The Darkest Hour 19-21

So! As of last week, the story's important actors are all in place. We are getting to the core of the tale. It's not a particularly nice one. I'm having a great time drawing it, though :-).

As always, constructive criticism is most welcome!

Click the images for a readable view.

IM IN UR INTERNETS, EFFEMINISING UR HEROES

More celebration of the coming Ambiorix exhibition in Tongeren, intended especially for those who think of the Eburone king as a moustachioed, muscular, axe-wielding sort of bloke. Not in my book, ladies and gennelmen ;-).

This one painted itself and just went miraculously well (in my terms). Try a close-up (by clicking) if you want to see more detail.

In this one I like the paint, which looks rather as I hoped it would look; the hair colour, which for once is not yellow; and the gold bracelet, which actually looks like a gold bracelet. For the prosecution: my token long nose is really too long a nose, so dear Trix looks less handsome than he should.

That's it for this rare non-weekend post. And I'm wondering what else the Eburone muse may bring in the near future. Dare I hope for a short story?

The Darkest Hour 16-18

I'm back! As predicted, I was very unproductive in Istanbul, but I suspect that sooner or later I will end up doing a picture inspired by my trip - no doubt something involving Ottoman costume ;-). The present and I, we'll never get along *g*.

Let's retreat even further in the past than the Ottoman empire and see how things are in post-Roman Britain. Gorlois and Ygraine have just said hello to King Uther, who is celebrating the success of his latest Saxon-bashing spree.

As always, click the images for readable dialogue...

By all means keep sending me concrit! There's little point in telling me my grasp of perspective is lousy, because I already know that, but all other advice is very welcome ;-).

In other news, the Gallo-Romeins Museum in Tongeren is open again after having been closed for a thorough renovation. It truly is a very beautiful museum and well worth a visit. And guess what? In September there will be an exposition devoted entirely to my chouchou Ambiorix! I'm very excited :D. To celebrate, I'm throwing in a video *g*.

The Darkest Hour 13-15

Small announcement:
Next Sunday I will not be able to post. I will be in Istanbul for five days (yay!! I have been wanting to go to Istanbul for so long!). I'm only leaving on Saturday, so I should be able to draw during the coming week as usual. That week's pages will then be posted on Sunday 24 May.

I always take art materials with me when I go on a trip, but I'm sad to say that I hardly ever produce anything worthwhile with them :/. If I do manage to draw/paint anything decent, though, I'll be sure to post it here :-).

Now for this week's pages. I drew with mixed pens again, mostly because I just feel comfortable sketching a pose with my small pen and then going over the good lines with the brush pen. If I were to use a brush pen for the final art, I would, after all, sketch in pencil and then ink with my brush pen.

Plot-wise, we are finally getting to the heart of the matter :-).

Click the images for readable views! And constructive criticism is very much appreciated...

The Darkest Hour 10-12

This week's pages were drawn entirely with a brush pen. I am still figuring out what style to adopt for the definitive version of the comic, and brush + ink is one of the possibilities. I am not used to inking with a brush, but I do find that many of the artists I like use this technique. Brushes seem like an antidote to stiffness - though I know very well that such a quality also depends on the artist and not necessarily on the medium :-). In any case, I thought I'd try my hand at using a brush pen. I gather these pens are much despised by the real adepts of the brush, but seriously, how practical is it to take a brush and inkwell on the train? Plus, even the professionals admit that they ruin many a Kolinsky. I'd like to get an idea of what kind of results I get before I start molesting brushes à €20 each ;-).

Anyway: today's digest. Click for a readable view!

I am thinking that it might be best to start drawing the definitive version as soon as a story arc is finished. That means that as soon as The Darkest Hour has been completed, I will start on the final version. The good news is that doing so will not interfere with my storyboarding, which always happens on the train, on weekdays. I think that storyboarding during the week and doing neat pages during the weekend may prove to be stimulating. On the one hand, I'll see where I am headed, and on the other, I'll see the story take a definite shape.

So I would ask you to please keep giving me feedback. Am I going to quickly? Too slowly? Are the characters too vague? I want to fix as many mistakes as I can, because I will be investing all my spare time in this story. I want to have something to show for that.

Thank you for reading!