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phantom-inker β€” Care to try your luck

Published: 2004-04-28 21:38:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 10792; Favourites: 127; Downloads: 332
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Description The ever-cute and ever-spunky Katie McBride, from the Wotch (www.thewotch.com ). While most pictures here took a few weeks at most to draw, Katie here took much, much longer, largely because I ended up responsible for actually drawing the comic itself for about a month in the interim. Didn't quite expect that to happen, but I'm pretty sure Anne and Robin are happy it did.

Thus while Ally was completed back in --- November 2003? December? Something like that --- I didn't finish Katie here until about a couple of weeks ago. In total, I spent about a month on her, but there was this two-month gap in the middle, you see.

Much of the extra time on Katie was spent on her hair and on her shirt. And everything here is, in fact, vector art, except for the lens flares that I added afterward for a little extra shininess. There were enough vector objects here that there are actually five .CDR files for this, since one alone would take too long to render. As it is, there were times when I'd move a point or two and then go get a drink while the program redrew the display.

Katie is, without a doubt, the best picture I've drawn to date.

By the way, the other reason that Katie took so long to draw is that I fully documented nearly everything I did while drawing her as an educational resource. So if you'd like to learn how I draw these things, visit my web site (www.phantom-inker.com/katie/ ) and take a look.
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Comments: 70

phantom-inker In reply to ??? [2017-10-29 01:17:16 +0000 UTC]

Hah, I found an old backup! It took some effort to recover it properly, but it's now posted on my website, more-or-less just like it was years ago.Β  I un-link-rotted the URLs, so the Katie Tutorial is back!

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kronostar In reply to phantom-inker [2017-10-30 00:36:56 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much. Guess a trip down memory lane for both of us.

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phantom-inker In reply to ??? [2017-10-29 00:22:52 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I haven't gotten around to uploading it again, since my techniques have changed (more than a little) since then.Β  There's a copy of the text in the Internet Archive , although they don't have the images.Β  Sadly, I'm not entirely sure I have copies of all the images anymore, since it's hard to tell among the things I do have which images on my disk lined up with which images in that walkthrough, and when the webserver died, it took some of my backups with it (long story).

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sampleguy [2015-03-05 19:45:16 +0000 UTC]

I live the personality that radiates from this piece! Great work!
I'm working on the Wotch now for Anne and Robin, but I can't seem to be able to draw develope a style that fits the Wotch. As a prior Wotch artist do you have any tips?
Andy

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phantom-inker In reply to sampleguy [2015-03-06 13:34:53 +0000 UTC]

Go with something that you're comfortable drawing a *lot* of, for one thing. Β Keep it simple so you don't get overwhelmed.

When I did the filler all those years ago (Wow, has it really been a decade?), I mimicked Anne's own style, because it was simple and "easy" to do. Β Even so, I was spending two or three hours on it every night. Β So pick something you can do quickly: it's less about the *look* than being able to keep up with it.

But if you have the luxury of choosing a look, because the Wotch is the kind of comic it is, go for a more cartoonish style than realistic; it may have drama, but it has more comedy and adventure, and a cartoonish style fits comedy better than realistic does.

But again, focus more on time and repeatability. Β There are a lot of panels in a comic page, so you'll need those two characteristics more than anything.

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AnubisScales [2009-09-27 14:50:06 +0000 UTC]

Gorgeous. I love redheads, and I love Irish women. Wonderful.

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BlueLink [2009-08-25 22:09:05 +0000 UTC]

I love the style of this whole image-the eyes are amazing and really cute! I love her hair-the detail is so amazing!

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MetaSyke [2009-01-20 13:12:27 +0000 UTC]

Yes, yes I would. Katie is my fav character in The Wotch, and here she looks so gosh darned wunnerful. Nice piccy. :3

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phantom-inker In reply to MetaSyke [2009-01-20 22:18:57 +0000 UTC]

*chuckle* Katie would be happy to hear after all these years that she still has a solid fanbase. I wonder how she's doing these days, anyway? I haven't talked to her in aaages...

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DarthScribbles [2008-06-05 02:34:46 +0000 UTC]

The shading really sparkles with this one.

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lostmyid123 [2008-02-27 02:19:37 +0000 UTC]

Wow, I love the colors!

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Acaciathorn [2008-01-28 18:35:40 +0000 UTC]

Love her posture and that lettering!

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Ozadelic [2007-11-23 08:55:25 +0000 UTC]

I love the way you coloured the shirt. *awe*

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phantom-inker In reply to Ozadelic [2007-12-02 21:21:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! That was actually the easiest way to pull off a believable plaid in vector artwork; but it does a nice job of making the shirt look shinier and more detailed than it really is.

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Pink-Kitten [2007-06-07 18:07:19 +0000 UTC]

amazing, and the shirt, im gobsmacked at how perfect it is <3

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phantom-inker In reply to Pink-Kitten [2007-06-07 18:31:06 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Despite having drawn so many more recent works, I still think this is my best to date.

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Pink-Kitten In reply to phantom-inker [2007-06-07 22:18:43 +0000 UTC]

all your stuff is good, but i do think this is the best. everything seems just right in it.can tell alot of effort was put into it

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phantom-inker In reply to Pink-Kitten [2007-06-07 23:09:05 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! It took... well... forever and then some, but the result came out pretty good, I think

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TheSandLion [2007-03-20 00:25:38 +0000 UTC]

love wotch, never thought to much about her character ( always been a cassie persone myslef ) but awesome picture!

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phantom-inker In reply to TheSandLion [2007-03-20 15:03:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Did you see my Cassie picture ?

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lupidog [2007-03-15 14:29:06 +0000 UTC]

I love how vibrant the colors are! The whole picture just feels fun.

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phantom-inker In reply to lupidog [2007-03-15 16:25:12 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I prefer pictures with bright, shiny, vibrant colors. So much stuff these days is dirty and dark: Angst is nice, but sometimes you just wanna see bright and happy fun, so I try to keep that feel in most of my art.

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witchwriter [2007-03-05 02:10:11 +0000 UTC]

oooh how cute!

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phantom-inker In reply to witchwriter [2007-03-05 02:24:23 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I liked the centaur you posted a couple of days ago too; do you have a story about her? She looks like she has a story, since you don't often see a fantasy creature wearing a tube top and listening to an iPod

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witchwriter In reply to phantom-inker [2007-03-05 03:26:00 +0000 UTC]

lol, yeah, i was trying to show how centaurs in my story are very modern, and love very heavy metal bands. Marsh Lily Rulz, is a band i made up, tee hee, i'm a freak huh? anyway, in the story my main character meets up with one, who is wearing big earphone, and doesn't even notice i'm there... they're so weird

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phantom-inker In reply to witchwriter [2007-03-05 13:22:55 +0000 UTC]

Interesting notion; actually, I'd guessed the exact opposite, that she was a modern human girl who got turned into a centaur, but that didn't keep her from being herself and doing things she loved.

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PlastikFan4evR [2007-01-30 17:56:23 +0000 UTC]

I wonder if her accent is normal or it has an Irish Accent n_n? I also wonder if her fav cereal is Lucky Charms ^-^ as well .

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phantom-inker In reply to PlastikFan4evR [2007-02-01 10:21:59 +0000 UTC]

She's a Wotch character, and near as I can tell, she was born and raised in Tandy, U.S.A., which means no accent. But she takes her Irish heritage very seriously

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PlastikFan4evR In reply to phantom-inker [2007-02-03 08:23:42 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I saw on your message about Wotch....but its cute that she sticks to her Irish heritage 6_=

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Hidden-Traveler [2007-01-29 15:45:38 +0000 UTC]

Yes, i want to try my luck.

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Big-Cat9 [2006-11-13 14:45:16 +0000 UTC]

...

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Artificer-Urza [2006-03-30 00:29:39 +0000 UTC]

Damn... She's beautiful.

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phantom-inker In reply to Artificer-Urza [2006-03-30 16:39:49 +0000 UTC]

Thanks ^_^

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Artificer-Urza In reply to phantom-inker [2006-03-31 13:36:22 +0000 UTC]

Of course all your work is beautiful, I'm just a bit biased for red-heads (a lot like Jason from the Wotch, though I don't have a 'red-head sense' )

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phantom-inker In reply to Artificer-Urza [2006-03-31 19:10:28 +0000 UTC]

*chuckle* Well, sooner or later, the next Wotch character will be Wolfie

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Artificer-Urza In reply to phantom-inker [2006-04-01 00:59:54 +0000 UTC]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. And then after that Sonja

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sharem [2006-03-03 16:36:50 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful...I love it,..

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phantom-inker In reply to sharem [2006-03-04 05:25:30 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! She was fun to draw. Took forever, but fun ^_^

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sharem In reply to phantom-inker [2006-03-04 20:21:56 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome... She looks like she was fun to draw...

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nina-wolfie [2006-02-08 16:57:31 +0000 UTC]

hehe this is awsome I love your style of drawing it rocks amazing colours and such keep et up XD

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Chelo-kun [2006-02-08 13:18:36 +0000 UTC]

Now do her in cat-form!
The Wotch ROCKS!!!

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QwertyChris [2005-12-30 19:24:07 +0000 UTC]

Begorrah! It fancy artwork that be, laddie! (OK, loosing the Irish Accent, I have to say that is incredably cool!!! The 4-Leaf Clover is a nice additional touch, might I add)

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phantom-inker In reply to QwertyChris [2005-12-31 17:20:50 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Katie was supposed to be severely Irish and proud of it, so, well, there she be in all her plaid-shirted glory

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JazzLizard [2005-12-30 15:57:48 +0000 UTC]

Very nicely done!
Very cute!

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phantom-inker In reply to JazzLizard [2005-12-30 16:01:13 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

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GoblinQueeen [2005-08-28 21:19:16 +0000 UTC]

Very nicely done, the coloring is fantastic

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phantom-inker In reply to GoblinQueeen [2005-08-29 17:39:45 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! It took forever to get her shirt right, but I think it was worth it

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keofoxglove [2005-08-10 07:13:34 +0000 UTC]

cute character :3 i really admire the detail added into it. especially the lighting on the hair and the shirt pattern ^.^
wonderful job on this.

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phantom-inker In reply to keofoxglove [2005-08-10 16:17:27 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I worked hard to get her details right, and although it may've taken forever, the result is pretty good, I think.

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psocid [2005-02-14 03:26:56 +0000 UTC]

This is absolutely lovely! I especially love the shirt and her hair.

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