Blue Bean Composition and a Sprout-Butt Too!

I've been going through the jumble of bundles and bins that make up "The Beanworld Archives" and I've been finding all sorts of things from the past. I particularly like this piece from 1992 done on blue paper with marker and colored pencil.

One of the things that I have found most delightful about working in Photoshop is that it allows me to "think" in exactly the same way I always did with markers and colored pencils.

I did the composition below entirely in Photoshop--and to me anyway--it looks and feels exactly like the marker and pencils drawings I've always had so much fun doing.

I know most of you are thinking "Well...duhhhhhh." But one of the downsides of the last 15 years has been working with very talented artists who are so skilled in these programs that in order to accomplish commercial work--I never had to do anything for myself at all.

When I worked on Beanworld it was always the same process and materials--HB pencils on Bienfang 360 layout paper that I would then photocopy and blow up & down, mix & match, and cut & paste until the story arrived in its proper order and pacing.
I'm still working that way more or less. The fun I'm having is teaching myself how to ink digitally. I haven't faced as challenging a learning curve since I taught myself QuarkXpress on a Mac Classic in 1991. I love every minute of the aggravation as I feel my way around teaching myself this time around--although Gonzo and Tyler have been a big, big help with tips at work when I find myself back into an Adobe corner.

Oh, and when someone in the industry asked me if this meant I was no longer going to make more Beanworld Orphan drawings--my answer was "What? Are you kidding? Of course I am!"
I'm old enough that I probably will never be able to give up the joy of feeling the resistance of the texture of the paper against the tip of my drawing tool.