Gawain Project: The Darkest Hour p.1

I'm sorry, no page 166 today... I messed up my schedule. Instead, have a look at the new page 1 of The Darkest Hour in an all-pencil technique. Like? Don't like? Please let me know!

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More Brothers & Sisters next Sunday! (I hope...)

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THE STORY SO FAR:

Part I: The Darkest Hour

1-3 - 4-6 - 7-9 - 10-12 - 13-15 - 16-18 - 19-21 - 22-24 - 25-27 - 28-31 - 32-35 - 36-40 - 41-44 - 45-47 - 48-50 - 51-53 - 54-57 - 58-60 - 61-64 - 65-66 - 67-69 - 70-73 - 74-75 - 76-81 - 82-84 - 85-87 - 88-90 - 91-92 - 93-97 - 98-101 - 102-103 - 104-108 - 109-111 - 112-114 - 115-119

Interlude: The Sword of Kings

1-4 - 5-11

Part II: Sunrise

Brothers and Sisters

1-3 - 4-6 - 7-9 - 10-12 - 13-15 - 16-18 - 19-21 - 22-24 - 25-27 -28-30 - 31-33 - 34-36 - 37-39 - 40-42 - 43-45 - 46-48 - 49-51 - 52-54 - 55-57 - 58-60 - 61-63 - 64-66 - 67-69 - 70-72- 73-75 - 76-78 - 79-81 - 81 - 82 - 83 - 84 - 85 - 86 - 87 - 88 - 89 - 90 - 91 - 92 - 93 - 94 - 95 - 96 - 97 - 98 - 99 - 100 - 101 - 102 - 103 - 104 - 105 - 106 - 107 - 108 - 109 - 110 - 111 - 112 - 113 - 114 - 115 - 116 - 117 - 118 - 119 - 120 - 121 - 122 - 123 - 124 - 125 - 126 - 127 - 129 - 130 - 131 - 132 - 133 - 134 - 135 - 136 - 137 - 138 - 139 - 140 - 141 - 142 - 143 - 144 - 145 - 146 - 147 - 148 - 149 - 150 - 151 - 152 - 153 - 154 - 155 - 156 - 157 - 158 - 159 - 160 - 161 - 162 - 163 - 164

TDH pages 6 & 7

Today: a preview of my first two pages of the definitive TDH. No speech bubbles or texturing yet - these things are to be added digitally. Page 6 is inked with Staedtler pens and a Pentel brush pen on A3 Bristol board. I had only just finished it when I started noticing its flaws, but that's how it always goes :/.

Below: pencils for page 7. As you can see, it is decidely less crowded than page 6. I was exceedingly happy with it when it was just done, but in the meantime I think that it probably looks a bit haphazard. Argh.

Constructive criticism = welcome.

Ygraine

I don't want to count the hours I spent working on this small picture! It measures 13 x 21 cm and I started it on the Thalys to Paris. (I have a little something with trains and drawing, don't I?) All that remains from what I drew on the train is the nose, the hand and the rose. All else was reworked again and again. All that to end up with such a flawed drawing... But somehow I like its flaws. They give Ygraine something a little bit otherworldly, which is quite appropriate to the character.

I didn't expect I would be happy with the colours I got from using colour pencils. But it turns out that I am. Maybe my colours skills have improved, because when I tried colour pencils in a Moleskine sketchbook before, I didn't like the result at all. Now I am actually looking for a type of paper as close in texture to Moleskine as I can find, because I want to do this again in the future on loose sheets :-).

I spent more time and effort than usual researching the costume and jewellery (even though you don't see a whole lot of it *g*). That is because this drawing is part of my concept pictures for the final version of The Darkest Hour. More will follow.

Gawain Project: I. The Darkest Hour - Master List

Hit befel in the dayes of Vther Pendragon, when he was Kynge of all Englond and so regned, that there was a myghty duke in Cornewaill that helde warre ageynest hym long tyme, and the duke was called the Duke of Tyntagil. And so by meanes Kynge Vther send for this duk, chargyng hym to brynge his wyf with hym, for she was called a fair lady and a passyng wyse, and her name was called Igrayne.

- Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur (1485)

I. The Darkest Hour

On a dark winter's night, the Queen of Britain tells a sorcerer of the wrongs she has suffered at the hands of a man. The woes of Ygraine will determine the lives of her descendants.

1-3 - 4-6 - 7-9 - 10-12 - 13-15 - 16-18 - 19-21 - 22-24 - 25-27 - 28-31 - 32-35 - 36-40 - 41-44 - 45-47 - 48-50 - 51-53 - 54-57 - 58-60 - 61-64 - 65-66 - 67-69 - 70-73 - 74-75 - 76-81 - 82-84 - 85-87 - 88-90 - 91-92 - 93-97 - 98-101 - 102-103 - 104-108 - 109-111 - 112-114 - 115-119


Next:

II. Sunrise

The Darkest Hour 115-119 (Epilogue)

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! We have made it to the end of the first story arc! I hope you have enjoyed the ride - and of course I also hope you will tune in for the next episode :) . It's actually going to feature the hero of my tale.

I'll post a master list with links to all pages soon. Then I have to start thinking about the future of this comic. It will go on, to be sure, because I have a lot of tales to tell and take an immense pleasure in telling them. The question is rather what form the comic will/should take.

But first I'll have a bit of a break. I have been writing, drawing, posting almost non-stop since April 2009. This story was easy-peasy compared to what comes next, so I need to reload a bit.

Meanwhile, BY ALL MEANS let me know your opinions, sentiments, constructive criticism etcetera regarding the Darkest Hour storyboard. I will start on the definitive version of the comic soon, so now is the time to offer your advice for improvements!

For now: have an Epilogue.

(As always, click the images for a larger version.)

Thank you very much for reading along!

The Darkest Hour 112-114

Next week: the epilogue!

The Darkest Hour 109-111

Nearly there.

In other news: my new computer has been ordered. That means I should soon be able to start learning about digital stuff, and that is vital to the future of the comic (read: the definitive version of the comic). Wheeee! Serious post about The Future is forthcoming.

Meanwhile I still welcome constructive criticism. Let me know what you think!

The Darkest Hour 104-108

This week we have a pretty wordy update. This episode was not easy to script. I guess the tricky part was to condense everything and still keep it comprehensible and credible. If it doesn't work, please let me know :). I spent more time on some of the art than is reasonable for a storyboard, but, you know, I do want to have something worth looking at - that is more enjoyable for you and me both. Some of the faces came out so well that I'd gladly use them to accompany a cast description :-). I may just do that.

At the comics festival in Turnhout at the beginning of this month I was told that my storyboard is much too elaborate art-wise. That is true. But if I had drawn it with stick figures, I couldn't very well have posted my progress. The storyboard has been my main occupation, art-wise, since April of this year. Take out its pages from this blog, and there will be rather little left. I guess I could have progressed faster if I'd spent less time on the art, I suppose - but I don't think I would have been able to assess how well (or not) certain set-ups would work if the pictures had been strictly basic. That, and it's always a good thing if I enjoy myself while working on something, especially on a project this big.

Famous last words?

Maybe.

In any case, we are in the meantime getting very close to the story's end indeed :).

The Darkest Hour 102-103

I had intended to post extra-large updates from now on, so that The Darkest Hour would be all told by the end of December, and here I am with an extra-short update -_-. It is all because of the snow - the snowy skies inspired me to do a full-page illustration with watercolour, the colours of which I couldn't get right and spent a lot of time worrying about. So now I have only two pages of comic. At least I did finish the illustration today, meaning I can devote myself entirely to the comic now :). I may end up doing middle-of-the-week updates - I'm thinking about it.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the continuation :).

As always, lcik the images for a readable view...

The Darkest Hour 98-101

I have the feeling that this week's episode has finally cleared the road towards the story's ending - there are some minor things to figure out, but King Uriens rather unexpectedly showed up exactly where I needed him, so now the waiting is for the last two guests of the Grand Finale. It would be great if I could finish The Darkest Hour this month... That would require Extra Large updates, though, because I have only two Sundays left before the new year :-). We'll see.

This week: VIOLENCE! BLOOD! WALKING DEAD!
(Just trying to attract an audience - don't pay it any attention. But there is a bit of blood and a walking almost-dead, so I don't feel guilty about stretching the truth a little bit :P.)

The Darkest Hour 93-97

I guess this week's episode can be summarised as, "Time passes" :-). But I tried to make it pass nicely.

I am getting everything aligned for the story's ending, finally. Mind you, I think that it may take another twenty pages until The Darkest Hour is told completely and in a way that doesn't feel rushed. Keep reading :-)...

As always, click to enlarge!

The Darkest Hour 91-92

Just two pages this week, because the nearer I get to the end, the tougher the writing is...

Click to enlarge!

The Darkest Hour 88-90

This week in The Darkest Hour: boats! Horses! And King Uther has grown a beard!

Uther is pretty dreadful, but I so love writing him. I'll actually miss him when the story is done. Fortunately I'll be able to console myself with Merlin, a series currently running on BBC, in which Uther is very much alive and ruthless, looking and sounding like Rupert Giles Anthony Head...

As for the comic, it may have to do without Uther in the future, but look, that's King Lot on page 89! Three cheers for my favourite Irish macho king! ;-)

The Darkest Hour 85-87

I can't really explain why, but the dialogue for these three pages gave me quite a bit of trouble. That is the main reason why the drawings are sketchier than usual. I wanted to post on time, but had to do a lot of work at the last minute because the writing was difficult.

One funny thing about doing a comic is that it is easier to "show, not tell" than it is when you write prose. Nevertheless, it's still an art in itself; the sequence with the nuns held quite a few pitfalls in that respect. Please warn me if you think I'm "telling" too much. It's a thing that I hate in comics. It rather baffles me that published authors get away with very flagrant instances of "telling". I mean, sometimes you need some to move the story forward quickly. But I am absolutely horrified by a comic like the latest XIII Mystery, Irina, which is currently being published in the free newspaper Metro. There is hardly any dialogue in the book. 80% of the story is told in captions! Maybe other readers don't mind, but personally I find it boring. For me, a good comic tells a story in pictures; it's not rows of pictures to illustrate a piece of prose. A matter of personal preference?

For a readable view, click the images!

The Darkest Hour 82-84

This week: a regular three-page update, mostly drawn with my small Faber-Castell pen. I rather enjoyed it, so I guess I still haven't decided on the way to ink the definitive version. It's about time I get an epiphany though - we're finally nearing the end of this prologue...

Yesterday I was browsing one of my manga to get some idea of what about a hundred pages of intro amounts to in manga format. It's not that much. The manga in question (Mushishi, in case you were wondering) has about 220 pages per volume. In a multi-volume manga, it wouldn't be so odd to have a prologue of about a hundred pages, I think. And yes, my story is definitely multi-volume :).

I don't suppose I have mentioned the term 'manga' before when talking about my comic, but I have recently realised that manga is really pretty close to what I am making. Obviously my layout and way of telling a story are far removed from the classic European pattern. But I haven't consciously chosen the manga way. It may partly be a consequence of my sketching in an A5 notebook... That, and I just like the Japanese way of telling stories - it suits me too.

So, with that I leave you to the next three pages :). Hope you enjoy them!

For a readable view, click the images.

The Darkest Hour 76-81

To make up for the fact that there was no update last Sunday, I am posting a double dose today. Here are six pages for your pleasure :). Well, pleasure... As usual, life isn't fun and games for poor Ygraine. When, oh when will Uther get his comeuppance? Keep reading! ;D

Click the images for a readable view...