Finally finished page 132. It ended up better than I thought it would, after the usual messing about with color, placement, etc. Just for fun, I threw in a screenshot of how much information did not make it into the page. Everything outside the white frame was rendered but unused. This happens a lot, especially when I reuse background elements like I did with this one. I might indeed use them again. A lot easier than drawing something again from scratch and is one of the joys of working digitally. In a lot of ways, I'm a traditionalist. Not when it comes to making art, though I don't know half the things the software can do. I have my process and it's remained more or less unchanged for a long while. The iPad is the newest addition and it's central. Anyway, another page down.

 Distraction! To be fair, this was done from a sketch I made at work as a demo. I had the pencil done already and was just 'painting' for anyone that wanted to watch, something I haven't done at work for over two years. When done, I had the gray scale version at the top thinking I'd take it home and see what I could do in AD to finish it. Last night, as I poked about with it in my head, I wonder about doing something with very low contrast, something I pretty much never do. The middle version was my first go but I wondered if I could push it even further. The lower one is that result. I like it, too but it's not for general consumption, I think, as it's just TOO hard to see. I don't even think it's printable. In a gallery, people would mostly pass over it, thinking it just a flat, brown canvas. Part of me likes that about it, but I wouldn't print that one, I think. The middle one is hard enough to see. Anyway, back to the comic.

 This was a big week for the podcast, and for work. Work is kicking my ass and I am honestly utterly tired of it. The podcast got to episode 200 and Max and I spent four hours recording an episode just on Batman that I'm not betting anyone will listen to. That's ok, we had fun. With all that, I had time to start on page 132 but that's it. And I won't get back to it til sometime next week. I want to up my page rate but so far, that's not happening. Still, I'm getting what I want which is something that feels like a spray painted mural in the context of my comic. The vectorization takes out a lot of the texture but as it's done that all along, I'm ok with that. The colors here are not at all right, and I'll likely go back to a grey scale under image and overlay. Still, I think it's fun and will look like what it's meant to be; Digby trying for a bit of branded immortality. There's a lot of steps in here, but so far, these are the only ones I have records for.

 Was on vacation last week, a very much needed trip home. Managed to get some more reference photos though not as much as I'd like. Then again, I haven't decided the background style for the next track, so it might not matter as much. Using photos directly has made things a LOT easier but I worry that there will be too much contrast with the first whole chunk of the comic. So I might limit that to Digby's little trip. This wasn't a hard page so I was able to slap it together yesterday and today. Used a fisheye lens on my phone to get the nice warp but I sketched freehand, inking in Procreate with the HB pencil tool. Then the usual bits of spray paint and text with a chisel marker. Digby's track is nearly done.

 Played around with colors and tones a lot with this to get it done. I also had to decide how Digby was going to appear in this, how to show the wall, the Silas piece and make it all fit. Looking back at the previous page, it was obvious; he was looking through his hands at the end of the page and at the top of the following page. So it seemed to make total sense to take Digby's point of view when looking at the piece. It adds enough of an oddness and an angle that I think it fits between just fine. Now, I can move on.

Working on backfilling a page I've needed to do. Digby is supposed to see someone else's work that sends him off on a tangent, makes him momentarily doubt his skill before painting one of his big logs. I wanted the piece he sees to be one of Silas'. It's one we see him working on way back in the opening though it's further developed here. We never actually see him finish it and it's one of the pieces that the city sent to him in dreams. I didn't have a photographic background to match the one I drew in that earlier sequence so I made one using elements from different photographs. Though the door has been cropped out, the brick wall is actually my tiling of one photo about six times. There's only one window which is copied and pasted on. I think, once it's been shoved through the vectorizer, it's pretty effective. I wanted some ghost graffiti to show through, so pulled some tests I'd done, the "spaz," and "sorta" from above. I then matched the overlay color and now just have to get an image of Digby in there that will tie the color palettes of the two pages together. That's what happens when you don't plan ahead!

 

 Had some time to develop the sketches a little further and I like how they turned out. Looking at the song to come, I'm not sure if he's the best fit, but perhaps I can actually show a softer side of him? We'll see. I think I've come too far NOT to use him and, technically, he has already appeared in the comic. He was in the coffee house in the overture. I'm sure I can figure something out.

 Haven't finished with Digby but I do have to look ahead. Ricci has been a little tough for me, mostly as I was cleaving too close to the reference and not chonking him out nearly enough. This morning, I did that head and hand and it just clicked. That's what I want. That big, round head was exactly what I wanted. I just did the one on top which is more of a figure and that's pretty much what I'm going for. Why is he singing into a spray paint can? Why the hell not? Anyway, progress. Sometimes I just need to take steps back and away and come at it fresh.

 And I did manage to get the page done. It all came together rather easily, which was a nice surprise. These things can get too complicated but I do need to pull back and give some more atmosphere before the track is over. The comic can otherwise get too claustrophobic. I'd imagine that real graffiti writers always feel like they're out in the open, always on the verge of being spotted, the opposite of claustrophobic. Then again, Digby is totally stuck in his own head.

 Got to work on the next page which is coming together quickly. The lower sketch just might be my favorite image of Digby yet. Something about it just works for me, and it is coloring even better. Drew them on paper, scanned them, 'inked' them in Procreate, vectorized them and have been working in greyscale. Might be able to finish this page today. That's the plan.

 City Silent page 129. This one was easy, which I needed or I wouldn't get a page done this week. Came together rather quickly last night with some finishing done today. Been productive so far; I already edited this week's podcast episode and finished this. Nap time.

 Haven't been in the mood to do the comic lately, which is bad. And today, I wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. There's been a lot going on, socially and with work and all. Still, manage to bang this out. It's not great, but it's something.

Or maybe I like this version better.

 One more version, and I  think I like this one best of all. Dumped the inked outlines and just kept the wrinkles. We'll see how it goes, but I think this is the way I want to go.

 Spent this morning with the big, chonk sketch of Ricci, trying out different approaches. The top version is using the usual pen I use for inking stuff. The second is a more traditional style, one I used to use but haven't since I switched to digital inking. The third was just using another, textured brush. There's something to say about all three, but I think the traditional one is the least interesting. I also did a straight to vector version (the bottom one) to see how that would look as it's the approach the current track started with. And last, I vectorized all three inked versions and laid them atop the vectored version. Again, I think the more traditional is the least interesting, and I like the way the lines and colors don't quite match. Colors aren't necessarily those I'd choose, though I think Ricci's track will have a more limited color palette than did Digby's. I hate having to spend so much time on this sort of thing while not getting pages done, but it's important to have some kind of approach. I plan so little as it is.

These are all the iPad sketches I did when hunting around for something I could use in the next track. I went really far afield here, sometimes pulling out my old, classic animation character design book from the 40s by Walter Foster, veering into some Tezuka near the end and dealing with the dog character while also looking into Ricci. The bottom one sent me into what became the chonk drawing from the previous entry. My partner noticed a certain resemblance to Ed Asner, which is not entirely untrue but which also fits the character. He also said, "This looks like a guy who's a boxer who hasn't been boxing in too long," and that fits Ricci. Thought I'd throw out some fumbling around as we all do it and it rarely gets shown.
 

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 Looking ahead. The next song with be done with a different character. I was originally thinking Riccin, from Fite! He's already shown up, briefly, in the overture. So he's established. He also showed up in Tamino, as Tamino did in Fite!. Then I veered off towards an African wild dog character I used only once in a print. But he never really gelled so I went back to Ricci.  The top one is the one closest to what I think will work, but I'm not sure if it's sustainable as there's a lot more realism in him and a lot more drawing involved. The middle is me feeling around, trying to find what I want. The bottom is the dog, some of which I like, but none of which feel right for City Silent. There's also a Procreate document with about ten layers of different sketches of different things which I'll make a separate entry on. For now, I think I'll continue with chonk Ricci.

 FINALLY finished this page. There wasn't much more to do, just the text but the colors just weren't working so almost all of them got changed and changed again. That's ok. I'd rather take the time now and make them work than have to worry about it and be dissatisfied. So I can move on.

 Only a little progress because I worked today and had to watch the movie for this week's podcast before going to work. But I think the colors balance better and I like how it seems to be exploding out of the upper Digby. Text to come and I can move on. This month, I've been at this comic for five years. That was my original, unrealistic, hopeful timeframe to be done. Well, not even half way. Guess I keep going.

 Got started on a new page of this today. The three poses we done separately and somehow managed to fit together really well. I'm very happy with the 'acting' of these as well. The middle one was really hard to draw as I have no real reference for Digby's muzzle from below like that. I think it works. As usual, the colors on the bottom WIP are not set in stone. I've already changed them all around multiple times. We shall see.

 I was more in a portrait mood than a comic mood tonight. The bottom image is from what I think is my most successful real paint portrait to date. I think I'm alone in this, but there's something about it I really like. It took me about half an hour; it just came together and the palette was almost as spontaneous as the rest of the painting. It's acrylic on brown paper. I've been meaning to update it and tonight was the night. I tried to keep to a similar palette but used the iPad instead. I have less hair than I wish but at least I still have the same hoodie. This one, too I think is rather successful and took me about a half hour or so. Perhaps a bit more. I think there's a weird, almost photographic quality to it which makes no sense. And it does look like me. So, there's that.