ProCreate. Use it. Live it. Love it.

This is not a paid endorsement (unless someone out there wants to call me?), but ProCreate has changed my life.

Warning, what follows is a bunch of app detail that may cause your eyes to glaze over if you aren't familiar with the process of digital inking on a touch screen. So I'll put the pictures first and the yak-yak for later.

I've been doing the pencils in SketchBook Pro, printing it out at 11 x 17, inking by brush, and scanning back to Photoshop. But Procreate DOES have the brushes I was hoping to get in SketchBook! When I first tried it, it didn't seem to have it, but a friend of mine Tweeted about it, and I tried it again... must have been some updates came through!

The Procreate files can be exported as Photoshop files or JPEGs as well, and the ink layer transfers/saves as ink pixels only, rather than a white "page" with inks, so it's instantly ready for coloring in the digital, which is something else I couldn't make happen in SketchBook. ALSO, Procreate saves files MUCH better. I can switch between apps without losing data, which Sketchbook does ALL THE TIME. AND you can stack or rearrange or rename the thumbnails in the Gallery. Another MAJOR plus.

Now I'll be 100% digital.

Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating, but the fact is my 48 year-old hand-eye coordination ain't what it used to be when I was 23. The app gives my brush line the steadiness I may never be able to reproduce again naturally. And I can apply the stylus at a better angle and more confidence when I'm going in. With the brush, there's always the trepidation of failure, dripped ink, shaky hand, etc. With ProCreate, it's as natural, correctible, and anxiety-free as pencilling.

And I do still feel that it's 96% my ability on the "page." It's me knowing where to lay the lines, me choosing where the heavier line should be, me making the proportion, placement, poses, everything. Only now when I do it, I don't ruin my efforts with a janky ink line.

I'm telling you, I could only be happier if one of these characters came to life and married me.

DISCOUNTED POWER PRINCIPLE!!

If you go to www.DCBService.com, you can get all comics at a significant discount. EVEN THE POWER PRINCIPLE!! You click "PREORDERS" > "Other Comics" then from the drop down Publisher's menu, click "Valhalla Comics Group" and VOILA! Issues #1, 2, or 3 at 25% off each or a bundle of all 3 at 35% off.

Why am I sending you elsewhere for the same comics you can buy from me at the left? Well, because it would just be mean not to tell you about it. ;-) And I want you to read it! If I need to save you some money in order to get you to do that, then so be it! :-)

Kickstarter Sketches!

This Gun's For Hire

Power Principle #1 (Digital price)

The more astute blog reader might notice the fact that I've installed PayPal buttons at the top of the right hand column.  That's because you can now buy THE POWER PRINCIPLE comic directly from me.

With Issues #1 & #2 completed, the former printed and in stock and the latter being shipped as of 11/7/12, I figure it's time to stop hoarding the extras that the "Team RUNrAW" Kickstarters are not receiving, and make them available to the masses.

Important facts for you to know:

I will ship the comics anywhere in the world to you for only $2.00 shipping cost.
They will arrive bagged and boarded.

Power Principle #2 (Print price)

This "Buy Now" sales buttons will redirect you to the PayPal site where you can use an existing account, or an alternative means, such as a credit or debit card.

If you purchase a digital copy, MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE EMAIL ADDRESS YOU WISH TO HAVE YOUR DOWNLOAD LINK SENT.

Future payment models are being reviewed to help maximize your purchasing experience.

Orders will be shipped within 3-5 business days.

If you are a retailer, I am offering quantity discounts.  Contact me at ThePrincipleOffice@gmail.com (no 's' after 'Principle') for details.

That's all I can think of for now! If you have any futher questions, either use ThePrincipleOffice@gmail.com or the comments section below.

Thanks!

Oh NOOOO ANDREW!!!

Langston and Nicky get BUSY

More Mark Roberts onto Dave Stokes

Cover #3 Colored!

This is what Mark Roberts does with Dave Stokes' art.
So fine I want to cry.

Sketch Cards

Cover Final

Kickstarter Update

Jamal Igle's Cover-In-Progress for Issue #1

 

MOAR progress!!

Sketchcards to be inked by 9/17

T-Shirts & Hats are here!

Popular?

I had to get a screnshot because it seems the projects move around each time you open up the page.

Behold, Cover #4, 2012

Yep. Dragons.

Behold, Cover #3, 2012

By Dave Stokes

RIP My Professor X

Joe Kubert
September 18, 1926 - August 12, 2012

New Art

Current Art For the Kickstarter Page

Which is still currently in full swing and can use

your support, if not by donation then by spreading the word!

Thanks!

KICKSTARTING

Loooooooo it has begun!! Yesterday, July 10th we sent the Kickstarter page live early in the morning. (I know speak in the royal "we" vernacular. "We" actually includes Adam Besenyodi, who I'm assuming you all met by now, and the members of the comic, chiefly Langston, Terry, Nicky, Steve, and Lance).

If you aren't aware of it, here it is! KICKSTARTER! I'll make "professional" updates over there from now on, and here I'll be leaving my thoughts and my feeeeeeelings. For instance, I'm pretty sure I'm in shock over the fact that on the first day, the project gained 20% funding. The goal is $7,000 dollars. So people rallied and clicked and gave me over a thousand dollars in a day. And not ALL the people, either. From the list of contributors, I dont yet see people I know will be giving, so that's cool.

Also, I see names of people who I know only peripherally, and still yet they gave. THAT'S cool too because it means that they're contributing for THE POWER PRINCIPLE itself. That's phenomenal. Very validating! I just have to give my A-game to the story. I'm learning more and more, from EmmaJeans on Twitter in fact, to accept the style of my art. It IS uniquely mine, after all. You'll always know who did it when you see it. That is, after you've seen it regularly. Which I hope you will. Because I hope to be drawing it regularly. And stuff. Okay, see you at Kickstarter!

Countdown to Kickstarter Pt II

I have a friend who I met locally (through a friend I met locally (through a friend I met locally)) to play some Dungeons & Dragons.  I was feeling creative and couldn't believe an artsy, variety-soaked place like Inwood didn't have some staunch D&D players up in here!  Eventually, we started, had an ABSOLUTE BLAST ... then had to stop because 2/5ths of the players moved away and I wasn't enthusiastic enough to replace the face-to-face dynamics with internet sessions. I was already doing that with friends that were literally 3000 miles away -- I was aching for table top eye-contacty goodness.

As it happens though, the experience left me feeling very friendly with my game-mates and the one I'm telling you about JUST HAPPENS TO BE a major Kickstarter fan! He's given to 90 or more projects. When he learned I was branching out into those waters he was more than willing to share with me his experience and viewpoints on the finer skills of Kickstartering and rewarding.

Last week I had followed a link he tweeted to and I had a bad reaction to the chain of Kickstarter projects his link led me to.  I tweeted it out--and he responded.

Thank you Shervyn von Hoerl, 1) for having the coolest fucking name of anyone I've ever met, 2) of giving your daughter the middle name Gallifrey & 3) for taking me seriously.


And while I'm on that topic, serious shout outs to Jason Ford, James J Ford & Bryan Munroe who I also met over the internet because they once did a podcast called The Wellwatchers together, and I LOVED it. The raw, edgy, intelligent and OMG SCREAMING HILARIOUSNESS of the show made me a fan and Twitter helped me stay in touch with them. Even become friends.  But when I met them at the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo, they took it to a whole new level.  They INTERVIEWED ME for my comicbook.  It was. SURREAL.  In addition, they turned me on to another podcast called Just A Couple of G's which has that same gritty & raw humor, and now their showrunner Comic Book Alex & I have begun to be friendly --and when he had the "Thunder Twins" (as I like to call them) on his show recently, he totally gave me a shout out, and the boys acknowledged my little engine that could!   So VERY THANK YOU GUYS!!

I could fill the internet with how many thank yous I have to give, so I'll continue to unveil slowly as not to overwhelm peeps, and myself.

In other news, the Kickstarter page & video is 99.9 percent done.  Kickstarter only has to approve the project now and we're good to go.  If they approve it and it goes live from that moment, I'll let you know.  Otherwise, if they leave it up to me, I will make it go live on July 10th.

But why not let you see the video now?

PS: All the pages to the 1989-91 Issues #1-3, Volume 0, have been posted, pre-proportioned over in the right-hand column to fit into 20 alloted "Pages."

Thanks!