Finally, the 3rd strip is up.. sigh... took me 6 hours to finish (again using mouse). Still no tablet (sigh.. small company small budget - actually theres no need fro me to use tablet in my line of work anyway).
The main reason for the longer hours are.. guess what? Girls (or awek, chicks, onnanoko.. ) always a primary concern to me when drawing comic or cartoon. Often I took longer to draw and refining them. Even when using traditional media, I often used 000 (tripple 0) brush to slowly paint the fine lines compared to other character. Somehow to me, girls needs extra care and respect both in arts and of course, in real life too (lol).
But this time, since the character are more exciting I decided to capture a couple of screen during the process. Perhaps they'll show you some idea on my own way creating comic strip. I used Xara X to create vector comic as a hobby. but most of the time I use Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw in my everyday job. Soon, I was hoping to add a few tutorial and tips on vector illustration & computer arts that I used. Not much fancy stuff but more of a beginner guide to vector arts, fairx style. Not a professional level tutorial though, but nevertheless, something new and rare... (surprise surprise..).
Here are some of the screenshot for today's strip:
As you can see in the screenshot, the software I'm using is Xara X , old version, not the latest Xara Xtreme. Its kinda dull right? Some might question why didn't I upgrade to the latest version. First of all, they cost money (Xara are wayy cheaper than any Adobe suite, but it still cost me), and secondly, I'm using Xara X personally (not using company's software) for the sole purpose of drawing vector comic / illustration and the latest Xara X haven't introduce much new components that I might use.
Everything still almost identical except the icon cosmetic and few optimization here and there. Don't get me wrong, latest upgrade of Xara X does worth it, losts of new picture editing features and compatible with existing Photoshop plugin, but I don't need them. plus I really hoping for a Linux version soon!
Please.. enjoy the strip and the screenshot (?? lol). its 3 am here and I'm a bit sleepy. maybe I'll edit this post next time. Plus I got a wedding ceremony to attend tommorow afternoon. I need my good looking face in place and ready... chicks.. here I come...!!!
Enjoy!
*edit: aded 2 new screen capture. HQ Preview mode vs LQ Line mode:
