Posted in: Comics | Tagged: artboard, Comics, dc comics, entertainment, facebook

The Torture Of Artboarding

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:00:47 -0600

Last updated Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:27:16 -0600

A heated conversation about the quality of the artboard provided by publishers to artists kicked off yesterday on Facebook, but it might be wise to remove the individuals names for easy identification purposes… and message boarders, please play along.

Artist A: fellow DC artists- did you also get a crappy batch of smooth boards this month or was it just me? It seems to have a bit more tooth to it, the blue lines dont line up with the actual paper dimensions and it feels more like a 50lb stock rather than the usual 100lb feel. and it smears like crazy.

Artist B: Howard [Chaykin] used to refuse to draw on some of the stuff companies sent…

Artist A: thats weird, because i actually love the standard DC smooth stock. this latest one though, its really horrible.

Artist C: oh hey! sound slike the one I got… 10months ago! XD

Artist D: I know Greg Capullo has been complaining about the stock for quite some time

Artist E: isn't that every batch?? lol

Artist A: its really bummin me out.. might even make me fall behind on deadlines..

Artist F: [Artist A], no, it's not only you. Smooth is almost rough in some cases. I've asked and they've told they've changed the formula… And the results are pretty ew in the last few months.

Artist G: Boo

Artist H: Ah… the old "the paper you sent me is no good so I'm going to fall behind on my deadlines" excuse. Never heard that one before… only kidding.

Artist I: I don't use dc boards anymore since last year. When I ink blue lines I use my own stock and working over scot Eatons pencils he uses and cuts his own pages. he Stopped using dc boards too

Artist J: Crappy.

Artist K: Hank [Kanalz] warned me it was bad when I started my story. I'm now doing it on my own stock although my inker loves it.

Artist L: Yep noticed the same thing when I was going through some old inked pages. Sad sad sad! I'm starting to think eventually they won't concern themselves with this problem since we are opting to buy out own boards instead of using the crap.

Artist M: yeah like [Artist C] said they switched a while back. This stuff is like sandpaper. Takes me longer and looks messier. if you use HB or F lead you might want to try using H. It's still the drawing equivalent of driving down ungroomed dirt roads for 8-12 hours a day but it does minimizes the messiness. Thankfully Mick doesn't seem to have any problems.

Artist N: Yeah, I stopped using DC boards, too. I made a facsimile of their template and just print it on Strathmore 500 plate stock.

Artist O: Hell when at ink bachalo on his marvel stuff he doesn't use marvel boards either. Marvel boards have also been bad too in last few years.

Artist P: I have not used it in over a year. been buying my own strathmore 500, which comes in 11×17 pads…

Artist A: alright, cool, not that big a deal, i just didn't want to be the only one

Artist Q: It seems like the takeaway from this thread is never trust corporate decision makers to choose your boards, Buy Strathmore, and the ground has been softened nicely for a missed deadline or two.

Artist P: [Artist Q], not everything has to be about blaming corporations. as a freelancer, it is a luxury to use a company's boards. but ultimately, it is my own responsibility as an artist to use materials that i am comfortable with and will reflect in the quality of the final work. in fact, the dc paper is made by strathmore, and ive noticed a slight difference even in their own 500 series boards over the years…