Well, at least I found out before I ordered them, right? Seriously though, biking as much as I do has given me some monstrous (awesome? very muscled, at least) calves that just don’t want to fit into most knee-high boots. I’m more okay with it now than I used to be, because I’m more okay with everything than I used to be, but also because while they’re big, I know that they’re also strong, they’re fast, and they’re mine. It means I have to look a little harder than a lot of people for boots that fit, but it’s a small price to pay for calves that will get me through a 20mph head wind for a 45 minute bike ride.
And at least now I know to look out for that before I go ordering boots that I can’t try on. And yes, there is a tape measure on my desk. I’m not sure why, except that there’s a LOT of random crap on my desk.
On to the last of the process things! Here’s how I usually color this comic. We have our clean b/w lines now, right? I convert the image to RGB (RGB is what you want for screen purposes, CMYK for print) and make a new layer, and I set the new layer’s blending options to “Multiply”.
Then I add broad background color fields on that layer wherever I want them; since the layer’s on multiply, the black lines show through the color…
…and erase the bits that I want to be blank.
Now I usually add my shading. For Sauceome, I don’t do very realistic shadows, but I do like to do a loose sort of 2D shadow, just because I like the way it looks. Shadowing can be tricky – your best bet is to take the color you want to apply the shadow to, and go just a little bit southeast from it on the color field. Then your shadows will look subtle and natural.
Lastly! On the comics that aren’t big gratuitous pictures of food, I like to add a little halftone filter since I’m not doing tons of color and shading. Color halftone is under filter > pixelate:
The default is 8px, but at this size and resolution I usually like to go up to 12 or 16.
The initial filter is a little too strong; we want this for the background effect, we don’t want it to interfere with the lettering:
So let’s fade it! Apple-shift-F will fade the most recent filter, or you can find it under Edit.
And we’re done! It occurs to me that I’ve been using Photoshop pretty much every day for over a decade, so if I glossed over anything or you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I want to know who are these chicken-legged women for which every dang ladies’ fashion boot on the planet is designed. I’m a very short and very fit and trim lady but my slight stockiness makes it hard for me to find boots too. Never mind that the only fashionable way to wear boots these days is to stuff your pant legs into them and/or maybe have some thick socks peeking out over the tops, so you’d think they’d give us a little more room but nope!
I’m really enjoying these drawing tutorials– it’s not an art I’ve learned how to do myself, but I love me some webcomics, so this is all entirely fascinating!
Also, while I can’t vouch for their quality (I’ve got ankle/ leg issues that mean all flats all the time, so most boot styles are right out for me) I do know that Torrid sells wide-width calf boots. Yanno. If you’re in the market for such things.
OOOH thank you Nomadicat!! I used to LOVE Torrid. Back when they first opened they had a lot of really cool retro/rockabilly style dresses that were just the best, and I ordered a few, and I still love them. Then gradually they became just a giant Twilight tee shirt warehouse, and I stopped checking them. I will go look now!
In case you need to hear it: those boots don’t fit because you’re in good shape. Big calves come from getting around on a bicycle.
(Wait. What I meant was, “It is because you are in good shape that those boots won’t fit.” I think the sentence was a little screwy / ambiguous the first time.)
Thank you Isaac!! :D And yeah – I mean, I don’t want to trash any ladies out there with skinny calves either. Every body is different, and none of us can do that much to significantly change the bodies that we’re given. And we only start to feel really cruddy about ourselves when we all try to force ourselves to fit into the generic size and shape that the stores and advertisers try to convince us we should be. The important thing isn’t making my calves skinnier, it’s searching for boots that fit my calves as they are.
1. Man, I would love it if my calves were a little bigger. It’s the one place I can’t seem to put on any muscle.
2. A 15″ circumference seems really, really small.
If you want a pair of high boots like that, try the one laced on front (and with zipper on the side… less work lol) or the one with an elastic part at the calves section.
My friend Jackie always has this problem, her calves are naturally huge so she has the worst time finding boots ;_; My calves are very, very slim so I have problems finding ones that aren’t super loose *sigh* just can’t win ><
I used to use the multiply tech for coloring but now I use the channels to put my linework on it's own layer so I can change the color of it. I've never really played with the halftone look….I like it a lot though so you may just have inspired me to give it a shot <33
That’s why I just get lace-up boots. Fluevog has some great ones. If you can get into a store, they also will stretch out the leg for you, too, but I am not sure if they can stretch it two inches. You would have to ask. The leather they use is super soft and supple, so they just might be able to.
I also have big calves – I think mine are 19″? I measured, but I don’t remember now. I was also sad to not have cute knee-high boots. Then I went to Lane Bryant on a whim, and found out they now sell shoes in-store – including boots with elastic sides! I bought some super-cute brown ones with zip-up sides. Worth a shot!
I always have this kind of problem. People always compliment me on my nice looking calves, but they are 16inches and never fit boots. I get sad because I love boots!!!
I had a pair of boots on my Christmas list and they have 13 (!) inch calves. Yeah, no. Seeing how you get your comic from paper to screen is really interesting. I also appreciate all the food tips—I live in Logan but never try new restaurants.
Sarah!! Sarah!!!!!! I don’t know if you read Persephone, but they just put out a fantabulous wide-width calf boot roundup: http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/01/ta-fashion-advisory-wide-calf-boots-for-a-winter-goddess/ replete with galoshes and cowboy boots and ski boots and I just had to come back over here and share it.
EEEEEEEE I am more than a little in love with those Kickers boot!! Thanks NomadiCat!! Now, to examine the budget and see if there’s money for them… :)