Restraints and Liberations Frontispiece

This time I decided to attempt yet another style, this time sticking to inking the drawing then utilizing more of the Japanese screentones I had collected as well as trying out the pattern fills in Photoshop.

Talon's a/u story also inspired me to try various clothing treatments. Yep, time to clothe those monkeys! Used a blending of Japanese collars and clasps, Medieval riding tunics and Elizabethean shirts and pants to get this particular look.

After making the pencil drawing I inked it and scanned it. Making the scan smaller let me see how my proportions turned out. Noticed Sage is quite long in this pic, with a tiny head. I blame it on watching too much anime lately with long bishie bodies with tiny heads. So while Sage looks ill-proportioned to those looking for a more realistic drawing, he really is shifting toward a more anime style here. I do plan on scanning working drawings so I can check proportions in the future.

Also realized after the scan I had not made Sage's tail the traditional black it should be. This has been fixed in later drawings for this series. I guess I could go back and either fix it in Photoshop or re-work the drawing and re-scan it. Might do this later, however, since this pic is posted at For-chan's Cookies as well I would feel the need to send her the new and improved version. So I think I will let it lie for a while. Any opinions out there?

The chain is actual chain. It was scanned in (scratching the glass of the scan bed) then adjusted so it looked like it was drawn. The chain scan was added to the drawing scan.

Instead of putting the drawing in a new channel like I have done with the pieces I have been colouring I left it as the first layer. Each fill was placed on a separate layer so I could change the fills if I wanted to and still keep the original drawing pristine.

Used a variety of black and white built-in Photoshop patterns and Japanese screentones I adjusted so they would tile then added to the pattern option. All pattern fills were not used at 100% opacity. Most are set at 20% or less. This allowed the ink lines to come through and kept the patterns from overwhelming the image.

Some people have responded to the pic mistaking Turles for Kakarotto. I guess if I ever re-vamp the pic I will also need to tone Turles' skin as well, so it is darker.