Dead Fish

So the other day I was pondering how much Facebook 'likes' and comments the guys at my comic shop, Comics Etc. get. They posted a Aquaman cartoon that morning as they have a love for Aquaman apparently, so I was thinking "You should do an Aquaman cartoon and try and try to get in on some of that sweet Facebook traffic". Of which I was only half serious, but for some reason this exact idea just popped into my head then and there. I loved it, so I just had to do it! So, I'm not really trying to piggyback on their traffic by hoping they'll post this cartoon. I just liked the idea in the end, and who doesn't like making fun of Aquaman?

As you may or may not know, I'm always seeking new methods, tools and equipment for creating my cartoons and last week I found some cool new stuff! It's amazing just how excited I got when I found this stuff, but I was looking at an office supply store as I also have a weird fetish for office supplies (seriously, I have a massive collection of pens, I kind of collect them and my collection of note taking paraphernalia is pretty good as well) and I found a really cool ink pen and some new card stock for inking my cartoons on. Up until now I've been inking my cartoons on gloss inkjet printer paper, as it doesn't bleed, but it doesn't take pencil very well and the black isn't very 'black'. Now this cardboard I found is just thick enough to trace onto, and although it's not as bleedproof as the inkjet paper, it hardly bleeds much and all my black lines are a nice vivid black. This was my first test on this cartoon and it all scanned up really well. The pen is a just a permanant marker, but it's a really nice thickness. I've always have the problem with felt-tip pens where they're either too thin or too thick, this one is a really nice in between size, I think it's about 0.7 or so. 

So, just in case anyone cares, the board is a Quill White A4 200 GSM: http://www.quillstationery.com.au/p-8737-board-pstebd-200g-a4-wht-50.aspx

And the pen is a plain old Black Staedtler Lumocolor 318: http://www.staedtler.com/en/products/markers-refill-ink/universal-pens/lumocolor-permanent-pen-318-permanent-universal-pen-f/

So I'm looking forward to experimenting with this new board, I was thinking of doing some mixed-media experimenting with it, so inking and then using a pencil to do some shading. Anyway, I hope someone out their found that info useful at least.

See ya later!

Mike