It feels like we've been working on this Anthology project for weeks! Oh, wait... we have! It's due tomorrow, so I bet you are dying to see what we've been doing?

Here's a step by step for page two of my own comic - remember - our theme is "Speak of the Devil"...

I started with blue line drawings to loosely map out what I planned to have happen on each of the eight pages. I drew the sketches in pencil, then went back and added more details.

Then I inked the pages using a fine-liner black pen.

I scanned these pages, then inked in the spot blacks and large areas of dark.

Scanned it again, then added grays using markers.

I scanned it again, did hours of clean up in Photoshop... because I just can't seem to let it go... and then brought my files to the lab and set up an InDesign document. If I had had more time.... sigh... I would have added a second layer to the artwork with the black and white artwork. It might seem silly, but by the time I scan in the grey marker art, the originally deep blacks are looking rather dull. It is very hard to adjust the whites and blacks in Photoshop without loosing the gradations of grays.

Sunday night, the Production crew had silkscreened the covers. Actually, the black letters were produced by photocopying the type onto the black paper. Black on black. It creates a shiny effect that sort of looks like my original idea, but was a lot easier. The white text was silkscreened.

This shows the front and back covers. The back was a reverse of the front. The black lettering - "And he shall appear" - appears and disappears as the cover is tilted and catches the light.

If you are curious, the font I used for the cover and all the interior text too, is called Secret Society. I futzed with the titles in Photoshop - moving the letters closer together and removing some of the dingbatty serifs (the ends of the letters).

We spent the second half of Publication Workshop today, printing and assembling the books.

We made an assembly line - photocopying, creasing, stapling signatures, folding, gluing, trimming...

Each book is made up of four signatures each with four pages. (A signature is a section of folded pages). The folded edges are coated with PVA glue and clamped inside the folded cover. They have to dry for about four hours.

I did a lot of stapling, then a lot of gluing. We were all getting rather silly by the time I left. I blame the glue... but no one else seemed affected by it...(sarcasm)

The books look really cool! This pile is still waiting to be trimmed - that's why there is a lot of extra space on the right hand side.

I'll show you the final ones tomorrow!

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