C.J. Sage

Just a quick note, I have a picture of me, from my recent trip to Washinton D.C. in the picture gallery. Have a look. They are in the "Misc. Pictures" section.

As mentioned in my 11-97 Newsletter, I use regular felt tipped pens for my Chris and Walt strip. I use different sized tip pens, but each one produces a consistent line width. With a brush, however, I can get different line thicknesses just by pressing harder or holding the brush differently. I'm learning how to use a brush from nationaly syndicated political cartoonist, Jack Ohman, with whom I am intering.

With the brush, I use a bottle of black waterproof ink. To draw, I dip the brush in the bottle, and on a separate sheet of paper wipe off the excess ink. If I want a thin line, while wiping off the ink I make the tip of the brush into a point without getting rid of all the ink. Then, once I "find my point" (artist-speak for getting the brush to make a nice thin line . . . I think) on the brush, I maintain my hand position, and then begin drawing on my original sheet of paper (not the wiping sheet). Then, when my lines get gray or splotchy I just re-dip, wipe the brush, and continue.

I really enjoy doing brush work, it feels a lot more professional than pens. I haven't been using the brush my Chris and Walt work, because I like to have consistent lines in the strip (plus I don't think I can use the brush well enough yet). Below, are some examples of what I've been able to do with the brush. The left one is a brush drawing of Chris and Walt. On the right I have a brush drawing of the male Ranma from Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi.

   

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little talk about brush work. Come back next month, my birthday month (June 30), and I'll be talking about how I draw my characters. Oh, and if you were wondering, I will put my brush-work in the picture gallery. Bye!

Inside the office, Chris brings up the subject of the museum robberies. Skinner tells Chris that he has Dag in charge of looking into them, then wonders where Chris heard about them. After Chris finishes his story he asks Albert if he and Walt could stake-out the museum. That night, Chris and Walt are sitting in a van near the museum, when through binoculars Chris notices something . . .

C.J. Sage