Spring break goal was epic fail. The inking is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. I don't want to rush it, I think what I have so far is quite nice. The brush I'm using is a cheap one, but it does a good job holding the point once I have it meticulously smoothed out. The Speedball ink and bristol is lovely to work with.
I'm not terribly happy with my lettering so far. I'm going to wait and see how it looks when scanned, but I think I may opt for digital letters for the majority of dialogue.
I was shooting to have most of chapter 1 done by the end of summer, but I'm planning on taking an animation class so... We'll have to see how that goes. I may need to settle for a weekly update schedule.

Okay, enough diary spam. I am updating my new DA in a bit :) After spring break I should have more than figure drawings to post!

I have a Twitter now, I ought to start spamming on there, once I figure out how 
http://www.twitter.com/AEAcomics

Spring break is next week. I'm going to get all my homework done by Friday so I can work on Pilgrim.

Goal: 1st scene (7 pages) drawn and inked.

I've been fighting with the cover, but a pinup just seems so dull. I think I'll hold off until I'm further into the chapter. Tentative launch date is the beginning of August. That will give me plenty of time to build a large buffer. I would like to have chapter one finished before then.

Got to go to a weekly figure drawing session now, I think we've got a nude model tonight :)

EDIT
Nope, clothed model, same pose as last week. I bounced around and sketched the other people there too. I should be able to take a figure drawing class next semester, so it's all good. 

Gotta finish carving my plaster egg. I thought I was almost done, but my teacher gave me some suggestions and told me to check out the lighting and silhouette on it with a flashlight. Here's hoping I don't give myself another blister!

Hmmm. It'd be great if DA had a "cartoonish" category, because I really wouldn't call where my drawing style is going anime/manga anymore. Well, it could still fit, but when I hear "anime" nowadays I automatically think of saucer-eyed Moe shiny-desu. Not quite what I draw =P

I made a new DA page, http://aeacomics.deviantart.com
I've been planning on changing my online IDs over to something else for a while, I came up with DarKlaw when I was in freaking middle school and it just doesn't suite me at all anymore. I feel really pretentious calling myself a studio too, when I'm only one person and haven't been putting out much work lately. I like my initials, AEA, and the little signature that I came up with for it. But it turns out that AEA is also an acromyn for a ton of things. I want to make a living doing comics, so I made sure nobody came up with it first and tacked it on. I'll be switching my ET and Gaia over soon.

Got an idea for a cover for Pilgrim, and a big change to the plot that changes some things around in c3 on. I think it will work better than what I had before, but I need to do some writing and make sure. Heh, it's funny how I thought I was really busy last semester. I'm twice as busy now, but I feel like I've got more time because I am forced to learn good time-management skills. Which is why I am hardly online anywhere for more than an hour per day anymore.

Speaking of, I have not had the time to go scout out new webcomics to plug, so I am going to recommend you guys some TV stuff. Stuff I like so much I plan on buying it. :)

Samurai Jack - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_jack
Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. *krrsh, ching, klang* Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! No the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku!
Yeah, I've got that memorized x)
It was on years ago, on Cartoon Network. It's airing on Boomerang now, another CN channel that shows the old, good cartoons.
This show is pretty damn awesome. When I first saw it a long while back, the style put me off. But now I love it. The scenery is simple but lovely, the pacing and storyboard have a very cinematic feel and the soundtrack is amazing. Plus it's downright hilarious at times. I love the Scotsman, and the episode where Jack learns how to jump.

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moribito:_Guardian_of_the_Spirit (<-contains spoilers)
TIVO'd this out of curiosity. I was slack-jawed three minutes in, the animation was that good. The story and characters are interesting too. Unfortunately I think it's off Adult Swim right now, but keep an eye out for it. I really wish all anime could be this well done.

Also, Samurai 7 and Avatar the Last Airbender. I need to finish collecting these series. :)

Whew, being an art student is a lot of work. I've had more assignments each night taking the most basic art classes then I did taking junior level biology and microbiology courses. But I've already had a couple of aha! moments, the most notable when my 3D design professor put a chair on the table and told us to draw the space.

My DA got a small update, and I've been thinking about how I want to get Pilgrim set up again hosting-wise. I don't mind the Project Wonderful ads, but I hate it when the scam ads pop up on my comic. And I think that the average SmackJeeves reader is just the wrong target audience for Pilgrim.
All of the freebie webcomic hosts I've looked at have ads, except for www.comicdish.com and www.comicfury.com Comic Dish has big ugly capchas on the comment system, so I think I'm going to go with Comic Fury. The interface appears to be identical to SJ, sans the ads. And it looks like there's a much wider variety in the popular comics on that site.

I just need to finalize the designs on a few characters (Vincent, Lyle, and Rae) and I'm good to start drawing.

Oh, and comic links:
http://godsend.shatterlands.com/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/dirktiede/ps/series.php
http://anathema-comics.smackjeeves.com/
http://rosier.smackjeeves.com/

Enjoy!

Long time no see!

If you've checked Pilgrim lately, you'll know that the hiatus grew into a restart. It's my own fault, I glazed over some plot holes because I wanted to start the story and it came back to bite me. There was also this "lol magic" element of the story that was really starting to bug me, so I cut that out. My goal is to get it going again sometime this summer. When I relaunch, I really want to update twice a week. Between bits of script and bits of storyboard doodles, chapter one is *almost* ready to be properly thumbnailed. Everything just feels a lot more solid now.

Also, I finally came to my senses and switched my major to visual art. I had absolutely no desire to work in a lab or do research, which is what the degree I was pursuing offered. My plan is to take both fine arts and graphic design courses, plus some business related classes. It'll probably add another year before I graduate. I've always heard that art programs that don't require a portfolio to get in are a waste of time and money, but it's local and I've already met some of the instructors. They are very skilled, and the figure drawing professor is a good teacher.

I ought to go work on Pilgrim now. I'm nearly done with the chapter one character designs, and then I was planning to rough out the first page or two. On Bristol board. I'm used to my paper having a bit of tooth, so the smoothness kind of freaks me out. Plus I got this new Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for Christmas and I want to try it out. Its a brush-pen, with actual bristles, and refill cartridges. Sounds nifty.


PS, here are some good webcomics to check out :)
http://www.wintersinlavelle.com
http://www.templaraz.com
http://thenextadventure.thecomicseries.com/
http://hanna.aftertorque.com/

Later!

Guh. Had 6 exams/quizzes this week, and I'm pretty sure I bombed 5 of them. 
Gotta hiatus the webcomic and focus on school. Just no time for drawing at the moment.

One more assignment to submit and then I can spend the rest of the evening drawing oh yes~~~


Holy crap, just noticed the featured wiki. Awesome!

Look up Batman Music Meister on Youtube. You will not be disappointed!

Cold has improved quite a bit. At this rate it might be done by the weekend.

Also turned 22 today! This cake is very rich, I'm having a hard time finishing an itty bity piece...

I think I ought to climb into bed and work on Pilgrim, either writing or fine tuning character designs...I still don't have a proper character sheet for anyone, boo.
Gareth finally has all the details of his outfit worked out :D Just needs some turnaround head shots. I feel pretty comfortable drawing him now. He's easy to draw, compared to Rae :V

I went to the campus bookstore, but they didn't have bristol board! Only sketch / watercolor paper! I want to try drawing a page on bristol board! And do some more illustrations, and redo the website layout!

So much I want to do, so little time.
I'm always the most ambitious when I have the least amount of free time >.<

I caught a cold. Or some sort of illness.

Woke up Monday with a very sore throat, and while it's mostly gone today I'm bouncing between being completely congested and not having enough tissues. I'm tempted to take my tissue box with me to campus tomorrow, because I've got 5 classes. One is in a lecture hall with 400 other people :(

I really hate getting sick. Especially on a Monday.

I've got a physics lab report to finish, and then I'll eat some pie and crawl into bed with my kitties and anatomy textbook.

Pilgrim now has a chat thread in the Gaia chatterbox
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/chatterbox/pilgrim-webcomic-updates-tuesdays/t.54497431/

No dice on the dream. I wrote / sketched what I remembered, so I have some record. The whole thing was pretty fragmented.

I sketched some other things, but forgot my thumb drive so I couldn't move them to my art computer. I've got to get it connected to the scanner and internet again, now that the siblings aren't around to torrent virus-laden shit.
I was gonna change some tones on tomorrow's page too. Oh well, next weekend.

H1N1 is going around campus now, and the admin is sending the sick kids home. I don't see the point, since they'll just be better in a few days. It's not like they disinfect the whole place every night, so it's gonna keep floating around.

Gonna do physics now, if the homework portal will cooperate with me.

I had a dream last night that might make an interesting short comic.

I wonder if I'll dream some more about it tonight if I have pizza, garlic sauce and root beer right before bed again.


Back to homework!

Holy buckets of homework. It's only the third day of classes, and I am already behind.

Ponyo.

As always the animation was superb, and the texture of the backgrounds was really visible on the big screen. But I had a harder time immersing myself in this one. A few parts were just a little too unrealistic for me. =/

Still a gorgeous movie though :)

PS I'm thinking I'll go to another in-state anime convention in January (provided the weather holds) and then I guess I'll try to sell off my excess stuff online. Still got a bunch of prints!

The prices of campus parking passes were jacked up, so between it and my textbooks I spent $750. At least grants are covering the tuition this year. I've got 18 credits this semester, classes start Sept 1. Still not sure if I want to switch to the Clinical Lab Tech program.

Otherwise I am trying to find someone to go see Ponyo with. It's not coming to the local theater, but one 45 min away has it. I've never seen one of Hayao Miyazaki's movies in theater, and I really want to.

DA updated http://darklawstudios.deviantart.com

Sogencon was stressful (probably because it was my first time) but also a lot of fun. There were a bunch of amazing costumes, and everyone was really nice.
I was able to make almost $300 without having a single fanart item at my table. :)

I'm definitely going to try and go next year, and make myself a costume. :D

Back! I did okay, I think. I'll write more later, I'm very tired.

I leave tomorrow! Hopefully I have enough stuff. Wish I had more time to do more commission samples, but oh well. I'll have to draw something to color with markers because I haven't used them in months and am out of practice.

Woah, I got a comic spotlight on www.smackjeeves.com !
and over 1000 page views for 2 days in a row

^___^