The pad is a standard 11by17 and 24 sheets. It's heavyweight and there are ruled blue line boards with a rough finish. I should mention that the packaging pissed me off! The name of the product is called 'FANBOY, Get out of the basement'. What an insult! They may be a little late getting into the comic book industry, so why diss your market?
So after I got over my hurt feelings, I penciled a test page, with the intention of inking it. Luckily, the inside cover had a how to draw comics tutorial! I am used to a smooth finish and the pencil lead I used left shadows after I erased it. My pen worked well but the finish does not take the brush very well.
My verdict is...SO-SO. I like the heavyweight but they need a hot press finish. I won't buy again. Unless they change the name.
3 comments:
I'm kinda against the idea of buying pre-printed drawing paper on principle. I think "Fanboy" is an appropriate name for such a product. I mean, what's so darn difficult about drawing your own darn rectangle? I don't mind it so much when a professional artist uses the pre-printed Marvel or DC boards, but that's only because I understand that they are given to their artists free, to standardize the output of their work. They probably have a system set up that make weird deviations in size a hassle. And I understand the allure of FREE! (As an aside, at conventions I've seen DC pages drawn on Marvel boards and vice versa, I think that's pretty funny) But stuff like Blue Line Pro... give me a break! I think that stuff has to be made to sell to people who want to "FEEL" like a "PRO." Nothing screamns "AMATEUR" like Blue Line Pro. I mean, when you get right down to it, it's just a sheet of Strathmmore 300 with some light blue lines printed on it. And here's the kicker, that stuff costs about 25% more than a comparable amount of blank white paper. I am a cheap son of a gun and I sure don't need to pay that much extra just to have a rectangle drawn for me. Personally, I buy a big ol' pad of Strathmore 300 and cut it to size and then I draw a rectangle and it's not that hard.
There is nothing wrong with drawing your own borders but having them printed is such a time saver. Deleter is a company that prints pro quality paper and I would recommend it.
As for paper printed by comic book publishers, I would love a ream of DC stock but they don't have anything you or I could not get.
Years ago, I did some work for a no-name publisher. He did not have a business plan or enough money to pay his artists, but the first thing he did was to have his own paper printed.
( I think I will post a blog about that guy..)
My point is, don't be so down on the amateur that would want to use Blue Line Pro or the 'Fanboy' paper. It's like a high school basketball player playing a game in Madison Square Garden. You may not be a pro, but you feel good acting like one.
If you're looking for quality smooth comic art boards you should try eonprod.com
-Brett
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