In Space, No One Can Hear You.

Drawing tests

2009-11-05T02:50:30Z

Hey duders, so a few weeks ago I took a week off from work and did a bunch of stuff, some stuff I did was play World of Goo, some other stuff I did was teach myself Game Maker, another thing I did was draw.

Basically I need to learn to draw better, faster, easier. I need to learn how to draw digitally with no scanning in between, I hate scanning! So here are some drawing tests with commentary and a lot of self back-patting! The self back-patting is more me trying to understand what I did and why it looks better than my usual drawing style than it is me being pompous!

This was the first series of panels I did. The first panel is standard Eric. This is how I would draw if I didn't actually try to do anything different. It's noisy and stiff and doesn't excite me. The panel after that I drew very loosely and quickly. I drew it in about half the time of the first panel. Granted it has half the stuff in it but it already has more energy to it. Panel 3 is a zero undo drawing and it's wonderful. Those fingers are so cool and it's all so spontaneous because.. it is! The final panel also has no undos in it, if I needed to touch up a line I just drew over it with the background color. I also set the minimum size my brush could shrink to to something like 10% or 13% so I didn't end up with rat tailed lines all over the place. It also prevented me from getting too into the details of the drawing and left a nicely balanced image.

The top 2 panels are wonderful drawings full of quick decisions. Things are happening in them that I can tell a different Eric hates or would spend forever trying to prevent. The varying line along the shield edge is something part of me hates. Not a big part at all but somewhere in my brain something says "fiiiiiix iiiiiit..." The bottom 2 panels are less successful I think because I think I messed with the brush and the minimum diameter was greater than 13%

Here I was trying to see what sequential panels would look like and how quickly I could draw them. This was pretty quick but it feels amateurish to me, I don't know why. Something to do with the gray tones I think? Maybe amateurish isn't the word, but it feels too slick. Too HELLO I AM A COMPUTER or something

Last one! This is another shot at a sequential story. I dunno, I still see the tones as too slick, maybe because they have no texture to them, no variation.

The thing is, with me it seems I have to constantly remind myself that it is OK to do different styles of art. I did not draw people the way I drew the people in my Tomb comic. I had to do a lot of sketching and referencing and stealing to understand how I was going to cartoonerize the human form. I had the skeleton drawn and figured out well before I had humans figured out. I think most times my brain doesn't know how to simplify forms as easily as other people do and I guess a big part of that is just drawing more.

Oh also a game I worked on Band Hero DS was released the other day, hooray! I also did a little tiny bit of work on Band Hero Wii so if anyone buys it and goes to start the game, that opening screen in the Wii lobby, I did that! Tell your mom as she tries to understand the drums. She'll be impressed!

Anyway, have a nice night!
Eric

Tomb

2009-11-04T03:19:37Z

Hey everyone! How are you? I'm doing alright, I just beat S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadows of Chernobyl about 20 minutes ago [What with my comic done I get to play the games I've bought in the last 2 years!] and it was... fun? I think? Maybe not? I'm glad I played it maybe? It certainly scared me more than any other game has every scared me before but it also pissed me off more than any other game, even more than all Ren and Stimpy games on the SNES and Gameboy! I know, right!

Eric

Tomb

2009-10-30T01:18:03Z

Page 18 locked and loaded!

Have a happy Halloween all you people that do that sort of thing! I am going as a dead cowboy covered in arrows. I was just minding my own business, taking the land from some natives and they went and shot me! What the eff, natives!? WTE?!

Eric

Tomb

2009-10-28T00:02:54Z

Oh man, that Boner cut that other Boner in half! Sucks!

Anyway, I spent a lot of time before drawing this comic concepting what skeletons would look like. I knew I was going to draw a lot of them and did not want to get stuck drawing something too detailed. I like how they turned out and they weren't that hard to draw. Hooray concepting?

eric!

Tomb

2009-10-23T04:11:11Z

Oh man, those Boners are in for it now!

Have a nice weekend or don't! NO PRESSURE

Tomb

2009-10-21T04:41:31Z

And the second update! Now I'm all caught up.

While working on this book I started calling skeleton warriors by their new name, Boners. It makes sense!

"A boner rose up and lunged at me but I managed to beat it off." See!

Tomb

2009-10-21T04:39:47Z

Heylo, so the server me and some friends are on was upgraded last week and I couldn't post a new page so here are two in a row! I was really nervous about this page when I first drew it, sometimes I think I don't like to draw because it's hard and then a year later I look at it and don't understand what my problem was!

Tomb

2009-10-14T02:06:34Z

Hello everybody!

I took a week off from work and now I'm practicing drawing and messing around in Game Maker. Sometimes I envy people who don't constantly have to be doing something. Sometimes I just want to sit... On the couch... And do nothing... Maybe play Brutal Legend?

But NOOO! If I do that I feel like I'm WASTING TIME!

Sometimes I even feel guilty that I started watching Star Trek the Next Generation on tv at night... But then Jess and I start making "duuuuh duuuh doooof" noises when Riker comes on screen and it's worth it.

I love you!
Eric

Tomb

2009-10-09T00:42:07Z

Hello everyone! It's Thursday again so here is a new page!

Have a nice weekend!

Eric

Tomb

2009-10-06T22:55:48Z

Man oh man! Destroyed by your friend's arm! If this comic had words the barbarian would say "Let me give you a HAND" at this point.

Good thing this comic doesn't have words, RIGHT?!

Tomb

2009-10-02T01:06:17Z

It feels so weird to be showing these pages that I have kept so secret from everyone for 2 years. The only person to see past page 4 was Jess. It's also crazy how disconnected I am from the book now. Like I put these pages up and have to look at them again to remind me that I did it. It's like as soon as I saw it as a book I saw it as something that wasn't mine anymore. When I see it on other people's desks at work or especially in photos from SPX it's really weird. Anyway, I'm going to open up the Lulu.com store soon so now people will be able to buy it that I will never even meet! CRAZY!

Tomb

2009-09-30T02:51:04Z

Penis doesn't count when it's an animal right?

Also, thanks to EVERYONE who showed up and said nice things to me at SPX. Jess and I had the best time there and we agreed on the ride home that it was the BEST SPX EVER NO JOKES

Love,
Eric

Tomb

2009-09-25T01:16:33Z

Ladies and Gentlemen... I give you... Penis. Thank you, thank you.

Also, WOO SPX! I'm so excited to sell this book! I hope people buy it, that would be crazy embarrassing if they didn't! Though I guess I'd just give up after a while and get in the hotel pool...

Oh now I'm torn!

See you this weekend!

Tomb

2009-09-23T00:20:01Z

Man, Barbarians always have all the cool shit! I could have used on of those when I a kid and the door to the attic was IN MY ROOM!

Also, does anyone know how to set up an RSS feed easily and freely? I'm trying to set one up on http://kafkaskoffee.com/TombComic/index.php this site but man oh man... I really want to use RSSpect but I forgot my password and there is no way to get it back as far as I can tell. Any help is helpful!

Tomb

2009-09-18T03:23:31Z

Ooooh I wonder what that thing is?!

Do people think it's alright that I post the entire new page here or should I like tease the first panel and make you click to read through to the page on my website? Are humans entirely too busy to click a link now-a-days?

I can barely click the post button I'm so busy!

Tomb

2009-09-16T00:42:43Z

Hooray! My box of comics arrived from Lulu on Monday! 50 comics, 25 in color and 25 in greyscale in case people don't want to spend money! Jess and I went out a bought some ambiance for the table at SPX, it's either going to be cute or cheesy as shit!

Cheesy shit?

Oh also, I set this up: http://kafkaskoffee.com/TombComic/index.php for whatever reasons!

Tomb

2009-09-11T00:38:32Z

I got the proofs of my book in! I printed a color and a grey scale version because the price difference is pretty amazing from color to greyscale... Anyway, it's gorgeous if I do say so myself! So I ordered more in preparation of SPX and I am QUITE EXCITED!

We also got out table assignments today and Jess and I are sitting next to the [soon to be] McHenry's of http://www.heypais.com/ and http://preachertom.livejournal.com/ fame! And sitting in on drums with the McHenry's will be Brian Fukushima of Job Goblin fame http://www.bottomlesspop.com/ !

What a sweet little corner we will occupy!

Woop!

Tomb

2009-09-09T02:47:48Z

Hello! I want to thank everyone for the nice and kind and kind of nice words they have been writing to me. Also, this page was completed on 12/31/2007 HOLY CATS! We don't get into this year until page 32! Man oh man!

Also, getting nervous that my books haven't arrived yet! I ordered a proof from Lulu just in case I messed something up and I'd love for it to come so I can order my For Reals Amount!

Eric Colossal

Tomb

2009-09-04T00:37:10Z

Enter adventure!

TOMB begins NOW

2009-09-02T02:28:23Z

So this is the beginning of my comic! I shall start posting a new page twice a week in preparation for SPX! Tell your friends! This is rather exciting for me because I have never made a comic this long and I haven't printed a comic since college... That is also sad to write that...

I started thumbnailing this comic on Christmas Eve 2007 and I finished it August 29th 2009. Hooray for finish!

Either way, I am excited! Hopefully I can get the books in time from Lulu! Jess and I are sharing a table at SPX so come on by to get your Swords and Sorcery Fantasy on as well as your Victorian Boner-Bot Fantasy on!

Hooray!
Eric Colossal

mrcolossal @ 2009-08-26T01:19:00

2009-08-26T05:20:13Z

More info later... late, sleepy

itchy, tasty

Eric Colossal

Desert Walker

2009-05-27T04:00:29Z

HELLO AGAIN!

So I did more art and here it is!

This is something I drew the other day for fun, again: to learn how to draw. There's a story idea in my head somewhere about a huge figure that roams the land, I might be leveled up enough to draw it now because frankly I wasn't 4 years ago when I drew this!

Anyway, I have 19 pages left to go on my comic, soon soon!

Eric Colossal

Learning to go Digital

2009-05-25T14:53:37Z

Hello again!

While working on my latest comic I go from drawing on paper to scanning to digital clean up to digital painting and it's a pain! I'd love to just do everything digitally but I've never been one for drawing in high resolutions with a tablet.

People say "Get a Cintique!" and I'm not averse to spending money but I have a 300 dollar tablet sitting here, I should try to learn to use that first, right?

So I drew this the other day to see what it would be like drawing a page at 300dpi

It's definitely not as easy as drawing on paper and I think while working on this and another thing I want to upgrade to Photoshop CS4 because they finally added in canvas rotation like Painter. Other people suggest Manga Studio because it has canvas rotation and it does some nice stuff with lines and I think I'll try that again

This is what I did with Manga Studio before my computer crashed last time...

Anyway, I'm just showing off to remind people that I'm alive still and that I can draw!

Eric Colossal

Interviews!

2009-05-19T00:35:21Z

Hey pals!

So I've been interviewed! A few times actually...

Once for Guitar Hero® On Tour: Modern Hits™ which I was lead artist on... Being lead artist not a lot of my art got into the game but that's ok!

More importantly I was interviewed by Comix 411 for the 24 Hours Batman comic - LINK

I felt a little weird taking credit for Bman's hard work but I figure what the hell, what's he going to do about it?!

Also I guess I'll post a bunch of random art just for something to look at:

This is a cowboy like person I painted at work to test capturing myself working to video. I might post the video some time later.

This was a proof of concept drawing for a game me and a friend were going to do at work but then we didn't even come close to actually doing it, WOO!

This is a 3d model I made of an undead soldier. The idea being that while he is undead his clothing hints at it with a scarf acting like organs hanging out of his body and white panels that look like ribs.

This is an animation from a game I'm working on at home. I'm probably going to scrap this and go with a different one because this one isn't quite what I want.

So there's some art!

UPDATE:
In the interview I mention that I've been working on a comic this whole time and that is true and it is almost done and I will post it soon and it will be awesome just trust me on that. Jess finkenstein likes it so it's gotta be good! She wouldn't just tell me that my comic is good to spare my feelings because we're dating!

Anyway, how are you?

Eric Colossal

Hourlies

2009-02-15T18:15:54Z

Hey again!

So this is weird.. I was walking around outside the other day when I came across a little packet in the snow by a drainpipe of a capital building. I opened it up and I think... I think it's someone's Hourly Comics from 2 weeks ago, I'm not going to say to much but I scanned them [disobeying the instructions] and compiled them for you to read...

Here is the link for all of them: 24hours

Weird!

Eric Colossal