Comments For Page 327

Sorry for being late again with my update. I was doing so well too. I had every intention of getting the page up early but I allowed myself to get side tracked and ended up not getting much done at all.

I don't seem to have a problem getting Monday's page up on time, so you can look forward to that early on Monday. Wednesday and Friday's updates will depend on a lot of factors, mostly how focused I am.

Not much going on here, so I'll talk to you next update.

Comments For Page 326

I actually had this page up last night, but it was too late to post anything. I kind of like how Racheal looks in panel one, but I stretched her face in panel three. I changed Toi's eyes so that she would have a different look then the others. Slara is still looking the same as always, though her snout does change lengths. I try to keep consistent.

I suppose I should have some model sheets I can look at to see how the character's look from different angles so I can keep they consistent, but I like to keep the forms lose and it's a lot of work to do model sheets. I could spend some time finalizing the characters if I took time off from drawing the pages. Maybe have a week of sketches instead of story. El Goonish Shive is doing that right now, which is why I'm thinking of it. Does anyone care either way?

I'd also like to take the time and redo the introduction to my comic. The original art work is pretty bad and the first 120+ pages are made up of individual panels instead of one image per page. I'd like to redraw the first 50 or so pages, though the next 70+ pages could just be collected together in Photoshop, so that each set of loose panels would form a page. However, this would take time I don't have, unless I take time out of my regular updates to do this.

Without any feedback, it's hard to know what people want. You keep coming back, so you must like the comic, which is a good thing. Let me know what I can do to make it better.

Comments For Page 325

Well, the good news is that I got this page up on time. I seem to do better at getting the page up on Sunday night then at putting the page up Tuesday or Thursday night. I'm going to have to keep trying to do better. I hope you like the work I put into each page.

The bad news is that I didn't get much work done on my side project. Not much surprise there, I knew I wouldn't do much work on the weekend. I did however do some work, which is pretty good. I might put something up on Monday or Tuesday, depending on if I can keep working on it over the next few days.

I'll see you on Wednesday with a new page - maybe sooner. I need to keep pushing forward.

Comments For Page 324

Sorry for my lateness in putting up this comic, but I did say it would likely be late. The good news is that it's not as late as last Wednesday's comic at least.

Not much to report. Between the summer heat and all the work around the house, I just don't have much energy to support my web comic. I'm thinking I should sleep during the day and work at night. That will solve some of my problems at least.

I'm really hoping to get to work on a special project this weekend. If all goes well, I'll have an announcement on Monday. Of course, things never go well and it will likely be next week or later before I get anything done, but the hope is there.

If I was working a real job, people wouldn't be using up all my valuable time. We'll see what can be done.

Comments For Page 323

Sorry, I'm really late getting this page up. I really should have had it up earlier but I've been really tied lately and it's been hard to concentrate. I kind of skimped on the details here and there, especially in the middle panel with the running Pigvoxs.

I'm going out Thursday night, so there is a good chance Friday's page may be late as well. I have a meeting Friday morning, so the page will likely not appear until late afternoon. I'll try my best to get it up sooner, but considering how late this page is going up, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I'll see you Friday.

Comments For Page 322

Well, it's been over a week but I've finally put up a new page for my comic. Sorry for the delay but I had a lot of work to do and I just couldn't focus on the comic at the time. Hopefully this won't happen again but until I can make my comic profitable, I'm going to have to keep accepting freelance jobs to keep food on the table.

As I've said before, I'm going to have to push myself to add new content to my website so that I can convince you to support me both through giving me money and by pushing my comic up the two lists I'm on so that new people will visit my page.

I've heard several people have gained popularity by saying something controversial (like Sony sucks and Nintendo Wii is the greatest system ever) but I'm not the kind of person to stoop to such tactics. I'd rather offer incentives that people would be willing to pay for like a five update week for every 100 dollars donated or a free high quality wallpaper for every vote. I'm not sure people understand the vote process, so I might need to explain that as well so people don't feel intimidated. I need your support to keep this comic going or there will be many more delays like last week.

I'll post again Monday. See you then.

Graduation

Sorry, no comic or filler today. I really wanted to get something done, but the project I was working on (see below) really burnt me out. I was up late last night putting on the finishing touches of the last painting and there was no time to do anything else.

Yes, I know I said I needed to have it done Wednesday, but the client wasn't in a big hurry to get the images so I had an extra day to get them done. If I had more energy I could have gotten them done on time but it was really draining to paint so many pictures in so short a time.

I'm leaving for my graduation banquet in Truro soon, so I don't have time to do anything now. I won't be back until Saturday night, so my next update won't be until late Sunday or early Monday. I'm still actively seeking work, but I don't have any major projects on the go right now, so the next few comics will be on time.

Sorry for all the delays in updating. I'll try to schedule my time better in the future.

Comments For Filler 06-13-2007

This is getting pathetic. I was planing to have all these paintings done by today and instead I still have two more to do. It's been really hard to stay focused and get these done. I'm going to be burned out by the time I get the last two finished, but I will get a comic page up on Friday before noon, no matter what it takes.

These are images for a picture book about a minibus taking a tour of Hong Kong. Do a web search of Hong Kong and you should be able to find most of these locations.

My graduation is this Saturday, so I'll soon officially be a Digital Animator. I seem to be doing more drawing and painting then animating, but I hope that will change soon.

Well, I better get back to work. These paintings are not going to finish themselves. I'll see you Friday.

Comments For Filler 06-11-2007

Sorry for giving you another filler. I'm very busy trying to finish up this work project. It's good to have work, but deadlines kind of suck. This is my first official freelance job and I want to get a good recommendation so that I can get more work. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to schedule my time better so that I can work on the comic and any side work I have to do at the same time.

The four drawings are some of the last drawings I did in life drawing class of our model, Janet. She was a great model and I enjoyed working with her. It's hard to believe that I've been drawing her (along with several other models) for two years and I'll probably never see her again.

My drawings have vastly improved over the last two years (as anyone reading my archive can plainly see). These drawings were all done in about five minutes each (the top left one was closer to ten). When I first started life drawing, I'd be lucky to have a drawing that looked human in that amount of time.

Everyone in an art field (be it illustration, painting, classical animation, or 3D computer models) should take life drawing classes. If you can't afford them or there aren't any in your area, then set up your own sessions. You don't need a nude model (though the fewer clothes the better) or even a human model (animals and still life drawings are also options), but the important this is to draw from real life. Too many people draw off of other's pictures or from photographs. While there is nothing wrong with doing that in general, you can pick up a lot of bad habits if that's the only drawing you do. You need to learn how real things are put together before you attempt to develop a style. Draw every day, even if it's just a quick sketch of a pencil. The more you draw, the better you'll get. Then you can start experimenting with styles.

I've got to go back to work. My project is due Wednesday, so I should have an actual comic page up then, although it will likely be up late. See you Wednesday.

Comments For Filler 06-08-2007

This comic is from a weird dream I had. It's not something I could work into a regular comic page so I put it in as a filler.

I still very busy with my freelance job so I wanted to do something quick. It still took me over two hours to do. Darn my need to clean up my art.

I really should get back to work. At the rate I'm going, Monday might be a filler as well. At the very least, it will likely be up late, so don't bother looking for it until Monday night.

Comments For Page 321

Looks like the group has a long climb ahead.

Sorry for the photograph of the mountains and clouds. I wanted the mountain to look right even if the colors are a little off. Manga Studio has a wide collection of backgrounds to use in cases like this, so I should start using them.

I have some freelance work to do, so I can't spend a lot of time working on the comic right now. I'm trying to make some money here and there so I won't have to take a real job and have to stop my comic altogether like so many other comic artists. I hope you'll forgive me if the next few pages are done quickly so I can get back to work.

I'll see you Friday.

Comments For Page 320

My brother left early and I had time to finish the page. I tried to keep things simple, but the first panel still took a while to do.

You'll notice I'm still playing with the look of the characters. The characters have thin waists and broad chests now. Switching to jeans kind of help give the characters the new look. I tried to keep Racheal's facial features the same this time as well.

I like the mirror, although I wonder if the reflection should be more brown then blue? A brown reflexion would kind of get lost in the wall. Maybe we can pretend there is a window opposite the mirror and it's reflecting the sky outside.

Nothing new to report. I'm just plugging along, trying to learn as much as I can about art and animation. I'd learn better by doing then reading, but I still can't get my act together. Oh well, I still have two weeks until graduation. After that, I'll have no choice but to find a way to make some money. A wonder if I can my sell art online? I've got to do something.

Comments For Page 319

Because this is the last time we'll see Angel, Bunny, Ann, Terra and Obitckert for a while, I decided to do up a nice picture of them in panel one. I forgot to draw Balap (the elf boy). He should be standing in the space between Obitckert and the satchel.

I started drawing construction lines again in order to try to get the posing right. I wanted to line up all the characters in panel one so they could all be seen. I needed to know there Toi's arms were in panel 3 and Racheal's legs in panel 5.

Racheal's face changes in panel 2 and 5. You'd think after drawing her hundreds of times, I could keep her face consistent.

If you're wondering why Racheal doesn't want to wear pants, take a look at page 316 again. Notice something sticking out? Racheal has always been embarrassed about having a tail and a long skirt or dress is a great way to hide it. Racheal did were shorts for a short time on page 284, but she was trying to make a point at the time. She likely had her tail between her legs which would be pretty uncomfortable.

My brother is coming to visit this weekend, so Monday's page may be a little late. It's a new month and I still don't have any incentives done. If I don't soon get myself in gear, I'm going to find myself living in the streets and this comic will just disappear. Please don't let that happen.