see it under the ink and color.

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

I don't have much experience with paints either :/ I need to branch out :P

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

You can do that in PhotoshoP? I AM SUCH A NOOB. Could that also work with blue notebook paper lines? >_>;;

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yep. You basically remove the color and only keep the black.

I know, i,m still all O_O about it!

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

OOOOH! How? Is there a tutorial or something?

This rocks my world, for srs. *A*

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

There's not really a tutorial - here is how I do it!

Go to the "layer" menu, add an adjustment layer "Black and white". This should automatically open the color grid. Play with the "cyan" and "blue" dials until all the color is gone. Close the color grid. Select all. Under edit, select "copy merged". Paste to another file. Click "save as" and save it as a jpg or keep it as a psd but change the file type from monocrome to RGB

[(Anonymous)]

Eeee! That's so good to know! I made a bunch of character reference sheets on graph paper for some reason and I wanted to fix them up so I can print them out and color them (I fail at coloring in PS--I like to do traditional coloring with Prismas, but the problem is that my inking skills suck and I usually ruin drawings that way, so's I make a copy and color that) and I haven't been able to do that. ^^;

tl;dr Thank you so much, I'm gonna try it when I get back from college to my computer with PS. ♥

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

No problem! I'm just happy heaping my fellow artists!

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks again! That's so nice of you! :3

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

...aaaand the above comment is me. Sorry about that. ^^;