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!
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!
2 comments:
Sorry for replying lately, as usual. This time I will try to answer your questions seriously ^^
Reading a comic from three pages to three pages, on the pc screen, is different from reading it in a row, and printed on paper. Maybe I should try to print it, because I'm sure that my impression is conditioned by the computer reading. So, I have to admit that I still haven't understood completely the function of this part, The Darkest Hour. For me it is a little too rushed, and you could have spent some more pages about the characters. The aim is to show Morgana and Morgause's parents, isn't it? Even if it's a flashback, I wouldn't dislike a slower pace. Possibly you could have a narrator of this flashback (maybe Ygraine), so that the reader could follow more closely what happens from her voice.
As for the drawings, I think you use brush pens much better than me :) You can do very thin lines with then, while I use to get a line large no less of 2 mm.
Thank you very much for your help, darling Cecilia! Your comments are much appreciated :-).
Yes, I was wondering whether I was telling the story too quickly. I guess I am trying to move it along quickly because I want to return to my hero ;-). I was going to say that I don't want this episode to dominate Gawain's story - but in fact it does dominate it. I mean, it holds the explanation of why Morgana wants to train Gawain, of why Gawain has to be who he is and act as he does, of Arthur's tragedy, and the whole Grail adventure hinges on it. So, ahem, it *is* rather important that it works at its best :-). And the characters should have enough space that the reader can sympathise with them.
I do think the story will work better as a book than it does when you read three pages at a time on a screen. I haven't quite mastered the art of the web comic yet :/.
As for the brush pens, it's very easy to draw thin lines with them: just use very little pressure :D.
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