Three ideas. Three scripts. Three stories.
But only one can become a reality! (at least for the moment)
Which will it be? You decide.
As stated in the last post: This will determine which short form comic strip I put out on DeviantArt between Return of Hangman part 1 and 2.
Each is… errrrr, think 9 - 12 pages in length.
Behind door number 1…
Catwoman!
At the mercy of…
Joker + Punchline! (Also featuring Batman if that’s so...
So Return of Hangman part 1 is done.
We made it T_T
So let me explain what happens now.
This Patreon account will now go into hibernation.
I understand that normally one has the option to just turn off the payments, for periods of expected inactivity, but I don’t appear to have that option and I assume it’s because I charge by the page, so it’s simply up to me not to do that.
Either way, the pages will still be here, and they’ll still be on this drive.
Gah!
No no. I'm here. Shut up. I'm awake. What? Page 36? I uuuuh - yeah I have it here somewhere. Is this it? No, that's a phone bill... oh, here it is!
Theeeeeere. 35 pages later. What a journey it's been. And will continue to be. Sleep tight Jessica. つづく...
I'll post again tomorrow to talk about what happens next, but right now I'm exhausted.
And I really should pay that phone bill...
So many variants...
I'm always terrified that I've forgotten to adjust something in this or that panel.
How are you all doing?
Well?
I hope you're doing well.
Have a page, why not?
One month later...
Oh. That's... uuuuuugh. hm. Sorry about that (*_*)
I've been looking forward to this page. I'm all about that face grabbery ^_^
And I've developed a fondness for unmasking as well.
Lordy, that Hangman. He'll never use one word when he could seven, ey?
It makes his dialogue at once easy and difficult to write. Easy because it only needs to sound poetic on a very surface level to sound on point, and difficult because my god, man, either shut up or fi...
Ooh, let the struggling resume!
Lordy, I just want to brush Jessica's hair. That's all I want.
That and... some other things.
Wow. Only four pages to go.
After part one is complete, I shall bring forward three pitches for a short strip to do. And you will vote - yes you will! yes you will!
Next page will be up within the week, but in the meantime, I thought I'd give you all a peak at what else I've been up to.
For a long time I've had an idea to take classic bondage covers and switch out the characters involved.
This is the first in that little project. A Spider-Man-themed rendition of the Catwoman #63, originally drawn by Jim Balent. One of my all time favourites peril scenes. Sadly nothing remotely similar occurs within the pages (although another project I've long envi...
I don't know why it took me so long to think of this. It must be such a pain looking through all these posts to find a specific image.
I've sorted everything in a directory that I will send all my patrons a link for each month.
All the benefits are there, neatly sorted.
If I've left anything out or put anything in the wrong place, do let me know.
And If I ever forget to send out a new link one month, whatever, that'll just mean the previous month's link hasn't been invalidated ...
2022-04-30 04:52:07 +0000 UTC View Post
There are a few key differences between the design culture of American, European, and East Asian comic books.
If you look at European comics (Jazz Maynard, Animal Castle, etc.) the panels are usually smaller, more numerous, less diverse in size, and arranged to completely fill every spare inch of the page.
Consequently, European comics tend to read more like a story board for a piece of film. It certainly has its charm.
Then at the other end of the spectrum you have East Asian ...
2022-04-21 01:58:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I've recently been (slowly) learning how to code.
A friend from work whipped me up a project manager about a year ago and I was so impressed I've always wanted to learn how to do it myself.
I'd made adjustments to my projects file structure a while ago, but it has been such a pain having to adjust the structure manually.
This is my latest attempt.
I have separate files for each page at the draft, ink, flats, render, and text stage.
After each stage I export out the result...
Gag variants for the last two pages are done.
Now back to it.
Sorry, I need to fix my head. I have to step away from this for a hot minute.
2022-03-16 07:01:16 +0000 UTC View Post
It was so relaxing drawing that back wall. Brick work is boring. A plastered wall is boring. But a flaking wall with underlying brick work? Surprisingly satisfying.
I've amassed so many images of creepy old attics. It seems there's always got to be an old bicycle and clothes mannequin.
Apart from friggin' COATING her limbs in rope, the way I thought to harken back to the original chair tie was to use that diagonal pattern across the torso but a) extend it and b) make is symmetrical.
[inhale]
Now now. You can have page 29.
But first you and I need to have a little chat.
In the past 12 months, though the waits between pages have fluctuated (not counting the times I've announced I was taking a break, or was without tablet) I did the numbers, and there's a pretty solid average of a new page upload every 16.5 days. 13.5 if we're also including the occasional other art work.
So next time you (yes, you!) are thinking of asking me when you can "expect" th...
We did it people. We got her back to the chair where she'll be safe.
I'd like to thank the network, my family, Cookie Crumble ice cream pops, and guy who lives across the hall from me whose wake up alarm is Mr Blue Sky and also very very loud.
I am digging this new cut and smudge method.
And I'm making an effort to fit more panels into each page. Within reason. I feel like a page's composition feels better if it's too crowded than if it's too sparse.
'kay. Gag variants for ...
The chaaaaiiiir!
The chaaaaiiiiiiiiiir!
It's almost here, oh my gawwwwwd!
We've all had fun, but say goodbye to Jess' lovely tush, everyone, because it has a date with a seat!
Page 27 will be up in the next couple of days, and then 28 will feature the long awaited return of THE CHAIR. Well... a chair.
Which brings up an important consideration: do we want her to be bound with the same rope work as in the classic scene, or in a new fashion?
I could go either way, so I leave it up to my patrons.
I mean, it's definitely going to be ankles together, wrists behind chair. But other than that...
Oh and the mobile app doesn't let you m...
I really had a good time with this rendering style. I'm going to explore it some more, but I think I've found something I'm really comfortable with.
I've grown a lot with using cut and grad method, but it looks just like every other comic : \
Alright! Now onto page 27. It's about damn time.
I really like how this one came out. I used less of a Cut & Grad method and more like Cut & Fill & Smear.
2021-12-20 10:10:29 +0000 UTC View PostPage 26 will be up in the next couple of days, after that though I'm working on a brief collaboration that I can't reveal yet (it's just a single image. It won't take me long.) And THEN I'm on a brief holiday. I'll be away from my computer, but in that time I can be roughing out an extra somethin'-somethin'.
But what...?
'Tis a goodly rump.
Lord. This one took way too long.
But I'm hella motivated to get a wriggle on. Jessica has a date with... the chair.
Down here in the sewer, I'd take the OTN gag, you know what I'm saying?! Weheheeeey!
Alright.
You got me.
I'm team Canary now.
Basically all I knew about Black Canary was that it was actual canon for a while that she was her own mother (look it up).
Alright, I knew more than that. But I didn't have much direct experience with the character. So then I went and read the original Birds of Prey run from the 90 - 2000's. Which is well over 100 issues, btw (that's a thing that used to happen in comics.)
Needless to say, I'm smitten. I don't believe this will be...
...Here's the thing. This next page will be heavy on the environment art. Lots of urban design and so forth. And there's a piece of software called Sketchup that a lot of pros have been using lately to assist in there environment drawing. I've been wanting to try it out, and this page would be the perfect opportunity. But I'd want to take an extra week to learn how to use it.
So while I'm doing that...
Drawing rain is super fun.
I should like to draw some more rain...
I just realised. 24 pages is a standard North American comic issue. Well... page 1 doesn't count. Next page I'll have filled a standard issue.
That's not the end though. There's still another... [checks script] ... 9 pages left to go in this, part one.
Sorry for the wait this time.
Eesh. I guess I should stop apologising and just admit to myself that pages are taking me two weeks. It's the rendering style. I'm enjoying it. Feel like I've improved a lot. Is it worth the time investment though? Hm... I just figure whatever is best for drawing curvy bodies is what my style should be gravitating towards, and the cut & grad method, while hard to control, is very good for that.
Gag variants and extras up soon!
In case you missed it, gag variants have also been added to the initial page 23 post.
It does look weird with the eyebrows removed...
I'm getting better at spicing up the palette with bright highlights I think. But I still need to be bolder with the secondary light sources.
huff, huff
Sunday night.
huff, huff
Made it! (err... gag variants incoming though)
I can really see what division of labour is so important in a professional setting.
No such luck for me though.
Mm it's good to finally have some alone time between Jess and Hangman.
Next page: one for the booty-lovers!
