Friday, November 30, 2007

Comments For Page 390

The gang has finally made it to the center of the maze, but where is the satchel? Something tells me they won't be able to just walk in and pick it up. That would be too easy.

Sorry to be late posting again. At least I got the B&W image up this time; however, the picture looks much better in color. This new technique is adding over an hour to the process even though I'm not doing too much extra. I think what's really taking the time is my fussing over the look of the drawings. I'm trying to reach a level of competence where I can draw the characters accurately each time without needing to look at previous drawings. I know most people look at model sheets but I'd rather not be a slave to a particular drawing. I want to keep my style loose while still maintain a level of accuracy.

I painted a picture using a wet ink technique yesterday and I like the results. Not many people paint with ink these days but I like the process. You can get some very nice results with little effort. You still need a strong drawing to paint over, but the end result can look photo-realistic in the hands of a skilled painter. Back when B&W photography was common, you would often see ink paintings in magazines. Now that everything is in color, you don't see them much anymore.


Woman in Ink by ~DungeonWarden on deviantART

You can learn more about this technique in this article:
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Wash Painting: In Praise Of Happy Accidents

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Comments For Page 389

Could Birhena have turned on the group already? Come back Friday and see where those arms are coming from.

Sorry for the delay in putting the page up. As you can see I'm trying to improve the look of my art by varying the line thickness and by adding more shading. I tried to put up the black and white image last night but the recent update to the host seems to have rendered the FTP site unusable. I'm hoping this will soon be corrected. If not, I'll send a nice letter of compliant in hopes that it will be fixed.

In the mean time, I'm forced to use the Control Panel to upload to my site. The Control Panel is very useful for coding and altering the web site, but it's very slow at uploading anything, mainly because you can only upload one thing at a time.

I read a new tutorial for Manga Studio and found out there is a very easy way to create panel boarders. I wish I had known about this sooner as it saves me a lot of time setting up the page. Of course setting it up this new way took a while, causing this page to be posted even later, but now I can create all sorts of panels (including triangles and circles) with ease. I was tempted to try some unusual shaped panels, but that likely would have pushed the posting time back even further. I'll try to fit in some unusual panels in the future.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Comments For Page 388

I don't know what Birhena is complaining about. She's still the tallest one in the group. Balap has been short all his life and you don't hear him complaining ... much.

I had a hard time making birhena look like she was pointing behind herself. I think I finally got it right, but she doesn't look right overall. I think she's too small and the face isn't quite right. I am getting pretty good drawing everyone else though.

I created a background picture using a Milt Gross image posted on John K's Website. You can see the original image in this post.

Milt Gross Living Room by ~DungeonWarden on deviantART

If you look on the right hand side of the blog, you'll see the new picture viewer Blogger added to the site. Currently it is linked to my web page thumbnails. You can move through the pages using the buttons on the images. Just move the pointed onto the image and you'll see the controls.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Comments For Page 387

Now that Birhena is calmed down, will we finally get some answers? Wait and see.

Sorry for the delay in getting this page up. My computer decided to go into a slow crash last night and I was unable to get the page done. I was also really tired which didn't help. Has anyone else had their computer slow down to the point of stopping without actually stopping? It's one thing for the computer to just crash (that's expected with MS Windows), but for the computer to take several minutes to do something that normally takes less then a second is just agonizing. I have a pretty fast computer and I keep it free of Viruses and Spyware, so I don't know what caused the problem. It seems to have gone away on it's own, whatever it was.

I'm amazed at how much nicer my faces look now. It wasn't that many months ago that I was having trouble drawing a head with any consistency. Now, I can draw specific heads for each character. It takes a little more work to keep then "on model" but at least I can do it now. You can almost tell what the characters are thinking by their expressions.

The real test of an artist's ability with expressions is to draw a silent comic - trying to tell a story through a characters expressions rather then their words. I've seen a couple of silent comics, though they often cheat somewhat by including non-spoken text; however, a story in an old Archie comic only has text in a poster about a school dance that sets up the story, which I think is fine. I'll have to try it sometime.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Comments For Page 386

Well, they're not quite back to normal. Can you spot the differences?

Racheal's hair is now a dark brown instead of her original black. This is due to her hair becoming golden brown in her lion form.

Toi's skin has changed color, becoming a lighter shade of golden brown. This is her natural skin color.

Birhena's skin has also returned to it's natural color. In both cases, this is because the fur they were covered with has disappeared.

Birhena's horns have changed color. This was mostly so they contrast better with her hair and skin. Her horns are also shorter as a result of her returning to her quasi-human form.

I've been drawing the characters with muzzles for too long. It's good to get back to doing more human faces. As you can see, I put some effort into giving the characters unique faces. Racheal has a round face, Toi is more heart shaped, and Birhena is squarish. I'll redesign the other characters as they are reintroduced.

Slara unfortunately will always have a muzzle, unless she somehow acquires an animal token of her own. Lets see, what tokens are unaccounted for...

Tiger (Feline) - Racheal
Rat (rodent) - Toi
Ox (bovine) - Angel
Dragon (drake) - Ann
Rabbit (Lagomorpha) - Bunny
Snake (Reptile) - Terra
Horse (Equine) - Horese
Sheep (Bovidae) - Birhena
Boar (Swine) - Georgena
Rooster (Avian) - Unnamed
Monkey (Primate) - Unknown
Dog (Canine) - Unknown

The first name is the classical Chinese Zodiac animal. The word in brackets is the family this animal comes from. As you can tell by Racheal's recent lion form, the girls are not limited to the classical animal forms but can transform into any species within the same family. So far, only Horese and Terra have the ability to control what form they take. The others will transform randomly when they are subjected to trauma.

The boar and Rooster have been designed, but have not been introduced (though Gena was seen in a flashback), so that only leaves the monkey and Dog. The most logical choice is for Slara to become the monkey. This would be backwards from what the others experienced as the transformation would make her look more human (which is the reason I want to transform her in the first place).

There are still a few plot points that need to be dealt with first, but I'll see how things are going by the time the Rooster girl is introduced.

Keep reading and supporting the comic.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Comments For Page 385

What is happening to Birhena? Come back Wednesday to find out.

Sorry this story line is taking so long. Originally I had planned to just go through the labyrinth quickly and get to the next part of the story. But I figured it wouldn't be much of a maze if the characters could just hurry right through it.

This story line should end by Friday and the characters will finally be on their way...but to where? Strange things are coming in the future so please keep reading. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Comments For Page 384

Seems like the words won't work unless two people speak them at the same time. But what do the words actually to? Come back Monday to find out.

Don't worry, Toi is alright. Getting smacked into the bushes isn't nearly as bad as being crushed into the ground, though she was taken by surprise.

I've got lots of documents to write in hopes of making some money so I better get to it. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Comments For Page 383

Can words stop a rampaging monster? Racheal seems to think so. Though, she better read quickly if she hopes to accomplish anything. I don't know how much Toi can do to slow Birhena down.

Did you notice that I finally am using a font for the text instead of writing it out by hand? The font is called Adam Warden 2.0 and can be found free at "http://www.1001fonts.com" I like the hand written style of this font. It looks similar to my own handwriting but isn't as rough. I'm still writing out the text in the roughs so I know where to put the text so that it fits in a word balloon.

Nothing else to say so I'll see you o Friday.


Monday, November 12, 2007

Comments For Page 382

What is so important about page 56 that Racheal has to read it now? You'll have to come back Wednesday and find out. I'll just say the results will be pretty interesting.

I started working on the page early because I knew it would take a while to get made and consequently it was done earlier then normal. I was even able to make this post before it got to late.

I don't know what else to say. So good night and I'll see you Wednesday.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Comments For Page 381

Looks like Racheal's going back into the pit. At least she has company this time. I suppose she'll just jump out again, if Birhena will let her that is.

I got Dragon Quest Monster: Joker yesterday (see previous post) so I might not be updating for a while. Just kidding. I'll still put up regular updates, I just won't put up any extra stuff for awhile.

I don't really have anything to add, so I'll see you on Monday.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

I got my copy of DQM: Joker!




At first I wasn't sure if I'd want as game that was basically just a side story for the Dragon Quest series, but the more information I saw and the more images and videos I watched, the more I knew that this is more then just a side game. It is a game worthy of the Dragon Quest title.

DQMJ is very similar to Dragon Quest VIII, same 3D graphics, same art style, same DQ style interface. The main difference is that you fight with a monster team instead of an adventuring party. This means combat uses different tactics but it's still the same DQ look to the battles.

I really love the idea of playing DQ on my DS. Having a great portable game is always a bonus, as I'll be able to play the game anywhere.

I pre-ordered the game online; therefore, I have to wait until it gets here in the mail instead of buying it in the store opening day, but I'm willing to wait a few more days for this great game. Who am I kidding. I can't wait. Postman, please hurry!

Comments For Page 380

Could Slara have really left Birhena to die? What do we really know about her? Come back Friday and see how she responds to this accusation.

I need a break from all the action to tell the story of how Birhena got the way she is now. Maybe that's a story for another time. I never know how much information I should tell and how much I should show. Timing is important as well. I don't want to bore people with a lot of exposition.

I finally put up the remake of page nine. Now that I'm rewriting the story, I'm taking my time with the updates. It's unlikely anyone wants to buy a copy of the comic in it's current state, so I'll need to fix it up before continuing with that idea.

I'd like to make a calendar but I don't really want to over work myself making it unless I know it will sell. Calendars only last a year, so I need to make it worthwhile.

It's getting late. I'll see you on Friday.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Comments For Page 379

Racheal's method of stopping Birhena may be more permanent then Slara's, which is why she's giving Slara the opportunity to go first.

I want to apologize to those who were looking for my comic earlier. I wasn't feeling well and was a bit slow getting the page finished. As you can see, this was a pretty complex page so it would have taken longer then normal anyway. I suppose I should have started working on it earlier but you know how things go.

If anyone's wondering why Toi looks more detailed in the bottom left panel, it's because I used a photo of a pose I liked for reference. I did that for the Halloween image as well and I kind of like the look. I'd use more references, but there aren't any photo's of cat girls twisting in the air (There are not many images of cats twisting in the air for that matter).

Is Birhena a friend or foe? Find out on Wednesday.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Comments For Page 378

Birhena, Bir-he-na. Now where have I heard that name before? Didn't Horese mention something about Birhena in relation to Georgena? Something that made Angel squirm?

Then Birhena is the ram token. But why is she so big? Is this something Angel did? Why is she on Slara's home world? Stay tuned to find out.

Six panels of action really take a long time to draw. Panel one was particularly hard as I wanted to show Racheal's cat like reflexes and flexibility as she dodged the hammer. Toi is also pretty quick and flexible. Slara on the other hand was nearly flattened.

Strange that Slara is the one who wants to stop the fight. Maybe she knows something that Toi doesn't? Or maybe Toi is still too much of a beast to think clearly. Either way it will be interesting to see what happens next.