Non-photo blue for you

Four-panel diary, alternative format.


An alternative four-panel diary format, including spotting a little blue penguin in the harbour!

And while I’m using the word blue…

The blue pencil drawings are made using a “non-photo blue” pencil. Such pencils are notable because a photocopier does not reproduce the blue lines. Originally used for marking written copy with amends, cartoonists will use non-photo blue pencils to draw images before inking them.

Original four-panel inked drawings.

Original drawings.

Above is the original, with the non-photo blue pencil, and below is the photocopied version. Not a sign of the blue pencil. Although not obvious here, the images below were reduced when photocopying to half the size of the originals.

Photocopied four-panel drawing.

Photocopied version.

And if you were wondering, scanners and digital cameras pick up the blue line, though it is relatively easy to edit in Photoshop.

Photoshopped version four-panel drawing.

Photoshopped version.

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