I’ve always viewed The Life of Nob T. Mouse as somewhere I can experiment with art styles and try to push myself to the next level with my work. In the last few days, the art here and on All Over the House has finally started to look good to me, rather than simply being as good as I could make it but not right. For once I’m happy with what my comics look like. It’s a nice feeling.
So now I’ve got to this point, I’m going to enjoy it while I work on improving my speed. I’ve long been a fan of the idea that first you get good, then you get fast (then you get fast and good). I like the level I’m at, now it’s time to make sure I can make art that I like quicker than I currently can. That’s what this weekend has been about.
Yesterday I wrote, sketched, inked and coloured every episode of The Life of Nob T. Mouse that will run next week. Today I’ve added the extra detailing (the shading, mostly) to finish the comics off. In total it probably took me upwards of 10 hours to produce 5 comics, which averages out at a little over 2 hours per comic. I’m aiming to get that down to 90 minutes per comic, because that way I can justify bringing back Ink Proof Cannon 5 days a week.
Once I’m able to consistently produce Nob Mouse comics in an average of 90 minutes, expect me to start pushing the bar on what I can do in these comics again. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next inevitable phase in art is for these guys. Whatever it turns out to be, I hope you continue to enjoy the comics as much as I enjoy making them.
