sketching...

I've been busy doing some new Marty & Morty gags, so here's some of the stuff I'm working on right now. Since a few years, I do all my inks digitally while trying to keep in touch with some of the basics by keeping the the sketching traditional, so using pencil and paper. But I'm in a hurry here, so to speed up the workflow I recently started doing that digitally as well.

Using my trusted Wacom and the new Photoshop CS6, I Customized some of the brushes to emulate my non-repro blue pencils, which gives the artwork a really authentic feeling. To be honest, I don't know if I ever wanna go back! Cool stuff. Here's a little sample... Marty is looking pretty angry here!

Adobe releases Photoshop CS6 Beta!

After a number of 'sneak peeks', the brilliant team at Adobe Labs has finally released the public Beta for Photoshop CS6, which is available for download as of now. The Beta includes all of the features the regular and the Extended versions will have. 'Photoshop CS6 is not the culmination, but the beginning of a journey to further improve, modernize and transform Photoshop for the future', according to David Howe on the Adobe Blog. The official release date set for the CS6 suite, which will include the new Photoshop, is May 7th.

Here are some of the highlights of the new Photoshop CS6:

• Content-Aware Patch - Patch images with greater control using the newest member of the Content-Aware family of technologies. Choose the sample area you want to use to create your patch, and then watch Content-Aware Patch magically blend pixels for a stunning result.

• Blazingly fast performance and a modern UI - Experience unprecedented performance with the Mercury Graphics Engine, which gives you near-instant results when you edit with key tools such as Liquify, Puppet Warp, and Crop.* Plus, a refined, fresh, and elegant Photoshop interface features dark background options that make your images pop.

• New and re-engineered design tools - Create superior designs fast. Get consistent formatting with type styles, create and apply custom strokes and dashed lines to shapes, quickly search layers, and much more.

Below (Click to enlarge): the new and improved Photoshop interface looks remarkably similar to Adobe's 'After Effects' UI. I installed the 64 bit version, and immediately started working on some doodles. It will feel right at home for users of Graphic software programs like Pixologic's Zbrush, Autodesk's Maya 2012 or Maxon Cinema 4D R13, who are already comfortable with a darker UI.

If you're ready to try the new Photoshop CS6, follow this link to visit the Adobe Labs and download the Photoshop CS6 Beta. Note that you will need to login with your Adobe ID to activate the Beta within 7 days, so if you don' t have an account with them make sure to registrate for one in due time. The installer takes up more than 2GB on your HD and includes both the 64 bit and the 32 bit (X86) versions. Check out the videos below to getter a better impression and hear what Russell brown and Julieanne Kost have to say about Photoshop CS6.

Gnomon puts Star Wars designer in the hot seat!

Ever wanted to learn how to create characters like in Star Wars, well now you can! The Gnomon Workshop just finished a new DVD with Sang Jun Lee, concept artist on Star Wars 'Revenge of the Sith', 'The War of the Worlds' and 'The Hulk'. Lee was also involved in Blue Sky's latest 3D animated feature 'Rio', so he's not exclusively into heavy-weight monsters and creature design, he's got a funny side too!

The DVD runs for 183 minutes showing Lee while he's creating his designs on paper while letting you in on some exclusive insider tips. Afterwards he completes his sketches in digital form using Adobe Photoshop and teaches you some secret of the pro's. It's pretty cool and if creature design is your thing you should absolutely go and check it out! It's one of those cool rare tutorials you just gotta have to see!

Being in game design for Lucas Arts, EA and Sony, Lee also developed a strong sense for costume design, so the DVD also covers a lot of insights on that part of character design. It's on order now for $ 49,00 you either get the DVD or a digital download so check it out at the Gnomon Workshop or visit Lee's cool website and check out some of his amazingly weird creatures! Cool!