Post Number 1196 ( — + ), from Thursday, 19 June 2008, 1:44 pm. Link. 10 comments.
I-70: Epilogue: I-15
In Utah, I-70 runs into I-15, which heads south into Californa. Thus the I-70 Suite concludes. View Source using your browser for notes and dedication.
I'm a little teary-eyed.
Nice. I hitch-hiked through the northeast corner of Mew Mexico when I was 17. Helped a Mexican rancher push his pickup full of cowhides over Raton pass. It looked just like that.
Simple pix that make their point.
Franklin,
I'm continually impressed by this series.
I first came here, directed by another site (can't remember which) and saw A Solace of Ripe Plums and I very much liked the way you made the reader follow across and then down and across again. Great use of virtual space (versus print comics).
My favourite of the I-70 series was Fire until this last one. I LOVE the palm tree. And the lettering is very tasty (do you use a brush or pen? (parts look like pen but other bits look like brush)
Like I said, I came here for the nice watercolour comics (being a watercolourist of 20 years myself and now new to comic-making as well) but then stayed for the interesting conversations about art.
Thank you and keep it up.
Milé
A great end to the series. The first few panels are pretty sexy to me - like looking down one's stomach to one's crotch. That gets smashed by the "horror" of Vegas (which you won't even capitalize!).
The language is also wonderful here. You break up "gravel" to make "grave" and "l", right before a panel of flat stripes, mountains or sediment layers, graves. In Vegas you use "coined", really nice. "Sun plunges", "we're here" - those internal rhymes are lovely.
I also love the variety of images which seems different than some earlier installments. The ride up the hill, then "palms in the rock" then the ride down is a great sequence.
Finally, thank you for the mention in the source. I've learned a lot from seeing this work and I'm planning on ripping off some of your more tricky tricks - that is, I suppose, the best compliment an artist can give another. I hope you can get a wider audience for this work, it deserves it, and I hope you will continue making things like it. Both the beauty and thoughtfulness and the "made for web" aspects are important. The clear thinking we see everyday in artblog is wonderfully evident here. Thanks for showing us.
Mile, the lettering on this one was a brush. It's a bit like trying to write with a whip, but the effect is worth it even if there are a lot of do-overs.
Thanks to all, especially Wwc. I look forward to seeing what you do.
Very conceptual.
but more pictorial.
Franklin, what kind of brushes did you use for this series and in the ink drawings? I really like the loose drawing in your watercolor and ink work.
They're good brushes, but nothing unusual. The watercolors are done with Kolinsky sables, in sizes #10, #6, #3, and #2. The ink drawings are done with some standard badger hair and lambswool brushes I brought back from Taiwan.
1. wwc
Thursday 19 June 2008 2:15 pm
Wow.