Portion Control

I've been working on websites for a fair amount of the day, but I got some time to put into both of these. The only major issue I'm running across now is that my proportions are off.

I also haven't figured out the clothing I'd like on the top image. I'm thinking slightly steampunk, but not quite sold on anything yet.

Lines Pointing the Wrong Direction

I find line work really easy to flush out, but once I want to add color, shading, or anything beyond the silhouette and form, I'm in adequately equip. I need to readdress the proportions, mostly in the face, but it's not bad for a quick 5 minute sketch.

The title has to do with what got me to start sketching tonight, instead of heading to bed. Rather the idea that is right in front of our face, but we don't always want to admit that it's true.

Messing Around on a Down Day

I started working on this for fun and to further play with layering. It's not looking too bad for the minimal amount of effort put in and the rookie skill involved. It's a wood elf springing back right after firing her bow.

Update!

It's been a while, and the standard bearer I posted last is still in the same condition, but I did fiddle with Photoshop a bit and this is what I got out of it for only a few minutes worth of sketching after a few beers.

Still has a lot of work to be done, and I believe she'll be casting a spell.

As you can see, this is my latest painting adventure. Dark Eldar, Cult of the Devorer (Slaanesh). I'll get some better shots of it and the troops, and I'll get them faster if I get comments. :)

All I need is a little color

Posing is finished, now to get some color on the poor guy. Time to fetch the paints, and a lot of free time.

More Green Stuff!

I've done some more work on my Warhammer: Beastmen sculpt. He has hair added and a picture for size comparison. Next is reattaching the banner, attaching the shield and painting.

More Green Sculpting

Some more of my work to improve my sculpting and epoxy putty skills. I've got some detailing to do still, but it's coming along alright.


I've been learning a fair amount from just this one project, I feel my greenstuffing skills have improved quite a bit. My sculpting tool needs to stay moist to avoid having the putty stick to it. Only do small amounts at a time, particularly when adding onto already greenstuffed portions.

Not digital, but who cares.

Some sculpting work I've been doing. It's a Bloodletter figure from Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40k games found here.

I'm working on making it appear like a bipedal, lionman. Still needs some detailing, then 29 more to sculpt.

As you can see, I didn't get around to updating. I've been in a bit of a rough patch as of late and haven't been putting enough effort or had the energy to devote to much beyond work.

It's been a while old friend.

I've began looking at improving my Photoshop techniques, and the first thing I thought was to do some drawings without the use of black lines. It's a completely different thought process for me to tackle an image without putting in the black outlines. I'll upload some images in a while.

Time to Nut Up or Shut Up!

I've been setting in my line work, trimming the fat so to speak on the sketchy roughs. I can always add more is my theory, but I really need to get the story in place.

The rough for page 4 is also complete. I feel I may have jumped the wall I was hitting with it. I find that when I introduce a key character, I want to do at least one panel of a close up on their face, and that shows some in this page, as well as the first. Looking at the pages, I can already see errors that I will correct for the next version/ post of them.

Slow to No Progress

I have made very little progress in the last week in a half. What I have done is start filling in my roughs with the final lines that will be printed, as well as some base colors that I will add highlights and other coloring to. I don't currently have images. I'm also trying to push the 4th page out

Torn.. But Not in the Literal Sense

I'm now torn about my second page. I have been trying to push forward and get all the roughs done, but on Tuesday Lily Moore was looking at my work and told me to work on my second page some more. Her concerns were that I had too many panels, the top 3 being able to be combined and the middle section needing clarification on the characters blocking in relation to one another.

I worked up a quick prototype of what I could do on the middle panels. I'll throw the images out there and keep going on my other pages.

Above is the original, to the right is the quickly reworked.

Yet another rough... post?

The third page, and the next is underway. I would have to say though, that the next few pages are a bit less action packed, but hopefully interesting.

The last panel on this page is supposed to be a visual for a teleportation, but I'm not satisfied with the idea. I know I want to show that he is teleporting, but I'm still working out how to best show that.

Well, mid-term in the morning and the book won't review itself.

Roughing it; The Sequel

Page 2 is roughed out, and here it is.

Roughing it

My first page roughed in. I had the sun panel already done and colored from my first attempt but redid all the other panels.

I set a layer to be a color other than white for the background to make it easier to work on, but I think I kind of like it if I can get roughly the same feel in print.

I am currently working to get all my pages roughed out and then I can come back and refine each panel.

Getting inside someone else's head

The characters within Coarse Crystal all have a sort of significance with me. Many were created, and detailed out of my own life whether consciously or subconsciously.

First is Zander, the hero of the story if you will. He is not a typical hero in that he is well motivated to be a do good, go getter. He is a young man that seems to constantly be battling himself and a mysterious, inner turmoil. I subconsciously began designing this character in middle school as I was undergoing what I could only describe as the sad or depressing self discovery that can be puberty. Zander was someone that was going through similar issues even if the source was entirely different and the resistance and resilience to these dark and sadden thoughts were inspirational in a way. My problems would be put on this fictional character in a fantastical way and could be worked through, battled, dissected and explained through fantastical means, giving new insight on how to deal with a similar problem realistically. My small moments of clarity through this lead to his small moments clarity. He has become a personified version of my dark emotional challenges and the clarity about myself that they led to his character clarity.

The heroine, Jady, began as an image of what I considered an "ideal" woman. This very, very quickly was changed to include flaws, and quirks to make her much more human and accessible. She has some of the least detail put into her to be honest, but her general nature is very benign, wanting to seek means to help people, and is in the early training to be a healer. She is intelligent while a little naive, charming and easy to talk to but maybe a little intimidating. Jady, I like to think, is a representation on optimization within people because regardless of her name she is rather resistant to jading and pessimistic ideas.

A support character, Exavior, is a creation of my feeling of physical inadequacy in high school. He is a very physically strong, while rather self-conscious and insecure. Exavior is a nerd in every sense of the word, who hatched a plan that worked, to steal a relic of the deity of strength, transforming him into a paragon of physical strength, and giving him a great sense of confidence, that is rather easy to shatter.

While these are not the only characters within the story, they do provide a decent idea of how I go about developing characters.

Script Overview

I figured I should give a little overview of what my comic script contains, more than the description that would be on the back of the movie cover.

The story takes place on Earth a few millennia following a catastrophic war that forever altered the planet and the people on it. The war introduced magic into the world as well as many of the races known to the fantasy genre such as elves, dwarves, orcs and many more.

It opens following a thief, who ends up being an antagonist, breaking into what appears to be a run of the mill house. He enters to find the house he thought to be empty still has the residents home. The residents are incapacitated and the thief flees.

Meanwhile the hero and heroine, Zander and Jady, head home from a day out to Jady's home which has been broken into and her parents incapacitated.

This is the point that I am aiming to get to in the comic

Continued Proposal

Typography:

I suppose that the typography I have had in my head for this comic project is what I would consider 'standard Marvel lettering'. It is all capitol letters, bolding and italizing for emphasis.

More Gutters and Book Dimensions:

I am hoping to do my comic on standard 8.5" x 11" much like my standard Dungeon's and Dragons books. I think it is a comfortable size for me to work in, and gives me some room for play. The margins will be 3/4" on the inside/ binding side and 1/4" on the other three sides.

Other Continued:

Another character sketched out. Exavior, a support character.

I was also inspired to work predominantly on the computer after seeing a classmate last year post a link to daarken, a concept artist that has a youtube channel showing how he goes about doing his digital paintings.

For now, I will continue to take the story for my comic and break it into a loose script and block out panels.

The Proposal

The Story Proposal:

In a post-apocalyptic high-fantasy Earth, our anti-hero, Zander and the damsel in distress heroine, Jady, have their lives changed dramatically when they find themselves the center of a disastrous plan of world domination. Zander and Jady, with the help of many friends along the way, face many challenges and foes in this mysterious and action packed drama.

I have a few character sketches of the hero and heroine:

I have not thought about typography, but would love to play with gutters, wider gutters to give the impression of longer time passing, and thinner gutters for shorter time passing. I'm looking into small margins, and no bleeds unless it is conducive to expressing a specific action or sequence.