Thursday, December 12, 2013

Welcome to Reno

City of Cards C5.11: HERE!

Back from my road trip! I got a chance to visit friends up in San Francisco and meet my baby nephew for the first time. I'm exhausted, but it was a good vacation.

I also went to see the Madoka Rebellion movie and, well, it was pretty darn great. If you're a fan of the series, I think you'll find it a pretty satisfying ending.

As for things in City of Cards? Working on these pages has been an interesting experience. I'm going to write a bit about my thoughts and the significance of the map object so if you want to keep your brain clear of my ramblings feel free to ignore from this point on.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Road Trip Again!

City of Cards C5.9-10: HERE!

It's only going to get more uncomfortable from here, but I will have a bit to say about said found item.

I'm about to hit the road (in like, literally an hour). I'm kind of looking forward to this crazy trip. I'll be back on the 10th, though.

Also, I hadn't updated, but I continue to do more page edits and here's the latest complete batch:







Thursday, November 28, 2013

Fusion

City of Cards C5.7-8: HERE!

There are going to a fair number of double page updates for the next while.

Happy Thanksgiving to you in the States. Take care and be well and if you're involved with Black Friday, be it shopping or working, be safe and sane. Same to those of you protesting.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

City of Cards C5.6: HERE!

First, I did a bit of late-night fanart for the comic Title Unrelated of the characters Twapa and Axis:



Been working on a few more panel edits:




And lastly, a bit of bedhead as well as a close up of Ace's t-shirt design for this chapter:


Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Wind Rises

City of Cards C5.4-5: HERE!

I got a chance this past afternoon to see Hayao Miyazaki's film "The Wind Rises" and first and foremost I have to say if you have an opportunity to see this film while it's making its circuit, it is well worth it.

It's one of those films that touches on a wide arrange of thought-lines about life and death and love and passion for one's work and the people in their lives, cultural and personal identity, as well as being clearly a metaphor for the culmination of the life's work of an artist.

There's a lot I could say about it, really, but more than anything it made me want to get back to working on my own passions. I can't think of anything better than that.


Thursday, November 7, 2013

City of Cards C5.3: HERE!

Xander continues to poke Plato's ego.

Possible weekend plans kind of got in the way of my ability to think of a proper blog post for this week, so enjoy the Halloween pic I did for last week:


Thursday, October 31, 2013

City of Cards C5.2: HERE!

More pages edits from Chapter Two:

I was hoping to get this up earlier but it’s actually taken me awhile to get more edits finished than I’d like. All of these are from Chapter Two and are kind of an interesting batch for me because there are panels here where I’d actually already done an edit before and went back and retouched it, as well as edits that I’m conflicted about and am going to maybe come back to.

As I’ve said in previous posts about this process, editing teaches you a lot about your own work. Early work might be rough and full of technical issues, but that doesn’t always mean that the intent was off. Still, I enjoy this process and hopefully the results will be worth it.






Thursday, October 24, 2013

Chapter Five Start

City of Cards Chapter Five: Lysis, Friendship: C5.0-1: START HERE!

OKAY.

Before it begins, I just want to make a quick note letting people know that there’s some stuff in this upcoming chapter that might make people uncomfortable. I debated not saying anything, but I wanted to put it out there. I’ll write more about it later if I need to, and feel free to shoot me any questions you might have.



Basically, this is going to be the chapter that earns this comic its mature rating. That said, I have made the decision to censor certain sensitive pages that will be going up in a few months for those that are viewing my comic normally. I'll be posting the uncensored pages in a couple of locations not on the main site, and when I go to print I'll be printing unedited as well.

I made this decision in part because I didn't want to surprise readers and put anyone in a weird situation. That said, nothing that happens should come as a surprise to those of you that have been reading since the beginning.



Thursday, October 17, 2013

Chapter Four End!

City of Cards C.4.44: HERE!

Today's lack of blog write up is brought to you by Pokemon X and Y.

But seriously, there will be a bigger blog entry next week for the intro of Chapter Five because there's a lot I want to say about it before it starts and I need to think of a good way to say it.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

City of Cards C.4.42-43: HERE!

Under the weather, but I started doing creepypasta illustrations again for this October:



First up is from the story Arizona, which you can also listen to here thanks to the lovely Mr. Creepy Pasta.

And I finally got some fanart together for Look Straight Ahead by Elaine M. Will:



 I got my printed copy of the book at SPX and having gone through my own rough patches over the years this story will hold a lasting place on my shelf for years to come. It’ll be available in comic book shops soon so keep an eye out and do yourself a service by picking up a copy.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

October 2013

City of Cards C4.41: HERE!

Right, so, still trying to figure out my next steps. I made a chart for all the edits I want to do before I'm willing to pursue printing the first book of City of Cards:



That comes out to 551/885 panels to rework over the next however long it takes me. That's actually being pretty generous with myself, but beginnings are always the hard parts.

But hey, Chapter Five is starting soon. Here are a couple of unfinished panels from the upcoming chapter. This one is going to really be all about body language.




Also, non-pro-tips/thoughts: grayscale comics are a lot like black and white films. Black and white films are shot differently with respect to lighting and stage. Obviously everyone’s mileage may differ, but it’s always good to go into the decision between colour and black and white with a thoughtful eye. Both have their merits and strengths, it’s good to play towards those.

Second, don’t let skill level keep you from experimenting, especially with comics. Play around with shapes and design and panels and forms. Keep learning the basics, but perfection shouldn’t keep you from trying out ideas. One of the best things about comics is being able to break the rules in order to get your message across. Keep searching for new rules to break and new ways to break them.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

City of Cards C4.40: HERE!

Okay, I promised an SPX write up, but, well, that's not going to happen tonight. Sorry about that. I've been kind of worn out just getting used to being back in SoCal.

Maybe next week I'll have my act together.

Thanks again.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Back in SoCal

City of Cards C4.38-39: HERE!

We check back in on Trump and a new friend. 

Back from SPX and back in SoCal! I'll be working on a real write-up for next week. So many thanks to my table-mate Elle Skinner and all the wonderful people that I got to see while I was there (and unfortunately there were many I didn't get to see).

Also, Trump is back for these next few pages. I think this section definitely helps make it clear that her story and Ace's are taking place in two different locations.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

City of Cards C4.37: HERE!

Quick reminder that I'll be tabling at SPX with Elle Skinner of Erstwhile Tales, Missing Monday, and Littlest Elle! You can find us at E3:



Chapter Four is also printed up, so I'll have that available:


I've also been reworking some of my old panel art, and while I didn't get as much done as I'd like, here's an overview of some of the edits I've made to the first two chapters so you can see how much can change over three years:










Over this summer I’ve done a fair number more and I hope to get some more done in the next day (and tonight). But yeah, if you’re ever making comics, go ahead and redraw some old panels and see how much you’ve grown. It’s an interesting experience.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

City of Cards C4.36: HERE!

Wrestlers are cool, end of story (the story of wrestlers being cool, not this comic).

Okay, this is the home stretch before SPX, if you're looking for where I'll be here's a map:

I'll be tabling with Elle Skinner of Erstwhile Tales, Missing Monday, and Littlest Elle!

Okay, I gotta get Chapter Four finished so I can get that printed. See you guys soon!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

City of Cards C4.35: HERE!

I kind of love the way that first panel was composed. And yeah, Plato isn't in a good place mentally right now. It's been a rough night for them.

So, um, I was going to do a bit more of a blog post today but got distracted when a flash flood decided to take a dump on the school's print lab. Luckily it could have been much, much worse.

So, here's everything I'll be bringing to SPX minus the forth chapter that I'm trying to get done with as fast as I can:


It's kind of weird, in a way, to see my life's work slowly pile up upon itself in these little books.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

City of Cards C4.34: HERE!

Adrenaline crash.

Well, for Plato, but not for me quite yet. However, I did finish the art for my new SPX mini.

Next week I'll hopefully have a full info post as well as pictures of how the final production looks.

Till then, here's some sketches for the info post I'm putting together:




Thursday, August 15, 2013

30 Days

City of Cards C4.33: HERE!

Plato can be intimidating (at least, I think he can be). Someone with that size and that strength has to be careful.

Um, so apparently there are only 30 days till SPX. I've been wanting to do a more thorough write up of my thoughts on this (or, more importantly directed people to my table-mate Elle Skinner and her comic Missing Monday).

BUT that'll have to wait. This week, I'm posting another preview picture:

City of Cards: Brilliant Joker 8

Thursday, August 8, 2013

City of Cards C3.32: HERE!

Cache issue has been solved! So there shouldn't be any problems viewing the current pages.

Not much to say except I had some fun with the character designs on this page.

Also, Plato's impulsiveness isn't always a bad thing.

Beyond that, after SPX I'll be heading back to SoCal for an indefinite period of time in part to help out with family. It'll be good to be back and I'll be figuring out things from there.

Thanks everyone that's helped out during this time. (Also, I just got back from seeing Pacific Rim sooo there's that.)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

August 2013: SPX Countdown GO

City of Cards C4.30-31: HERE!

Two pages this week because, well, why not? Apologies if there's still a cache issue. There's nothing I can do on my end for now.

On a side note, with all the moving I've done in my lifetime, and all the places I've lived, I've loved just how much the city I'm building has really become a hometown to me. It's so much a little bit of every place I've ever spent any real amount of time in.

Also, a little bit of an update on my mini comic progress for SPX:



That's the finalized front cover and first page of the comic (minus text). I ended up deciding that I'd put all relevant information for the mini on the back cover which is pretty much what I did for the first mini as well. I kind of like how different the cover for this mini is from the first. Considering it's the joker card, that's pretty apt.

I've also decided since I'm going to be SO close to finishing up Chapter Four by the time SPX starts that I'm going to go ahead and have it done for the convention. Pages will go up as scheduled online so if you end up with a print copy you'll get to read about a month ahead of everyone else so honestly not that big a difference.

Best wishes to all the CCSers that are making their way in the world. You all are awesome and it's exciting to see where you're all heading. I'm still figuring things out a bit myself and I guess in the next couple of months I'll have a better idea of what's in store.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

One Last July

City of Cards C4.29: HERE!

Final post of July and right now things are starting to get kind of crazy so I haven't really pulled anything together for tonight's post.

Hopefully next week I'll be able to get a bit more done.

With that, I'll leave you all with the reminder that the real antagonist of Huckleberry Finn is Tom Sawyer and the society he represents.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Summer 2013: Too Stupid Hot

City of Cards: C4.28: HERE!

Sorry guys, have been doing a bit of traveling and future plans this past week so I haven't really put together anything for a blog entry. I did a quick red color job on this picture, though:



I've also been listening to Welcome to Nightvale and playing Animal Crossing, so there's that.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Warning: Tablet Down

City of Cards C4.27: HERE!

And we're just not going to talk about what just happened for the last few pages, if that's okay.

In other news, I was sans drawing tablet for the past few days which has set me back a bit (in more ways than one). After some mild cursing at Amazon over their sudden confusion that I'm not currently in California, I got my tablet shipped and it arrived here Wednesday. I'm still getting used to it but at least I'm able to get work done now.

Whenever anyone asks why I don't go completely digital, moments like that are definitely one of them. I'm also actually really happy with some of the stuff I got done during that time:

Circle of Fire
CoC 4.39.4

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Summer 2013: July

City of Cards C4.26: HERE!

This wasn't an easy page, but I hope I was able to get across the sentiments I was aiming for. There are still a lot of complicated feelings to be explored.

July is here, and while part of me is still overwhelmed by the amount that I'd like to accomplish by September, I think I'm becoming more okay with the notion that whatever I do get done is fine. That said, here are some more pencils from the upcoming mini I'm working on for SPX:


And here's a panel from a Christmas side-story I'm doing just for fun:


Thursday, June 27, 2013

City of Cards C4.25: HERE!

He asks a good question.

Here's some more of what I'm working on for SPX: