You all know that this blog has been pretty quiet for quite some time. I wanted to hopefully pay that off by letting you know that my silence is broken with the launch of my comic, Xenon! After almost 5 years of mulling and revisions, the webcomic is now alive. Head over to www.xenoncomic.com to check it out and please let me know what you think. It updates every Friday! This will be the last post on the Art of Devin. Thanks for coming along with me on the journey and I hope you will continue with me at the new blog and webcomic!

Regards,

Devin

P.S. From now on, you can catch my blog posts there. Everything from this blog has been imported over there!

Sorry for the radio silence as of late. I promised an update on the contest last week and I apologize that I did not deliver on that. It appears that Xenon didn’t make the top 100, unfortunately, but it was a great opportunity and got the character a lot of exposure. Thank you to everyone who voted!

In other news, I got a new job as a senior web designer for a corporation headquartered here in Greenville, and this is my second week on the job. So far so good, it’s just so quiet here! Other than that, the position offers a lot of creative license and I am getting to contribute input to marketing efforts and present ideas a lot, so I am definitely happy about that!

With the comic: Right now I am working with the Brotherhood of Comic Artists leader to get our site ready for launch. You’ll be hearing news of an official launch date soon, hopefully. In the meantime I will be getting Xenon and the BOCA website ready for your viewing pleasure. Have a great week folks!

A quick update on the contest: Xenon just might have finished in the top 100 and it’s thanks to awesome, supportive people like you! Thanks to everyone who voted. I will update you all on the results when they hit on March 3rd!

So April is right around the corner, and that means that the release of the comic is hanging out on that same corner, staying out of trouble of course. I digress. The Brotherhood of Comic Artists is committed to releasing our comics in April at www.brotherhoodofcomicartists.com and that means it is time to do some serious marketing. So check out the following spots:

www.artofdevin.com/xenon – Landing page for info and updates about the comic book. Potential future home of this blog.
www.brotherhoodofcomicartists.com – Future home of the Xenon comic book as well as several other new properties being released in April. Bookmark it!

Be sure to click the links at the landing page to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Things have been quiet on the blog, but not quiet behind the scenes for sure. I spent a lot of time working on the story for this comic, and worked myself into a frustrated rut. I was so worried about making the literary work of the century that I forgot to have fun, and so I closed my laptop one night in frustration and decided I was done. Eventually, in conversation with the guys at work, I came up with an idea for another fun comic based on the people from my job, and it just all seemed to fall into place. WAY easier than the superhero comic. So I decided to move forward on that.

It seemed like that was the right thing to do, because while I was working on the new idea, I started having some great ideas for the superhero comic. Maybe all I need was a break? And then it happens: The Stan Lee Foundation and Todd McFarlane do an international contest to design a superhero. Once I saw that I had no choice but to pull my gun slinging superhero off of the shelf, give him a name and enter the ring. I call him Xenon.

Now I need your help! I am trying to win this thing, one way or another. Please go check out my submission and vote for me if you like the work. I need all of the help I can get to make it to the number 1 spot. Thank you for your support and enjoy an updated version of the cover art I submitted below!

One of the greatest things about the laptop is the power it has under the hood. It has a Pentium Dual-core 2.3ghz processor in it, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB HDD. It is officially the most powerful machine in the house. That immediately makes me say “I can work on my artwork on this thing!” However, working on any of the artwork for the comic on this machine means that I had to figure out a free way to do so, as my Creative Suite license is for Mac OS, not Windows.

Enter the Gimp. The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free alternative to Photoshop. Now, factory GIMP going toe to toe with Photoshop, it definitely isn’t as good. However, there are some mods out there that cater specifically to the needs of illustrators and digital painters. One mod, called “Gimp for Painters”, which was created by a Japanese user, adds what is called the Mixbrush to the toolset. This allows you to mix colors on the canvas, something that Photoshop CS4 cannot do.

Next is Gimp Paint Studio (GPS). This addon by Ramón Miranda adds a lot of custom brushes and presets to Gimp that makes it easier to jump in and start sketching and painting. One thing I have noticed is that Gimp seems to be more lightweight, which makes it somewhat faster. Also, working at tabloid size (11×17) at 300dpi seems to run a LOT smoother than it does in Photoshop. Not only does it run more smoothly, but it also renders better zoomed out. You’ll notice than in Photoshop, you will tend to get a lot of aliasing when you zoom out to arbitrary percentages. Gimp does not do this. At least not Gimp for Painters.

I haven’t done any full-on digital paintings just yet, but I have done a couple of sketches. So far I am impressed with this laptop and surprisingly impressed with Gimp. I might just have a new illustration environment! Sketches are below.

All digital sketch done in GIMP for Painters with a 2H pencil brush

All digital sketch done in GIMP for Painters with a standard round brush

Gimp for Painters

Gimp Paint Studio (Download version 1.4 on the right side of the page)

This week, I’d like you to share your feedback on another character concept sketch. I am continuously trying to refine the costume design to some unknown point of satisfaction. There is somewhere I am trying to get the design to that I just have not reached, yet. That goes for the writing, as well. However, I must say that I LOVE the process. It has taught me that I was born to write and create stories.

With that, I’d like you to have a look at this sketch and let me know what you think. Either that or just enjoy it.

And before I forget: Have a Merry Christmas

Two Saturdays ago I got to participate in Art SLAM!, an event that my business mentor, Tony Snipes of Art Lessons From God dreamed up and was able to make happen here in Greenville, SC. It was a great opportunity to break me of my fear of messing up while painting, because you don’t have time to worry about it there. You have 2 hours to do a painting based on a theme they give you right on the spot.

This is really good for a guy like me, because I usually slave over minute details and freak out because I can’t control every movement of the paint. But something broke that Saturday. Time to take that and run with it. Check out the pics after the break!

Work in Progress

Final Piece!

Final Painting (Detail)

For more shots of the action, check out Tony’s photo gallery and video!

I hope you’re having a good weekend. This week was a busy week, and I owe you some artwork. Also, during my blog silence, there has been some further progress on the comic that may bring about some changes. Many of you may know that I intended to call it “The Crusader”. This summer, concern of the name was brought up was in conversation with some friends of mine. At that time said that I might have to have a different name for the comic book outside of the US. The conversation always rang in my head and the concern has never left.

Well, just over a week ago while talking with a fellow comic artist, the same concern was brought back to light. He said that while talking with some one else, my comic idea came up and the person asked if I was really attached to that name. Why? Well, because the term “Crusade” has been imbued with meaning, and not a positive one. In some short research, I have learned that a Crusader was one who took part in the crusades.

You probably learned a little about the Crusades in school. I’ve known of them and disapproved for quite some time, but never really thought they had as much of an impact on people as they really do. After the second conversation, I decided it was time to change the name and gain a better understanding of why I needed to change it.

During my research I found out that there were Crusades launched against the Jews and against many other nations. While I am a Christian myself and would love for everybody to know Jesus, I do not believe that killing is the way to bring anybody to Him . With that, I am working on ideas for a new name for the book. This time I hope to be more careful about my selection!

Also, I am going to be making changes to the character’s costume, removing the cross from the armor and replacing it with a new symbol that is very important to the story itself. I actually needed to do so a long time ago, but didn’t have any ideas until very recently. Without further adieu, check out the latest developments of the main character.

Latest Character Design Developments

As promised, I have another piece for you to check out. This was done some time ago, but I am interested in knowing what you think of the design. I present to you the ASA: Advanced Stealth Automaton (or just Ninjabot, whichever you prefer).

Art Specs:
Pencil on Sketch Paper, then Ink on Marker Paper
Approx. 7in. x 7in.

ASA: Advanced Stealth Automaton