2 Bad Mice Design

Step 1: Create and Scan Your Image

I’ve started with a rough sketch with a Col-Erase carmine red pencil, then inked it using Pigma Micron pens. I work this way because it allows me to sketch roughly, then ink over what worked in the scribbles and (as you’ll see) easily remove the red in Photoshop. (more…)

I teach digital arts and illustration at the Austin Museum of Art’s Art School. Past classes have included Flash Animation and Drawing for Anime.

Create Paintings from Your Photographs (all ages)

Saturday, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Sunday, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM; 2 sessions starting January 19, 2008, ending January 20, 2008

Anime & Cartoon Animation using Anime Studio (age 9-11)
Saturday, 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM; 4 sessions starting January 26, 2008, ending February 16, 2008

Anime & Cartoon Animation using Anime Studio (age 12-14)
Saturday, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM; 4 sessions starting January 26, 2008, ending February 16, 2008

Spring Break - Animation (ages 9-11)
Monday-Friday 1 PM-4 PM; March 10 to March 14, 2008.

Digital Graphics with Adobe Illustrator
Saturday, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Sunday, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM; 2 sessions starting April 5, 2008, ending April 6, 2008

Spring Break - Animation (ages 12-14)
Monday-Friday 9 AM-12 noon; March 10 to March 14, 2008.

Create Paintings from Your Photographs (all ages)
Monday, 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM; 4 sessions starting April 21, 2008, ending May 12, 2008

Advance Your Animation Skills with Anime Studio
Saturday, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM; 4 sessions starting April 26, 2008, ending May 17, 2008

We had a great turnout for the Digital Paintings from Photographs course, with talented students all around. The class was a success, and will certainly be repeated in the Spring, perhaps twice. I’ve had a lot of inquiries about this class, please contact me if you’d like to be informed of dates when we set the schedule, or join my Teaching Mailing List. You can also keep an eye on the AMOA Art School’s page.

Layers are like sheets of transparent paper arranged in a stack. Each layer can be drawn on and edited without affecting the other layers. Drawings in the upper layers will cover drawings in lower layers, but the parts of a layer without any drawings will show through to the lower layers.

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A quick note: Yes, yes, I know that Japanese writing isn’t only Kanji. They also use Hirigana and Katakana, often in combination. I’m just using Kanji as shorthand in the title.Adding Japanese writing to your comics and designs is increasingly popular, and when doing Manga, it also adds to the mood of the comic. You know you want to do it. But you don’t know what the words are, much less how to draw the characters. Here’s a shortcut. (more…)