Just got this back from Apple; it's the 'definitive' version of Tamino done as I always meant it to be. The paper is heavy and glossy, the colors deep, the blacks super black. The comic was always drawn with the idea of four pages shown at a time, and in this format, I was able to do so. There's no extra stuff in here, no behind the scenes, just the comic. And that's fine. This version cost me over $100 so there's no way to ever print them this way for sale, and really, who would buy it? It was worth doing if just to have the one copy of the comic that I can look at and know was done 'right.'

Cast update image. I've been working on the comic in the background (mostly in my head) which has been a slow moving process, I admit. That being said, I think it will be a stronger story because of some time spent with and away from it. One of the big changes is the coloring for Mikilo. The reason for this is that the world the other characters is on is foreign to them. There are elements of magical space travel in the story and I wanted to differentiate one race from another more than just with words. Since I planned for the flora and fauna to be wildly different from what we know, and planned to had odd colors I finally decided that Miki's usual coloration made no sense. It sets him apart from the other two and allows them to stand out from him a bit more. There's also a hint of maturity in these versions that's missing from some of the earlier ones, I think though everything still feels cartoony, which is something I want. Hopefully, this will allow me to move a bit forward. I could use that kind of push.

Another one for the day. Not my favorite of the bunch, partially because of the pose. There's a reason that artists don't generally do portraits with open mouths;they're much harder to do and make flattering to the subject. Still, good practice. Forgot to scan this one in pencil first.

Another day, another portrait. This time, it's an ex-coworker who kind of dared me to draw him via Facebook. I really liked his awkward, goofy grin. The photo referenced was less cheesy than the one he originally sent me to use. A bit of fun, a couple hours diversion. Pencil and ink.

Had an itch to draw and didn't want to draw me again. I've drawn me or painted me over 60 times. So I took a freeze-frame from a documentary a friend of mine made and used one of our co-workers as a model. Tom Devlin, now owner of Drawn + Quarterly was once someone I worked with at the Million Year Picnic. All that hair and the scruffy facial hair called to me to draw them, so I did. Pencils and then the inked version just for comparison. Very much glad that the effort didn't end up looking like me. And my partner, who's met Tom once instantly recognized him. So there's that.

As work on the story progresses, things change. Since the world that Crow and Francesca are on is not their native one, I thought about having the flora and fauna as odd and alien as possible. To that end, though I've got elves and such, it occurred to me that changing their colors from the obvious palette might make them feel a bit more alien. And so they do. Mikilo is now violet in color which not only really makes him stand out from the other two (perhaps too much) but the green sky and deep orange sun help make everyone else stand out, too. I will be making the foliage in colors other than green and brown. The world is supposed to suggest faerie but again, an alien one. So here's a step, even if a small one.

Spent today working on a mock page for the comic. Haven't done any visual development on it in awhile and there are some problems I know I have to overcome. The fonts are one of them. I'm not totally sold on this one, but it's closer to what I think I want. Each character will have his/her own but I still want the words more integrated into the art. Crow, being the least sophisticated I gave a kind of runic font. It works ok but requires that I do it all by hand. The background is generally what I want but I need to play it out better. And there won't be any panels if I can help it. Don't like panels. Don't know why, I just don't. That being said, Crow's not as good looking as he was yesterday. Then again, he was a little too cute yesterday so this isn't a bad balance. Really, I have to nail all this down so that I don't try and switch styles in the middle. This isn't the best page, but I think it looks pretty good and is a step forward. I could use some more of those.

Did a little messing about with Crow today. Trying to keep him as fluid as possible, which means a slight change of approach. Haven't drawn anything from Ghiroy for a long time. Too long. So, this.

Biography continues on, in tiny little spurts. This one came from my starting to read the big, heavy Drawn+Quarterly 25th anniversary collection/celebration thingie. See, I know the current owner/publisher. We used to work at the same comic store way back when. I knew him before that as he worked at the local Diamond warehouse (comic distributors). I used to drive him home on the way back to making the delivery at the store. He slept on the way. Tom's gone on to do exactly what he wanted; publish the kinds of comics he really likes to read. It's hard to compete with that, though really, I'm not in competition. As is usually the case, I veer away at the very end, not really delving deeply (heh) into my true feelings on this matter. I guess that's a theme in Biography. Hints and sudden turns. Can't confess even to myself... at least not publicly.