layers

here's a quick look at the photoshop process i worked out to make king uther a ghost.

i drew it exactly the same way i would have if he weren't a ghost:


then i carefully cut him out of the merlin layer:


and moved him to his own, semi-transparent layer:

(multiply layer, 50% opacity)

on another new layer, i copied over just the outline, reusing this hex value of merlin's robe (0054a6) for a little added continuity:

(normal layer, 50% opacity)

on yet another separate half transparent layer, i filled in all of uther's area with solid white:

(normal layer, 50% opacity)

i did the same thing with a very bright blue (66ffff), but turned the transparency down more:

(normal layer, 25% opacity)

with both layers visible, uther looks translucent and mostly white with a blue tint:


then, turning the color layer back on combines pure ghost with the natural color of a living king:


it's by no means professional, but i think he reads as a ghost so it works for me. it's also super easy to accomplish and has the added bonus of being totally fun to screw with the layers independently.

hays vs. hannukah vs. chanukah

byproducts of our dec. 4th hannukah party:

"cantina hays" by matt!:


"hays vs. menorah" by curtis:


"hays caught fire" by josh:


"hays vs. dredle" by kyle:


"hays vs. rubber man" by curtis and matt!:

hays surfs

view the original

quickie

simple, classic.

post-it:

epic collaboration

part one by hays:


part two by matt!


part three by matt!


view the dead hays archive

retro

last week, i scanned and uploaded 122 dead hays comics. this week, i start coloring them:


original:

hays goes intergalactic

yellowpad:

dead hays lives again

first new dead hays comic in about 3 years.

yellowpad:

happy holidays

yellowpad:

hurt

all due respect and thanks to troy hurtubise. you can also watch the documentary, project grizzly, online.


yellowpad comics #(big number):

presumptive plot comics #1

i don't really know how HALO games work, cause i've never played through much of one, but the suits and vehicles look too awesome to let that get in my way:

"I think kyle is a pretty cool guy. eh loses limbs and doesn’t afraid of anything."

yellowpad (compare panel 10):

totally 80s

yellowpad:

grizzled

guest comic for "these bears are happy" (by greg steele):


yellowpad:

origin

stupid name comics #1, or:

(editor's note: wonder woman's origin involves being sculpted from clay by her mother.)

yellowpad:

drive.

all of these vehicles are based on real GI joe toys (except the punchline).

hey, look! ink on paper:

gamer

raw scan:

i ran out of room to appropriately title this "sneaking mission comics #1."

product placement

been thinking of this since the scene where they defined "inception":


(the punchline is a reference to this element of recent pop culture. if it doesn't make any sense to you, try replacing the text of the second to last bubble with "all the single ladies, all the single ladies.")

behind the scenes: here is the original inked notepad page:

sequential

i haven't actually made a comic since last summer.

UPDATE: colored!

very close to comics

thumbnails for an unofficial prologue i have in mind:

a panel!

this is not an official panel, just a practice run. i made this to test out some things i've never bothered to teach myself about real-life comic book making. most of the comic strips i've made in the past have used tiny little panels with speech bubbles worked right into the inked art, leaving only enough room for a short exclamation. i needed this experiment to figure out how much space i'd need to leave for a little bit of real dialogue.


not bad for my very first digitally lettered panel, i think.

(these characters are-based-on/are hawk and duke.)