Comments For Page 349

Oh No! It looks like someone else found the satchel first and they plan to keep it. This is going to complicate things a bit. Without the satchel there is no way Racheal and the others are going to be able to rescue the rest of the gang. Things just get worse and worse.

You may notice that the wide boarder is back. I found that you can import Photoshop documents into Manga Studio. You can also export from Manga Studio to Photoshop (which I knew before). This means I can do all my drawings in Photoshop and do the colors and word balloons in Manga Studio. Now I can use the tools I like in Manga Studio and use the better drawing controls from Photoshop. I could also re-export back to Photoshop and add special effects and filters at the end if I wanted to.

One limitation of Manga Studio with imports is that you can't import color. This is due to Manga Studio's habit of placing each color on a separate layer. You could place each color on a separate layer in Photoshop (and the exported Manga Studio file keeps all the color layers), but you'd have to reassign all the colors once you imported it. Not a very color friendly process, but the program was designed to make black and white Manga, so color wasn't a major consideration in the design. I suppose separating the colors may help produce a more accurate print out of the pages if you were going the publishing route. I may publish my comic someday, but I don't save the color information as the files are quite large. This may be a problem, but my test prints have turned out okay, so I'm not too worried.

Comments For Page 348

I once again put off finishing this comic until the last minute, but I actually got it done pretty quickly. The only thing that slowed my down was when I had to use Illustrator to make the work balloons - something I've never done before but read was the way most professionals make them. They actually work much the same as Manga Studio except you have to draw them freehand instead of choosing pre-made ones. It is nice to have the freedom to make balloons any shape I want but it does slow done the process.

I do find it easier to draw in Photoshop then Manga Studio - mainly because the tablet glitches don't happen with Photoshop. I do like some of the things Manga Studio can do though and I hope they fix the glitches soon.

One thing I like about Manga Studio is that every layer is a color or a texture. This took a bit of getting use to at first, but now I miss the ability to change colors just by clicking on a layer. Now I have to hunt for the color I want or make a new one. I also have to watch what I'm doing because it's easy to accidentally color on the wrong layer, which can cause problems if you want to make corrections later or add a color over a color (only to find the under color is actually on a higher level then it should be and you can't color over it without making another layer over that one).

On the other hand, it's much easier to copy sections of art and move then around in Photoshop. You'll notice I saved myself some time by coping and altering some pieces of art in this page. I know some people set up their art and text balloons in Manga Studio and then color the page in Photoshop (using filters to spruce things up). Maybe when Manga Studio is fixed I'll have to do that as well.

I'm not one to use filters because I think it hides the art and influences the skill of the artist. Many people use filters to hide their lack of drawing ability, others use it to push their art to new levels they wouldn't be able to achieve otherwise. I guess it comes down to skill, talent and ability. You need all three to create good art no matter what methods you use.

I hope I have all three. Most people say they like my stuff even if they like other peoples more. I guess it really comes down to time at this point. I can draw and color a complete page in under four hours, while someone "more talented" couldn't do it in less then eight and probably would take closer to 16. My artwork would look better if I didn't wait until the last minute to start and spend more then four hours on the page, but would people like my comic any better?

look at Milt Gross' artwork: Sunday Funnys

He can draw faster then anyone, and yet his work is very fun to look at and enjoy. It's not about speed so much as it's about skill. The more real things you can draw quickly, the more fun exaggerated things you can draw. I like this loose fun style. I should try it for my next project.

Comments For Page 347

All right! I actually managed to start my comic early and get it done before midnight for a change. Of course, I find it easier to get it done on Sundays anyway, but still this is the first time in a long time that I've gotten a page done early.

You might think that because this is a cover page, it was easy to get it done quicker. Fact is, cover pages are harder because I spend a long time trying to get them looking just right. Just look at this picture and compare it to the stuff I usually churn out. Granted there is some exaggeration in the bodies, but that just adds to the charm.

You might notice that this image doesn't have the usual white boarder around it. That's because I've gotten tired of how Manga Studio works in a Vista environment. Their web site says they are working on a solution, but I really can't wait any longer. I've started using Photoshop again. If I can continue to speed up my work, I may just play around with Photoshop and see what it can do. There may be a rise in my art quality if I can find a way to improve using some of Photoshop's bells and whistles.

You might also notice that the characters have gone back to their old outfits. Well they didn't spend hours in the mall picking out nice outfits just to leave them behind. The only reason they were wearing those other outfits was so they could climb the mountain in comfort.

It should also be noted the Racheal and Toi are back to normal in this picture. Well, you didn't think they would stay like that forever, did you? You'll have to keep reading to learn how they got back to normal and to see who they are up against. I will say that you may have seen this enemy before - well those that have read the whole story so far will have. Expect a lot of surprises and action ahead as the gang heads into their most exciting adventure so far.

Comments For Page 346

Sorry for the late posting ... again. I just hate that I can't seem to work on the story pages at a decent hour. If I can spend Friday morning working on a page, why can't I do it on Thursday morning instead and avoid being late at all? I really don't understand myself sometimes.

It might be a bit cheap to use the same background in every panel, but on the other hand I can spend more time developing the background if I know I'm going to be able to reuse it. I like the way this page turned out. Simple but effective.

I'm not sure it's clear due to the wonky perspective, but in the second panel, Slara is leaning away from Balap (and into the camera) as she explains that it may be her fault that he got hurt. If you're a regular reader of this comic you'll know why she's afraid of him.

This marks the beginning of a new story line, so I'll do up a cover page for Monday. Slara and Balap will have to lead the transformed Racheal and Toi into the unknown as they search for their missing friends. Don't miss the exciting new chapter entitled "Four against a thousand."

Comments For Page 345

Oh no! What happened to Dalap? Where are the others? Could something horrible have happened? Things just go from bad to worse for our band of adventures.

As I mentioned in the last post, this page was already laid out on Monday, but it wasn't finished until today. I wanted to get started earlier since I knew it would take a while to finish, but I still waited until the last minute to work on it.

When I read how other artists spend hours at the drawing table every day, I have to wonder if my heart is really in this work. It's something I can do and I'm pretty good at it (at least people say I am), but I'm just not as dedicated to it as I should be.

I guess that's always been my problem at everything I do. I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none. There is nothing I can't do and therefore I can't do anything at all. I sometimes envy people who only have one talent. They can put their whole heart into it because they know they can't do anything else. There are so many things I am good at, that I can't focus on any one thing. Sometimes I like doing this, sometimes I enjoy doing that. I'm sure there are some that envy my abilities, but I'll never be as good as those that are really dedicated to their art.

It seems odd to talk about my lack of ability on a day I put up a page that has perspective and detailed backgrounds. Not that it's great art by any means, but it is better then some of the simple designs I done in the past to save time.

I should start drawing the next page now, but I know there are a dozen other things clamoring for my attention. We'll see.

Comments For Page 344

Terra better show up soon before Toi hurts herself. Racheal seems to be taking a more relaxed approach to escaping, but it's still not good to see her locked up. Hopefully they'll be freed soon.

It's nearly 3 am as I post this. Once again I failed to start the comic early enough to get to bed at a decent hour. I've planned out the next couple of comics, so hopefully they'll go quicker. Wednesday's comic is a longer one, so it might take a while to get done. Maybe I'll start on it tomorrow. Maybe pigs will fly as well.

I will try to get something done tomorrow. Some sketches at least. I'll let you know Wednesday. See you then.

Comments For Page 343

Looks like Racheal and Toi have gone from one bad situation to another. Slara is definitely not taking any chances. I wonder if she's had to deal with her friends transformations before?

Being trapped in a small cage can't be any better then hanging upside down in a net, but at least they have been separated. They'll be able to bash the cages around until they tire themselves out.

Another late night getting this page done on time. I'm going to have to try to get to work on the pages earlier. Every day I say the same thing, and every day I get distracted and busy with other things, so that nothing gets done until the last minute.

I guess the main problem is that I tend to get very tired in the afternoons and don't feel like doing work. It's a good time to relax and catch up on email and reading other web comics. The problem is a huge portion of my day is used up because of this. I'm kind of a morning-night person. I have lots of energy in the morning when I first get up and I can stay up for hours late at night, but I get really tied in the afternoons. Sometimes I think if I slept 4 hours at night and 4 hours in the afternoon, I could get a lot more work done.

Comments For Page 342

I don't know how Slara expects Racheal and Toi to relax hanging upside down. It can't be very comfortable. Maybe they'll pass out from all the blood rushing to their heads.

The first panel took a while to draw because of the interaction of Racheal and Toi's arms and legs. I originally planned for them to be rolling around the floor with the arms and legs tangled up but I ended up will a less confusing image of Racheal standing over Toi and trying to hit her. I don't think the proportions and angles are quite right, but it looks okay if you don't examine it too closely.

Racheal is taller then Toi by at least a foot, yet when they are in the net Toi seems bigger then Racheal. I guess the problem is that Toi's head is bigger, so the proportions got a little messed up. Something to watch for in the future.

I don't know how many artists read my comic. No one has been to critical of my style, so either no one cares or I'm doing a good job despite my own lack of confidence in my work. I guess I'll just keep developing my style and see what happens.

Comments For Page 341

Looks like Toi pushed Racheal a little too far. Neither of them are in their right minds right now so it can be forgiven if their tempers are a little short.

Once again, trying to do things the easy way took longer then normal. Of course, doing 8 panels instead of the usual 4-5 might have had something to do with that. Still, 6 of the panels only had small changes made to them and it still took an hour and a half to draw them.

It seems some of the problems I've been having with my drawing program has to do with my upgrade to Vista. Not that it's Vista's fault. The program was designed before Vista was available and there are some bugs that need to be worked out. Hopefully there will be a patch out soon so I can speed up production of my comic.

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

Comments For Page 340

Slara is still trying to keep one step ahead of the other two. In their new forms all they want to do is fight, but they are so strong, someone will likely get hurt. Slara is going to have to do something to calm them down, but what? Find out Monday when she tries again to distract them.

If the big panel in the center looks better then the smaller ones, it's because I did it last and worked on it this morning. I was too tired to finish it last night and I think the quality of the other panels suffered because of it.

Racheal looks weird in the large panel, sort of a cross between a human and a cat - which is what she is. I don't think I really captured that look anywhere else. Toi doesn't really look like a Mouse woman the way she should. Maybe I'll work on that for the next page.

Nothing new to report. I'll try to get something new done this weekend, but you know me. I'll get distracted and nothing will get done.

Comments For Page 339

Looks like it's every woman for herself as the three girls try to deal with the transformation of Racheal. Will they be able to work things out or will an all out fight start. Find out on Friday what happens next.

The half-cat Racheal is more work to draw them the regular version mostly due to all the fur. It's also hard to get the angles right and foreshorten the arms. The arms in the second panel look a little off, but I like Racheal's pointing arm in the last panel. It might be a little off, but it works.

Nothing to talk about today. I'm trying to get a logo done for my new business. I'll put it up later.

Comments For Page 338

Oops, looks like Racheal isn't dying after all. She's finally converting to her beast form. Slara is going to have her hands full trying to calm down both Racheal and Toi, and she hasn't had much luck with Toi alone.

Racheal's transformation isn't done yet. Check out Wednesday's page for the full transformation. Will Racheal be able to hold on to her humanity or will she go mad from the pain?

Busy day today. It is my mother's 70 birthday, so many of the family members came to visit. It was nice that several of the working members had the day off so we could celebrate the actually day instead of getting together on the weekend. I was actually as much surprised by the party as my mother. Last I heard, we were getting together on the weekend. Since nothing happened, I didn't know if my aunt,my mother and I would get together to do something or what. Next thing I know, we're all getting in the can and heading to my aunt's place.

It was a nice get together. We just sat around and talked, had a nice meal, and went home. I hadn't seen some of my nieces in a while, so it was good to find out how they're doing. My Sister's second oldest child has just been engaged to be married. She's only 19, which I think is too young to be married, but they are waiting a year before the actually wedding (they want to both graduate college first).

Not much more I can talk about here. See you Wednesday.

Comments For Page 337

Oh no! Looks like Toi just ripped Racheal's face off. Is this the end for our heroine? Well that would be a pretty sad way to get rid of a character, wouldn't it? Come back Monday to see what happens next.

Big News:

There is now a forum at http://dungeonwarden.freeforums.org where you can discuss Alternate Reality Worlds, my art, or anything I post here. I plan to add updates to the forum about my new web comic that will be coming in October. If enough people join, I'll add new content to the forum and make it a support site for my comics.

I would like to put up some fan art in the future, so if anyone wants to try drawing my characters please do so. I was hoping to be able to do fan art for other web sites, but it's all I can do to keep my own comic up on time. Most of the extra art I've done has been filler for ARW. When I start working in September, I may have to cut down on even that much.

I hope people will support my site and visit the forum. I would like to have some intelligent discussion about how my comic is doing.

Comments For Harry Potter filler

Sorry there is no comic update today. I started reading this new book and am having a hard time putting it down. I hope I will be able to get Friday's page done, but this book is just so interesting I may run out of time then as well.

I case you don't know, heath is a type of flowering bush that grows mainly in England. Heathrow Airport is named for the town that was named for the rows of bushes that grew there.


Well, if you'll excuse me. I must get back to my reading.

P.S. This image is a reproduction of the Canadian version of the book. You can see the original cover here.

Comments For Page 336

I wanted to have a action sequence where Slara jumps up and grabs the flower and then lands back on the ground, stumbles and falls. I think I captured this, but the transition between panel two and three might not be clear. I should have put in another panel where Slara flips in the air, so that she goes from below the flower to above it.

Anyone who has been reading the comic should realise that she is a powerful athlete and mesmerizing dancer. She would never have survived being on the Vixens team if she wasn't. As the only member of the team that doesn't have an animal token, she is in more danger of dying then the others, so she needs to be more careful.

These scene once again shows that she is a force to be reckoned with despite a lack of a genetically enhanced body. It also shows that she's not perfect either. She can still be tripped up by landing of a uneven surface.

I'm going to start working on a new web comic to enter on the Zuda comics site. This is a new imprint for DC comics that allows talented, amateur writers and artist show what they can do. Each month ten comics will be highlighted and site members will get to vote on their favorites. The winner will get a contract from DC to create a whole years worth of comics. Since DC is owned by Time/Warner, there are endless possibilities to have my work shown in other markets, maybe even seeing my characters on the big screen someday.

Before all that can happen, I need to design new characters and create an eight page story. Then I'm going to produce one page a week of the best art I can produce, so that when October comes around (the official start date of the site), I'll have my comic finished and ready to go. I hope you will all drop by and support my comic when the time comes. There will be a lot of heavy competition from established web comic designers who want to get in on the action.

Comments For Page 335

I put the page up pretty late last night because I knew it would be afternoon before I got back on my computer. I'm posting this about 1:45 PM. I would be working on the page right now if I hadn't stayed up late to do it.

I think the layout of this page is better then the last one. I think second panel (bottom left) turned out pretty good considering I didn't use any reference. The years of quickly drawing the human figure really paid off. I can create any pose just by quickly sketching it out first. I read several art books before taking my art course about this, but until you actually do it a few hundred times, you don't really get a feel for how it helps create more realistic poses.

I met with my business partner today and we looked at a few places to open up our new business. One location, an old fitness center, looks perfect for our needs. We still need a business loan before we can set up shop, but everything looks good so far.

I'll probably be up late Sunday getting my next page done, so expect to see it on Monday morning. I suspect that I'll be doing a lot of late nights trying to get pages done. Maybe I should work on the pages earlier, but there is just so much going on that there isn't much time. I think I work better at night anyway. I better get back to it. See you Monday.

Comments For Page 334

Sorry for the delay putting up this page. I had most of it finished last night, but it was getting late so I decided to finish it in the morning. That was a mistake. It was 3:30 before I got a chance to work on the page again. It's crazy how the time can just disappear on you .

I tried messing around with the sizes and positions of the panels on this page. I might need to play around with this idea some more until I can get the right mix going. There are very few truly great page designers, so I shouldn't be surprised that my efforts are less then perfect. I'll keep trying though.

I friend of mine offered a partnership in her new Internet Cafe business. It was nice of her to think of me considering we haven't spoken in over two years. Starting a new business is aways a major investment of time and energy as well as being a huge financial risk. This means I'll have less time to devote to my web comic and I may have to discontinue it all together. I hope that doesn't happen because I'd like to keep practicing my drawing and design skills. On the other hand, I'll be around computers all day long, so I could work on my comic during the slower times of the day. I just have to remember to bring my tools and file format templates.

Any way, that's still a while off yet. For now, I'll keep trying to update my website and begging you to vote for my comic.

Comments For Page 333

I'm not completely happy with the way this computer is acting up, but at least I was able to get this page done on time.

Remember to keep voting for my comic. You can learn more about voting in my last post. Voting hasn't increased, so I have to ask: "Why Aren't You Voting!" If you're reading this you must have some interest in my comic, so please take a second to vote.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to encourage you to support my comic. Do you want to comic to be funnier or more violent? Do you want beautiful wallpaper sized paintings or funny cartoons as incentives? Should I create a forum to chat in? I need some input, so that I know where I should be focusing my energy.

Comments For Page 332

Sorry for the long delay between pages. Between my computer acting up and my brother and his family coming to visit, I haven't had much luck doing any work on my story pages. It took a day and a half to do the page you see here. Considering most of the panels have identical backgrounds, that's a ridiculous amount of time to spend.

I hope I won't have this much trouble putting up the next page. I think I've worked out most of the bugs, but who can say for sure. My brother and his family have gone home, so I'm free to work on the next page now. I think I'll take a break today and spend all day tomorrow working on the next page. Hopefully I'll have it done in 4-5 hours, which is the usual amount of time it takes to create a page.

I did spend some time making a poster that explains how voting works in case the lack of votes I've been getting is due to lack of understanding of how the process works.

I don't really like the word vote myself, since it suggests you should support only the best
comics. The truth is you can and should vote for every comic you read. This will in effect push the comics you don't like further down the list. There are several comics floating around the middle of the pack (400-600 range) that really deserve to be closer to the top.

Another option would be to vote for your favorite comics everyday and vote for the other comics you read every other day or every day you read the comic. This would help your favorite comics move up the list faster while still supporting the other comics you read.

I really want my site to be a success, so please support me in anyway you can.

Comments For Page 331

I traced the screecher chicks, but they still don't look right. You can tell what they are at least.

I'm still not getting the backgrounds right. They at least look okay, and you can tell what's going on, but I need to work on the details. Maybe some shading would help.

My older brother went home and my younger brother came to visit, missing each other by one day. I'm not sure how much time he plans to spend with me, as he has a wife and they are visiting her relatives as well.

I should be able to get Wednesday's page up on time. I just need to focus on getting things done whenever I have some free time. I'll see you then.

Comments For Page 330

I used a real bird picture is this reversion of the image on the cover page of this chapter (page 316). The problem last time was that the legs were bent the wrong way (it's fixed now so don't look for the error). The thing is, you can't really see the legs this time. I guess I made the legs too long as well as backwards.

Well, I did manage to get this page done on time, so that means I have two full days to devote to working on the website. My brother is still here, so I might not do too much but I'll try to get something done.

Not much to talk about, so I'll see you Monday.

Comments For Page 329

Happy Fourth of July to all my American Friends.

Sorry I was a bit too late putting up Monday's page to wish my fellow Canadians Happy Canada Day.

My brother is visiting from Toronto, so I've been having a little trouble getting access to the computer. I would have had this page up sooner if he hadn't been using it.

I've also been slow getting anything else done. I keep promising new content and never delivering. I don't know how many people care, but it really bothers me that I can't seem to make this site profitable. I'm going to work hard to get Friday's page done early so I can spend the weekend getting things done. With my brother here, that might not be possible, but I have to do something if I hope to survive.

Comments For Page 328

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I relaxed most of the weekend and so am a little late putting this up. I want to work on the web site and set up a donation meter so the I can make some money.

I need to get a new computer and I need donations to help me pay for it. That means I need to push to put up content you're willing to pay for. It's a lot of work but it needed to be done for a long time and now I'm running out of time.

Please, if there is anything I can do to improve the site, let me know.

Comments For Page 327

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

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

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

Comments For Page 326

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

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

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

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

Comments For Page 325

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

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

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

Comments For Page 324

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

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

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

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

Comments For Page 323

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

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

I'll see you Friday.

Comments For Page 322

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

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

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

I'll post again Monday. See you then.

Graduation

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

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

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

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

Comments For Filler 06-13-2007

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

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

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

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

Comments For Filler 06-11-2007

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

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

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

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

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

Comments For Filler 06-08-2007

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

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

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

Comments For Page 321

Looks like the group has a long climb ahead.

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

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

I'll see you Friday.

Comments For Page 320

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

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

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

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

Comments For Page 319

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

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

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

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

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

Comments For Page 318

From this point on the party will be split up. Most of the characters are leaving with Horese and Obickert; while, Racheal, Slara and Toi will be heading to the mountains. The mountain adventure should only take a few weeks and then Racheal's group will try try to reunite with the rest of the gang.

Where is Horese taking the other group members and what will happen there? You'll have to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

Sorry for the lateness of this post. I've been distracted lately. Losing the weekend didn't help, but I should have been able to get this page done earlier and with better backgrounds. I guess the important thing is to move the story along. I'll try to do better on Friday. See you then.

Comments For Page 317 + Animediafest

What could Toi want that embarrasses Slara so? You won't get to know that until Toi actually earns her reward. Some observant people might realize what sort of person Toi is and guess what it is she wants, but I'll leave that to your imaginations for now.

Feel free to e-mail me at dungeonwarden(at)msn.com (replace (at) with @) if you want to know if your guess is correct or if there is anything else you want to talk to me privately about.

I had an interesting weekend. Friday was better then Saturday, since many people left early and some events had to be canceled. The Festival wasn't as big this year due to funding cuts and other organizational problems but Friday's events made it worth going.

The day started with a panel discussion about the current animation industry. Like many other art forms (music and movies in particular), the animation industry is run by people who don't know anything about the industry. The people with money fund the latest thing without regard for why it's popular in the first place. Many producers think the only people who watch cartoons are young children and adults with the minds of children. It is really hard to put any intellectual content in animated shows and the few good shows that do get put on air don't last long because there aren't funny enough. It's hard to get that mix of smart humor that plays to adults and children, and it doesn't help that most writers know nothing about the animation field. The most successful ones are comedians since they can at least tell a joke even though they don't seem to understand the animation is a visual medium. Many writers write things that are very hard to animate without any though to how to portray it visually. Some things are not explained in visual terms at all, leaving animators scratching their hears and wondering what the writer was thinking.

The animation industry is now in a boom period which is great if you're new to the industry. Money comes and goes quickly so you need to make money while you can. You never know when the bottom will fall out again.

In the afternoon session, three industry heads (two from Collideascope and one from Fat Kat) showed us some tricks of the trade. This included how to do good puppet style animation, how to do classical animation with Flash 8 (or as I like to call it Flassical), and how to properly design sets and props for your animation. I like the idea of really thinking about what you're drawing. Don't just draw a tree. Think about that the tree looks like, how the bark feels, how the branches grow and twist, how the leaves form clusters and shapes. A good artist can draw a tree with a few quick shapes that looks better then what a bad artist can draw after hours of careful reproduction. It's not about making the tree look real, it's about making the tree feel real. I was very impressed by the skill of the Collideascope artist. His quick examples were very well designed. He has a very good eye for detail, although he admitted he is too detail orientated. The head animators are allowed to remove 10% of the detail from any of his designs without needing any permission.

In the evening, we had a stop-motion expert show us some of his techniques. He even had a few puppets on display we could play with. It was very interesting to see the history of the industry and some of the shows he had personally worked on. Some of the tricks to make objects seem to float in the air was well worth the presentation on it's own.

On Saturday we looked at the Unreal engine for computer gaming and talked a little about the game industry. Animation is a big part of gaming and is also a bigger industry that TV or Movie animation. There is money to be made for those willing to look for it.

We had a pizza lunch and watched some student animation. You can see some of the animation at the Applied Arts Student demo showcase. There is some well made and funny animation here. Also check out Knights Out, the animated short that I helped create along with several of my class mates.

Comments For Page 316

I finished up the picture in school because I didn't get it done before hand as I planned. I had to use Photoshop and so the picture is a little rough. I'll try to fix it later. It doesn't look to bad as long as you don't look closely at the details.

I have about 15 minutes until the first workshop starts here at Animediafest. I wasn't sure I'd get this done in time but it looks like I'll actually have a few extra minutes.

I might post later today or tomorrow to let you know how things are going. Otherwise I'll summarize the event on Monday. See you then.

Comments For Page 315

Looks like Toi is the only one without an excuse to leave. Will she go anyway or will she stick around with Racheal and Slara? You can find out Friday when I put up the cover page for the next chapter.

The next chapter will be dealing with Racheal and Slara's trip into the mountains to find the rare herb needed to cure Slara's Father. What trials and disasters await those who dare climb Mount Vormump? Keep reading and find out.

Sorry I went back to my old style. I got Super Paper Mario and it's eating up a lot of my time. That game can be so challenging and fun at the same time. I've already got five of the eight hearts and I only got the game Saturday.

My next post will be from Animediafest, assuming I can log onto a computer. I'm hoping my account is still active. Technically I'm not done school until June 15, even though there are no more classes. I'm sure someone will let me use their account. If not, there is always the library CAP (Computer Access Program) site.

Comments For Page 314

So what do you think of the new style change? I think the third panel with the flower looks the best since there isn't such a flat background. I guess this style needs a lot of highlights and shadows to really work. It's interesting how black outlines can really frame an image. I'll play with this style a little more and see if I can't remove the flatness. I do like the way it looks otherwise.

Slara is referring to Racheal in the last panel in case you're wondering. Looks like Slara and Racheal will be going mountain climbing in the near future.

On Wednesday, it will be decided who will go to save Gene and who will go with Slara and Racheal. On Friday (or possibly Thursday) I'll do a cover page for the new story line. I'm going away this weekend to an animation festival, so I'll have to do the Friday page early and a cover page is the best way to do that.

Comments For Page 313

What has Racheal gotten herself into now? It looks like the group will have to split up for a while. Slara will be staying in town with her father while Horese, Terra and Ann go to fine Gena. Toi, Bunny, and Angel will have to decide where they want to go. Balap will go where ever Bunny does and Obitckerk will probably transport people to Gena's location.

I'm going to try a different art style on Monday and see if it makes my comic look better. It will be a bit more work (which I don't really want to do), but it will hopefully improve the quality of my art. I wish people would let me know what they think but I know no one will. Why am I even doing this?

Keep watching this blog for updates. I need to really get the word out if I have any hope of surviving this industry.

Comments For Page 312

Ah, so Toi has fine mess armor. Strong enough to stop a blade from cutting her, and light weight too. Too bad Horese stopped the fight, it was just getting started.

I wonder what news Horese has brought back with her? Something that will send the girls on another wild adventure, I'm sure. It's time to shake the story up again. Who knows what weirdness will happen next.

I haven't gotten any response to my last post. Does this mean you're all fine with the comic the way it is or that you don't really care one way or the other. After getting one strong reaction to my comic, I would think I would get some reaction from the rest of my readers.

Hello, is there anyone out there?

Comments For Page 311

Toi finally reveals what's under her dress. Quite the skimpy outfit, I'd say. I wonder how she can avoid injury while wearing so little? Does she have a force field like racheal had or something even weirder. Find out on Wednesday.

I find it easier to draw these simple poses then trying to draw characters interacting with one another. I guess everyone has trouble with fight scenes, but I need to push myself to get better.

If I though I could actually make money doing this, I would spend more time perfecting my drawings. I feel like I'm spending a lot of time on this comic and not getting anything else done. It's kind of a catch 22, in that I need to do more work to get people's attention so that the comic will be a success but I don't want to waste my time if no one is interested.

Which brings me to this series of posts. I assume these were all written by the same person, even though the "name" is different in the first post. Notice that they were all posted at the same time.

Yes, I am over 35, although I don't know what that has to do with my weirdness. I was actually thinking that my comic wasn't weird enough, but a strong reaction like this suggests that people (well, at least one person) find it very weird. That's good. I was going for a very weird story design and it's nice to see at least one person understands that.

It's nice to get some comments from some one, even if they are extreme like this one. It lets me know that my comic is having some effect on people. The reason I allow anonymous comments is because I want people to be free to criticize me without fear of reprisal. I also wanted to make this post to let people know that I don't mind negative criticism. Please let me know what you don't like or what's not working for you. Do you think the comic is too weird or not weird enough? Should I add some muscular men to counter-balance the beautiful women? What are your feelings about where the story is going. Please let me know what you think. I only ask that you explain what you have a problem with and why. The above poster says I'm weird but doesn't say what they found weird. Page 309 (which would have been on the main page when this post was made) just shows Toi and Terra arguing. Is there anything weird about that? I didn't think so when I created it.

Please post your comments in this post or in the shout box at the bottom of the main page. I'd like to know what people think.

Comments For Page 310

The battle between Slara and Racheal is finally over and Slare won, with a little motivation from her mother. I think Slara was really hoping to drag the fight out but the message from her father forced her to speed things up. Racheal doesn't really have much combat experience, so the fight was really in Slara's control all along.

Monday will start the fight between Terra and Toi, and we'll finally get to see Toi in full battle garb including whip in hand. These two are both experienced warriors and neither of them has any reason to hold back, so expect to see an all-out brutal battle starting next week.

Nothing to report. I'm still not getting much work done outside the regular pages. Please show some support so I can get motivated to do something special for you.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Meta: It's Time To Support The Archive

I've been going to the ASIFA website for over a year now and continue to go there every day. Why? Because it's one of the best places to see art work and animation that hasn't been seen in decades. There is some great stuff here that you can't get anywhere else. By that I don't mean it's difficult to find anywhere else, I mean a lot of this stuff comes from private collections, so unless you know the collectors personally, you are not going to see many of the images or animations anywhere else.

Some of the best stuff requires you to actually go to Hollywood and visit the Archive in person, but several times a week you can find a post with some real gems in it.

Just recently the Archive posted several episodes from an early Hanna Barbara cartoon called "Ruff and Reddy." The catch was that you needed to visit the Blog every day to see each episode. You can still see the post, but the links to the videos are gone. I'm not sure time limited content is necessarily a good think, but it certainly encourages you to check the site every day in case a new gem makes a time limited appearance on the site.

I encourage everyone to check this blog out. You won't be disappointed. Note that the link above leads to a post that explains more about what the archive has to offer.

Comments For Page 309

Looks like Toi and Terra are at it again. I suppose Toi is still upset that she's only about half her size after Terra "fixed" her.

Did you know Toi has a whip? I've been meaning to reveal this fact for a while now, but the story just got ahead of me and the opportunity just never came up. It's hidden under her dress along with her new battle outfit. Both will be revealed soon.

Still haven't put up a counter. No one has given me any money anyway. Of course, I haven't given anyone a reason to. I really must do something about that soon.

Comments for Page 308

Oh that Rachael. Bringing a force field to a sword fight. Of course, she looks a lot sexier in the glowing armor then in the samurai armor but she needs to fight fair.

I got the glow effect by layering several colors at different transparencies. First a solid color (Rachael's skin color), then a blurred color (light yellow) and finally a gradient from yellow to clear to give the glow. You can always add more layers of different sizes and transparencies to really bring out the glow.

Sorry, I didn't get much accomplished again this weekend. I'm really going to have to crack the whip if I want to survive. At least I got this page up early, so I have some time to work on things today. I'll let you know how that goes on Wednesday.

Comments For Page 307

Rachael's looking sexier all the time, but can she really fight in that outfit? Find out next time as the battle continues.

I got the page done by lunch time, so I'll be able to work on some of the projects I need to get done. First up is a Donation Meter and some incentives. You may notice I added some Google ads to the site to try to make some money as well.

I'll let you know Monday how things are going. Hopefully, there will actual be some incentives up and people will actually donate a few dollars. I can only hope.

Comments For Page 306

Oh, that Racheal. More worried about her coat then her life. As anyone following the story so far should realize, it's not that easy to kill a Token girl. In fact, they get stronger the more they get hurt. Slara better be careful since she doesn't have the same invulnerability. Then again, Slara has been fighting along side Angel for a long time and may know a thing or two about her weaknesses.

Of course, the two girls aren't actually trying to kill each other. Slara's just letting off a little steam and Racheal is just playing along until she can figure out that's going on. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

A friend of mine has been moving this past week and I've been helping. I really should be trying to get some work done. I'm falling way behind what I wanted to have accomplished by the first of May. Sorry if anyone has been expecting those big announcements I planned. Hopefully, I can get some work done in the next few days and have an announcement by Monday. Sorry I haven't gotten anything done sooner but it's been one distraction after another around here and I really need to get my priorities straight if I want to survive in this business.