City of Cards C4.8: HERE!

I miss snow. Even light, kinda gross, slushy snow and cold air would be nice. It's the kind of weather that makes you conscious of your body and the fact that you're alive. It also makes hot food and warm blankets the best things ever.

Hot weather just makes you feel sticky (unless it's a gorgeous summer night).

That said, I also really miss trains. Trains are unbelievably great for relaxing and meditating in. Train commuting is far preferable to driving. So, I guess if those are your options it makes it pretty easy.

I've been slowly starting to work on Chapter Two edits. I've been reluctant to go through again and pick out all the panels I want to change, but I'm making a start. The beginning and end of the chapter feel the weakest to me (considering a good chunk of the beginning of Chapter Two contains some of the earliest CoC art that's understandable).

I'm not sure of my current goal timeline except get as much done as possible.

I've begun working on a collaboration project as well, nothing I can really share too much about aside from the fact that it's with a university and it involves me drawing art for someone else using their work translated from Spanish to English. It's a bit daunting and I hope that it comes together smoothly. This is my first time doing anything like this.

I'll be heading back to Vermont for the summer as well to work on some stuff. I actually think it'll help me refocus and get a lot done.

That's all for now, I'll have sketches and stuff up next week.

City of Cards C4.7: HERE!

Not gonna lie, I love a subway.

Chapter Four Process Note:

Probably the weirdest and most challenging parts of working on Chapter Four, at least the part I’m working on right now, is that I’ve drawn it once before. The first image is the updated pencils I’m working on for Chapter Four, the next is the updated grid I made based on the original version of the page, and the last is what the original page looked like. A few years ago when I was trying to figure out if I was ready to tackle working on City of Cards I did a test chapter. This was right before I switched to inking digitally and looking back there were obviously things I didn’t know about the story quite yet, but a lot of my original goals with this story are coming back to me.

CoC 4.14-15 Pencils 1

Working on this chapter the first time was one of the hardest things I’d done artistically, both in terms of how I pushed my skill levels (which still have a long way to go, but I knew that if I could draw this chapter I could justify the bigger project). I was so emotionally drained by the end of this process, the actual work and the critique, that it took some amazing friends and a couple of months to refocus and practice before I could start Chapter One.

CoC 4.14-15 Grid

CoC GoS Original

I’m now so grateful for the work I did on this test chapter as it laid so much of the groundwork for the main story, and I think there are still a lot of things I can pull from it that will help make the comic stronger.


Quick note: The weirdest complaint I have ever heard is the argument against hobbyists. Now, I personally don't consider what I do a hobby, but if someone wants to make comics in their spare time for their enjoyment, to share it with others who enjoy the same activity, and has no goal beyond the enjoyment of the artform and the creation process then more power to them!

City of Cards C4.5-6: HERE!

I know I keep saying it,  but I mean it in all sincerity, this is probably my favorite chapter of this story. There are other chapters that I look forward to drawing, yes, but there are moments in this chapter that make this whole story worthwhile.

These two pages were actually a late addition. I wanted to have a moment to help set up Ace's personality outside of Plato and to show a little more of the world they live in. Ace is starting to settle into this city, make friends, and assimilate.

Also, any moments I can to put Coal (the clerk) into this story, I'll take.

Speaking of side characters, I've been working on character designs for someone that'll be showing up at the end of this chapter.

She's a pretty darn important character in this story, and minus maybe one more person the last character I need to really figure out design-wise.

I promise, in about four-five years this will all come together. Maybe sooner if I can push it a bit more.

City of Cards C4.3-4: Here!

To explain Rick's job a bit better, he's basically a cross between a section manager, a social worker, and an accountant. He primarily handles kids and young adults, and his job is to help people transition from one position to another, the result of either movement within the company, new hires, and even death.

Now, he's not the only person that does this, and he's not the one that makes the decisions. He's just the guy that helps makes things go smoothly. There will be more on this next chapter, especially in how this concerns Plato. In short, though, Rick isn't his boss, more like HR Manager.

Thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hi at my table this past weekend for Emerald City Comic Con! Seattle really brings in a friendly crowd and for my first time at the convention, it was fantastic.

I'd probably have more of a con-report up if I'd been able to do more than be at my table the entire time. That's not a bad thing, it was just simply too crazy to step away, especially with just me and my buddy doing table duty. I did see some great costumes pass by and got to catch up with some great people so that was good.

I'm definitely looking forward to a little down-time to get caught up with comic and art stuff, as well as get ready for my next temporary move. I'm currently looking to head back east for the summer, so we'll see what happens with that.