10:15pm.
Jan 7, 2007
10:15pm.
Today I finished plotting out "Everhard's Harmless Hobby", the first Chastity Towers story. Once I had it roughed out in plot points, the next step was to create the Manga Studio template and start working on sketches. This prompted some back-and-forth deliberations as I made and remade the template, trying to decide whether to lay it out horizontally, in a screen-shaped page, or vertically, in a traditional comics-shaped page. I eventually decided to draw it horizontally, for a few reasons:
1. I've never drawn a story that way. All my other comics have been vertically-oriented pages, designed mainly for print, and put on the web because they can be. So this is going to be a new experience for me, involving some new and different design decisions and giving me an opportunity to grow a bit in my layout choices.
2. I want to publish this comic on the web primarily, with an eventual print collection happening sometime in the future. Print will be something I'm not thinking about too much at this point. I'm keeping the option open but I want this comic to be born and live on the web from the start.
3. I hate scrolling when reading webcomics!
After the template was created, I got warmed up by drawing some fan art for John L. Roberson's "This Sickness" comic, which I've been getting into on Adultwebcomics.com. John said he'd post the fan art tomorrow and post a link and a note about it. We exchanged a few emails and he seems very cool.
Once I was warmed up, I was ready to start drawing. I've found that one of the best ways for me to stay productive is to have a solid routine and some anchors that get me into the mood of drawing and get me fired up. While drawing the end of "Four-Eyed Dragon" and "Dance Dance Resolution" in 2005 I had a little routine that helped me a lot. I found it in my notes and include it here as well:
I did all this today exactly as before, and it gave me a lot of energy to draw! I sat down and roughed out the first scene (pages 1-5) of "Everhard's Harmless Hobby" in no time.
Next steps will be to rough out the rest of the comics, design the sets in SketchUp, and draw the sucker!
Another thing that helped today was taking periodic breaks to play piano. Today I was playing "Wrote A Song For Everyone" by Creedence.
UPDATE: Just goes to show how long it's been since I did any serious comics work. When I said I'd never made a horizontal comic, I wasn't thinking clearly because Spark-Tower Wilson's Silent Song was obviously a horizontal, screen-shaped layout.
10:15pm.
Today I finished plotting out "Everhard's Harmless Hobby", the first Chastity Towers story. Once I had it roughed out in plot points, the next step was to create the Manga Studio template and start working on sketches. This prompted some back-and-forth deliberations as I made and remade the template, trying to decide whether to lay it out horizontally, in a screen-shaped page, or vertically, in a traditional comics-shaped page. I eventually decided to draw it horizontally, for a few reasons:
1. I've never drawn a story that way. All my other comics have been vertically-oriented pages, designed mainly for print, and put on the web because they can be. So this is going to be a new experience for me, involving some new and different design decisions and giving me an opportunity to grow a bit in my layout choices.
2. I want to publish this comic on the web primarily, with an eventual print collection happening sometime in the future. Print will be something I'm not thinking about too much at this point. I'm keeping the option open but I want this comic to be born and live on the web from the start.
3. I hate scrolling when reading webcomics!
After the template was created, I got warmed up by drawing some fan art for John L. Roberson's "This Sickness" comic, which I've been getting into on Adultwebcomics.com. John said he'd post the fan art tomorrow and post a link and a note about it. We exchanged a few emails and he seems very cool.
Once I was warmed up, I was ready to start drawing. I've found that one of the best ways for me to stay productive is to have a solid routine and some anchors that get me into the mood of drawing and get me fired up. While drawing the end of "Four-Eyed Dragon" and "Dance Dance Resolution" in 2005 I had a little routine that helped me a lot. I found it in my notes and include it here as well:
- I light some incense, which I always light when I’m listening to fun music or inspiring tapes
- I have a physical anchor that I do, I squeeze the index finger of my left hand against the palm. This is “CREATIVITY”, I do this anchor whenever I am feeling really powerful and creative—like if I’m thinking of a new idea, or having fun working out how to draw a page—I realize that I’m feeling super creative, and I press my finger against my palm. As I do it more, it brings back that feeling when I do it! So just the act of squeezing my finger brings back creative feelings and gets me excited.
- Before I sit down to draw a page, I literally dance around, I jump up and down and laugh out loud, thinking how cool it’s going to be when this page is done! How much fun I’m going to have drawing it! I do this so much I get a physical feeling of INCREDIBLE EXCITEMENT in my body, thinking about it!
- “I pledge every ounce of my being to draw the best comics page that I possibly can!” I say this incantation a few times, really loud and make a strong, powerful move with my body!
- Then I sit down and draw!
I did all this today exactly as before, and it gave me a lot of energy to draw! I sat down and roughed out the first scene (pages 1-5) of "Everhard's Harmless Hobby" in no time.
Next steps will be to rough out the rest of the comics, design the sets in SketchUp, and draw the sucker!
Another thing that helped today was taking periodic breaks to play piano. Today I was playing "Wrote A Song For Everyone" by Creedence.
UPDATE: Just goes to show how long it's been since I did any serious comics work. When I said I'd never made a horizontal comic, I wasn't thinking clearly because Spark-Tower Wilson's Silent Song was obviously a horizontal, screen-shaped layout.
Labels: chastity-towers, comics
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