Wow, it's been a while since I made a wiki.
NaNoMangO
Now my wisdom teeth meds are knocking me out, so I need to get to bed.
Damn, the animation class I was going to take this summer was canceled because there weren't enough students enrolled. Now I'm going to have to switch around my fall schedule.
At least this will give me more time to get the first chapter of Pilgrim ready for SogenCon at the end of July. My goal is to get it all finished and either print them on a copy machine (wasn't too hard last time), or have the local print shop do it, depending on what they quote me. I just bought a long-arm stapler, so I can assemble them myself. The size of the minis should be about 5x8"
Remember, NaNoMangO is in June! 30 penciled pages, 15 inked, or 10 finished! You can always shoot for more.
Here's the livejournal community http://communi
I'm following along with a bunch of others on GaiaOnline
Pilgrim chapter 1 thumbs are FINALLY done :D 30 pages long, provided I don't alter anything. And I'm about halfway through the script for chapter 2. A bunch of characters got trimmed out for sake of simplicity, but it turns out a lot of it was my problem with trying to shoehorn things in just because.
And the crits I was getting often mentioned how slow the pacing was, so I wanted to speed things up. 30 pages per chapter, at least 2 chapters per year is the goal. While I'm still in school, anyway.
Well, tomorrow morning I get all my wisdom teeth removed, so I think I'll marathon Lord of the Rings and keep plugging away at the chapter 2 thumbs.
http://www.you
Made by animation students at a school in France. I love well done 2D animation. <3
Yikes, I wish I knew what I did to my left shoulder to make it ache so bad. I thought it would get better after a few days, but it only seems to be getting worse. I must be sleeping funny or something. Pain killers, then back to art I suppose.
Nearly done scripting Pilgrim chapter 1, then I just need to finish up thumbs and start sketching. Gonna start inking those volunteer pages I picked up and put in a movie. I've been checking out old Don Bluth / Disney / etc animated films from the library. Very nostalgic.
Gotta pick between Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Iron Giant. Hmmmmmm...
And the semester is done.
I've concluded that half of my classmates are full of shit and how much they hate an instructor is directly proportional to how awesome of a teacher they are.
The standards were damn low, that was disappointing, and half the "fine art" pieces that got into the Student Juried Show were obviously copied from photographs. They were bad copies, too. I mean, really bad. I've seen better from middle school age kids.
I just, argh. The mind boggles.
3D Design was awesome though, I hope I can fit in another course by that instructor. Here is hoping the next semester, with a fresh batch of instructors, is better.
And now it is time for delicious comic making. I think I've had a breakthrough at last with the story for Pilgrim, and just need to pump out the thumbnails now. I'm doing 5 pages for a volunteer comic book project while I wait for my bristol board to arrive. Half penciled in 2 days, definitely booting me out of my comfort zone. First time drawing from someone else's script, too.
PS, NaNoMangO is in June. 30 days, 30 penciled comic pages. I'm gonna do my best!
I also really, really want to practice painting on the computer or with watercolors or something. I've been reading up on color theory.
Go figure I get sick right when school ends. >.<
Gonna put in a movie and draw, too much needs doing in too little time!
Blah. I'm going to go fiddle with character designs or something. The best thing about the Pentel pocket brush pen is that I can ink while sitting in bed or on the sofa and not worry about making a big mess. And the lack of mess in general. I hate cleaning brushes.
Now where did I put the 9x12 bristol...
That pen is my new favorite tool. Erasing did rub off some of the ink, so I need to try a softer eraser next time. But it is lovely on bristol. I keep reading about people who refill the cartridges with different kinds of ink, and India ink can go in it if the pen does not sit unused for too long.
Hacked another chunk off of the comic. Sometimes the only reason I have a certain scene or element in the story in there is because it was written early on. And then I wind up trying to shoehorn it in as other things are changing. And it is just not necessary anymore and needlessly complicates everything else. This is a simple story about finding and keeping company, so let's keep it from getting too complex, eh?
Wondering if I really even want to tone my comic. Designs would need tweaking to work in just black & white, and I'd need to make sure I'm able to show the different ethnicities of the characters. It's been looking decent in the face structure of the last few sketches I've done. I think the challenge will be creating the level of depth and detail I envision without it becoming a huge mess. Those trees will be interesting to wrestle with.
Toning, or at least the way I've been doing it, is just a huge chore for me. In a way it's also been a shortcut. derpderp, don't know what to do with that, throw a tone on call it good.
But I know about the principles of design and the visual elements now, so I have the tools to figure out how to make this work. Thinking back, it's crazy how much I've been flying blind. I have learned so, so much this semester. I can't wait to apply it all to my comic.
I have the rough thumbs for the first scene done, it is currently 14 pages. It's different, but the same. Rae is tougher, more assertive and being a meanie.
I want to try out the brush pen with actual bristles I got for Christmas, but I haven't put an ink cartridge into it yet because I don't want it to sit around unused. My brushes have not been wanting to hold a fine point, the lines of what I've inked lately are thick and uniform and BORING.
School's done next week, finals are in May. Wow. But that means Free Comic Book Day is coming up! :D
Fff, this chapter. Eventually I'm going to have to stop fussing over it and draw. It's the beginning I'm getting hung up on, always the beginning. I need to sit down and just hammer out a script and thumbnails.
Hmmm. I had the thumbnails almost done, but the pacing was going too fast and it felt like character interactions and scenery were getting shortchanged. So. The plan is to get a notebook, and sketch the thumbs at half the size I plan to draw at. With the tiny thumbs and 11x14 actual size, I feel like I'm either crowding or not putting enough into each page.
At least my two-week Morrowind binge seems to be over. I have no more desire to play so I'll actually get some things done this week. I don't even think about that stupid game for months, but when I do play it I get hooked.
EDIT: larger thumbnails are working way WAY better.
Good little video for those shooting for an art career:
http://www.wil
DA update in progress, some stuff I've been doing in my art classes.
http://aeacomi
I know DA (and many other sites) has problems with infected ads, so I use Firefox with the Ad Block+ add-on. Kills almost all the ads and makes surfing the internet a much nicer experience. :)
Got my registration sent in for 2 of the 3 cons I want to do this year. Hopefully I can turn a profit at each one! Now I'm thinking it's a good thing I did not plan on a June con because that's when my animation class is.
I also wonder about doing more next year, but that really depends on my class load. I want to graduate as soon as possible.
3 art projects are due next week, so I need to get back to work!
How to Train Your Dragon was such a fun movie. First one I've seen in 3D too. Expensive at the local theater though. Don't know if I want to see it again badly enough to spend another $10.50
Jumped into the second scene of chapter 1, because I want to draw Gareth. It's working better. At this rate I should have the rest of the chapter thumbnailed out by the end of the week. Things are clicking, yay!
Drove off with my art supply bin on the roof of my car, and came back to find it had been run over a few times and everything was scattered all over the street. After scooping the mess up and getting it home, I found that almost everything was still in one piece (or still usable in pieces). A few things I fixed with tape and super glue, but the only really smashed items were the bin itself, one colored pencil, and a clicky eraser. I've tossed it all in a shoebox for now, but I'll need to get something waterproof soon. How's that for luck?
Still fussing over Pilgrim. I'm trying to be more intuitive with it, but I tend to second guess myself a lot. Too much, I think. I'm hoping larger thumbnail sketches will help me tighten up the pacing. I've really got to order more bristol this weekend too.
I also went and hooked myself and my little brother on Fables. Check it out, if you haven't already. It's a fantastic series.
Rewrote and rethumbnailed the first scene. Still seven pages long, though I'm still not sure about the last two pages. Need to order some more bristol.
It's starting that's always the hardest for me. Once I get moving I hum along just fine. At least most of the identified plot holes are fixed now. I don't know if it got any shorter, but it does seem simpler now. Simple is good.
Taking 9 credits this summer, including the animation class, and another 15 in the fall. Art history 1, color theory, painting 1, figure drawing, and animation 2.
Of course, I've got this idea now that just keeps churning away in my head, about a girl who can talk to birds and a steam powered gnome. He has a top hat with a little chimney pipe sticking out of it, it's cute. It was a really odd dream I had, I don't remember if I wrote about it or not. For some reason he was looking for rubies with another gnome who was part clockwork.
It's a little frustrating to try and work on Pilgrim and then end up jotting things down about this one instead. Oh well, I think it has potential.
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.twi
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://aeacomi
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-managemen
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.wiki
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.wiki
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. :)