I figured this out when I was working on a project. I made a how to because distressed text is all the rage in these dark times. If you use it let me see the results! I will post ‘em in this here blog. click these words for a link to the pdf

On the right you will see the very first Bone comic book I ever read, given to me by my sister as a gift. On the left is the new Bone handbook published by scholastic. In the center is the paper craft rat creature I designed that was included in the Bone handbook.

I read a number of comics growing up but very few of them were from american creators, and only one of them kept my sister and me coming back to Excalibur comics (a local shop we cleaned for store credit). That comic was Bone, while the bi-monthly schedule was hard for a younger kid each issue of bone was more then worth waiting for. Having just a little of my work find it’s way into a Bone book was quite a kick.

Thanks to Vijaya and Jeff for making it happen and to Steve Hamaker for making my design look like it popped right out of the comic.

http://twitter.com/TylerTinsley

I don’t update my pages enough so if your wondering whats going on in the public life of Tyler Tinsley (I make all the stuff here) and you happen to be a twit (someone who uses twitter) use the link to find out more stuff.

While my pages have been quiet I still have a whole lot of stuff going on.

toy fair update: i feel the story is not quite finished, it may be something i do an auto bio comic about.

Tired of looking at gray miniatures? monochromatic monstrosities got you feeling down. add a splash of color to your favorite board game with my painting service. Just look at this fantastic battlelore set.

My sets will include any kind of custom storage that painted figures demand.

E-mail me at tyler@tylertinsley.com if your interested in making your favorite board game into an heirloom your family will enjoy for generations.

Update Why not?

this is some new stuff that i was really happy with, all of it was made using illustrator

hey peoples! Don’t push around gray miniatures, PLAY with painted figures! even if you don’t like painting thats no barrier to you having a nicely painted army! you can just pay me to paint them for you! not convinced? just look at this army i recently painted

make the jump for pricing and more images

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here are my two cents on “color theory” or the use of color in comics. “Color theory” for the most part is a terribly vague subject with many contradictions and lose ends. Here is what I think people should keep in mind when using color in comics.

Eye movement
You need only look at the first page of Bone in B&W and color to understand how much color can effect how a readers eye moves not only from panel to panel but much more importantly from subject to subject within each panel. In the B&W bone the eye starts at the mountain’s shadow and moves clockwise around the panel actually reading contrary to the normal left to right direction until you reach the first word bubble. In the color bone the eye starts at the nap sack because it’s bright color stands out against the desert and catches the eyes attention first. Just as the eye is draw to the spot of white on a black page, the eye will be drawn to a bright color on a pale page and vise versa. Controlling a readers eye movement in this way makes a book easy to read.

Literal colors Vs non literal colors
Literal colors are colors that represent the actual color of the subjects portrayed in a scene. If a page has not been designed to read well with literal colors it can be difficult to read, this is why some comics that look really good can read like crap. Just like a B&W artist must make sure they are staging their characters in the proper positions in a panel to read correctly a literal color comic must be sure to stage it’s most noticeable colors in the proper positions in a panel. A master of literal color would be someone Alex Ross.
Popular with earlier pulp comics and import comics, non literal colors are colors that do not necessarily represent the color of the subjects portrayed in an image. This style of coloring generally relies on impressionistic sensibilities to chose what color things should be. It is generally easer to compose a comics page using non literal colors as you can adjust a subject’s color so that the eye looks at it in the right sequence. A master of non literal colors would be someone like Moebius.
Combining both types of colors is changeling but can prove rewarding, if done incorrectly it will leave the audience confused about why everything keeps on changing colors. If done correctly you wind up with compelling and dynamic imagery that reads well.

The problem with “Color Theory”
The use of rules pertaining to specific colors, hues, or saturations, lies much more in an artist choice of style or a time periods taste then it does in discovering some type of universal law of color. Over the years color theory has changed and morphed right along side the passing trends and fashions of the people who were making it up . Not that developing your own theory or use of color is a bad thing, just know that it’s really all up to your style.

here it is

So check it out! no kits just yet but really soon.

This is an image of an upcoming product for papercrafted.com. Not only is it paper craft you can color yourself but they are miniatures for a game called BIG BIG BATTLES. it’s going to be awetastic!