Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wit
The Art and Stories of
Steve Butler
I am a pen and ink junkie and creator of Cuckoos Wear Black.
Although having spent most of my life addicted to the joy of ink,
my entry into the world of comics was a late one.
ALL IMAGES CLICK LARGER
Before that, most of my work tended to be single page commentaries
Before that, most of my work tended to be single page commentaries
on whatever caught my mind at the time.
Mostly incomprehensible ideas but I know what I meant.
Waiting for an asteroid.
Soapbox Schadenfreude
That all changed when I read Strangehaven by Gary Millidge.
A soap opera written in comic format. It just sort of clicked and
triggered all the bells that perhaps, just perhaps,
the ideas floating around in my head would work.
And from there Cuckoos Wear Black began to evolve.
The idea was to create a series of individual dramas
set in a fictitious English town.
Richard and Julie's story
is the first in the Cuckoos Wear Black series.
with the exception of the dot tones and lettering
which are added later using Manga Studio.
I guess you can still get zip tones
but I wouldn't trust myself with anything sharp.
The technique changed slightly during the comics development.
The early pages were primarily brush, which I love,
but the latter pages have tended to all be drawn with
a Deleter G pen; an awesome pen, although it does
lay down a lot of ink so inky forearms and smudges
are always waiting in the sidelines to grab me.
I'm not saying where the change occurred and hopefully
it's not obvious.
If anyone is interested, I pencil in reverse on the back
of the Bristol board and then ink on the other side
using a homemade drawing board
with built-in light box; sounds much grander than it is.
Who paid the ferry man?
Although primarily working in black and white for comic work,
I will often work in colour for other illustration work.
Most of my colour work is undertaken using vector colours.
Alongside the comic illustration, I have also undertaken
a number of illustrations for
presentation and promotional literature...
and of course, new commissions are always welcome.
Contact me at
Follow me on twitter
http://twitter.com/henspace
Facebook of course at
http://www.facebook.com/henspace
Cuckoos Wear Black and links to other stuff over at
http://cuckooswearblack.com/
And then there is this......
So much great work. Thanks Steve.
We can't get enough of the inking style you've crafted.
We want to see more and will follow the strips progress.
We want to see more and will follow the strips progress.
About your "Mostly incomprehensible ideas"...
Please keep 'em coming.
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