Decided to do some more work on the comic today, though it's still just development. One of the things that interested me was if I could draw the opening using photo ref and still have it work with the cartoony aesthetic that I wanted. Seems to be ok. Stuff's a little more solid, a little more 'real,' but still has the look I want. What this involved was me curling up on the kitchen floor with the camera set to self timer. No big deal. Later, I will draft the partner to help me out with multiple character interactions, something that's a bit scant in my work. Still, I was pretty pleased with this and think, as a proof of concept, it not only works but is a good deal stronger than the original version. I have many pages of notes and a complete first draft outline already. I'm going to try and keep any scripting loose so that I can compose via thumbnails and not feel like I'm just treading over the same material again and again. That's going to be key to keep me interested and on track.

I set out to do a comic that focused more on one actual topic which I would then discuss more openly. And I failed. Kind of. I think it's because of the format and process I use to make this comic. Generally I make some drawings, bring them into AI, then color them. The writing comes dead last and only has whatever room is leftover. This forces me to be concise but also tends to mean the comic isn't very specific. By the time I've introduced any given topic, half the space is gone. I re-read all the pages of "Biography" yesterday (there are 123 of them) and generally, I'm pretty happy with it, even if it's just a random journal comic about nothing in particular. It is, for my money, definitely the continuation of "Harlon," with a lot left out between the two. I mean, this is me, this is what I'm thinking about or experimenting with at any given time. "Hanlon" was edited in that I chose the events to draw about, leaving out lots of detail. Keep things simple, right? I did note that the earlier pages tended to be a lot more metaphorical and experimental. Don't know if that means I was hoping to reach a wider audience and I dropped that or what. Mostly, I just like to draw the rabbit-thing avatar and I hope to connect with anyone else out there. This blog is almost more journal than the comic. Eh, what the hell. Doesn't really matter as I don't plan to collect Bio ever. It's not a product. Even if vague or misleading, it's truth.

Hadn't done one of these in a long time. I'd like to do more but I've been busy, and to take the time to do a comic about all of what's going on would mean I couldn't do that other stuff, some of which is goofing off. Anyway, this is page 122 of Biography, so there's that.

Decided to do something a little more complex today. Had a lot of fun posing for all three characters. I posed for the other two members of the party as well, though because this was not well decided beforehand, there wasn't room in the composition for Crow and Francesca. No big deal. Mostly I wanted to see what a more or less finished panel would look like. The background could and will be a bit more detailed. I am pretty happy with the figure work. Played with the lighting and colors a lot, using old WB cartoons, especially "What's Opera, Doc?" as inspiration. Goblins are green but cooler colors tend to recede and I wanted something that would come forward while leaving the blues in the background. Also, red denotes blood, danger, etc. and that's where the action is in this image. For Mikilo, I first added 10% blue to all his normal coloration which wasn't really pushing it enough. He still stuck out like a sort thumb. So I selected all the bits of him, merged them into one shape, made it blue then turned down the opacity to about 20%. Not only did it tone him down and make him look like he's almost moonlit, it fuzzed his details a little, helping even more to shove him into the background. Not bad for something done more or less on the fly. What this does tell me is that the comic is going to take a LOT of work, which is fine. I enjoy this kind of thing. Thrown in almost at the last minute is the ring on the goblin's finger. Wasn't satisfied with it just being gold. I came back and added some runes to it. Details like that are important and I want to do a lot of them throughout the comic. Anyway, the laundry buzzer just went off.

Just some elf practice as I haven't been able to draw anything for days. The lines around the outside give the images a kind of finished 'slickness' which I've decided I like. It will also help separate the character from eventual backgrounds. I wonder if people would have trouble considering this -drawing-. I mean, it is but it's kind of not, too.

One more for the day.

More development work, this time with one of the monsters. There will be others, this is just the first one I came up with. Used a photo from one of my old Hildebrandt books. Those guys, like Rockwell and many before them used to take photos for reference for their paintings. It's something I started out doing back in the 80s with my Polaroid and have since mostly got out of the habit of doing. In this case, I think it brings a certain sincerity that was missing from the style I'll need to tell a more serious story. Since this was just practice, I used their photo instead of taking my own. I think it worked out pretty well.

A reversal from yesterday; having showed both lined and lineless versions of the images of Crow, my partner and I decided that we actually do like the lines better, as long as they're not so high a contrast to the colors of the figure as to become too overpowering. It will help separate the characters from their backgrounds, something I've been doing all along in my comics. The trick seems to be to use the one of the colors for the outline that exists already in the drawing. Also, by using one of the darker colors, it makes the face pop even more. So, slightly different pose, same style.

Did some more design work today. Since I've liked the images of the characters drawn from reference better than those without, I decided to see if I was going to be able to make my own poses work properly for this. So I grabbed my camera, a very short tripod and a sword we have lying around and took my own photo. Drawn from that, at an extreme angle I came up with these. Still doing versions with and without lines. Because.

Same thing as yesterday. Used some reference for Crow then did versions with and without outlines. In this case, there's a background so it's a different kind of comparison. That being said, I'm still leaning towards the one without the lines. I'm also thinking about adding texture to the backgrounds, which might flatten the characters enough on their own. This one was just thrown together to get a general idea. I also used the same color as the details on his skin for the outline so it didn't stick out so much. Still, the art here looks a lot better, more solid than what I did originally, though some of the style has been toned down. Moving on.

More on Ghiroy. Notes are going on in the background, sketching goes on here and there. Something that's been in my head vaguely is that the art style, which I like a lot, is a little immature for the story I want to tell. Without really thinking about it, I pulled out an old favorite for reference, Ruby's "The Human Figure," a book I've nearly worn apart (and one which I know for a fact Moebius used here and there) and used some of the poses in there both for the last images and this one. It caused me to be a little less fantastical and a little more literal. My partner liked the change, especially with the filled out story. The color palette, too made an impression on him which is a big deal because he generally doesn't like my work, especially if it's more cartoony or abstract. Mikilo's a little 'prancy' here but that's ok. He IS a little prancy. Working on the visuals while I work on the story. Little bits and pieces, but NOT just the aimless work like I did for Delve Deep. This is MY story, it's personal. And that makes all the difference.

The two versions here show one with outlines, one without. Since I'm referencing a lot of animation stuff (especially old WB cartoons), it made sense to give the lines a try. I don't think I'm going to use them, but it's not a bad thing to try things out.

There's a lot going on with Ghiroy these days, mostly in my head and in notes I'm taking. While all that work on Delve Deep didn't lead to a comic, it wasn't a waste of time. It showed me the kinds of things I needed to do to get where I need to go. Having seen Scott McLeod, an old friend, speak recently, some gears started turning that haven't in awhile. I think I was going about Delve the wrong way; I was trying to use existing structure to dictate the story I was going to tell. Instead of having a story -I- wanted to tell, I was trying to construct one based on a formula. While that works for Hollywood, it doesn't work for me.

Out of nowhere, better ideas started to tumble out for Ghiroy. In a matter of a couple of days, I had a structure for the overall story, questions which popped up were just as quickly and logically answered. I have what I hope is my Pamina. I've been looking for so long. Ghiroy is meant to be a love letter to RP gaming, especially the world I've been able to play in for the last 30 years. There have been other inspirations, too. A book I got a few months ago about the work Maurice Noble did on the Warner Brothers cartoons has me thinking more seriously about the whole comic and my approach to it. This is what led me to the image above. There's a lot of talk about color there, both for backgrounds and characters. I realized that I'd chosen colors based on preconceived notions and not on what would work FOR those characters. So I've made some readjustments for the general coloration of the three majors. Mikilo, for example had his skin tone darkened which brings out his eyes which also more clearly focuses attention on his face. Also, because the character is meant to be an elf, and very long lived, I didn't want him to be wearing bright colors as washed out colors had more a suggestion of a slow burn. Ghiroy, on the other hand, is done in much warmer colors. He burns bright and hot. Short temper, intense. Francesca, too had most of her clothing toned down, but I left her with brighter lips and eyes that pop to suggest that while she, too is generally on the level, when she explodes, it's in little, intense moments. That's how her magic works as well. So basically, I've been trying to think a lot more about WHY I'm doing what I'm doing. Art is all about choices. To me, art that's less successful is art that has been made without making enough actual choices or decisions.

If the comic goes where I want it to, it's likely to be big. Perhaps as much as 4-500 pages. This will mean years. This is a good thing. I've really wanted a big project and this one is starting to flow just like the old ones. I'm hoping that, as I learn things from various sources, I'll get better and be able to produce the kind of comic that I'll not only be proud of, but one that others might be interested as well. So art might be less frequent for awhile, at least that which I post online. This one has to have at least an outline, a color script and breakdowns. Can't do it in the old style of just -doing- it. Here's hoping.

While working on the story aspects of the comic, I decided to up the ante on the background style for it as well. What little backgrounds there were in the first 30 pages really weren't up to snuff. They were kind of style-less and lacking in detail. While there doesn't have to be tons and tons of detail in every panel, and in fact I'm thinking seriously of keeping it very minimal in close ups and two shots, there really should be a goodly amount for establishing and pulled back shots. So I worked on this for awhile today. Shingling the roof was a pain and likely more work than I really needed to do. I also think this is too fussy and the timbers and such need to be thicker. Still, this is more like what I think is needed for the comic.

Haven't updated in too long. There's probably only a couple pages left for the skater mouse story, but I've been dragging my feet. There WAS a trip to Boston in there and work's been very tiring lately, too. Also, I got to see an old friend give a talk on his new graphic novel. That seems to be going really well for him. It's already been optioned for a movie. He also made me think about Ghiroy. I stalled on Delve Deep partially, as I now realize because I was trying to -make- a story instead of tell one. I had a structure and I was trying to make characters and details to fit that structure instead of tell something I wanted to tell. Ghiroy is meant to be a love letter to gaming, playing certain characters in our RPG for decades. That's stuff near and dear to my heart. As such, I think I'm more interested in it and tied more deeply to it. Sharp was sort of like one of those characters, but more image than depth. Ghiroy, or Crow Cooper is based off a character I began playing in the middle 80s. Though he's more or less retired, he's the favorite of all I've ever played. He is my fantasy. So telling a story about him feels more personal. And, if I can manage, the comic will also be a metaphor for something else. In any case, I've gone back to writing or at least plotting it. I'll likely start again. I don't regret the 30 pages I've already done and will have to redraw. They got me to a place I can really begin. So. Here's a page of just Ghiroy posing for no reason other than to draw him, and a page of goblins as there's going to have to be monsters. Goblins are a great, generic dungeon monster.

Finally got another page of this done. This one was a biznatch. I had to do a lot more masking, cutting and editing to get the lines in the background to work properly with the transparent word balloons. My own fault. It's because I don't plan these things out ahead of time. I could have had a lot easier time but no. That's ok, it was still fun to draw. We're nearing the end. Another short story about nothing at all.

Last post of the day. Probably. First image is the quick sketches and layout for the next page of the mice comic. Note the Rembrandt in the upper left which is the basis for the painting mentioned in the last post. I then went and took photos for ref and the bottom image is of the pencils for the next page. What's hard to remember is to shorten limbs and such so they fit the mice and not my sort of lanky frame. Still have to get the background in there, but I'll do that afterwards. Right. Now, off to that OTHER job.

This is what distracted me from the mice. I started watching some artist documentaries on YouTube (always a dangerous thing) and started sniffing at fine art again. This is dangerous as it always takes me out of the mindset of doing comics. Or whatever else I'm working on. And at this point, I was really enjoying the mice. But I enjoy this, too. Luckily, it hasn't blown up into another selfie project, though this time using Rembrandt as a source. Did two ink drawings and then decided to do a little something in PS... or wait, I think I did the PS one first. And there's an Illustrator one in there, too. Just because. I was trying to make a street art inspired take on some old master's work. I didn't really achieve that, but I made these. And there's a half completed painting sitting on my drawing table, too. *sigh* Inspiration can be a bitch sometimes. At least I'm not on a deadline with someone else. So I guess my being distracted doesn't really matter. No one's waiting for any of this so who cares when it gets done?

Did this a few days ago, succumbing to 'fan art,' for which I have a lot of mixed feelings. I don't have any problem with people drawing their favorite characters. Hell, that's the way a lot of people learned to draw. Thing is, when they start -selling- that art, that's when I have a problem. Because you just KNOW when an artist sees their work appearing on a t-shirt at Hot Topic or Urban Outfitters without their permission, letters are sent, the internet is sent into a tizzy. "NO FAIR NO FAIR! MINE! YOU STEAL!" and the like. And sure, that makes sense and I agree that no one should appropriate someone else's work for profit. Thing is, isn't that what people who sell fan art are doing? It's not THEIR character, it wasn't their work that designed and implemented that character or its surroundings, story and the rest. So why do they get to rip off the owner of that character and THAT'S ok? To me, it's still theft. Fine to draw, not fine to profit. And get off my lawn!

I've been really bad at updating the blog, though I have been making stuff. The mice got sort of put aside for a couple weeks as I got distracted. This was the last page completed though I just penciled the next one today. Smatt's and asshole. The other two aren't much better.

Page 10 of this. Wasn't neglecting the comic, just working on other things, such as the newest Movie Wrench episode. Takes me about four days to do one of those, not including watching the movie again. Still enjoying drawing these little bastards. That asshole on the left is named Rooster. He's a retread from a commission I had in the middle of last year. That character was a lot older and bulkier. This is someone's little brother. More to come.

Page 9. Back to Illustrator. This is Terry, Smatt's cousin. To me, the white mice are all clones, they all look exactly the same. They each try to be individuals, but it doesn't always ring true. No matter how many of them I'll draw, they'll all look more or less the same, their clothing being one of the only easy ways to tell them apart. Maybe it's the idea that so many of us think we're SO different when we're still wearing the same name brand clothing just in slightly different combinations. And the reason the mice are angry is because deep down they know this and also know that there's nothing they can do about it, or at least they can't imagine themselves out of that 'maze.' While these two were just a throwaway in one panel of Tamino, they weren't trash and something came from them. I remember when designing them the first time I wanted to be sure they were identical. Just didn't know why. Maybe they're a statement. Maybe I'm full of shit.

Page eight; boring but necessary. This page is quite different from the others in one very important way; I drew the elements using a program other than Illustrator. Due to a friend's email (hi, Vince!) I checked out a new vector based drawing program called Affinity Designer. I refuse to move onto the Adobe subscription platform for their software as it's so much more expensive over time than how they used to do business. Also, my version of Illustrator CS5 does everything I need it to do. I'm going to be really unhappy when the day comes that it's no longer supported. The new software look good, so I downloaded it and gave it a try.

In general, I like the way it works. The pen tool took a little getting used to but, in its way, was clearer in use than that of AI. Some of the keyboard commands I use without thought (most notably the 'never appears anywhere else' shift-command-a) were not the same, which is to be expected. I know there will be some training when moving to any other program and that's ok. The major feature missing from AD that I rely on is the live trace feature. I use this when I'm using inked drawings of any kind and it's central to the way I work. Looking on their forums I see I'm not totally alone though it's a feature they only want to add when they have a version that's better than what's already on the market. Well, ok, but something would be a lot better than nothing.

Deciding to take the plunge, I decided the next page would be done in AD. Without a lot of problems, I drew all the elements pretty much the way I do in AI until I got to the final steps. One of the features I use constantly, no matter what kind of style I'm working in is the command-7 step which basically allows me to use an overlapping shape as a mask to slice away extra details. This is most notable in the current comic in the word balloons where the detail of the background is neatly cut into the outline of said balloon. There was no way to do this in AD, or at least I could not find one. Crippled at this point, I had to move back to AI. The one nice feature was that I was able to select and copy the elements I'd already drawn in AD and simply paste them directly into new layers in AI. From there, I used my usual process to finish the page.

While AD is really not able to replace AI for me yet, it's a strong contender and I hope its programmer's will continue to develop it. Adobe needs someone to offer them competition. I haven't heard of one person who likes the new subscription model. Since it's a tool I rely on day to day, I'm very interested in how they continue and how others might come up to bat. Here's hoping.

Page 7 with its original sketch. Threw that back in here to show how much I sometimes play with composition even if it seems all worked out in the drawing. This is why Illustrator is a must for me. By keeping all the elements separate, I can play about with them until the end. Composition is really my final major step, which goes against everything I've been taught. I am very much NOT saying that I'm better than the rules, just that this is how I do things. Illustrator is both my 'inking' tool and my eraser. Anyway. Posed for this one myself, sans skateboard. Haven't been on one of those since I was 12 or so, and likely would break something just by trying to stand on one now.

Page 6. Not much to say about it. It hurts, and he likely deserves it. He's a rotten little bastard.

Page 5. I think I've decided that I really like single panel comics. Or at least, doing just the one panel per page.

Page 4. Had to play a lot more with the composition on this one, mostly as I draw too big. One of the reasons I like Illustrator so much as it allows me to do all sorts of things with composition up until the very end. Also, I added subtitles to this and the other pages. Don't know if it helps but it doesn't seem o hurt.

First new image of the new year. Seems like only yesterday that I did the last page... Had to monkey about with the composition with this one as it didn't quite fit the other pages. That's what happens when you don't plan things out. That's me. My partner likes the art for this one (which is rare for him) but he says it's totally illegible to him. Well, that's kind of ok because Smatt's grumbling in his own patois of fake street-speak and real words. The mice aren't supposed to make a lot of sense. Then again, do many of my comics.

Probably the last images of the year. I reached the one goal I set for myself on this blog and that was to have more posts than the previous year. While I didn't complete any big projects, I did make a lot of things which I take as a positive. I'm still finding my way, partially through the grief of the loss of my mom last year. Directionlessness is still a problem, though perhaps there's solace in the short form as well. I have hopes for Ghiroy, but we'll see. There's been a lot of stalling. Strangely, this little ditty with Smatt has helped me out some and I think I need to format Ghiroy more like this, not least of which because it's fun to draw and that's an important part of making comics for me. If it's not fun, I won't do it. So anyway, this. Dunno where Smatt's going. Not sure he knows. We'll both see when he gets there. I know he's looking for his cousin and he's not pleased about it. That's all I know. Happy New Year.

Did this today. Well, mostly today. Might be the start of something, might not. At least I think I figured out the problem with Ghiroy; I'm trying too hard to make it into a regular comic style, meaning that it should have panels and the like. The first section is almost all single illustrations, no panels, just an occasional head. That's what I like drawing the most, so the comic should be the same way. This page with Smatt is very much like that, and I should continue doing that with Ghiroy so I don't lose steam or interest. Doesn't mean I can't do more than one thing at a time. I don't know that I have anything to say with Smatt; perhaps he is the avatar of my anger. I don't know. But here's this thing; pencil drawing first, Illustrator in greyscale and final version with limited color.

Some stuff from the last few days. As Xmas approaches, I've had no time at all for art. Too tired, shifts too long, etc. Managed to eke these out, though and had fun doing them. The multiple styles thing can be a real problem. I get so easily distracted. I'm amazed I ever got any of the comics done. Anyway, before and afters for both.

Been looking at Jack Davis' ink work and have been thinking about adding some texture/shading to my own stuff, something I really don't do or haven't done. This was a first attempt. Sadly, when shrunk, it gets muddy so it's hard to see. I'm not sure I like it for this application, either, though it has some possibilities. It makes for a much 'dirtier' drawing, I think, so I'd have to adjust the subject matter to go along with it. But his work for EC, in its original, pre-colored form just amazes me. So, this.

This year's digital holiday card. Didn't come up with the idea until too late and I wasn't even looking for an idea when I drew it. For all those (Vince) watching this blog, I hope you have a great season.

Getting back on the horse, at least a bit. It's really hard at this time of year when there's so much else going on and I'm working more hours. I think I have my mind wrapped around where I want to go with this now and I hope I can make better progress than I have been on it. I do want to tell it. And hell, I'm thirty pages in already. That's nearly twice as long as the last thing I finished. So here's hoping.