I have been running non-stop!!!

It's been a madhouse recently. I finally landed a decent job at a local frameshop and while it's not great, it at least it involves art somehow!! ( Not to mention, I've learned some wicked cool framing tricks!!) I've also started teaching classes on Sequential Art over at my local comic shop. So thats starting to take up time. Luckily, I enjoy teaching, so teaching comics is twice as sweet. Maybe if things go well with that I'll be able to teach full-time. ^.^

Also, I updated my site with a whole new look!!! Now you can see my comics (finished and works-in-progress ) as well as my Graphic Design work. I hope you like them.

~Ronald La Belle

O.O

Sorry no updates lately. Paying the bills seems to be getting in the way of my art for the moment. >.< Anyway, the new site has been updated, although it's still a work-in-progress. I hope to have an excerpt from my latest manga effort uploaded soon. We'll just have to wait and see ...

~Ronald La Belle

It's ALIIIIIIVE!!!!!

Yeah I know it's Cliche, but why not!!! Well my website is now up and funcitional!! (More of Less!!) Check it out!! http://www.ronaldlabelle.com/

Website Pending

Believe it or not, I FINALLY got around to acquiring some domain names!!! As soon as I find a host that I am happy with I will upload a nice shiny new website. OOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAHHHH Hopefully it will be a better environment for my artwork. We'll just have to wait and see. ~Ronald La Belle

Dragon VS Mantis

ha HA Long time no post!! Well I finally landed a 9to5 job ... 9.9 so that means a little more money and A LOT less art. At least I managed this months sequential challenge over on Antarctic Press' forums. ^_^ This month was a standard martial arts duel between two characters. I hope you enjoy. ~Ronald La Belle

Paladin OVA - DVD Cover

I was inspired by Kurosawa and the whole Samurai genre when making this DVD cover. Alas, the dot-screening didn't survive the shrinking process. (it looks great in print!!) This is a fictional Anime that I made up for a Senior Project in Graphic Design and it was a great chance to experiment with Kanji!! Enjoy! ~

Heavy Metal Paladin - Sketch

Riding that wave of Heavy Metal comes my next entry ... This is the sketch for my Paladin DVD Cover (mockup). Don't ask me why I think a Heavy Metal Rocker would make a great paladin ... he just would!!!!! Enjoy!! ~ Ronald La Belle

Space Hardware

Ha HAAA!!! The 1980's!!! Sure I was only 5, but I must have been saturated with all of that Heavy Metal, CyberPunk, Post-Apocalyptic, and Science-Fiction goodness!!! ^.^ So this is my ode to 80's era Spare Hardware ... more or less inspired by a very quirky book that I found as a child, buried in a corner of the Library. Ah yes, this was back when no-one gave a whoot HOW the things worked and just made 'em huge and cool. Don't get me wrong, I do love Hard Sci-Fi, but part of me never gets tired of the caution-to-the-wind, loose-science, Pulp Sci-Fi. You know ... BattleStar Galactica (ok, 70s), Original Dirty Pair, Bubblegum Crisis 2032, Blade Runner, etc. Awesome stuff!!! Well, Enjoy my painting ... I'm sure there's more of this to come!! - Departure by Ronald La Belle

Vault Door #1

Another Oil Painting, this time of an Apocalyptic Wasteland Desert! I call it VaultDoor #1, since this is my first painting of a vault and I feel more "VaultDoors" lurking in my head somewhere!! ^.^ I've always like the Idea of Bunker/Vaults ... they're so similar to dungeons, tombs, and caves and yet they retain a futuristic, post-modern feel that is unique. That makes them great places for the adventerous and foolhardy main characters of a thousand stories!!! Enjoy!! ~ VaultDoor #1 by Ronald La Belle

Fantasy Landscape

This is one of my oil paintings that I created using techniques I learned Pleine Aire painting in Palo Duro Canyon. Enjoy!! ~ Untitled Fantasy by Ronald La Belle

My non-manga work is fairly extensive, and I feel it would be a shame not to include it here!! So I plan on posting more traditional oil-paintings, cover - designs, etc. so that I can present a more complete image of my abilities. ^_^ Stay Tuned!!!! ~ Ronald La Belle 

T-Shirt Competition Entry

This was my submission to Akon 16's Annual T-Shirt Contest. I'm disappointed that it didn't win, but you can't win 'em all. -_- I will probably strip the A-Kon reference out of the background, and rebuild the image into something else. I hope you enjoy it!! ~ Ronald La Belle

Anti-Heroine: Delfina

This yet another main character from my manga. ( I probably have enough characters and stories to keep me busy for years!! ) I was experimenting with color fields and their importance in creating mood. Enjoy!!

Future Vehicle Concepts

The final Concept Drawing ... Enjoy!! 3/3 ~ Ronald La Belle

Another Concept, This time its a nuclear powered Uni-bike ... ^.^ Too much fun!!!! 2/3 ~ Ronald La Belle

This is a concept drawing for the Random Sequential that came previously. Enjoy!! 1/3 ~ Ronald La Belle 

More Sequential Art

Here is another sequential page created from a one page script. This is the same situation as "Once Again A Princess", but this time it is of an unpublished story 'snippet' by the son. I was looking to use ink more prominently in my page though I think "Cry" was more successful to this end. Also, I was attempting to mimic real toning which is by necessity uncomplicated, due to deadlines. Enjoy!!

- Ronald La Belle

Cry

Well, it's been a whole month since my last update. I have been busy job hunting and portfolio making, so it's been a busy month. Here is an illustration I just finished that features one of my main characters from another one of my manga ideas. I like it as it stands, though I plan on adding a background. (I have the idea ... I just don't know how I want to do it. o_O ) Enjoy!!

"Cry" by Ronald La Belle, Copyright 2005

Datura, Privateer Captain

Sometimes, things just work the way you want them to work. This is the finished image of Datura, illustrating a scene from the Third Issue of WasteChild. I had a traditional Cover Illustration in mind when I created this image and I am very happy with the results! Enjoy!! ~Ronald La Belle

This illustration is my attempt to solidify my main character's design and feel. This turned out to be good practice for painting in Photoshop. So here she is, Datura the Privateer Captain. Enjoy!! ~Ronald La Belle 

Random Sequential Art

This is a random page of sequential art created from "Once Again A Princess" by Jane Bierce, adapted to script by her son. (www.hardshell.com) I thought it was good practice for working with a writer, since, as an artist, you don't always get the luxury of doing your own writing. >.<

Dusty Huntress

This image was a total experiment. I was attempting to convince a rather annoying art professor that manga was worthy digital art. So I pushed myself to the limit and created this nice piece. I am very proud of the results.

Tips on ScreenTones

A common question I keep hearing people ask focuses on cheap and easy methods for achieving a ScreenToned look with a digital image. Screentone, in-case you have never heard of it, is a clear acetate-like material that has adhesive on one side and a field of dots on the other. It is used to create texture, value, and atmospheric effects in manga and some American comics. Each tone has a different density of dots used to achieve a certain value of Gray while keeping the whole image b/w. This method is used in newspaper printing all the time, so chances are you'll have seen an example or can find one quickly. in any newspaper you have handy.

As for technique, there are two ways of creating digital tones that I generally use. (I am describing this technique using Photoshop 7, but this might work for any program with similar filters and bitmap options.) In both Methods, Start by importing your line art and converting it into grayscale. ( Image > Mode > Grayscale ) Next, Create a new layer and set it to multiply (layers panel - click the box with "Normal" in it). Finally, IN THE NEWLY CREATED LAYER apply the appropriate grey tones (20%, 50%, etc.) until your artwork is essentially a finished image. Then ...

Method A.) Select the layer with the grey patterns that you've been working in all along by clicking on it in the Layers Palette. Find the filter by looking here: Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Run the filter. It will ask you for dot size in pixels ... The higher the resolution (in dpi) that your image has the smaller the dots will appear. Basically, Z , or UNDO, is your friend as you experiment through trial and error to find the right dot size. Another, problem I've read about, but have yet to encounter is that the dots will CHANGE whenever you resize your image, creating unwanted Moire effects. (Those funky optical patterns made by overlapping tones incorrectly.) The last stickler on this method is that you can't use it in RGB mode. If you do you'll get a multicolored dot pattern, even on greys ... sorta like what newspaper pictures look like up close.

Method B.)This is kinda tricky. Select all the lineart on the orginal layer and or it. Next delete the whole original layer leaving only the grey patterns on the new layer. Now go to Image > Mode > Bitmap. Select round dots in the first window and hit ok. Tweak the dot density on the second window to change the overall dot size for the end tone effect and then hit OK. Now that your greys are all Tone-ified, go Image > Mode > Grayscale in order to return you're image to a grayscale image. Don't forget this step, since you CANNOT paste in Bitmap mode. Now change the tone layer from Normal to Multiply. Add a new layer, and move it UNDER the tone layer by dragging it down on the Layer palette. Now select the new layer, and hit Edit > Paste. Your ink lines will be added and VOILA instant Toned Inks. I think this method looks the best IMHO. Checkout AP's How To Draw Manga #3 (the big collected one) as David Hutchinson has a REALLY good demo that uses a similar method. If you mess up the cut/paste stuff just use the History Panel to back up to before you deleted your precious inks. You can skip that cut/paste part, BUT you'll risk losing any delicate pencil or pen lines, since the Bitmap conversion is ROUGH (More like a sledgehammer than a scalpel.) I recommend removing your inks with the cut/paste method so that your inks turn out PERFECT and that sets the Tones off better than anything.

It's confusing to read, but just try following along, one step at a time, and it shouldn't be too bad.

I hope you find this useful!!

Page 9 of The WasteChild Saga: Prologue 

Page 8 of The WasteChild Saga: Prologue 

THE WASTECHILD SAGA

The WasteChild Saga constitutes my first legitimate hope of becoming a professional Manga-ka, or Comic Artist. This tale follows my theme of carving hope out from the most hellish of circumstances, straight into the harsh realities of the post-apocalyptic deadlands. In this place, safehaven among friends, strong and true, is more valuable than oil, bullets, high-technology, or even water. With death and hopelessness slinking from dune to dune and village to village, the only ties to life our heroes hold are the chains of blood and honor.

I will be posting excerpt pages, related art, and hopefully an announcement of publication! ^.^

~Ronald La Belle

WELCOME TO WASTELAND DREAMS

Welcome to my artistic visions and dreamworlds. Thankyou for coming and I hope you enjoy yourself!

What you will find here are excerpts from my art and manga, as well as suggestions on art making, and my own ruminations. I tend to work with a WIDE range of media from pencil and ink to paint and computers, so hopefully there will be a little bit for everyone.

Personally I find the art world to be a bit insular and unfriendly, and so I hope to provide suggestions, tid-bits, and inspiration for all of the other struggling artists of my generation. ^_^

Feel free to ask questions and lend suggestions so that we all might grow into better artists.

~Ronald La Belle

All artworks in Wasteland Dreams are Copyright 2005 by Ronald La Belle, unless expressly stated otherwise, and MAY NOT be used/copied/reproduced in any form without express written consent by Ronald La Belle. Please respect the hardwork and long hours spent in the creation of these artworks.