Comments For the ARW Epilogue

And so it ends where it began. Hopefully that will give everyone closure on the story. Sad to see it end but I'm on to bigger and better things now.

I used a few picture references when drawing these panels as you can probably tell. I wanted this page to look nice since it will be the first page people see on the site from now on. I may change it in the future but that won't be for a long time.

I used a real cat to draw Racheal's eyes in the last panel. I worked on them until they looked natural. I think I made them too natural looking. I'm worried that people can't even tell they are cat's eyes now.

I guess it's time to say good bye - but not for long. I hope you'll all come visit me over at my new webcomic, http://www.dungeonlegacy.com I'll be blogging there along with the comic, so no more loading in a separate page just to read the blog. The Comic will have it's grand opening on September 1, 2008, so come join me then.

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Comments For ARW Page 500

It's all over except for the epilogue. A weird ending to a weird comic.

I'm not sure if it's clear, but in the third panel Racheal has reduced her hand to the size of a cat paw in order to get it under the eye lid. Once there, she enlarged it again and extended her claws; destroying the eye and the creature.

It was kind of fun redesigning the characters as they return to the way they used to be before wearing the tokens. Ann is going to suffer the most since she's lost her power to fly. New recruits like Slara, Racheal, and 'bunny' will be happy to return to normal.

There will be an epilogue on Wednesday and then this comic will close for good. Despite the huge number of people coming to view the comic in the last fer weeks, only a couple of people (and maybe it's all the same person) had anything bad to say about it. Not that anyone had anything good to say, most of them were pretty quiet.

Note that the comic is being hosted on a new site because the old server was over loaded. I'll keep this site as a mirror site. I'll switch over completely when my old site account dies. No need to pay for a site that's hosting a dead comic.

Comments For ARW Page 499

Is this the end? Well, Monday is the last comic, so it's going to end one way or the other. Whether it's a happy ending or a sad ending is the real question.

I think I did a pretty good job with the posing on this page. I like how Racheal is slumped in Ann's arms in the second panel.

Ann finally gets to kiss Racheal. She's probably been waiting a long time for this. Too bad it might be a goodbye kiss.

Hard to believe ARW is ending soon. After working on this for over three years, I'm finally ending the story and moving on to other things. I hope my next story will have a more general appeal then this one.

ARW is about being weird and doing whatever I want. Dungeon Legacy will be about writing a good story and telling it through pictures. I'll do what I can to do things right this time.

Comments For ARW Page 498

Out of the frying pan and into the elemental creature. Racheal just can't get a break. There is only two pages left to this story. Is everything going to end badly? Find out on Friday.

I'm not sure it really works to put a translucent water elemental over a gray background. You can see it clear enough but it doesn't really stand out from the background.

Horese is being absorbed by the creature in panel three. Is that clear or does she look like a slug or something? I tried to do something weird looking but I'm not sure it worked.

I found out why page 497 didn't work. I ran out of memory. Only three pages short of finishing the comic and I run out of memory. What are the odds. Fortunately there were a few pictures I could downsize (I don't know why I uploaded them so big in the first place). There should be enough room to finish the comic now.

I've been doing crafts with 6-12 year olds this week. It's hard to keep the young ones occupied while keeping the older ones in control. It helps that most of them are girls and thus interested in doing crafts. The boys tend to just want to get it done and move on. There is one boy in the group that is creative and a couple of girls that are not, so there are exceptions on both sides.

Comments For ARW Page 497

Oh no!, Not Racheal. Anyone but Racheal. How is she going to get out of this one? Oh, well the comic is ending but it can't end with Racheal's death, can it. Check Wednesday's page to find out.

I really wanted this battle to be more chaotic but I didn't want to spend a lot of time drawing a bunch of characters that were just there for dressing. Oh well, the story's moving forward at least.

Didn't really do anything special today. Kept the page simple and got it done quickly. I don't want this comic to go out on a whimper so I'll try to do better on the next page where the battle really ramps up.

I'm having a problem getting the page for 497 to work, not sure what the problem is. I'll try again in the morning.

Comments For ARW Page 496

And so the final battle begins. Who will live and who will die? We will soon find out because the casualties will begin Monday.

With all the background details and multiple characters in the last panel, I though I wouldn't be able to get this page done until later in the day but I managed to sketch it fairly quickly and kept the details simple.

It's hard to make different sized characters look right in perspective. For example, Ann is much bigger the Brihena and so looks closer to the camera even thought they are almost beside each other.

Still working on the 30 Day challenge, which involves creating interesting content on the web. My new blog is at http://howdraweyes.qarf.com It's all about looking at the details when drawing, starting with the eyes. I'll try to put up content when I can, at least once a week. I really want to improve my art style and this project should help me do that.

Comments For ARW Page 495

Racheal seems to be the only one who is enjoying herself. Why does she get the easy job? What is she doing any way? She is actually trying to tear through a wall of paper to get to the other side. Only a cat would do something like that.

More gaming goodness. Georgena is searching though the mud for a key, Bunny is doing some platform hopping, and Wanda is pulling a chain to activate a switch or open a door. What a weird collection of ideas.

After doing all those multi-character panels, these one character per panel pages are easy to draw. Even though this is the first time I've drawn these characters in full animal form, the drawing went fairly quickly. It took a while to get Wanda's perspective right as I'm not used to drawing a 3/4 overhead view of an animal. I had to break the design into basic shapes and try to figure out the perspective that way. I still don't think I got it quite right, but it's better then it was.

Someone mentioned my comic on Something Awful in passing on Saturday and I got over 800 hits in one day. So far I've been getting over 100 hits a day. Someone else said they loved how weird my comic was (yeah, a positive comment at last) and I got another 400 hits yesterday. Great, my comic is becoming popular just when it's about to end. Hopefully people will want to see my new comic and I'll be able to build an audience there.

Dungeon Legacy is a much better concept then ARW but not as weird; although, I'm thinking of adding some weirdness, can't have it getting too dull or predictable. I'll be starting on Dungeon Legacy full time starting September 1, 2008. I was hoping to get more pages up before ARW ended but I was really struggling to get organized. I should have some time over the next couple of weeks to finalize the story before September. I'm going to start by improving my art style.

I've started a new blog at How Draw Eyes, which is designed to practice the little details like eyes that can really improve the overall look of your characters. The name comes from the fact that many people don't bother typing "to" when searching for an article on how to draw eyes. Unlike many articles of this type, I'll be looking at all aspects of design not just the ones I personally favor. If you're interested in learning to draw or improving your own art style, give How Draw Eyes a look. There isn't much there yet but I'll be updating the site over the next few days and in the weeks ahead.

Comments For ARW Page 494

That's eight girls down, four more to go. I wonder what challenge Racheal is facing? Can't be worse that what anyone else is facing, can it?

If any readers are gamers they will likely get some of the references in the panels. I'm sure many people have come across those annoying block puzzles in one game or another.

Brihena is more goat then ram in this picture. The better to break the walls down. This is the first time you get to see her in full animal mode.

Slara would probably do better in full monkey mode but since she was the last to change, it will be some time before she'll have control over her powers, that's assuming she even survives the confrontation ahead.

A may need to do page 501 as an epilogue so that people know what happens to the survivors. I need to give some closure to the story.

I'm going to try to get a nice wallpaper done today and offer it to anyone who donates $2 or more. I really need to start making some money.

Comments For ARW Page 493

The girls are on their way. What other crazy challenges are they going to have to face? Each challenge is designed so that only that girl's special abilities will allow them to make it through.

I thought all these complex backgrounds would take a long time to draw, but this page was finished much quicker then expected.

The blades in the third panel are designed to allow a small rodent to run around them but a snake would be cut in half and a bird couldn't dodge around them.

The rod in the forth panel requires someone who can grip it tightly and the hole is too small to fly into.

The air tube requires someone who's small and agile enough to fly through the holes as they are pushed through the tunnel.

The Sequential Artist's Pub is tonight at 10 PM EST. I'm going to try to call in on the Shoe phone and hope that I can get a clear connection. The connection has been bad in the past but if I shut down everything on my computer except the talkshoe window I should be able to get a clear connection. It should be an interesting talk if they use the discussion topics that have been suggested so far.

Comments For ARW Page 492

Horese is jumping hurtles. What trials with the others face in their respective tunnels? I'll just say that each trial will be based on each girls individual powers.

Since there is only one character per panel (except panel 3 which has two) I had more room to work on the design of the characters. I like how kat-rin looks almost as good on the page as she looks in my head. I really surprise myself sometimes. I've always wanted to be able to draw the images I have in my head and now I can. Wow!

Panel 4 is designed to show how small Horese has gotten. She now has a smaller pony/colt-like body and the background expands around her, showing her loneliness and isolation. At least thats the effect I was going for.

I like Horese's curves in panel 5. Sometimes the pen just moves the right way when I keep it loose. She is also in mid-transformation which is interesting as well.

In panel 6 those red/orange hurtles are rising out of the floor requiring someone who is fast and a high jumper. There is also suppose to be a barrier coming down from the ceiling to prevent anyone flying over the hurtles (i.e. Penny). I thought about that when I designed the challenge but I forgot to draw it in.

The next few pages will show the girls moving toward the center chamber and then the big fight will begin on page 496. You don't want to miss it.

Comments For ARW Page 491

Seems that the girls aren't so indestructible after all, but what about the tokens themselves? They must have survived somehow or the twelve wouldn't be around today.

I put in a few different versions of the girls in this page since these are the precursors to the current lineup (except for Horese, of course). I kept the colors the same so it would be easy to see who's who, but there is no reason they would look the same at all other then having the same base animal.

I wanted to show what happens when the girls are hit by the creature but I didn't have the time to figure it out. I'll do a better job when the girls fight the creature in the present.

I created this picture for the Art and Story Big Contest. The idea was to hand draw a cartoon using three random news headlines and three random items. The panel boxes were only 2x2" which added to the difficulty of designing the page. I had some fun with this even though it was a challenge.

My news stories were:

New evidence of danger to the atmosphere
Writer completes game show history book
Ukrainian leader poisoned

The items were:

A Coffee cup
A Club
A Space Shuttle

Comments For ARW Page 490

The token war? Is that when people throw game pieces at each other? Somehow, I don't think so. I suspect the weapons used were a lot deadlier then that.

I put a lot of work in the first panel, but not so much in the others. The backgrounds in the middle panels are just gradient fills. Since this is a flashback, I figured I didn't need a real background. The idea was to just show what was going on. I didn't have a background in mind anyway.

Notice the two holes in the wall in the first panel. I wonder what those are for. All will be explained soon.

The 30 day challenge starts today. This is a marketing challenge where you try to sell a product on the Internet in 30 days. Every day you learn something new about marketing and by the end of the 30 days you'll have a much better idea of how to sell to people on the Internet. Even if you don't make a sale, you'll still learn a lot of valuable tips that will help you in the future.

Comments For ARW Page 489

Don't you just hate it when you're trying to tell a story and everyone is looking out the window. Horese obviously doesn't know what's happening behind her, but she must know that it has something to do with Balap and Obitckert.

In the original design of this page I planed to draw Horese in every panel (except panel two), but I had already drawn her a lot on the last page and I didn't want to use the same picture over and over again in the last four panels. After some thought, I realized I could draw one big picture of Horese that connected all the pictures together. This unfortunately left a blank space in panel one where Horese would originally be standing, but overall the page design works.

I've noticed that a lot of US companies won't show there free promotional materal outsite the US due to copy right issues. What I don't understand is that these same companies have no problem selling their products in Canada. Why would they not want to promote their products in countries where they sell those products? It doesn't make any sense to me. These are free promotions so what do they stand to lose? I readly don't understand what the problem is.

Comments For ARW Page 488

Why does Horese hate Obitckert so much? She doesn't seem to have a problem with Balap. Or does she? I have a feeling she'll want to clear the room of all the men before she starts talking about some of this stuff.

Sorry for the delay. This page took longer to draw then it should have. I guess I should blame the first panel. This is the first time I've drawn all the characters in full detail. I was surprised to find that some of the characters (most notably, penny) had never been fully drawn (we still don't know what her feet look like in humanoid form).

I uploaded an application for Facebook that allows you to see the RSS feed for Dungeon Legacy. I know I haven't updated the site in a while but now you can see when I do update anytime you log into facebook.

Facebook: Dungeon Legacy updates

You can get the feed directly at Feedburner

You can also get the feed for this blog and keep up on ARW updates.

Comments For ARW Page 487

Wait, didn't Horese want to control the fountain? Is there something she hasn't told everyone yet? Before she said that the fountain can grant wishes so why would she want to kill it?

I didn't quite get the first panel to look like it looked in my head. I guess the important information is there but it lacks detail. I expected to spend a lot more time on it but I guess it's good enough. I like the creature at least. I needed to get that right.

I have a new RSS feed for my webcomic, Dungeon Legacy. If you have a facebook account you can download an application at Dungeon Legacy Comic. If you don't have facebook, you can go directly to the feed at Dungeon Legacy Feed. I've been trying to get this to work for Jarmo at FinnStrip.com but his server wasn't set up for it. Hopefully he can get it working tomorrow.

Comments For ARW Page 486

What does Racheal see? I have a feeling that getting to the fountain will be easier said then done. Friday's page is going to be very difficult to draw.

I though that the middle panel would be harder to draw then is was. I messed around with different angles but I felt that this angle probably worked best. It gives a sense of space without giving away what the place actually looks like. If you look closely you'll notice a plaque over the doorway. That's your first hint of what's coming next.

I put a kiss on Racheal's face for the first scene and then promptly forgot about it when I drew the other panels. I had to copy and paste the kiss on at the last minute. It's a good thing I always double check everything before I finish up.

Below is an mp3 of the song Kriss Straub of Starslip Crisis did for me on one of his podcasts (the Kriss Straub show episode 5). He was drunk at the time and started writing songs about everyone in the chatroom. He did about four or five people before giving up. I was one of the lucky ones.

Comments For ARW Page 485

Who are these people that Racheal has stumbled upon? Think of all the possibilities. Could it be a man with he's wifes and child? Maybe a rich noble with four slave girls. Maybe the two beside the bed are slave girls and the two on the floor are a mother and child. Are they his wife and child or someone else's? So many possibilities.

As you can see, I cheated on the first panel and just copied that background from the last page. But is it really cheating? Animators reuse backgrounds all the time. I hate it when people use the same character poses in every panel, but there is nothing wrong with reusing backgrounds as long as then make sense.

I think the last panel makes up for it with all the new characters and the background. I would have liked to have pictures or tapestries on the walls, and a few more pieces of furniture or some statures on the floor, but this page was getting late as it is.

Do you like what I did with the cat women? All four of them have different body builds and ages. Not to many artists that can do that without references. It may have taken me a long time to get to this level of skill, but having the ability to draw a wide range of body types is worth the struggle. You really need to understand the underlying principals of design if you want to do any kind of storytelling with the pictures. Look at that least panel again and tell me you can't tell what they are thinking by their facial expressions and poses.

Here is the picture I did for the Jenny Everywhere contest. The picture isn't currently in the contest for some reason. I contacted Fes and I hope to get an answer why soon. You can find the contest entries here: Draw to Win contest

I've included the cover to Dungeon Legacy I did a few weeks ago. I don't think I posted it here before. At least I can't find the entry. Visit Dungeon Legacy.com

Comments For ARW Page 484

Water pipes with electrical wiring? That's an accident waiting to happen. Nice of them to include a light switch though.

Got to love the anachronisms associated with Alternate Reality stories. For the most part the comic has been a pseudo-fantasy story. In fact, there are currently exploring a castle. Now all of a sudden they are in a room with water pipes and electric lights. What next, hover cars?

Originally I planed to do panel two completely dark with just Racheal's eyes showing, but I though the image would be more effective if she was back lit by the doorway.

It's a subtle thing, but did you notice that the room in the last panel is designed for someone at least a foot taller then Racheal, who is over 6 feet tall. Notice how the valves and fuse boxes are set over her head. The huge valve would require a large person to turn it as well. I wonder who lives here?

I really need to make some money somehow. I have ideas but I don't take the time to implement them. I wish I had a front man who can do PR for my comic. Maybe I can get paid to be the front man for someone else's comic. Who knows.

If anyone wants to buy high quality prints of any of my comic pages just let me know.

Comments For ARW Page 483

Now where did that door come from and where does it go? It's the only exit so there's not much choice. I hope it leads somewhere interesting.

Still keeping things simple. Got to love those group shots though. Drawing a bunch of small people is no harder then drawing a big picture of one or two people. There is very little detail to worry about with the small versions.

The bank is getting a bit antsy about the money I owe them. I wish I could make money creating a web comic. I'd hate to have to look for a "real" job.

It's getting late so I better say good-night. I'll see you on Friday.

Comments For ARW Page 482

Ann to the rescue...or not. That can't be good for the old noggin. Now who's going to rescue her?

Another page with simple backgrounds, although I messed up the perspective. The ceiling should be more oval then round. It looks odd in the middle panel.

Another thing that's odd is how quickly I can draw people now. It hardly took me any time at all to draw the first and second panels even though there are several people in each one. However, I don't have Racheal quite right in the second panel. She should be leaning over Ann's leg but she almost seems to be standing in the air. Maybe if her left foot was at more of an angle it would look better.

I've got lots to do and little time to do it so I better sign off and talk to you Wednesday.

Comments For ARW Page 481

Trap activated. A long slide into the jaws of death ... or something. Just what is waiting down below?

I kept the background simple because this is my first time back to the drawing table after a week and a half of being without my computer. As I mentioned below, my computer was at HP being repaired.

Sorry for the delay in getting this comic to you. As you may have noticed the site has been down since last night. I should be back to regular updates next week.

Comments For ARW Page 480

Why is there such a long spiral staircase in the middle of the tower? One might think it was a trap or something. Sliding staircase anyone?

Kept the page simple this time (like a huge staircase was simple) because I knew I'd have to pack up my computer tomorrow and ship it out to HP for repairs. The girls have kind of a chibi look because of the top down look. I kind of like it. Maybe I'll do a poster with all the girls in Chibi form just for fun.

As I said, I'm sending my computer to be repaired tomorrow, so I'm taking a little vacation while it's in the shop. I haven't had any offers to send me filler art, so I might have to put up some old art or something.

I'll see you in a week. ... Actually, I'll probably still pop in a few times with some stuff like this...

Comments For ARW Page 479

Wow! This place is huge. Take a look at Page 470 and see if you can figure out where the girls are. You can see some clues in the shapes of the towers. Note that they are only seeing a small portion of the tower.

Sorry the page is late but that can be expected. Between my failing computer and the more complex art it's just taking me longer to get things done. I should be sending my computer out on Monday so there likely won't be a page on Wednesday or Friday unless someone wants to send me some filler art. I should take a week off and recharge my batteries anyway. Everyone needs a vacation sometimes.

I'm going to get a new page for Dungeon Legacy done this weekend as well. It should be up on Saturday, but it may be Sunday morning before I get it up.

I'll see you on Monday.

Comments For ARW Page 478

After that long trip through the underground tunnels, It's no wonder Ann was confused about how high up she was.

I recorded some of the session of me drawing this page on Ustream.tv I was probably more careful in the details because I knew people would see the video. The first video shows me drawing the first panel. The second video is me coloring the whole page.

Just look at that forth panel. A year ago I would never have been able to draw someone laying on the ground so naturally. The contrast of scales between Wendy and Ann is quite interesting. Note that Wendy is about 6 feet tall here. That makes Ann about 15 feet tall.

In the last panel it looks like Ann was knocked clear across the yard. In truth, her body covers most of the distance on it's own. I should have drawn her feet near the shattered glass so that this would be made clearer.

You can expect to see more amazing scenes like this as the comic counts down to the finale.

Comments For ARW Page 477

Racheal had a good idea? Has the world gone all topsy turvy. Not that Racheal has made any really bad choices in the past.

Check out the previous post if you haven't already seen it.

Comments For DL Page 3

Here is the cover for the new Dungeon Legacy webcomic. Chapter 1: Enter the Dragon

The cover shows the final version of all the characters. It's not a lot different then the previous version of the cover, but there are a few changes.

This chapter will explain how the characters meet and set up the interactions between them. In their first adventure they must learn to work together before they are all killed. This is not as straightforward as it seems. Expect a few twists as the characters are not your typical adventures.

You may notice from the date on the cover that this page is a week late. I had originally planed to have it up last week but things didn't work out. Hopefully I can get another page done this week. However, since my computer`s acting up I might need to send it to the shop; so I might not get anything done at all.

Here's a video I did of me drawing page 475 of ARW. I spead up the video so that you see about an hour of drawing in 6 minutes. I also added a few music clips to make the video more enjoyable to watch. You can always play your own music while you watch. I don't say anything in the video.

You can also watch this video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j0vMEZlIn8

Comments For ARW Page 476

I guess sneaking all the way to the top was unlikely but they didn't have to bring the whole army down on them. This battle could take a while.

Sorry for the delay. I'm a whole day late which is the latest I've ever been. SO much has happened this week that has just killed my chances for getting this page done on time. The biggest thing was that my computer has been acting up. I'm afraid that it may crash for good one of these days. I should get it repaired but I don't really want to be without my computer for a week.

I know, how about a filler week. Send in comics featuring my characters and I'll put them up while my computer's in the shop. How about that? I could use a bit of a vacation. Otherwise, I may have to do my own fillers while the computer is in the shop. Post a message if you're interested so that I know how many people are making fillers for me. Thank you.

Comments For ARW Page 475

I guess no one though about getting a map to this place. It might have been better then being told to go up. There are likely guard stations all over the place, so a map may not have helped. Of course, if they knew where the guard stations were, they could have avoided just wandering into the room.

Sorry the color version took so long. My computer decided to be temperamental for some reason. First I couldn't get it to start and then I lost my wireless for good. I have to plug directly into the Internet in order to post this.

For some reason I've been off my schedule all week. I've been trying to get a new page for Dungeon Legacy done, but I just can't find the time for some reason. Now my regular comic is suffering. Something is very wrong and I don't know how to fix it. Even my regular habits are off kilter. I need a vacation.

Comment For ARW Page 474

Horese is as commanding as ever. What plans does she have for the swine girl? She may have more then one reason to want to stay behind.

Lots of details on this page. Redrawing Penny over and over was bad enough, but having three people on her back just made me more work then necessary.

A couple of odd errors have crept into the artwork that you may notice if you look closely (click the image for the larger version). I'll give a reward to anyone that can find them (there are at least three errors).

I have been given a last minute commission that needs to be done before the end of the day. I better get to it. If I get it done in time, I'll work on a Dungeon Legacy page for tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll see you Wednesday.

Comments on ARW Page 473

Wonder what's keeping penny? Swimming through sewage can't be good to her feathers. Is she going to be alright?

Painted the walls and pool this time. Makes for an interesting look to the page. Maybe I should paint backgrounds more often.

I tried to make it look like Racheal and Toi were in mid- transformation in the second panel. It is interesting how their clothing appears from under the fur. It's all part of the magical effect of the tokens.

My neighbor asked me to change the taps in her bathroom yesterday and it took most of the afternoon to do. I needed a long nap afterward, so that pretty much killed my day. Fortunately, I was able to get this page done before noon today.

I'm going to work on some Dungeon Legacy stuff for the rest of the day, unless she calls me back.

Tonight, I'm hoping to join the "The Sequential Artists' Pub" podcast. This is a new group that was started to allow sequential artists to get together and talk about their craft. They get together twice a month, with tonight being the first open meeting. Two weeks ago, some artists got together to discuss the idea. This included cartoonists Jerzy Drozd (www.sugaryserials.com), Krishna Sadasivam (www.pcweenies.net), and Mark Rudolph (www.cvcomics.com). The call starts at 10 PM EST (7 PM PST), if anyone reading this wants to join in.

Comment For ARW Page 472

Flying up a waterfall through a whirlpool has to be a harrowing experience for anyone. Hopefully the others will make it through safely.

Painting the whirlpool was kind of fun. I kept this page simple because I was working on a page for Dungeon Legacy today as well. It is really tiring to try to do five pages a week. I may have to rethink this.

Not much else going on. See you Friday.

Comments For ARW Page 471

The final assult has begun. Who will live and who will die? Will this place truly be Racheal's tome or will she finally get her wish and go home?

I though this page might be a little tricky, what with all the characters and stuff, but it really wasn't that bad. Most of the characters are in their animal forms and those were easier for me to draw.

In case you haven't figured it out, Racheal and the others now have the ability to fully shift into their animal forms and back again. That's why Toi is a cute little mouse and Racheal is a house cat. I'm skipping ahead in the story so that I can end it sooner and focus on my new webcomic. We'll just say Horese trained everyone and leave it at that.

The clouds were painted using a big fluffy brush. Not quite as fancy as the pre-rendered clouds I was using but I have more control over the shapes. It's hard to get clouds right.

The next Dungeon Legacy page should be done on Tuesday. I hope to do one on Thursday as well. I think I'll do Two a week and see how that works out. The sooner I can get ARW done, the sooner I can get the story going. Right now I'll just see how many pages I can do in a week.

Comment for Dungeon Legacy page 1

Wait, what's this. What happened to the newest ARW page?

Well, In case you weren't paying attention or are new here, I need to explain that this is the first page of a new webcomic I'm making called Dungeon Legacy. It is a fantasy based on the new Dungeon and Dragons forth Edition which will be released today (June 6, 2008).

In case you're wondering where the color is, let me tell you that it took a day and a half to draw this page. That's more time then I've spend on any page for ARW. If someone wants to color this page, then please do. I could use a colorist to help me keep up with my production schedule.

Edit: I really felt this page needed to be colored, so I said what the heck, it's too late to work on a new ARW page. I'll just color this and be done with it.

Comments For ARW Page 470

Going out the hen's butt of Ulta mountain. Sounds painful. If you remember the first time Obitckert told the story (way back in the first chapter) then you'll know it was.

Still getting ready for the grand opening on Friday, so I decided to just do talking heads for this page. As soon as I sketched it out I realized it just wouldn't work. The page was too dead. I could have redesigned the page using Wally Woods 22 Panels that always work, but I decided to take a different route.

In order to speed this story along, I decided to show the top of Mt. Ulta, since the characters are about to spend a lot of time there searching for the fountain. This is a good way to set the scene without taking up a huge panel doing so.

Enough set up, it's time to get into some action.

Remember, Dungeon Legacy opens on Friday. I'll see you there.

Comments For ARW Page 469

Looks like Horese has revealed her master plan. I don't think anyone is really surprised. Angel and Ann are certainly not happy about it.

This page was much easier then the last two. I started it much earlier then usual and so got it done in good time.

I still surprise myself sometimes. Panel five shows a nice scene with Angel and Ann. I like the way they actually look like they are upset at what Horese said.

Horese really looks upset in the last panel. It's not like I'm doing anything different, it's just all this practice.

The good news is that means my new webcomic should look great. I'm going to be very busy this week getting ready for the grand opening on Friday. I might end up putting Friday's ARW up on Saturday. Or I might put them both up on Friday. It just depends on how much I can get done this week.

I added a new post about Social Marketing on my other blog: Social Marketing Websites

Comments For ARW Page 468

Balap is going to have a hard time living with his treachery. At least everyone is on the same side again - or at least seem to be.

The previous page was bad enough, but drawing everyone around the table was murder. I though it wouldn't be too bad because there was less detail in the smaller images, but in many cases I drew more then just the head - especially with Ann in her dragon form. I was a bit disappointed that I had to draw Ann again in the second panel. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have rearranged the sitting order to prevent that from happening. I also thought that the word balloon would cover Racheal in panel two, but it was smaller then I had planned. Usually drawing the word balloons is the last thing I do (I write out the words freehand at first), but in this case the last thing I did was draw Racheal.

One week from today, Dungeon Legacy officially opens it's doors. I've got a lot of work to do to get ready. I better get to it. I'll see you on Monday.

comments For ARW Page 467

Here they all are for the first time. It took a long time to get to this point. Now we can finally find out what this is all about.

Although regular readers would have heard the name Georgena before, this is the first time she has showed up in the comic other then a shadowy form on page 313.

This is the very first time Peniniya has appeared anywhere. In fact I had to name her for this page. Wanda was also named for the first time when she appeared a few pages back. However, I just used the first name that popped into my head with her.

Peniniya's name took a little longer. I wanted a name that really fit her. I though of Henny Penny but thought better of it. I looked through a book of baby names and found the perfect name. Not only is Penny short for Peniniya but Peniniya is Hebrew for hen.

Since this page is just a bunch of heads, many of which I've drawn before, I figured I could finish off this page very quickly. I failed to factor in the fact that there were twelve people and two of them have never been drawn before. I sort of modeled Georgena after Miss Piggy but Peniniya was a totally new design. Also I had only drawn the new forms of Angel and Ann once before and ended up redesigning them as well.

This page is interesting because you can see a lot of my cartoon influences in the drawings. I took some time drawing and redrawing the portraits using some of the techniques I've learned in school. As I said, I though I could do this page quickly and so put more effort into each drawing because of it. You'll also notice that I put the highlights back into the hair.

You may notice that the page works as a whole. I took some time arranging the direction the characters are facing and where the eyes are looking. Horese and Slara really dominate the page because of this. It helps there their panels are bigger as well.

I added some new information to my Dungeon Legacy development blog. I had hoped to post regular updates on my progress but I really don't have a lot of progress. I wrote a lot of notes about the story and characters but I don't really what to spoil anything by releasing that data. It's nice to have some flexibility to change this as well.

As I've said before, Dungeon Legacy is based on D&D 4ED and I plan to create character sheets and other information that will allow you to use my story in a D&D game session. I'm hoping to get gamers interested in my comic and capture part of that market. I'll also market to people interested in Fantasy novels and short stories.

Someone else had the same idea because there is a webcomic being displayed on a fantasy/ Sci-Fi book website that started just last week. There is only one page so far as the comic only updates one Fridays. I'll have to see if I can get my new web comic on the site as well.

Comments For ARW Page 466

Are we actually going to finally find out what happened to Racheal and the others? Come back Wednesday and see for yourself.

I got to draw the early version of Racheal again. This time it was a little easier since I had the last picture as reference. Note that panels four and five are recreations of panels two and three on page 29 (Wow, that is pretty early in the story).

Balap looked very different on that page. He had a very beastly look for some reason. He quickly lost that look - it's gone in the last panel of that same page. I can't remember what I was thinking when I designed him. Perhaps I wanted to suggest that he might be a danger to Racheal in the first two panels and then made him look like an innocent child in the last panel to show he was the complete opposite of dangerous. Later on he revealed he was dangerous but in a different way.

I really should be working on Dungeon Legacy today, but "On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness" beckons me. Maybe I'll just play for an hour ... or eight.

Comments on ARW Page 465

What's this about Balap? Why would he do anything Horese would ask him to? Is there something he hasn't told us? Find out on Monday.

Yeah, that statue of Horese doesn't really look like her. She's trying to make a statement and look sexy at the same time. It is a bit pretentious, isn't it.

I had a hard time scripting this page. I just needed a transition from Slara and Balap entering Horese's domain to entering her audience chamber. I originally thought of having a long series of scenes showing them traveling from one end of the place to the other, but I thought that would be dull to read and would be a lot of drawing as well. I decided to save myself a lot of work and just have them take a quick portal to Horese.

For some reason I laugh when I hear Balap saying "Whee!" Is it just me?

I'm going to play "Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1" now. I really should be doing some work on my new webcomic but I really want to check this game out. Is that so wrong?

Comments For ARW Page 464

Whoa, Wanda must have grown at least as tall as Birhena used to be. Look at the last page and notice how big she'd have to be to open the door like that.

Do you remember Birhena? The last time she appeared, she had been turned to stone. There are a lot of loose ends like this I'm going to have to wrap up before the end.

In order to show how big Wanda has grown I had her expand right out of the page. She actually dominates the whole page. I'm not sure how clear this is. I tried to use the R's to link the giant image to the forth panel and show how big she is in the fifth panel, but it might have worked better if I actually showed her growing. She is bigger then the chair in panel four then she was in panel three, but this might be misinterpreted as poor design on my part.

I've finally took the time to work on my characters in my next webcomic, Dungeon Legacy. I have a pretty good idea of who they are and how they interact with each other now. Unlike ARW, each character has been designed to push the story forward with character development and interactions between characters. The characters will fight amongst themselves, make plans, and enjoy each others company. Basically they will act like real people, with real problems and expectations. Their back stories will affect the main story line and help you to get to know them better.

I'll talk more about Dungeon Legacy as it gets closer to release.

Comments For ARW Page 463

Slara doesn't realize how different she looks right now. Her hair keeps getting longer every time we see her. On the other hand, dogs are suppose to have a good sense of smell - couldn't Wanda recognize Slara by her scent?

By the way, this is the first time Wanda appears in this comic. Slara is referring to something that's happened in the past. Maybe she'll talk about it later, but right now she needs to rescue her friends. What will she find on the other side of the gate? Come back Wednesday and see.

I used a simple cloud filter to do the fog effect. It was simple and made it easy to do the backgrounds. I got this page done pretty quickly, although coming up with a design for Wanda took some time. I had an idea in my head but it's hard to get what's in your head down on paper.

To see another new dog character, go to my new website at http://www.dungeonlegacy.com and check out Coolie, the groups pet dog. Note that this Illustration is 100% hand drawn with pen and ink. No digital correction or trickery done here. I put up a few more hand-drawn pictures on my deviant art page as well. Check them out.

Comments For ARW Page 462

The final chapter of Alternate Reality Worlds. This is it. After this, I never revisit this story again. Since this is the final chapter, you can expect things to get very crazy from this point on as you can tell from the cover.

Anyone familiar with Japanese adventure games may recognize this scene. There are several platform games and RPGs that use the floating island concept. There are a few Manga and Anime that also have this image incorporated into the story, most notably "Castle in the Sky," a studio Ghibli film. Because this idea is common in Japanese culture, I believe I'm free to use the idea myself as long as I don't copy any specific story.

Drawing this page was easy but the coloring took a lot longer then I though it would. I still got the page done early, but not as early as I though I would. I like how it turned out.

If you look closely, you can see Horese siting on a throne. She isn't much smaller then a typical background character in a regular panel, but because this is a full page panel, she looks very tiny. Compare this image to Slara siting on a throne on page 457.

I got my project proposal done. Now is the long wait for approval. I'm sure my idea is a good one, it's more of a matter of if they think I can actually do it. I have the training and the skill, I just hope I made that clear enough in the presentation. All I can do is wait and see.

Comments For ARW Page 461

Now that they have the satchel, they can escape this world. But what new horrors await them when they return to Horese? Will the gang finally get back together or are they doomed to stay separated? Don't miss the exciting final chapter of Alternate Reality Worlds.

Nothing special on this page. I hope people recognize the scene in panel four as the same area that the group fought the giant lizard in. There is a jump in time here and only that background gives you any clue to that fact. Would a box that said "later" or something have helped?

I have to write up a project proposal today. It's is due tomorrow and so should have been done before now. Sometimes a last minute proposal can be better then one you over think but I still would have liked the time to read it over and make sure it made sense before presenting it.

The cover for the final chapter will be up Friday. It's less then 40 pages until the finale. I only have a couple more weeks until my new web comic starts, which means I'll be doing both at the same time for a while. I wonder what the best arrangement would be? Should I keep ARW to MWF and do Dungeon Legacy on Tu,Th, Sat, or switch the schedules? That's a lot of work and I have other things to do. I guess We'll just have to see what happens.

Comments For ARW Page 460

Looks like Slara has shrunk down to half her size. She's smaller then Toi now. All she needs is to have fur grow all over her body and she'll become a cute little monkey. How embarrassing.

As you can see the page has nine action packed panels and that's why it's up late. I tried to get it done last night but I was too tied, so I though I'd get it done this morning but I slept in. Even now, at three in the afternoon, I'm still tired. It would have been better if I had gotten to bed earlier and woke up early this morning.

I can't think of anything else to add, except that I'm very busy trying to get some projects done. I hope to secure my future and therefore need to work hard for the next few days.

Comments For ARW Page 459

Oh oh, Rhino man is upset about something. Slara just can't get a break. Well, those spears might break some bones, but that's not the kind of break that she wants.

Monkey Girl Slara. This has been a long time coming. Slara was going to be the snake girl before all that mess with Terra. I don't know how she's going to deal with the change. She has hair for the first time in her life.

Another difficult page done on time. It is late but I managed to get it done before I went to bed. I guess there isn't a whole lot of detail, but it's still a lot of work.

I was offered a few hundred dollars to do a few minutes of simple animation. That might not sound like much but it's the biggest job offer I've gotten to date. I hope I'll be able to keep up with my webcomics at the same time as I work on the animation. I think my new comic will suffer the most.

Speaking of which, my new comic finally has I name [a drum roll please], "Dungeon Legacy." The story of a group of adventures trying to make the world a better place. The new website is currently under construction but I'll give you the web address in case it goes live this weekend. Use the URL "http://www.dungeonlegacy.com" and see if the web page appears.

Comments For ARW Page 458

Slara was trying to get the Monkey token but she didn't want to get it this way. Will she get away or become the next monkey girl? Come back Friday to find out.

This page was much faster to draw then the last one. I don't know if I'm getting better at this or if this page was just less complex. There is still a lot of detail so I much have improved somewhat.

Nothing much to talk about. Nothing interesting has happened since Monday. I'll just have to keep plugging along. I hope to get more done tomorrow. I'll see you Friday.