Brock Beauchamp

Preview, page five

Brock Beauchamp
September 6, 2011

This week keeps rolling along with a site update every morning… this morning, it’s a preview of page five. Expect to see the full color version posted on Thursday before I close the week with another preview of the following page that Friday. I keep forgetting to plug it but this weekend, I’ll be hanging out at DigiCon, a digital comic book convention hosted by Ryan Fisher, creator of Gin & Comics. It’s a great idea and it surprises me that no one thought of it earlier. Over the course of the coming weekend, there will be commissioned artwork, panels,... View Article

Blake and the kidnappers

Brock Beauchamp
September 5, 2011

This week I’m packing in two page updates so it’s a busy week… I will be updating the site every day. Tomorrow, look for the preview of page five. I’m really happy with this page and think it might be my best page yet. It is drawn and inked pretty well and I’m getting more comfortable with using textures to differentiate background elements in the drawing. I still have a long way to go but at least I feel as if I’m improving. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the second issue is turning out so far and I’m excited... View Article

Back to Blake

Brock Beauchamp
September 1, 2011

And with the first scene of the issue completed, we can move back to Blake, who is still with his abductors from the last issue. This page is my favorite of the series so far and I’m excited to show it in full color next Tuesday. I think the inks turned out nicely and the backgrounds work well with the foreground, particularly in the first panel with the truck. It looks even better in color so be sure to check back next week when it’s posted. As I mentioned earlier, I’m getting a little ahead with Variables so next week,... View Article

Coloring tip: quick flatting for free

Brock Beauchamp
August 31, 2011

In my opinion, coloring is one of the weaker points of Variables and therefore, I’ve spent more time studying how to improve that element of the comic than anything else. In the first issue, I used a cell shading technique but after a few pages, I felt more was necessary to bring the comic to a more professional level. At SDCC, I attended a panel hosted by Hi-Fi Color, learned a few new tricks, and decided to test them out on issue two. The process was more involved than the cell-shading technique and after coloring the cover and first page... View Article

White leaving with Monroes

Brock Beauchamp
August 30, 2011

And here’s the conclusion of the intro scene! White is leaving with the Monroes, which means we’ll be moving to a new scene next week (here’s a hint: it’s another member of the Monroe family). I’ve been getting a little ahead with my pages lately so expect to see two pages released next week, starting on Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday, Variables will now update every Tuesday instead of Monday. It’s a test I’m running to see how Internet traffic reacts to different days early in the week. It has nothing to do with ease of production or anything to do... View Article

Preview – White and the Monroes

Brock Beauchamp
August 26, 2011

Now that I’m recently unemployed, progress on the comic is flying along. I may even release an extra page or two in the coming weeks to make sure that I finish the second issue before the end of the year (on a page-per-week schedule, it’s due to finish in early January). I’m already building up a buffer and once that gets to two or three pages, I will start releasing additional pages ahead of schedule so that I don’t get too far ahead of the posted story. You’ll be able to see it on Monday but each page has more... View Article