This Blog, This Monster

Behind-the-scenes details, tutorials, process techniques, creator spotlights, miscellaneous rants, and all things related to inky stories

Golden Age Striped Screens: Digital Emulation Tutorial

Why those old-school comic book effects still matter (and how to recreate them)

Ever wonder why vintage comics from the 1930s and '40s have that distinctive look that modern digital coloring just can't quite capture? The secret lies in the printing techniques of the era—specifically, the use of striped color screens that gave Golden Age comics their unique visual texture.

Learn more about this history and technique

theme image of my Street Music blog Street Music My ancient work for Fantagraphics. Other artists included Richard Sala, Chester Brown, Carol Tyler, Jules Feiffer, and Gilbert Hernandez.
Mecanica vs. Aliens Pin-up illustration of Mecanica protecting her unearthly village from what appears to be an invasion from outer space
thematic image of my Ask Kodiak commission work Ask Kodiak Commission art, design, and concepts for an insurance industry search engine marketing campaign
theme image of six-year-old horse thief dux vs. redux blog Dux vs. Redux Comparison of digital and analog versions of my memoir "Six-Year-Old Horse Thief"
Static Inky website Exchanging the prison of Wordpress themes, plugins, and MySQL for the freedom to manually edit static HTML.

Art technique

theme image of Analog Art Process blog Analog art process Making comics with brushes, dip pens, ink, drafting tools, and other forgotten art supplies in the digital age
theme image of my digital art process blog Digital art process My self-taught process of making comics without paper; you never run out of Paint Bucket at three in the morning
example of my Silver Age comic book art emulation Silver Age color emulation technique Ben Day dots, the 64-color pallet, and newsprint texture are essential to the audience experience
sample of my Craftint emulation work Craftint Duo-Shade emulation technique Adding gray tones to single-color line art with modern digital tools. Old school never dies, it multiplies.
Light box method Drawing preliminary roughs on separate sheets makes cleaner comic book pencil art.
theme image of perspective in comic books blog Perspective in comics Sacrificing fundamentals to the gods of dramatic effect and deadlines
theme image of my '80s lettering blog My '80s lettering This inspired by error-prone alternative lettering process seemed like a good idea at the time.

Comic creators

theme image of Fletcher Hanks blog Fletcher Hanks American cartoonist who created Fantomah and Stardust the Super Wizard
photo of a color Lt. Blueberry page Jean Giraud Jean Giraud: Color The color pallet of Blueberry comics expresses focus, depth, selective realism, and specific time of day.

Public appearances

Gaspar Saladino and his admirers at New York ComicCon 2014 ComicCon 2014 Got enlisted to Gaspar's Posse while getting free lettering help from Tom Orzechowski and Chris Eliopoulos
thematic image of my 2013 art exhibit at Agencyport Software, Boston MA Gallery @ Agencyport 2013 solo exhibition of my comic book work at an independent gallery celebrating local artists in the vibrant Fort Point Channel neighborhood of Boston
thematic image of my 2002 art exhibit Gallery @ 1369 Coffee House 2002 solo exhibition of my comic book work at an independent gallery in Cambridge, MA
James Mobius and David Marshall working the Moebius Retrospective at Arisia 2013 Arisia 2013 For the third consecutive year, I've had honor of being a panelist at Arisia, New England's premier scifi convention.
Harley and Batgirl cosplayers at Arisia 2012 Arisia 2012 Once again, I participated at New England's premier science fiction convention for fans and professionals.
David Marshall, Andrew Farago, Shaenon Garrity, and Ken Gale working The History of Comics panel of Arisia 2011 Arisia 2011 My first time paneling at New England's premier science fiction convention for fans and professionals.