tonycliff

A Predictable Calamity (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 29-33)

…in which the Captain acts like a stubborn old pill, and he pays for it.

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This week I've been preparing federal and provincial grant applications. I shouldn't complain about the process, because it's great that these opportunities even exist at all. So I will not complain. I will just say, whoof, it is a difficult task, especially for someone like me who insists on over-thinking everything. I worry that I miss a lot of forest-for-the-trees type stuff because ...

Jillian Tamaki: Graphic Novel Tools

Jillian Tamaki posted insights on how she chooses which tools she uses throughout the graphic novel-making process. Read the whole thing on Instagram.

I consistently enjoy Tamaki’s work, as I’ve discussed before. I particularly enjoy...

Patron Acknowledgement Pages (Version 01)

Here's what the Patron Acknowledgement pages will look like, more or less. There will be revisions, once I receive the final form submissions.

Please take a look through! If you see anything that bumps you, please let me know.

I'm really torn on that typeface. The stubborn part of me says that it looks "authentic," with a partially illegible appearance that mimics the type of writing I have seen of this sort from the time period. I really like it that way. The partial illegibility...

"Take a run at the pirates!" (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 24-28)

In which the safety of the ship is cruelly, selfishly given greater priority than the birthday wishes of one young girl.

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"Istoria" is not a real island! "Archipoli" is not a real town. You cannot go there. But! Archipoli is inspired by the town of Asos on Cephalonia. If you'd like to go for a walk there, ...

"You could tell by her look" (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 20-23)

In which our heroine absolutely must know what's going on.

Fun fact, and potential spoiler: Dad shows the captain a precious object. I'm planning for that to be an important plot point later, and for it to generate a big decision for DD. BUT I am also over here chuckling to myself because uhhh what if I come up with something better between now and then. At this point, I feel open to big swings in the story down the line, which could include obviating any little tidbits of fore...

Horror of Horrors (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 15-19)

In which our heroine re-encounters thoughts of her most hated nemesis.

I think we've only hinted at this in the past. Maybe the books have mentioned, "oh, DD hates the stuffiness of grand balls and the manners etc. etc." That's all true, but it's dancing that she hates the most. It is counter to her whole entire spirit. You follow the rules, you stay dainty, you move in patterns over the same exact patches of floor. Nothing could suit her less.

This is (in part, at least)...

Patron Acknowledgements: A Reminder

Just a brief reminder: all patrons, please fill out this form if you have not yet.

As of right now, I have responses from roughly half of everyone. Work-wise, I am saving the acknowledgement pages for last, but I'll be getting to them in the next few we...

"I am an English Lady." (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 9-14)

In which we discover that our heroine has a vivid imagination.

As an aside, I very much enjoy the line, "I can climb wherever I like… I am an English Lady."

And of course, considering how heavily pirates are built-up as villains, do you think Pirates will end up actually being the villains of the story? Only time will tell, but I would not put money on it, dear friends.

The hardest image to colour here was the big pirate flag, which I assumed would be simple. I st...

Pirates. (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 5-9)

In which our heroine reveals a very optimistic view of England.

(That "Pirates" page is the kind of thing that would be considered indulgent by the part of me that has been instructed toward storytelling rigour, but I think that part of me is wrong, and this page is right.)

Edit: lemme clarify. Writing education and advice emphasizes structural choices, character choices, motivations and themes and ideas… but I’ve never heard enough talk about the value of ton...

IT BEGINS! (DD4, Chapter One, Pages 1-4)

Let's go!!! Let's burn through my yearly quota of exclamation marks!!!

If you're up for a fun game, keep an eye out to see how the text changes as time goes on! (I mean as different versions of the same pages are posted/published).

More pages next week! I'm hoping to have Chapter One done by early September, because that's when [dramatic music sting] my partner finishes maternity leave and heads back to work. Once they're all in the hopper, I'll start serializing them at delilahdi...

My Weird Uncle, Cutthroat Island

I was asked to join the lovely folks at the Cult Classic Callback podcast for an episode. Like it says on the box, they revisit favourite old movies and have a chat about them. I asked if there was anything in particular they wanted to watch, and Aaron presented me with a long list. I imme...

Colour Prep is Done!

Every day, we're getting closer to finished pages.

Colour prep (flatting) for Chapter One is finished. That went quicker than I anticipated. So let's look at what's next for DD4:

• Layout the Patron Credits pages. Thank you to everyone who's filled out this form already. There's still plenty o...
  2021-07-14 17:55:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Recommendation Post!

( ^ Colour prep (or "flatting") is the process of painting flat colour on separate layers, which has an effect similar to using masking fluid for a watercolour painting. It makes it easier to colour, later, if you don't have to worry about staying inside the lines so much. )

I’m in the middle of flatting, a mundane process that produces little worth looking at, so please accept these recommen...

Patrons! Please fill out this form.

Please tell me how you would like to be acknowledged within the pages of Delilah Dirk Four!

Here is a link to a Google Form that will collect the information I need.

The acknowledgements will be presented as a naval "butcher's bill." Imagine a great sea battle has happened, and many sailors have died or been injured. In the aftermath, captains would have to prepare reports detailing who ha...

It's like paint-by-numbers, but you have to make up your own numbers.

Just a reminder: as always, these posts include spoilers. But you knew that, and if you were really worried, you wouldn't be reading these posts.

Above, you can see the basic sort of steps that a sheet of colour keys goes through. In this case, the colour progression almost matched the strip of photo reference I cobbled together. I do not feel as if that was 100% intentional. Maybe 65%.

Let's see, what did I learn during these?

2021-06-25 23:25:09 +0000 UTC View Post

SPLISH SPLASH Y'ALL

Oh man, I was nervous to start colour work, and the big first splash page (ha, "splash page") was the first one I dove into (ha, "dove into"). I'm super happy with how it turned out! I love it when a plan comes together.

In other news,

These are all colour key paintings. The final panels will be tidier. If you're looking at it and thinking, "ah, something doesn't feel qu...

Character Colour Lineups

That first image above, with the three increasingly-grimed-up DDs, I had to share, because I really like how it works. In previous books, I don't think DD got filthy enough, considering all the dirty business she got up to. I'm aiming to correct that.

You can also see some additional Greek-influenced colour choices for DD and her mom, some uniform choices for Dad, the Captain, and the Midshipman, as well as some colour for Uncle Nikos. Looking at it now, I wonder if it might not be too ...

Lettering's Done (DD4 Chapter One)

Chapter One is all lettered-up, and I've shared three of my favourite pages above. I'll share a lot more as I move into colouring. In the meantime, some notes:

Literary References

Prior to lettering the first page above, the Captain and his ship did not have names. I do this all the time—I use placeholder names until the absolute last minute. The ship's captain is simply "Captain," DD's mom is simply "Mom," etc. The only one who gets called by her name is DD, an...

In Which Words Lose All Meaning

Hoo boy, you know that feeling when you look the same word too much and it stops even looking like a word? Yeah, that's-a-me.

I'm proceeding to letter pages (in Photoshop)!

One of the benefits / curses of making a comic by yourself is that the lettering process is also the re-writing process, and the re-re-writing process, and the re-re-re-re-writing process, etc. Here's one page, the way it looked this morning,

2021-06-04 17:25:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Making Balloons in Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint

[ ^ The same page, lettered in Photoshop (on the left) and Clip Studio Paint (on the right). ]

Chapter One of DD4 is all scanned, and I’ve finished laying out the pages with their panel borders (more on that in another post). Right now: a look at my preliminary experiments in lettering in Clip Studio, and a comparison of its tools with Photoshop’s. And then, since patron seanwangart...