A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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September 26, 2022

The Aquia Line Graphic Novel

 

Playing around with Photoshop. This was a great exercise in smart objects, layer masks and compositing.  In the past I would use Photoshop for the graphics and Illustrator for the layout, but this image was done completely in Photoshop. 


This is not the first time I tried doing a graphic novel. I did an eight page chapter for my brother's book, Nation's Fortress, about our family in America's wars from the Revolution to the Cold War. The graphic novel chapter was about our grandfather's experience in WW1.  Here is a sample page from that chapter. The rest of the book is regular text. However, each chapter has a different format. For example, the chapter on the civil war is told through letters to home. I wrote that chapter for the book. If you are interested in the book you can get a copy at this lin



6 comments:

  1. Did you really put your golden spike at the end of a siding? I hope it doesn't get forgotten or buried by end-of-track bumpers or anything.

    Congrats on the accomplishment however. That was quick!

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    1. Yes, at the end of a siding, but it was more a metaphoric golden spike than a literal one.

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  2. Graphic Novel? Was Spiderman or better yet Captain America there too? Congratulations on the Golden Spike regardless!!!!

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    1. When I was a kid I liked Marvel comics for their detailed artwork. These days I am not a fan as the plots are just too fanciful. But, I do like a good graphic novel every now and then. Plus I like playing with Photoshop.

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  3. Eric ZabilkaSeptember 26, 2022

    Composting? Or compositing? Either could be correct! I find InDesign to be the most useful tool for this kind of stuff. Easier layout and text tools that either Photoshop or Illustrator, and smaller files since the images are linked to the original files rather than added to the master raster file. Regardless, great work!

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    1. I have used In-Design for most of my document layout tasks. In this case I noticed that Illustrator had difficulty scaling the smart object graphics as it would re-execute the filters after each change in scale. That resulted in old effects on the images. So doing it all in PS was more reliable. I have not had tried smart objects in In Design. I will try it next time I do this.

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