The Steps I Take

Hello world! This is Tom again and if you are reading this you are helping me finish my life long dream of making a graphic novel. Thank you :) .  Today I figured that I will show my viewers the process I go through when I am making an artwork for my graphic novel, then show some new things I have been working on.

 Making my artworks:

I first like to sketch out what I want. I usually use mechanical pencils and big erasers while I'm sketching. The results I get are unpredictable and full of graphite smudges, however, the freedom of adding and taking away with graphite allows my creative juice to spill out on the page. I scan or take a picture of my work and I upload it on my computer.

Step 1: Drawing the scene (by Thomas Sigwalt)

The next step I do is edit the contrast of the drawing. I sometimes use Adobe Illustrator while I edit photos but I tend to use GIMP more because I can afford it at the very, very cheap price of FREE.

I start with a transparent layer of black over the photo. I then proceed to erase and darken the areas that need fixing. After an hour to a half an hour of too dark, too light and just right I scan my picture for any flaws.

Step 3: Merge (by Thomas Sigwalt)

Step 2: Contrast (by Thomas Sigwalt)

After seeing nothing wrong with the photo, I move to the process of adding color to the picture. As I was making this artwork I was kind of inspired by Edward Hopper's paintings. I wanted to give the picture a warm feeling, so I used only reds, yellows and oranges in the photo.

Step 5: Merge color with the picture (by Thomas Sigwalt)

Step 4: Color (by Thomas Sigwalt)

The New Stuff

This is the section containing the new artworks I have been working on recently. I'll start with study on facial distortion. With this study I wanted to capture the moment a punch lands a hit on a person's face. I used scratchboard in this study so I had to focus on where the light was coming from instead of outlining a photo. A fun process where I have to think in reverse of what I usually do.

Facial distortion study (Thomas Sigwalt)

The last photo I have on today's blog is geared toward the feeling I want to convey with my graphic novel. I want there to be a lot of fighting, injuries, deaths, romance, and all in a modern age. The action I have planned for my graphic novel was inspired from watching fight scenes in IP Man and reading Game of Thrones. I want this story to be filled with fighting but I also don't want the fighting to become meaningless. 

This piece I have titled "Back Alley Fight." This is a fight between two men in an alley at night. The man on the left is a gangster who has been known to be violent and favors a knife when he fights. The man on the right is an ex-martial arts champion who has been working on fishing boats to make a living. I might use characters like these in my novel (maybe these ones?). I want to have the story follow not just one person, but a few people.

Back Alley Fight (Thomas Sigwalt)

I would like to say thank you again to everyone who has supported me. It means a lot to me and I could not have accomplished anything without your support. You are the best ;)