SURFACENORMAL

My New Sketchbook

bryank — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:21:25 +0000

UPDATE: I made a 16×9 storyboard template for tablets. It’s layered, and works great on SBP and PS Touch.

You can download it for free HERE.

With all the fanfare over tablets this year, there hasn’t been a single one that could make me stop buying sketchbooks, pens and pencils.

The problem is that tablet makers leave out this thing called an “active digitizer”, and as a result you’re stuck with the sort of smudgy “finger painting” that you see on the Ipad. Bummer.

Tablet PCs have been around forever, and the newer ones would be perfect (Wacom digitizers, multitouch and waaaaay more processing power), but for whatever reason there is zero software support for real multitouch in Windows. What touch support is there is clunky and frustrating to use. Double Bummer.

So as an artist you were kind of boned, until now. Without much fanfare, Lenovo released the ThinkPad Tablet with one of these digitizer layers built in. YES! And then Ami got it for me for Christmas! DOUBLE YES!

It’s awesome, especially considering it’s the first of its kind. It’s a little more sluggish than a tablet PC, but it makes up for it by having a fantastic touch-and-pen interface. Once you get the hang of it, the interface melts away and you just draw. Here’s me using it to do traceovers from one of my favorite comics:

Matt Peters and Bill Presing’s “Rex Steele” comics have exactly the kind of linework I would like to have, so what better way to learn than to trace like a dirty-dirty thief? Here’s how I’ve been using it so far:

1) Take a photo of my reference with the tablet.

2) Import that photo into Sketchbook Pro.

3) Try as hard as I can to get nice clean lines just like the original.

Working this way really helps to expose what I’m doing differently, and how I need to draw differently to get the same look. Pretty cool!

Anyhoo, I wanted to share this because I don’t think there are too many artists who are aware that something like this even exists. They retail for around 500 bucks (ouch!) but you can find refurbs (like mine) on ebay for around 350.

That said, if Photoshop and Sketchbook would add stupid multitouch support to their PC software, I wouldn’t have to go down this weird Android rabbithole in the first place.

If anyone else has one of these I’d love to hear how you use it too!

Kelly Got Crabs.

bryank — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:20:02 +0000

(Click to embiggen.)

So I’m taking a hiatus from teaching to get my life back. And by “my life”, of course I mean “illustrating shitty puns”.

I’m really going to miss the students and their enthusiasm! Have fun you guys, and watch out for crabs!

Get Classy with Bryan K!

bryank — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:02:15 +0000

For the first time, I’ll be teaching a class that’s open to everyone… even you!

Well maybe not you, but that guy behind you… yeah that guy. You can totally take my class, buddy!

I believe that 3D modeling isn’t just for executing an approved design. I use it very often in the early design stages, much like how a traditional concept artist might explore a design in 2D,

By the end of the class, you’ll be able to take rough 2D designs (like Jung Park’s crazy awesome painting below)…

… And further refine it into a real three dimensional form. The image below is pretty much exactly what you’ll be able to make by then end of the class. Awesome!

Here’s a video of the same scene:

(CLICK ME!)

In addition, we’ll be doing detailed object-based design, call-outs, and you’ll learn tons of tips to speed up your workflow so you can get right to the meaty creative parts.

If you’re interested, head over to http://www.redenginestudios.com/ for more information. Hope to see you there!

Your Altitude Determines Your Latitude.

bryank — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:39:58 +0000

Here’s me doing a color study from my imagination gland. Color is hard, but fun!

Why pilot goggles hung up on a wall? There’s a really great story behind this.

Probably.

Or maybe it’s just a pair of goggles on a wall. Seriously, you need to stop reading into things so much.

What is best in life?

bryank — Sun, 08 May 2011 04:08:18 +0000

When I was a kid, we rarely went to the movies, so instead I’d futz with the rabbit ear and take in classic films on our local UHF station’s “Saturday Afternoon Matinee”.

One movie in particular that stood out to me was Conan the Barbarian. Not for the blood or boobies (it was all edited out!), but for that very last shot in the film. Quest complete, King Conan slumps on his throne, fist buried in his jaw.

I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to think “oh man what a badass, just look at him sitting there!”. But In my head, it just seemed such a bummer that Conan would be stuck on that throne all bored for the rest of his life.

So I guess unintentionally, Conan taught me an important life lesson: “What is best in life” isn’t the end of your journey, but instead the struggle getting there. And in that light, here’s me struggling to do my first caricature.

(PS: Thanks Izzy Eric and Ami for all the feedback and encouragement. It really helps!)

Robots Can Hear My Brain.

bryank — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:59:57 +0000

I saw a scientist named Miguel Nicolelis on tv recently. Miguel is a bearded man who develops a robot suits controlled by mind power.

Yup, MIND POWER. The power of the mind. The mind’s powerful power powering the powerful power it powers. Of the mind.

Think of the potential! The crippled will walk! The old and infirmed will…ummm… also walk! What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty.

Think of all the terrible… horrible… shameful things you think of in a given day, but don’t actually do. Please take a moment now to wallow in your own unique and personal regret.

Done? Good. Now imagine a robot that does only what you think, with absolutely no jerk-filter at all.

That sweet old lady taking too long at the register? Please excuse my robot suit ma’am; it knows only my rage..

Innocent trip to the gym? Not anymore.

Bum luck buddy, because I’m imagining your hair on fire for no good reason at all.

So thanks again Dr. Nicolelis for your wonderful gift to mankind. Now for the good of us all, please keep your damned robot suits out of our heads.

A Poor Disguise

bryank — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:08:23 +0000

WARNING:

Mickey hats, although festive, do not fool actual mice into thinking you are one of their own.

Not even a little.

A recipe for MURDER.

bryank — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 06:41:12 +0000

Ami found a 1912 edition of the Whitehouse cookbook, and I am not exaggerating when I say this is perhaps the most useful book ever written.

The recipes are ok I guess, but the real info is in how food has other uses… like making soap, or curing “consumptive night-sweats”, or oh gee I don’t know. Maybe COLD BLOODED HOMICIDE?!?

Don’t believe me? Check out this actual scanned text from the actual book:

(Felons get hungry too I guess. How nice of the White House to feed them!)

(Oh Jesus!)

(Holy Hell!)

Thanks again Ami for finding the most useful cookbook on the planet! Now where did I put that turpentine…

"The Oyster is an Onion."

bryank — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:33:57 +0000

When I was a little dude, I attended a real life Catholic school, complete with nuns, and uniforms, and Irish guilt and everything. I learned all sorts of things while I was there, but here are the most important:

1) Sister Act is the single greatest movie ever made.

2) If it’s worth doing, then it’s also worth feeling super guilty about doing.

3) Ties are “magical obedience collars” that make kids always behave, always.

4) Metaphors can explain absolutely anything, make you sound super smart, and don’t have to make any sense.

In retrospect I’m not so sure about the first three, but that last lesson is gold.

The Whale Conductor’s Lament

bryank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:32:58 +0000

Most people think whales can’t be musicians because they lack opposable thumbs. That of course is a racist lie.

Truth is they can play just fine. The real problem is that whales have super short attention spans, and can’t go more than 15 seconds without totally spazzing out.