I have always liked DuoShade. I was much more familiar with it as something that political cartoonists used in newspaper editorials which is where I recall seeing it first and noticing it. When I got a chance to work on TMNT, I tracked down a huge stack of duoshade board and five or six sets of developer because I wanted that classic Turtle look. It was fun and frustrating to work with - but mostly fun. Very quickly, I realized that I had to change the way I worked when using the materials. If I needed tone to go into an area, it meant I could not "fix" BW linework mistakes with white out like a normal page. Most of my originals have held up fairly well over time but chemicals do leak through the pages and discolor anything they touch. It was a quick way to add textures to the drawings and for Turtles it gave a "classic" look. I did have a problem spotting blacks however. I am not sure if other artists had this issue. Too much application of tones, which would in the end print as grey in the final comics, would flatten out the drawings. I was a bit perplexed by some of the results and thought I was being careful. What I realized was that the two developers had different visual feel to them on the actual boards. The light developer which made single hatches appear, had a cooler look. The dark tones looked more brown or warm. So, As I applied chemicals and went back and forth, the warm tone was actually fooling me a little as to how the items might separate when printed. It was something I didn't really catch unto until I compared full size pages back to reduced printed pages. Then I went, aha! And figured out that I was not leaving enough black and white in the drawings. Fortunately I only dropped my brush once and had it roll on a page - and duoshade usually being last or next to last on my pages - having to scrub all pencil marks and fix lettering, etc. before applying chemicals. I still have some board but the chemicals have long since dried into toxic flakes inside the bottles (stinky too!) and been thrown out. I have found not useful digital equivalent. Enjoying these shows. RICK
I've said this before and I'll say it again, these kinds of videos make me feel like I'm in an awesome university course on comics. I'm not an artist but I love getting a look into the whole creative and production process.
An enthusiastic yes to more Joe Coleman. He didn't do that many actual comics, but I'd argue that there's storytelling even in his paintings, the way there's storytelling in an autopsy.
My god -- the memories. The stuff was hard to find in Toronto when it was still being manufactured. Chaykin used it in American Flagg. Sienkewicz off and on in his pre-painted comics work, Janson and Rubenstein. . . it was a part of the 80s toolkit
Here’s the real skinny (from my blog) on the two different companies and different names; Craftint sold out to Grafix in 1963: “About those names… there are some confused and confusing accounts of these types of board around, and of the companies that made them. The Craftint Manufacturing Company started up in 1929. Between 1929 and 1963, Craftint made Singletone and Doubletone drawing boards, the Multicolor process, and many other products-as seen above. For some reason, Craftint sold their unique shading medium technology to a new company, Ohio Graphic Arts Systems, in 1963. Craftint continued in the art supplies and paint-by-numbers businesses. In 1977 the company was “merged out of existence”-merged with what or whom I don’t know. From 1963, Ohio Graphic Arts marketed the tint boards as Grafix board (Uni-Shade and Duo-Shade) and changed the company name to Grafix in 1990. Grafix continued to market their board until 2009 in the USA, when the product finally succumbed to competition from digital methods. The Grafix company still exists, making mainly acetate and Mylar sheets of various kinds.”
Thanks for shedding some light on this technique. This was a huge part of my childhood that I was aware of but clueless to how it was done. I always thought it was an inking technique. Kudos to you guys. I want to try it now and I'm glad you are using it in your comic, Piskor. It's awesome.
I was thinking about that comic series while watching this video. The artist was Mark A Nelson, Aliens the Nostromo Series and blew my mind back in the day (definitely the 90's)
Really needed this episode. I’m a first year cartoonist at 23 so I got my work cut out for me an won’t even be good for about a decade BUT this channel is amazing.
Im a 40 year old first year cartoonist. Lol dont give up. Dont waste time on stupid shit....put that pencil to the paper every day and hangout with like minded people! Good luck, you can do it!
Hey guys... since y'all are my favorite channel and modern day cartoonist/comic creators... I have several Heroes Con program comics... starting at 1993 and continuing thru the 90s into the 2000s. If y'all want them, they are yours. I just don't want to send them without asking if they are wanted/needed. Love you guys and keep up the best work in comics today.
dang! I have been wanting some of those duotone pages to use for 20 years! I got lucky and scored a whole box of old un-used zip-a-tone in the display box, some has yellowed over time, but still can use them, even got the white zip-a-tone!
Damn, I always thought it was just screen tone. Never knew there was something else so similar but more effective. Old fashioned screen tone could be a pain to cut out. Now a days with digital screen tone you can achieve these same effects though. Hmmmmnnnnnnn...
God I have a ton of Duo-shade I bought for a book I was working on that never ended up happening. Developer though? Not so much. Called Grafix to see if they had an alternative or by some miracle extras laying around I could buy and the lady pretty told me to stuff it and that they don't deal with private buyers only wholesalers. Been looking around for an alternative to the developer but sounds like I'm pretty much screwed.
I've been trying to find a way to generate these patterns digitally, since it is no longer feasible to use the paper itself. I actually have a couple of questions: Did the developer fluid stain the paper itself? Like, is the space between the lines where the developer fluid touched also shaded gray? If so was it common for the gray tone produced by the developer to make it into the final print, or were printed duoshade pages strictly black and white with no gray?
I have always liked DuoShade. I was much more familiar with it as something that political cartoonists used in newspaper editorials which is where I recall seeing it first and noticing it. When I got a chance to work on TMNT, I tracked down a huge stack of duoshade board and five or six sets of developer because I wanted that classic Turtle look. It was fun and frustrating to work with - but mostly fun. Very quickly, I realized that I had to change the way I worked when using the materials. If I needed tone to go into an area, it meant I could not "fix" BW linework mistakes with white out like a normal page. Most of my originals have held up fairly well over time but chemicals do leak through the pages and discolor anything they touch. It was a quick way to add textures to the drawings and for Turtles it gave a "classic" look. I did have a problem spotting blacks however. I am not sure if other artists had this issue. Too much application of tones, which would in the end print as grey in the final comics, would flatten out the drawings. I was a bit perplexed by some of the results and thought I was being careful. What I realized was that the two developers had different visual feel to them on the actual boards. The light developer which made single hatches appear, had a cooler look. The dark tones looked more brown or warm. So, As I applied chemicals and went back and forth, the warm tone was actually fooling me a little as to how the items might separate when printed. It was something I didn't really catch unto until I compared full size pages back to reduced printed pages. Then I went, aha! And figured out that I was not leaving enough black and white in the drawings. Fortunately I only dropped my brush once and had it roll on a page - and duoshade usually being last or next to last on my pages - having to scrub all pencil marks and fix lettering, etc. before applying chemicals. I still have some board but the chemicals have long since dried into toxic flakes inside the bottles (stinky too!) and been thrown out. I have found not useful digital equivalent. Enjoying these shows. RICK
My brother used this stuff for the issue of TMNT he did back in the day. A lot of fun to work with!
I've said this before and I'll say it again, these kinds of videos make me feel like I'm in an awesome university course on comics.
I'm not an artist but I love getting a look into the whole creative and production process.
Love this one. The full sheets towards the end are blowing up RUclips’s compression algorithm, they look crazy
An enthusiastic yes to more Joe Coleman. He didn't do that many actual comics, but I'd argue that there's storytelling even in his paintings, the way there's storytelling in an autopsy.
My god -- the memories. The stuff was hard to find in Toronto when it was still being manufactured. Chaykin used it in American Flagg. Sienkewicz off and on in his pre-painted comics work, Janson and Rubenstein. . . it was a part of the 80s toolkit
You ever use it in any comics we can find, Richard? -Ed
@@CartoonistKayfabe No - -I used it for spot illustration gigs a few times. It helped cover up my early ineptitude at inking.
Here’s the real skinny (from my blog) on the two different companies and different names; Craftint sold out to Grafix in 1963:
“About those names… there are some confused and confusing accounts of these types of board around, and of the companies that made them.
The Craftint Manufacturing Company started up in 1929. Between 1929 and 1963, Craftint made Singletone and Doubletone drawing boards, the Multicolor process, and many other products-as seen above.
For some reason, Craftint sold their unique shading medium technology to a new company, Ohio Graphic Arts Systems, in 1963. Craftint continued in the art supplies and paint-by-numbers businesses. In 1977 the company was “merged out of existence”-merged with what or whom I don’t know.
From 1963, Ohio Graphic Arts marketed the tint boards as Grafix board (Uni-Shade and Duo-Shade) and changed the company name to Grafix in 1990. Grafix continued to market their board until 2009 in the USA, when the product finally succumbed to competition from digital methods. The Grafix company still exists, making mainly acetate and Mylar sheets of various kinds.”
Can't wait for Blab episodes! Do it with Mome too!
Thanks for shedding some light on this technique. This was a huge part of my childhood that I was aware of but clueless to how it was done. I always thought it was an inking technique. Kudos to you guys. I want to try it now and I'm glad you are using it in your comic, Piskor. It's awesome.
Dark Horse's first ALIENS comics in black and white used this extensively.
I was thinking about that comic series while watching this video. The artist was Mark A Nelson, Aliens the Nostromo Series and blew my mind back in the day (definitely the 90's)
I asked Mark Nelson about this at a con. He mentioned how much he enjoyed using it. He said it's a shame it's not available anymore.
I remember getting that same pack of doushade paper in my Kubert school art box when I first started there.
Great vid this is one I've been looking forward to
Really needed this episode. I’m a first year cartoonist at 23 so I got my work cut out for me an won’t even be good for about a decade BUT this channel is amazing.
Im a 40 year old first year cartoonist. Lol dont give up. Dont waste time on stupid shit....put that pencil to the paper every day and hangout with like minded people! Good luck, you can do it!
@@theothercomicguy Hope you're still going at it! I'm 39 and only started a few months ago :)
Great video as always! Relly informative. Would you also please make a video on color separation and such?
I read that entire first Joe Coleman story by pausing as you flipped through the pages. Beautifully twisted writing and graphics. Thanks for that.
I can't wait to see the demo. Thanks for posting this. I feel like I've received some knowledge
Ed wearing a Billy Batson shirt. Great vid.
Hey guys... since y'all are my favorite channel and modern day cartoonist/comic creators... I have several Heroes Con program comics... starting at 1993 and continuing thru the 90s into the 2000s. If y'all want them, they are yours. I just don't want to send them without asking if they are wanted/needed. Love you guys and keep up the best work in comics today.
Holy Crap! That Razor cover is a repurposed trading card I did for LNS back in the day lol btw- pre-ordered a few copies of Red Room. Looks tight.
Thanks! I’ve been waiting for this one.
Thanks guys
Best video I've seen from you guys in a while. No lie
Amazing episode.
dang! I have been wanting some of those duotone pages to use for 20 years! I got lucky and scored a whole box of old un-used zip-a-tone in the display box, some has yellowed over time, but still can use them, even got the white zip-a-tone!
Great vid!
Damn, I always thought it was just screen tone. Never knew there was something else so similar but more effective. Old fashioned screen tone could be a pain to cut out. Now a days with digital screen tone you can achieve these same effects though. Hmmmmnnnnnnn...
Just got that OMAC series! It does look great
I just got issue 1 a few weeks back. Looking forward to digging into it.
Aw yeah, shop talk of old materials, which is bait for me. This is great
Keeping it real my friends!
Jim, where does Tim Vigil rank on your top vein artists?
hey guys hwhat you think making a video about "the How to Draw Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"??? thanks for your amazing work!
God I have a ton of Duo-shade I bought for a book I was working on that never ended up happening. Developer though? Not so much. Called Grafix to see if they had an alternative or by some miracle extras laying around I could buy and the lady pretty told me to stuff it and that they don't deal with private buyers only wholesalers. Been looking around for an alternative to the developer but sounds like I'm pretty much screwed.
Killer channel and content!
I've been trying to find a way to generate these patterns digitally, since it is no longer feasible to use the paper itself. I actually have a couple of questions:
Did the developer fluid stain the paper itself? Like, is the space between the lines where the developer fluid touched also shaded gray? If so was it common for the gray tone produced by the developer to make it into the final print, or were printed duoshade pages strictly black and white with no gray?
any love for Kabuki?
:)