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Gone Fishing!
Posted on September 1, 2015 by Leroy Brown
Dear ICECUBES friends, No doubt you have been wondering aloud "why haven't there been any new ICECUBES comic strips lately?" The reason unfortunately is that I have been ill. Of course being not only the author, but also the publisher, colorist, promoter and webmaster of ICECUBES when I am out of commission the strip truly goes silent. There isn't a contingency plan, like hiring another cartoonist or running funny cat videos. I decided not to post classic ICECUBES strips either. So the strip goes silent for awhile. Add to that the fact that I need to work on my paying jobs every now and then so I can continue to afford sandwiches! As if those weren't decent enough excuses, I must also inform you that the computer I use to scan the comics is kaput! Yep, broken. It is I admit a very old machine but such is the life of the artist. Thankfully, my dear friends, you have made the latest ICECUBES book "THE i'S HAVE IT!" a runaway success and the first print run is completely sold out! I am so grateful for the support and attachment you have shown for ICECUBES. Of course if you believe that fixing the old computer might help get more ICECUBES strips published, feel free to become a Patron on Patreon. For only $1 a month you can help make sure I get my fill of sandwiches and my computer gets an oil change! Thanks so much for being such great fans of ICECUBES, it's just awesome! :) Leroy Brown

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Gestural drawing.

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Leroy Brown
ICECUBES
It’s all in the gesture! That’s where you get the energy and ‘funny’ into your drawings. So I always spend time practicing each drawing on a sketch pad by drawing big circles and blobs for the heads and bodies of my characters. This helps me ‘anchor’ them into place and make them feel real. Be sure to always get a good under-drawing happening before committing to the final. No amount of style can make up for a poorly balanced drawing.
ICECUBES
ICECUBES
So get crazy and start making ‘gestural drawings’! 🙂
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Backdrawing.

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Leroy Brown
ICECUBES When drawing on the outer edge of your panel, it’s important to extend the drawing as if you were drawing the whole character. Even if parts will get cut off it is a good idea to draw them to get a feeling for where things are supposed to fall. For example in this drawing, Peckinpaw is off to the side and his shoulder is mostly cut off even though I drew the shoulder. Without the shoulder I wouldn’t know where to put his arms and hands. Also note that his left arm is drawn even though I won’t see it because of the book in front of it. That way I know exactly where to put his fingers. I call this ‘backdrawing’ or drawing in the round. 🙂
ICECUBES
click for larger image

Drawing tools.

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Leroy Brown
ICECUBES Here is a picture of my collection of metal drawing nibs. I have gathered these throughout the years and although I only use a very specific type for drawing and lettering, I like keeping them. The ones I use on the strip are in the little plastic box in the foreground. The techniques I use to draw are very old fashioned to some. Although I do use a tablet for doing commercial work, the plastic ‘sliding’ feeling of drawing on a tablet won’t work for the strip. I like the feel of drawing on paper and inking with nibs.

Comic strip blocking.

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Leroy Brown
ICECUBES ‘Blocking’ just means blocking out how the action gets laid out on the page. In this case I was trying to work out the way Peckinpaw tripped and fell by making the gesture and movement read well in the limited amount of space of the 13″ x 4″ strip. Some artists call this the storyboarding stage. It’s real important to do this before you start drawing the real strip or else you will be erasing and restarting a lot. I always try to avoid a lot of erasing because it can introduce smudges that are hard to get rid of. It can also mess up the surface of the paper making it harder to ink. You can see click on the final published strip here.
ICECUBES
ICECUBES