Yo don't ask me, I'm not a storyboard artist no mo

nope, I don't have a tumblr. But if you follow the "hellen jo" tag, teenagers all over the country re-post my shit like there's no tomorrow

wow

oh

THNKU

I always use a Pocket Pentel brush pen on cold press watercolor paper to fake the dry brush effect.

!!! I had many MANY crepas sets as a kid, including a 나라라 슈퍼보드 box, so I suppose, through sheer youth exposure, that I was influenced indirectly by crepas, but honestly, I avoid most oil-based or dry color mediums these days because I am no good at them.

thank you very much! The originals are very much sold out, the show itself having ended last week. As for prints/reproductions, I have some plans but everything is in an embryonic stage, so keep yer grapes peeled

at some point! Sorry for the vagueness. I will get some shit made in the near future (as late as this summer?), once I get a break from the raging turmoil of my soul

None. I barely even drink anymore.

My only "drug" currently is root beer

I'm a double drop out. The first time I went to college, I was a German major at a big public university. The second time I tried to go back to school, I went to an art college. About a third of the classes I took at the art school (I didn't take that many) were actually really useful to me, esp. clothed figure drawing and color & design (I don't think I ever passed that class!), but at that point, I'd already been making comics and doin' illustrations on my own for years, independent of school.

About one-third of the artists I know graduated from art school, and another third either left early or never went at all. The remaining third went to non-art schools and majored in shit like cognitive science or linguistics, and pursued work in illustration or animation anyway. We are all over the map in terms of who's making work and who ain't doing shit. As far as I can see, one's success does not hinge exclusively on one's academic experiences.

I think it's always important to learn shit but a degree won't make or break you as an artist. I mean, I got my current job when my boss had heard I'd dropped out. And if you are going to be a comic book artist, the hands-down best way to learn is to READ A SHITLOAD OF COMICS, AND NEVER STOP DRAWING RAWING AWING WING ING NG G

sour grapes

I just found it, and I can't believe I answered that question in 2010. HOW HAVE I BEEN ON FORMSPRING THAT LONG!!!!

Here's the link: http://www.formspring.me/helllllen/q/635859950

But I will also just copy and paste that shit here:

"do you use a certain method when scanning your drawings to make them look all nice?

helllllen 3 Jun 10
Well, for one thing, I have a really fucking nice scanner, the mighty EPSON GT-20000. However, before that, I used the gimpy but very reliable CanoScan N 650U for nine years, with similar results. No matter which scanner you own, you can make nice scans of your work! Generally, here's how I scan shit:

IN COLOR:
1. I scan the image at 300dpi, save as tiff.
2. In Photoshop, I up the contrast and brightness a bit.
3. I also like to open Image > Adjustments > Color Balance, and add an equal amount (usually around +40) of Red and Blue in the midtones. For some reason, this makes shit more crisp. I don't adjust much beyond that.
4a. For print, I save it at 300dpi as a tiff with LZW compression (no image quality loss!)
4b. For the web, I knock it down to 72dpi and save as jpg.

IN BLACK & WHITE (FOR PRINT):
1. I scan the image in GREYSCALE, NOT BLACK AND WHITE, at 600dpi, save as tiff. Scanning in B&W is a blaspheme to the holy precision of line!
2. Then in Photoshop, I upsample the file to 1270dpi.
3. Resize the file to the correct print size (meaning, change the inches back to 8.5x11" or 11x17" or whatever your intended print size).
4. Go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold, and threshold to 145.
5. Save as a BITMAP TIFF (not greyscale).

IN BLACK & WHITE (FOR WEB):
1. Scan image in greyscale at 300dpi, save as tiff.
2. In Photoshop, I up the contrast a couple times times to get rid of stray marks. I just use the erase tool on any other mess.
3. Knock it down to 72dpi and save as jpg.

I hope that information is useful to you dudes; everyone seems to have their own (better) ways to scan in color, so I welcome any suggestions. That is just a way I figured out for myself after a bit of trial and error. The method for scanning B&W for printing, though, is the Sovereign Means, passed onto me by my publisher, Dylan. I AIN'T FUCKING AROUND WITH THAT SHIT SO RESPEC!"

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the episode! Originally, I had boarded that scene with Mordecai, Rigby, and Fives sippin' at 40 oz. soda bottles with twisty straws, still on the lawn chairs and in the kiddie pool, but JG amped that shit up with the rad CH-CH-CH-CHILLIN' crimp, and I think he also was the one to change the bottles with straws to cans in brown bags, which reads better and funnier.

I tried that shit out for about a year, on a dozen illustrations and on a ten page comic, and I concluded that I disliked that tool. It scratches up my preferred kinds of paper, the nib points catch on tooth and spray ink, you can't draw a circle or a bendy line without resistance/paper gouging, unless you use a lot of short fast lines (I like long slow wavy ones), the ink lines are way thick and take forever to dry, and so I'm more likely to smudge them. These are the same reasons that I find Rapidographs unappealing. I'm not dismissing nibs for all time and all people, but for me personally, it's not a good fit.

And I'm sorry but I must add that I don't dismiss certain methods or tools unless I've tried them out and they did not fulfill my needs. I'm a bit insulted that you would think me so flippant

I ink with a Pocket Pentel brush pen, usually on top of Arches cold press watercolor paper or bristol vellum. Sometimes I ink with a nib and the blood of my enemies. Or egg yolks.

I'm just kidding, I don't fucking use nibs

an Asian one! BA-DUMP-TCH

I live in too warm a climate for a white Christmas, anyway

I'm inspired deeply by many many comic artists and illustrators and fine artists and novelists and films .... just like every other asshole out there. I'm sorry, I just never know how to answer such broad questions!

You can search my Formspring history for more specific sources:

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+comics&oq=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+comics&gs_l=hp.3...1108.42284.1.42685.13.12.0.0.0.2.146.1068.8j4.12.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1j2.dR2S7CJ1EUw&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&fp=1c51808721d58050&bpcl=39967673&biw=1136&bih=617

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+inspiration&oq=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+inspiration&gs_l=hp.3...25812.27092.2.27611.11.10.0.0.0.0.130.823.7j3.10.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.mjISYUqIFA0&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&fp=1c51808721d58050&bpcl=39967673&biw=1136&bih=617

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+favorite&oq=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+favorite&gs_l=hp.3...48968.49744.3.50063.8.8.0.0.0.0.126.609.6j2.8.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.sEMBsmNR4Pk&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&fp=1c51808721d58050&bpcl=39967673&biw=1136&bih=617

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+inspired&oq=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+inspired&gs_l=hp.3...31970.36571.4.36706.17.2.15.0.0.0.125.182.1j1.2.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.kizAGiOFm-o&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&fp=1c51808721d58050&bpcl=39967673&biw=1136&bih=617

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+influence&oq=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formspring.me%2Fhelllllen+influence&gs_l=hp.3...20335.22159.5.22334.11.8.3.0.0.0.123.531.7j1.8.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.RPRY1t0_hF8&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&fp=1c51808721d58050&bpcl=39967673&biw=1136&bih=617

I currently have no work in any show at this time, just some comics floating around here and there.

Here's a previous Formspring question I answered with my list of favorite things to do in San Francisco, though you might find it somewhat out of date (SF, especially in the Mission, has changed so rapidly just in the last year; I barely recognize it when I go back, but there are so many new and exciting things to try!)

http://www.formspring.me/helllllen/q/314951885981227076

As far as LA goes, I'll give you a condensed list of shit. I really like to eat at 101 Noodle Express in Monterey Park; they have really good xiao long bao (dumpling with liquid pork fat inside) and INCREDIBLE sour vegetable noodle soup. It is my single most favorite thing to eat in the San Gabriel Valley (don't go to Chinatown to eat; just drive to Alhambra and MP). If you find yourself stranded in Burbank, eat at Porto's. LACMA has a really awesome Stanley Kubrick show going on right now, with tons of production photos, film props, poster art, etc, and all of their other collections and exhibits are always very solid. Visit the Neutra House for an educational architecture tour. There's nice shit to do and eat in Silver Lake and Echo Park and Los Feliz and Atwater Village, but you can find all that crap on Yelp.

I wish I had a cool list like the one I wrote while fondly recalling San Francisco, but I am old and boring now; I spend all my free time fondling the tomato plants and seed packets at Home Depot these days.

Fuuuuuuuuuuck no

Thanks for asking! But, no.