Comments For ARW Page 442

Hey, Slara you might want to look behind you. This scene may not actually happen but it's fun to think about.

I think this is the most work I've put into a cover. That's not to say it's the most work I've put into a drawing. I have done a few pictures that have taken a few days to complete while this page only took 6 hours to make.

It's has a nice cartoon look to it, so I kind of like it. The idea was to copy a cover from an old children's comic book. The title comes from an old movie title, which I'm sure most people recognize. This is a hint about what the next chapter will be about.

I'm still working on my new comic but things are going slower then I had hoped. Other things keep interfering with my time and I really need to focus on what's really important. I hope to be able to put something on the wordpress blog tomorrow. I have a few things to do but I should be able to do something. Go over to dungeonwarden.wordpress.com and see what's going on.

Comments For ARW Page 441

Slara is all alone. What is she going to do? Get out of there as fast as she can, that's what she's going to do.

Thus ends another chapter of ARW. The next chapter will be the first one that Racheal is not the central character. The story will follow Slara as she tries to decide what to do next. Monday's page will be a nice cover image that will hint at what is going to happen. I'll leave that for you to imagine for yourself.

For my next web comic, I'm still debating if I should go completely for the laughs, completely serious, or somewhere in between. I want to do the comic in a different style with well constructed characters, but I also would like a simple style that will allow me to make more updates. I want to go completely black and white so I can use a looser style, but I also what the pages to look nice. I'm really going to have to play around with this for a while until I get the perfect mix of quality art but nothing too stressful to draw.

This will be a very character driven story as well, so I need to write the characters in a realistic way and have lots of interaction between them. They are very different people but their goals are very similar, so that they will work together but will step on each others toes as well. I want to do this right so it will be a while before the first page ever goes online. When it does, I hope to release a full 30 page comic book to introduce the characters.

Comments For ARW Page 440

Oops, looks like Racheal's down. The girls actually lost the battle. Looks like this is the end ... or not.

This cold/flu thing is still hanging on but I'm recovering my strength. This will be the last page without any background detail for a while, so it's good that I have my strength back.

My next chapter will have lots of different backgrounds so I can practice them. The characters will be moving outside again, so expect more details.

I'm also working on a new comic and I put a short description of the main characters on a wordpress blog. This isn't a finalized list but I think it's a good mix. I'll draw up some character designs and some story details as I continue the blog. This blog is mainly for ARW, so I felt a development blog dedicated to the new comic would be a good idea.

I'll see you all on Friday (sooner if you go to the other blog).

Comments For ARW Page 439

Looks like Racheal pulled a fast one on Horese. Can she keep it up or will Horese slam her. Return Wednesday and find out.


Nothing special about the art. I'm finally over my cold (or flu or whatever it was) but I'm still a little drained. Hopefully a good nights sleep will cure that.

I should have some new information about my next webcomic tomorrow. I've been thinking about the characters and I'll write them up soon.

I want to help others get better with their art, but I need to get better myself. Does anyone what me to teach them at my current skill level? I doubt it. I'm going to put a lot more effort into my next web comic and hopefully learn the skills I need to be completive. I've gotten so much better, but I still have a long way to go.

Does anyone know if there is an online artists support group? Maybe I should start one.

Comments For ARW Page 438

Racheal has cat-like reflexes. Odd how that works. Strange how Horese keeps calling her Katt. Long time readers should know why, but that brings up a whole other series of questions.

This page took a long time to draw, especially the first panel. That one panel took as long to draw as the whole last page did. The rest of the page took that much time again.

I'm thinking of ending ARW after the next two chapters and finishing up the story. The comic has been running about three years now and hasn't been having a lot of success. Lots of people have been reading the archives, but I don't get many people returning on a regular basis.

I tried to do a strip comic (split shift) but we all know what a mess that was.

I'm going to write up a story and develop characters for a new webcomic based on the new Dungeon and Dragons forth Edition RPG. I've been reading about the rules changes and new character classes and races, and there are some interesting developments in the game that would be fun to draw. I especially like the new battle tactics rules. I can see being able to do battle scenes that would make great drawings because of all the interesting things you can do each round. I'm going to take my time and do this right.

It will still be a few months before the new rule books are released, so I'll spend that time developing the characters and story. In the meantime I'll keep working on ARW and finish up the story. I hope people will support me during this time of change.

I'll see you all on Monday.

Comments For ARW Page 437

Find the simian and take her to the gate. Sounds easy enough . . . not! Where is the simian? What is the gate and where is it? These are things Slara will have to answer if she wants to see her friends again.

Still sick so the page is still simple. I tried to keep it from being just a bunch of talking heads.

I had originally planned to have Horese throw Slara against the wall in the second to last panel but it was too much effort. Instead she just knocks her out and drops her to the floor. That's clear in the last panel, right?

I really can't think straight. I'm going to bed. I'll see you Friday.

Comments For ARW page 436

What! Lady Elise is actually Horese! who would have guessed it? Okay, maybe you might have guessed. I did leave a few clues.

When Slara called Elise whore on page 424, she was really saying Horese but was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

I'm still feeling the affects of this cold/flu/infection thing, so I kept the page simple. Not much going on here anyway. I suppose I might have advanced the story further if I was feeling better, but it's probably good to spend a moment to reveal Elise's real identity.

I played the new Sam and Max season 2 episode 4 game and it's one of the funniest games in the series. I don't know how many people are playing this series, but you should search it out. You can play it on Gametap.com or go to the Telltales Games website and buy the series. Pick up season one as well.

Comments For ARW Page 435

What can Lady Elise do in a fight? Wait and see. Does she remind you of anyone you might have met before?

I tried something different for the middle panels. I think it would work better if the tail was actually moving or at least had action lines.

I like the smirk on the girl's face in panel 3 (first of the three triangle panels).

I put more shadows on Elise's face in the last panel but the face isn't as dark and evil looking as I had planned it to be. I need to work more on faces and shadows.

I also wanted more action as Racheal leaped at the tail in panel 6. Some action lines might have helped here as well. I originally had planned to show the poison barb just missing Toi as Racheal grabbed it, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time working on the drawing. I did get the page done on time, so maybe I should have delayed it a little longer and do it up right. Better late and action packed then early and lame looking.

My cold is still lingering on but I'm recovering. I should be back to full health by Monday. Take care.

Comments For ARW Page 434

Looks like Racheal and Toi have a new look. They were transformed all along. This battle just got a lot more interesting.

I found an action script to create jaguar fur that I used for Racheal's new look. The first time I ran the script it destroyed my page and I had to load an old save. I had to recolor the whole page, which was frustrating. I then ran the script in a new file and then saved it as a pattern. I then used the fill command to fill the area with the pattern. The pattern was non-repeating so the overlaps didn't line up, so I had to recolor the fur where there was over lap in the pattern. A lot of work but it does look pretty good.

I'm still not feeling well. I have a sore throat that makes my jaw hurt. I probably have an infection.

I'm looking into making a game to go with my comic. I'm just in the planing stages, but it will likely will be a simple text adventure kind of game. I'd like to do a fighting game or an RPG but that's way too much work. Maybe if I can get this game done, I'll do something more complex but for now I want to do something I could actually finish.

I'll post again Friday.

Comments For ARW page 433

Why aren't they transforming? Oh yeah, maybe they have. Remember what happened on page 420.

I've been fighting a cold this week, so it was hard for me to get this page done. I'm feeling better so I was able to get it done, but I still need to recover fully.

I have a couple of projects to work on. Part of me wants to get them done and part of me wants to sleep and worry about it later. Maybe I should take a nap. Arg, I need to push harder to get better.

I'll talk to you Wednesday.

Comments For ARW Page 432

That really is one scary transformation.

I'll give a cookie to anyone who figures out why the girls aren't transforming. It should be pretty obvious if you've been following the story.

I just finished presenting my comic over at the 910CMX webcomics podcast. Check out episode 26 to hear me pimp my webcomic and to hear the rest of the gang talk about getting negative feedback and about making a videogame to promote your webcomic. There are interesting discussions like this every week.

Have you seen the New Members link on the main page? I wrote out a description of every character and a short summary of every chapter. There are now more chapter breaks in the archive as well so that the first 250 comics or so isn't one huge chapter.

I'll post again Monday. Take care until then.

Comments For ARW Page 431

Oh no! Things aren't looking good for the party right now. You know they aren't going to die, so that means the fighting is going to get a lot more intense.

Is the new girl dead or will she power up as well? Wait and see.

Have you heard of this little pen and paper game called Dungeons and Dragons? There is a new 4th Edition coming out in June. I've been reading up on some of the new changes and it sounds like the game is much improved over previous editions. Check out D&D insider to learn more.

I should add that E. Gary Gygax died today (March 5, 2008) at the age of 69. His contribution to the realm of Fantasy Role Playing Games can't be denied. As the most outspoken of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, he will always be the Father of RPGs to me.

Comments For ARW Page 430

A thousand needles doesn't sound like a very comfortable spell. Anyone remember this spell from the Final Fantasy series?

I put this page up pretty quickly. Drawing people standing around talking is a lot easier then having them fight. Unfortunately (for me) the characters will be fighting again on Wednesday.

Not much interesting happening right now. Just waiting to hear if I got the commission I applied for. Remember, if anyone whats me to do any art work for them, just let me know. I'm willing to do just about anything for money at this point.

I'll see you on Wednesday.