Dec. 7th 1941 | Toned Paper

(This illustration was done to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.)

Let me start off by saying how much I LOVE toned paper. So often as an artist, when deciding on what values to use in any given illustration we can tend to get caught up in what to do with all the mid-tones (and by that I mean anything between 100% black and 100% white). Worrying about those mid-tones can get super frustrating, because each of those tones adds a depth, or a new layer to the drawing, and its hard to just ‘forget’ about them and go straight for the black and the white. And that is why I LOVE toned grey paper. You start out with mid-tones!

Working on toned paper for me feels like a wonderful exercise in drawing with high contrast.

I could go all 'academic' on you and talk about ‘chiaroscuro’ sketching, but I’d rather speak in relatable terms and just say, "Hey, it looks really dynamic when you place an area of solid black next to an area of solid white.” Cause, it does.

A really good way to practice using these dynamic values on toned paper is to work from historical black and white photos.

Why? Because the cameras back then didn’t have the clarity we have today (obviously), so its a great place to start when practicing your values. In historical photos, darker areas are represented with a lot more black, which means way less grey tones. Those cameras pushed value to the extreme, and when you take the time to draw from those photos, you don’t have to worry about the fine details, or the minutia of grayscale that runs away from a dark shadow for example. It just all becomes black. 100% black. And that is so helpful when trying to understand shadows for lighting and texturing when you are just using 100% black and 100% white. It's much more simple. And much more dynamically graphic.

And that's the other reason I love toned paper; the white! Toned paper allows you to work in highlights. Rarely do you get a chance to add white to a drawing you are doing, and if you do, typically it is a small amount just as an accent. The unique advantage of toned paper is that you get to consider the highlights as a part of your overall image and composition because you, as the artist, are the one who controls where the highlights go! Its another step in considering the image as a whole, adding depth and interest, and also making you more aware of the lighting and what you are drawing. It helps you focus on the image as a whole, rather than the small details, or the 'favorite' part of your drawings. Because, let's be honest, we each have a part of our 'artistic' process that we like the best, or it's the part of the process that tends to suck us in and we spend way too much time in that one area of the illustration/piece. Having to understand and control both the shadows and the highlights on toned paper is a really, really, really good exercise for helping us get out of our own artistic heads, and forcing us to consider the other parts we can tend to ignore. It's a good exercise for practicing values, and overall observation of the image/composition we are creating as a whole.

Typically as a comic artist, I’m only really concerned where the black shadows go while all highlights are left to the colorist. I try to regularly work on toned paper so that I am forced to consider highlights as a true and consistent part of every illustration, page, and panel.

Okay rant over!