I just picked up a copy of “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown. After only reading a few chapters I’ve already felt the urge to return to writing. Creating webcomics is a very rewarding, though taxing discipline, but it doesn’t possess the reflective quality, or depth that writing does.
Trying out a tablet
So far my comic-creation process has undergone a few changes (as can be noted by the comics themselves). I originally penciled the artwork, then scanned it in, and then inked and colored it digitally. The last few comics (and the next two coming up) I decided to ink by hand using art pens, then scan and color digitally. The latest one I’m working on however, I’ve decided to try out ‘penciling’ it in photoshop.
This is something that I’ve been wanting to try out ever since I bought a tablet. I am amazing at how well photoshop can replicate the pencil drawing experience. You can even adjust your eraser to only lightly eraser your lines.
This isn’t something I intend to do for all my future comics, but the convenience of drafting my entire comic on the computer eliminates significant time and space constraints that have slowed down my process. Hopefully I will find a better way to ink digitally and this whole thing can happen much faster.
I know speed isn’t as important as quality, but being able to eliminate the need to use paper could be a big boost to my production output.
Those curious, I’m using a basic Wacom Bamboo (newer version featured online) and Adobe Photoshop CS4.
Scheduled Downtime
A few of you out there may know about my frustration revolving the downtime of my website. As it turns out my host was experiencing problems with new hardware or some such. In the process of resolving this issue, my site will be down for a few hours on Sunday through Monday, October 26th, beginning at 2:00 am and ending at 6:00 am. Few people will be on at that time, so it shouldn’t impact the site too much–but I’d thought I’d post ahead of time, so any visitors won’t be alarmed.
The ongoing progress
There is one cardinal rule when it comes to webcomics: KEEP POSTING WEBCOMICS!! If you’re late or you fall behind, your visitors will get upset. But making regular updates is the hardest aspect of maintaining a webcomic website (smelling the irony?). It doesn’t help that most comic artist hate deadlines, so adhering to a self-imposed deadline is very difficult.
[Read more…] about The ongoing progress
Algerbane by ArtistXero
My good buddy ArtistXero has taken the liberty to create a fantastic piece of fan art of our beloved wizard. I must say, I am blow away by it.
ArtistXero is an incredibly talents artist and his upcoming webcomic, The Saga of Samuel, is sure to be an instant classic. Check out him at www.artistxerocreations.com and www.sagaofsamuel.com
Thanks again Matt!
The progress of the webcomic
I’d thought I would post about the on-going progress of my webcomic’s development.
Part 3 is coming tomorrow, but I am already at the coloring stage of part 6. I wish I had more done, so I could relax; as it stands now I need to make sure I am at least a few weeks ahead so I won’t fall behind. That last thing I want to do is miss a week so early on.
As far as scripting goes, I have up to part 23-24 written out. The story begins to really take shape at that point and we meet a few more jovial characters. Algerbane’s full missions isn’t revealed YET, but we start learning more about it. Of course, with a once-a-week update scheduled, we won’t be seeing those issues for a few more months. So stay tuned! It’s going to be good!