Comments For Page 391

What a lot of stuff Cepani has collected. Can you see the satchel anywhere?

That's a pretty large bed. I guess Birhena won't need all that room anymore.

Sorry that this page is up late once again. I could blame the third panel, but it actually wasn't that difficult - just time consuming. The real reason this is up late is because I watched "The Incredibles" on TV instead of working. I had seen the movie before, but I had forgotten a lot. Especially at the beginning when the characters are being introduced. There's some good stuff there that I missed the first time.

I didn't take the time to do perfect perspective, so if somethings are a little wonky it's because they were wonky to begin with. I've done enough good perspective drawings that I at least kept thinks looking too out of place. Let me know if anything looks really off and I'll change it.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Comments For Page 378 and Page 8

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Here is a lovely image of Racheal for your viewing pleasure. This image is based on a photograph but is in no way a copy of that photo. I build the image though solid construction and observation the way a true artist should. Having a photo reference does have certain advantages over trying to draw from your head.

Page 8 was draw completely from my head but the posing is still strong because of the construction lines. The weakness is in the proportions and fore-shorting. I'm getting better at it though.

Comments For Page 377

Who is this new adversary? She's certainly no minotaur. Looks like the gang is in big trouble whatever she it.

In case you haven't noticed, that girl's head is above the hedge. That means she must be 14-16 feet tall. Well over twice as tall as anyone else. That hammer she's holding must be as big as Toi. No one could hope to survive being hit by that thing.

I don't know if anyone noticed that I haven't updated the remakes in a while. This is for two reasons.

First off, I finally found someone to critique my web comic. He found a lot of problems with the way the story starts. Racheal seems to accept her fate a little too easily, and he is right. I just wanted to get to the more interesting parts of the story and made the mistake of pushing Racheal into a situation she really shouldn't have agreed to. Because of this, I've decided to actually rewrite the story. I should put the first rewrite up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Secondly, I have been working on a project for a client and that kept me busy Friday and Saturday. I'm waiting for an evaluation, so I have some free time to work on the story now. I'll probably miss a few more updates once the client returns, but for now I'll keep working on my web site.

I'm working on the story for my main comic as well. I want to write a good story arch that really forces Racheal to think about what she's doing. She's been following everyone else for too long and needs to take a more proactive lead in the story. I hope you enjoy the new focus on story.

Comments For Page 376

Seems like Racheal is still in her right mind, but she seems unhappy with the situation. Toi is being her usual self-centered self though. Doesn't she realize how strange she looks?

Sorry, for the lateness of this post. It was late when I put up the page and I noticed an error when I went to view it. I don't like drawing the whiskers on the characters faces because it makes it hard to color. However, this time I left the whiskers off thinking to add them on later and didn't. I only just fixed the error.

The other think is I just forgot to update. I try to update when I post so there is no chance to forget, but I just didn't have the energy last night and I got busy this morning and forgot about it.

I don't know how many people read this anyway. Maybe I'm just wasting my time. If anyone reads this, plese post a comment so I know you're out there.

Comments For Page 375

Racheal has transformed again. This time into some kind of lion woman. Will she be able to control her temper this time or will she end up riping her friends apart? I wonder if she can even speak in that form.

I tried to keep Racheal's appearance hidden until the last panel so that her new form would be a surprise. I wonder how many people would just jump to the last panel anyway.

I like how much cleaner my art is now. The thumbnail is very readable. There are still some white edges under the lines though. This only appears in the thumbnail, so it likely has something to do with how Manga Studio formats the image.

One of my new reads mentioned that the front page needs work so I'm going to see what I can do about that today. Page 8 should be up tonight. See you Friday.

Comments For Page 374

Does Racheal have a paw now? Has she transformed again? Check back Wednesday and see.

I decided that I need more introspection from my main character. I'm not sure how well her personality comes across in the story and I though this might help.

I've got a line on a new job, so there may be a bit of slow down on the updates. I'm hoping to be able to keep up both tasks, but a paying job needs to take priority over my hobby. I hope you understand.

Comments For Page 373

Oh no! Looks like Racheal got hurt - again. What's going to happen to her now?

I finally put up a Wonder Project ad. For less then 50 cents a day, I have a small button on the main Girl Genus page. I've gotten about 100 new page views already and the ads only been up 24 hours. Hopefully many of those people will stay on and become regular readers.

Tomorrow (October 20, 2007) is 24-hour comic day. I'm going to put all my other activities on hold and try to participate. There isn't any local group involved that I know of, so I'll have to do it alone. I'll put the pages up as a vote incentive and make the whole thing available for $5. Hopefully, some of the new viewers will have some money and can help support the site.

Comments For Page 4

It took me a little longer to update this page then the others, mainly because this is the worst page of the bunch. Not only was it just a bunch of talking heads, but the words didn't really convey the emotional content of the scene.

As you can see, I've completely rewritten the dialogue. If you don't remember the old text, just click on the image and scroll to the bottom of the page to see the older version.

I've also added backgrounds to make the pages more interesting to look at. Add to all that, the better quality artwork, and you have a vast improvement all around. It's pages like this that I've wanted to fix for a long time. It's about time I got around to it.

Comments For Page 372 and Page 3

Remember kids, don't run around in pit filled labyrinths. Sounds like good advice regardless if you're being chased by a killer rabbit or not. Seems like Slara should have known better. Well, they won't make that mistake again.

I feel that the simple trick of drawing at 1200 ppi has really improved my art a lot. Part of the reason is that those annoying little mistakes can't be seen at all now. The other reason is I can draw a lot bigger and detailed images knowing that it will all be reduced in the end. I have to be careful not to draw small details, since those will disappear as well.

Do you like the feeling of depth in the last panel? I don't think it would have looked nearly as good with out the different line thickness. Racheal at the bottom has very thin lines and little detail, while Slara and Toi are more detailed with thicker lines. It really is a nice effect that just wouldn't have been possible before. The best thing about it is that the page didn't take any longer then usual to draw.

Look at this remake of page 3. It took me less then an hour to draw this, about the same amount of time as it took to draw the original page two and a half years ago, but the difference in quality it remarkable. I added little details like the stitching on the glove just because I could. I could never have done that in the past.

Comments For Page 371

We now return to the gang in the labyrinth. Where's a Holy Hand Grenade when you need one? (Shame on you if you've never seen Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.)

Notice anything different in todays page? I guess the most noticeable thing in the thumbnail is that the words are clear and easy to read. That's actually the result of the real change which you can only see in the full size image.

Taking some advice from Scott McCloud, I set my drawing to 1200 ppi. I have heard about this before but it was never really said why this is a good idea. Mr. McCloud's book, Making Comics, actually shows you what a higher ppi will do.

Basically, working at a higher scale allows you to vary the brush size easier for a greater variety of line thicknesses. Working at 300 ppi (which I usually do), forces you to use tiny 3-5 pixel brushes to get any detail. At 1200 ppi, I can use a 20 pixel brush to get the same quality of line. This allows greater flexibility, and I can use pressure sensitive brushes now for even better line quality.

One thing to be aware of is that 1200 ppi files are huge. Once you're done, you should save your final Photoshop (or whatever drawing program you are using) image at 300 ppi (for print) and save your web image (.jpg or .gif) at 72 ppi. Oh, and when scanning in images, scan then at the highest ppi you're scanner will allow. It's much easier to clean up a 600 or 1200 ppi image then a 300 ppi one.

I highly recommend Making Comics to anyone interested in telling a story with pictures. Although the focus is on comics, his advice and examples can be applied to other forms of art as well.

Page 1 and 2

Here they are. The first two pages of my web comic updated with new art and word balloons.

I'd forgotten how bad my printing was in the beginning. Fortunately, I'd written everything big enough that it was somewhat readable. I'm sure there are many people who will be glad to have some better quality images to read from.

My printing is so much better now that you can almost read page 2 despite it being half the size of the original. As usual, you can click on the image to get the larger version.

Comments For Page 370

What happened to Obitckert? How did he get captured and and tortured by this strange woman and where did she come from? What happened to the rest of the gang? These and many other questions will not be answered on Monday.

I did up an announcement about the new book idea in the forums. You can go these and discuss the book idea or post in the comments below. So far there has been no comments so I'll work on an other project for a while. I will do the paperback version of my story someday. It is a good source of income for many web comic creators so it would be foolish of me not to put one out. In fact, there should have been at least two books out already. I wish I had done a better job on the first 50 pages or so. It's the task of fixing those pages that's really holding me back.

Maybe I should switch to a 7 day update schedule. Regular updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and fixing older pages on the other days. That way the comic would eventually be finished and the book can come out sooner rather then later. Yes, I'll put out an improved version of page 1 for tomorrow and see how it goes.

Comments For Page 369

A snake, a rabbit and a cow? Where have we seen those animals before? They certainly don't look like normal animals. Could it be...? Nay, that's impossible - or is it? Come back Friday to learn more about these strange creatures.

My business partner isn't as ill as she though, so we will work on our business plan once again. The doctors don't know what the cause of her illness is, so it's still iffy about when we can start the business. I'm hoping this won't drag on too long. Money is tight right now, so I'm going to have to find a way to make some money.

Is there any hope people might pre-order my book? I'll do up a high-quality poster for the first 50 people that tell me they want to buy a print version of my story. Just post a message in the comments below.

The first book will contain the first story arch (up to the point Racheal goes to the BioBattle dome for the first time). The book will include all new art (since the original art sucks and isn't good enough to print), a full color cover, and some bonus content. The price will likely be $12.99 (this may change). If I get at least 10 comments asking for the book, I'll get the book ready for November 1, 2007. Otherwise, I'll work on it whenever I can.

Comments For Page 368

Who are these characters? You'll have to wait to find out, though there are a few clues about who one of them might be.

I'm changing things once again. This time it's the final export that is different. Click on the thumbnail and you'll see that the large version isn't so large anymore. On the advice of the gang at Webcomics Weekly (the link is in a previous post), I've put a lower quality (but still very clear and readable) version on my webpage and will offer a higher quality printable image for sale (higher quality then any of the previous pages).

The main reason I'm doing this is because I will be making a graphic novel version of my webcomic available for those that want a printed copy. It's also a good source of income to sell individual prints. I only have high quality versions of the pages from page 355 to today, so if you want an older page I'll have to rework it.

The early pages are simple black and white sketches so it'd shouldn't take too long to rescale them for the book. I may even fix a few pages and put them up in place of the old ones. I've got the cover sketched out, so hopefully it wouldn't be too long before it's done. I'm going to push to have it done before the end of the month. I'll let you know when it's near completion.

Comments For Page 367

Well, it's about time Charhex showed up again. It's been something like 150 pages since we've last seen him. Hopefully, he'll be put to some practical use instead of just being comic relief.

Well, I have some bad news. My partner pulled out of our business deal at the last minute and I'm jobless once again. She left due to health problems, so I'm hoping she'll recover enough to try again in the future. In the meantime, I'm going to need to do more freelance work.

I know some web comic artists do commissions for their reader and I'm willing to do the same. Just let me know what you want and I do it up for you at a reasonable cost. The more complex (several characters, detailed backgrounds, etc.) you want, the more it will cost, but if you just want an original signed picture of one of my characters in black and white, it will only cost $5.

Please buy some things from the store (http://www.cafepress.com/dungeonwarden). I'll try to get my comic in book form as soon as possible. I know many of you would like a nice hard copy to read and I'm going to do my best to get that to you soon. It takes a lot of effort to make money, so I need to get off my butt and just do it.

Comments For Page 366

In this day and age, we often forget what a rare gift it is to be able to read and write.

Sorry for panel 5. I don't know why Toi and Balap look so distorted in that one. I'm too tired to fix it.

Speaking of which, I think I'll go to bed now. I may post a longer comment later. Tomorrow's a busy day, so I may not get the chance. I'll talk to you again Friday if not before.

Comments For Page 365

Basilisks and a minotaur? How is our gang going to get past that? Or are they going to take Slara's advice and give up trying to recover the satchel? Find out what they decide to do next time.

Once again, I'm trying something different. This time I have talking heads explaining what's happening in the panels. I have seen this used in other comics and I think it works here.

I wish I could get some feed back about the different things I'm trying in this comic. I guess if no one is complaining I'll have to assume you like the changes or at least don't mind them. I would hope that if I do anything you hate, you would speak up right away. Either way, I'm going to keep playing around with my layouts and style, if for no other reason then to keep me interested in doing this.

I'll see you on Wednesday.

Comments For Page 364

So that's what awaits in the labyrinth. Still, that's doesn't explain why Slara is so upset. Could there be something more to the labyrinth then we've been told? Wait and see.

I'm trying something a little different with the panels. I originally wanted the maze to form it's own panel and break the top panel into three panels, but it didn't really work out that way. The words kind of got in the way. I suppose I could rework it, but I don't want to spend a lot of time on it.

Speaking of time, did anyone notice how late in the day I'm posting this? After all my talk about getting faster and better at putting up pages, I end up being late again.

This time it wasn't really my fault. Thursdays are busy days for me anyway because of Choir practice and art class. On top of that, one of my nieces came for a visit and I didn't want to miss seeing her. She doesn't visit very often and her visits are always short. Yesterday was no exception, but it still took a chunk out of my drawing time.

I did get all the drawing done last night, but the coloring didn't get done until this morning. It really amazes me that it takes two hours to color my art. It's not like I'm doing anything complex with the colors. It's mostly just using the fill tool. The hair and shadows are what take the time. I guess that's why I like drawing Slara the best - no hair to worry about.

Comments For Page 363

Oh No! It's the Labyrinth. Wait, what's so bad about a labyrinth? Come back Friday and find out.

Well, this page took more time to draw then the last one, but I'm still making good time. I don't know if it's because I'm starting early or because I'm getting better at it. Either way, you don't have to wait to read my pages anymore. I've been posting them by midnight EST for a while now.

Noting new to report, so I'll go for now. I'll see you on Friday.

Comments For Page 362

That's a pretty neat trick. Truthfully now, how many of you have seen this before?

That's two tasks down, what will be the next challenge? Time is ticking away. The gang needs to get the satchel soon, or their friends may not be alive by the time they get there.

I got this page done in record time. There are more panels then usual, but nothing too challenging. Only Racheal's pose in the last panel required any real effort. Don't worry, there will be more challenging scenes to come.

Nothing more to add. Things are going well. I'm working on a few things. Hopefully, I have have good news before next weekend. I'll see you wednesday.

Comments For Page 361

Walk through a piece of paper? These tasks are getting pretty challenging. Assuming the gang can get past this challenge, what will they have to do next?

I roughed out the page first before doing the final drawing and I think some scenes look better for it. The hands in panel two and six certainly benefited from getting the rough proportions finished before redrawing them.

Normally, I don't like taking the time to rough things out, but I misplaced my drawing pen and had to make due with a back up. Once I got my pen back, I was able to finish things fairly quickly. So maybe roughs actually speed up the drawing process. I'll try it again and see what happens.

I don't know how many reading this are interested in creating web comics, but if you're not checking out Webcomics Weekly, you're missing some great advice from four long time web comic developers, including Scott Kurtz - creator of PVP.

If you do create your own comic, or are interested in starting one, you might want to check out the 52 Comic Challenges. As of this post, they are on challenge five, so it's not too late to join in. I plan to start this soon myself. I'll keep you posted as I make updates.

Comments For Page 360

Looks like the gang has several challenges ahead of them if they want to get the satchel back. Will Slara be able to figure out which sword is the correct one? Come back Friday and find out.

I was suppose to explain who Kate is in relation to Slara and tell you why she was at the party. Since I didn't get into that in the story, I'll tell you here.

Even though Kate and Cepani are twins, Cepani became obsessed with the word of the law while Kate dedicated her life to living them. While learning the art of the sword, she met Slara who was also learning the martial arts. They became friends and shared many adventures together. Eventually, Slara left to explore other worlds while Kate continued her studies. Since Slara is now back in her hometown, she invited her old friend over to visit.

However, when Kate showed up, she found that Slara had brought some strange people from another planet with her. Kate felt a little uncomfortable around these strange people are decided to distance herself from the others.

Now you know the story.

Comments For Page 359

Oh, I see. It was Cepani that was the referee of Racheal and Slara's fight. So then who is Kate and why was she at Slara's house for the party? You'll have to come back Wednesday to find the answer to that question.

A more important question would be "What did Cepani do with the satchel and how are Racheal and the gang going to get it back?" Actually that's too questions. The first question should be answered on Wednesday as well. As for the second, that may take a little longer to figure out.

The middle panel took a lot of time to draw, and it looks okay. But it doesn't look like what I had planned to draw. The temple on the previous page wasn't as good as I would have liked either. Sometimes I wish I had the time and patience to draw what I see in my head. On the other hand, you don't really need a lot of detail in a web comic. The point is to tell a story, and as long as the words and pictures tell the story, it doesn't matter how detailed they are.

As an artist, I want to produce good works of art that people will enjoy reading, but as a reader I'm happy to just get a good story. The art only bothers me if it's really bad and you can't tell what's going on.

It's different if I'm looking at single works that are meant to stand on their own. There is certainly some styles I like more then others. Unlike most people, I don't like art that looks real. I know a lot of artists pride themselves are creating realistic paintings, but I find it's too easy to copy and alter photographs to really appreciate a realistic painting. Fun cartoon drawing are a different matter. It takes a lot of skill to create a fun design. Many amateur cartoonist draw unfunny stiff drawings. I'm often seeing the same style over and over again. Give me someone who's not afraid to try something new and has a good eye for detail. This is what I want for my own artwork. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm at least trying.

I've studied Don Martin and Mat Gross. Next I want to look at the works of Carl Banks. I've looked at many other artists, but these are the artists I want to be the most like. I don't want to copy their styles, I want to have people laugh at my drawings like they laugh at these great artists' work.

Comments For Page 358

This picture just doesn't do the Forest Temple justice.

I hope the transition from the first three panels to the last one wasn't too abrupt for everyone. I was looking over the story and felt that there was just too much talking that didn't really help move the story along. I figured I would just cut out all the filler and move right into the next part of the story. As a gift to those who might want to know what was cut out, here's the script for the missing pages.

BONUS

After Kate (pronounced Ka-Te) says that it's dangerous to travel at night. Racheal asks what could be so dangerous that they couldn't handle it.

Slara explains that the forest is home to many animals that hunt at night and are not particular about what they call food.

Toi says that she will dispose of anything that gets in her way.

Slara says, that's what she's afraid of.

Original page 359

Kate says that many of the animals of the forest are as intelligent as "you or I." If someone started attacking them, even in self defense, they would retaliate and a war could break out between the races.

Slara says, "Let's all go to bed and we'll meet here early tomorrow and head into the woods."

The Next Morning

Kate "Stick close to me. The forest is still dangerous even in the day time.

Scene of the forest with strange sounds and shadows moving around.

Suddenly the forest opens into a glen and the temple can be seen. This brings us back to the current story.

Comments For Page 357

Who knew Kate had a sister? We just barely learned that her name was Kate as far as that goes. Was it Kate's sister who took the satchel? Does Kate know where it is? Is the group finally going to get a break? Don't count on it.

I don't know how many people noticed, but I put up the inked version last night and only just got the color version up now (noonish). I have a business meeting this afternoon, and figured I wouldn't get the page done until afterward. Fortunately (or maybe not so fortunately), I woke up early this morning despite going to bed pretty late last night. Consequently, I had time to finish the page before the meeting; however, I didn't get much sleep, so I might not be able to concentrate during the meeting.

Just to clarify, this isn't a school meeting but a real money making deal that could greatly affect my financial future. Actually this is only one of many meetings, but it's still important that I pay attention and understand my options.

I should also point out that the only reason I was able to put up an inked version of the page is because I'm doing the inking in Photoshop now. Originally, I was inking and coloring each panel was I went along. Sometimes I would go back and fix some rough drawings when I had time and basically did things in whatever order suited me. Now that I'm using Photoshop, I need to get all the drawing and inking done first before I can do any coloring or shading. This gives me a nice inked drawing I can color (and put up on the site when I need to), but that means I can't do a rush job on the drawings and worry about fixing it up later. They have to be completely finished and take takes a lot of time.

On the plus side, that means my pictures are looking better all the time. I don't need to waste a lot of time with Manga Studio's glitchy drawing tools (again this is a problem with using the program in Vista and not a problem with the program itself) and I can play with some of Photshops extra settings to help make my drawings better. I won't be using any fancy tricks with photoshop, like blur filters, until I can shorten my drawing time a bit more. I can't spend a whole day working on my comic pages and I don't have much time to play with the program. It's only going to get worse when I start my job, so I need to speed things up rather then take the time to add an extra layer of detail. If this comic was supporting me, it would be different but as it is I need to make money however I can and that means I can't spend much time with each comic update.

Comments For Page 356

Why is Balap accusing Kate of taking the satchel? You'll have to come back Wednesday and find out.

I did a couple of things to improve the images as you can see. First I noticed that there are options for loading and adjusting each Photoshop layer seperately. I had been adjusting only the top layer thinking that all the layers were being affected. Since the main drawings were never on the top layer they always suffered. The lines are much soother now.

The second thing I did was a cosmetic extra touch to remove the white lines in the JPG image. I did this by filling all the black lines with dark gray. This removed all the white from the image so that the lines look cleaner.

Not much else to say. I'll see you Wednesday.

Comments For Page 355

Seems like the animal token may have more powers then expected. The question is why. There have been two stories about the origins of the tokens so far. Are either of them true? Is there some other explanation for where they came from and what they are for? Someday these questions will be answered, but not today.

I've got the process of making my web comic as streamlined as possible. That I good thing since I'm tired and feverish right now and I couldn't have finished this page on time otherwise.

I've been trying the check for errors on this page and I don't see any. However, in my feverish state I can't be sure. If anyone sees any problems, please let me know in the comments.

Comments For Page 354

There's only one thing to do when the sun goes down. Party! However, it doesn't look like anyone's in a partying mood. At least Racheal and Toi were released from their cages. This is partly because they have calmed down a bit, and partly because Slara feels safer with her two brothers there.

I've been playing with the settings on the fill tool, trying to get the edges to fill properly, but there are still some issues with shading large areas. It's really only noticeable when the image is small. In the full size version, you can't notice the edges at all. This might be an difference between gif and jpg formats, since it isn't as noticeable in the Photoshop or Manga Studio versions.

Comments For Page 353

Looks like Slara waited too long. Now she'll have to wait until morning to start searching for the satchel. Hopefully Kang will be better by then and can help in the search.

I think I've finally found the correct settings to fix the problems with working between Photoshop and Manga Studio. The current page looks better then the previous ones.

Notice something different? I've finally added a gutter between the panels. If you go to PVPonline, you can find a new feature called "Webcomics Weekly" This is a weekly feature (every Friday) that has four or five web comic creators talk about their craft. The main purpose of this is to instruct other web comic creators on how to make better comics.

One of the pet peeves given had to do with the gutters between panels. Framing each panel helps the viewer see each panel as a separate image instead of as a big blob of images. If you look at my previous page, you notice that it's hard to tell where one panel ends and the next oven begins. The cage bars really break the images up in a way the just looks wrong. Adding gutters between the panels looks better and helps the reader see what's going on better.

The next step is to use the gutters to create the best effects. For examine, having one panel without a boarder makes the panel seem much bigger and has a expansive effect on the viewer. There are a lot of tricks you can do with boarders that you can't do when you only have thick lines between panels. On thing you might notice is that the word balloons sometimes extend beyond the panel boarders but you can't see the part that goes over the edge. I had a hard time with the word balloons in the previous page because I needed to resize them so they wouldn't cover any other panels. With a gutter, I have room to stretch the balloon over the boarder without it covering the next panel.

It's a little extra work adding a gutter, but the better appearance, the ability to move word balloons over the boarder and the other visual tricks you can do, more then make it worth it. I'm going to keep listening in each Friday to see what other tricks I can learn. If you have a web comic or plan to start one, I suggest you listen in as well. You'll never find a better source of web comic advice anywhere.

Comments For Page 352

I've been meaning to explain why Racheal can understand what everyone is saying for a while now, but I just didn't see any reason for it until now.

Someday I'll have to explain why the letters "ARW" appear on the satchel, but it wouldn't be for a while. Lots of other stuff has to happen first.

I played around with some settings, and I think I've figured out a way to fix the line quality. I converted the line drawing into vector lines and this seems to remove the blurriness that occurs when I import the line work from photoshop.

Notice that the Bars in the 3rd and 5th panels still have white lines around them. That's because they are on a separate layer. The whole page was like that before I fixed it.

The only limitation with vector lines is that they are smoothed out somewhat. This removes some of the finer details (notice the thick fingers and lines around the mouth in the last panel. I'll need to draw fine details with a thiner line to to compensate for this.

I also tried writing the text in Photoshop and importing it. Maybe I should convert it to vector as well. The lines are readable but don't stand out as much as they usually do. I'll have to work on this. I had to play around with the word balloons to get them to fit since I made them last. As I said before, you can't do word balloons in Photoshop very easily. Most people use Illustrator but Manga Studio works well too. It took a little adjusting but it worked out okay.

Comments For Page 351

Looks like Slara's taking charge of the situation. That's understandable since this is her hometown and she knows how things work better then anyone. Balak isn't too happy about it, though that may have more to do with cleaning the boar then being left out of the search.

I wonder if anyone else noticed this is a Matriarchal society. There were enough clues with all the women in high positions and the men playing jokes on strangers.

Another late night again. I just keep getting distracted. I was doing so well after spending the morning doing paper work, but I got distracted once more and ended up late again.

It takes close to 6 hours to do a comic (8 if it's more complex), so giving myself 3-4 hours to work on the comic just isn't going to cut it. Besides, it's better to work a few hours, take a break and work a few hours then to take one long break and then try to finish my comic all in one go. I know what I should do, I just don't do it.

I messed around with the line quality and ended up doubling the lines so they would cover the fill errors. It looks a little better, but I wish there was a way to smooth the lines so they would fill better. Wait, doesn't Manga Studio have a smooth line option? I'll have to remember to try that next time.

Comments For Page 350

Looks like Kang has gotten himself hurt attacking a wild boar. Who will be able to track down the satchel now? It was bad enough when it was sitting in a field, but now that the satchel is being hidden away somewhere, the gang is going to have a very hard time finding it.

Looks like our heroes just can't catch a lucky break. One bad thing after another keeps happening. At least they can have a nice dinner of roast boar to keep their spirits up.

I'm still working on the Photoshop/Manga studio mix. It is much easier to draw in Photoshop with a tablet so I'll probably keep it up, but the quality of the line makes it hard to fill in the shapes with color. I tried a different method last time and the lines were too thin and jagged. Maybe I can find a way to mix the two. Use the thin lines to fill in the color and the thick lines on the finished page. I'll try that next time and see what happens.