Gabby...

Gabby is an interesting character to draw. She started actually as a rag doll looking character when i first drew her in that poster which started everything. (Check first post). Her design has evolved as i was able to draw more and more. i finally found a look which i was happy with, and while i dont try to draw anime, i ended up borrowing heavily from that genre. But whatever, those artists really know how to draw some expressive characters. Big eyes show emotion better than any dialog can and so for someone such as Gabby i had to go in that direction. Heres my final version of gabby. I'll be talking about the evolution of each character as the comic goes along and Sid will most likely be talking about the characters personalities in detail along with the drawings. Stay Tuned...Enjoy!

Along this way Gabby meets the Dark...

As Chapter 1 comes to a close, i decided to take some pictures of the sketches i've done working up to this project. I've always liked how some artists did this in comic books (i tried out a classic Silvestri pose for the Dark here) and now heres my chance. These will be reproduced in better quality in the Chapter 1 Book due soon (in a month or so-fingers crossed). But for the few people who actually check this place out i figure it'd be kinda cool to show you the ideas i've had for the random characters. If there are any artists interested in any technical things like supplies and media lemme know. i've scoured the net and asked many people what they use to get the result they got in they're work and i know how tough it is to get an answer. I use a mixture of traditional media and digital work. All artwork is done the old fashioned way with pencil paper pens markers and lots and lots of paper. All coloring is done with Photoshop and Painter in some instances using a Wacom Intuos3 6x8 tablet. Its pretty sweet. Anyhow Enjoy!

Panel By Panel...

So my goal is pencil and pen in the rest of Chapter 1 before i leave for home. 14 days and 15 pages to do. This should be interesting... Here's a sample of an upcomming page...Enjoy!

Good news

Chapter 1 is progressing nicely, alex will probably be done with the artwork by the end of the month given the way he's tearing through the pages right now, and I'll get to work on the lettering once I get done with medicine postings. 

So if all goes well you might be looking at the first chapter/issue at some point in the next couple months. As of now I'm not going to say anything about the story, because I want to see how much people get from the first chapter, after that if you guys want a little more info about the world in our comic book, I can keep supplying you with little fragments here and there to whet your appetite.

Also I've recently discovered a new author thanks to a friend of mine, the author's name is Steven Erikson. And this man is an example of pure, unfettered genius. He has written 8 of a series of 10 books, collectively titled Malazan Book Of The Fallen. I'm currently starting the 5th in the series, and these books have me held in thrall. It's a struggle to put them down once i pick them up and start reading.

The first book is called Gardens of the Moon, and i highly recommend it to anyone who loves intricate, complex plots. Convergences are the main theme to all his books, every book is an event of convergence between multiple parties, all seemingly completely unconnected and yet as you go along, it's as though theres an invisible force pulling everything together, bit by bit, until at the end, you are left stunned, reeling, and completely in awe.

I could go on for a while about this, but for now I have to get to college so I'll pick this up some other time

Changes

Tweaked a couple things in the blog's layout. Lemme know what you guys think

Benchmarks...

My buddy Ryan John asked me an interesting question the other day as i was showing him some new artwork for the comic. We've critiqued each others work over the years. He said "Are you going to go back and Re-do any of your older pages." I thought for a moment then answered. "Probably not." I've learned a lot during this whole process and while many people might dismiss it all as a fruitless struggle, I've come to realize what this project really means to me. Its a catalog of progress. Its a time capsule or benchmark of skill. Im expecting that by the end of it all, whenever that may be, i'll look back at what i used to think was awesome and think that it looks like crap. But its not something i really want to change. I don't expect any profit from this project at all. I described it to Ryan as a Personal Ambition, one of those..."I've always wanted to do" things. And so as the pages roll out, i do not intend on changing a thing. If anyone reading this has seen the prelude we released about six months ago, they'll notice a great change in style in all aspects of the comic. I've utilized different techniques while Pencilling, Inking, and Coloring each page and probably will continue to incorporate more as i study other artists. Anyways, its 4:16 am on a Saturday night and i can't sleep at all. I think its time i try to go to bed. Here is a sketch out of the ol' sketch book. Enjoy!

Seeing the Light..

It dawned on me the other day, i was doing everything wrong. The reason why i wasnt getting anything done as far as coloring was concerned was because i had no organization. I use layers liberally and since i rarely use any plugins anymore it becomes all the more important to take a few extra seconds here and there to organize them. It used to get really messy...(imagine using 100+ layers without names) anyhow i was able to finish two pages in one day which to me is a big thing and well i'd thought i'd share a part of one which i felt came out pretty well. Comments welcomed as always. Enjoy!