Renovation Page 4

Hey everyone, sorry I am late.  This is as good a time as any to talk about scheduling.  From now on this comic is going to update on Sundays.  This just works out much better with how my week is typically planned out.

In other news I graduated with my BFA this week and so it has been kinda hectic; hence the late comic.

But back to business.

No playlist for this comic.  The vast majority of this was done in silence, it was just one of those weeks.  Probably the earliest sketches were done to the new Daft Punk album; but I can not be sure. 

So linework.  You may remember that in my last blog post I talked about how I was not satisfied with my lines.  Well this week I feel is a bit of an evolution but I am still not satisfied.  I was mindful in some of the panels to have a thin hesitant sort of stuttery line, just to see how that would work out.  In the end I feel like it was equal parts good and bad. It seems like where I used this type of line things seemed to fall apart.  Shapes are made, but they don't know what they are exactly; almost like they are perpetually on the verge of rattling apart.  I am not sure how I will move forward in the next page.  My guess is that I will focus a lot more on the line, cross hatching, fully blacked out shadows, that sort of thing.  That said, there is a chance that I might make things even flimsier just to see what happens.  I did have moments of weakness (panels 2 and 3) where I fell back onto a thicker line made with a more confident stroke.  So maybe the answer is to expunge that idea completely with no regrets or second thoughts.

Colours are coming along.  I have always felt that they are my weakness and I feel like I am getting a better grip.  I am still trying to stay away from anything too painterly, but at the same time I am giving myself some room away from a purely graphic approach.  I have a hunch that I might have gone overboard with the textures a little in this page.  I have been hesitant to use them in my digital work, I feel like some people use texture to cover up bad drawings or colour choices and I don't want to do that.  All in all I am happy with the colour, though I think I should have made things a little bit lighter.

 I am happy with page layout.  Nothing is too adventuress but then again not everything has to be.

As far as story is concerned I am biting at the bit to get past this prologue and introduce the full cast, but I do want to take things slow; it is a thriller after all.

I can't think of much else to say about this one.  Thanks for reading and have a good week.

Jeff K.

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Renovation

Hey people!  Frustrated Comics is back as you may have heard and here is the big grand return post.  And as promised, change is in the air.  I am pleased to announce and reveal the first page of my new project Renovation!

Renovation is a full colour horror comic that I have begun work on.  I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and now that I am done with school I have the time and more importantly energy to start working on this. 

A key feature of Renovation will be its visual style.  I want making this comic to be an adventure, and for it to push out of my visual comfort zone.  As a result, each page of Renovation will be done in a distinct visual style and after each page is done I will give some thoughts on said style.  Eventually I do plan on settling on one but for now it will be quite a ride.

So I suppose I'll start with this.  Initially I wanted to go with something cartoonier but with no line work, like a sort of paper cut out look.  This starting point can be seen best I think in the red car in the first panel.  That plan broke down a bit.  I am sort of ashamed to say that I broke down into a more painterly way of working.  I went to a method that I felt more safe with, and while I like how this page turned out I am disappointed  that I didn't push myself further.  Oh well, there will be plenty more pages.

So here it is, the next thing I am working on.  I hope you like it.  Next week will probably be a 3 panel black and white strip.  the goal is to have a Renovation page out every two weeks on Thursday.  My next Renovation page will be much cartoonier than this.  I want to do this because 1. I am not good at cartoon stuff and so I want to work on it, and 2. there is something about the idea of a cartoonie horror comic that intrigues me.  Maybe it won't fit as easily, but the fun is in making it work.  I think that is the point of this new project, not just to make a comic, but also to have the decisions that go into it a public process.

In any case, till next time!

-J

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