My Comic Book - Day 3 - Page 19 (the non-photo blues)

Okay, so I knew this day wouldn't be as comparably productive as days 1 and 2, but I got some good things done today. On my list for the day were: have lunch with the gang from Ghostbot, make a comic book run, go downtown to buy some non-photo blue pencils and of course buy a video game to make me even more non-productive!

But amidst all this malarky, I still did get layouts done for page 19 of my book! This page I've scanned in has two variations of layouts for page 19 (one on the top left and one on the top right). The page layout on the right is what I'm most likely going to end up doing, but there were some quirks about both layouts initially that I needed resolved.

So I enlisted the aid of Roque Ballesteros (he of Ghostbot fame) to be another eye to have a look at this page. He suggested to cut out a panel and add one in, to clarify some storytelling issues (the panel cut out is panel 2 on the left page layout and the new added panel, is panel 4 on the right page layout). Both very good suggestions, and he also suggested I go with panel 5's figure on the right page layout instead of the one on the left. A big thanks to the Rock man for giving me some good feedback! With this resolved, I'm a whole lot more confident about tackling this page tomorrow.

Now onto the REAL meat of this blog!

Yesterday I was out of non-photo blue pencils so I went to Pearl's in downtown to get my favorite col-erase pencils. Just my luck, they didn't have any. So I picked up Steadler and Prismacolor brand non-photo blue pencils to give them a try. I stopped by Kinko's on the way home to give these pencils a little 'taste test'. But first, if you don't know how I use these pencils here's a little quick summary. I do layouts onto bristol paper purely with non-photo blue pencil. Once I have the layout I want, I go over them with a normal pencil; choosing the right line, adding line weight and generally bringing it to finish. I go over to Kinko's, photocopy the art, and voila! The non-photo blue pencil marks go away like a bad dream, and I'm left with a clean, stark dark line. Okay? So now back to the pencil test, here's what I got:

Steadler non-photo blue

Prismacolor non-photo blue


Nothing beats the ol' col erase because that stuff really doesn't show up when I photo copy it, but the runner up is Prismacolor. But what the heck is up with the Steadler brand?? That stuff doesn't even drop out! False advertising I say! So if you ever need to go for non-photo blue pencils and Sanford's col erase is nowhere to be found? Go for the hard lead prismacolor ones. The softer prismas don't drop out too well and actually end up worse than the steadler brand.

And that's today's boring consumer lesson! Until tomorrow, good night and good luck!

P.S. Comic books weren't shipped today because of Labor day so another trip to the store tommorow is needed!