The Darkest Hour 67-69

I would have preferred to post more in one go, but unfortunately I had no time to draw more this week. Also, we are nearing the end of the story and I need to think very carefully about how it is to be wrapped up nicely. There are still a few important events to be told, but the difficulty is that they require leaps in time. Making those smoothly is always a bit of a challenge. So: three pages this week.

The Darkest Hour 65-66

Ygraine does not find it easy to cope with her new responsiblities. Look what happens...

The Darkest Hour 61-64

It's that time of the week again :-). Click for readable views!

The Darkest Hour 58-60

I so hate having to kill characters. But sometimes there is just no escaping it ;_;.

Also, after sixty pages my brush pen is empty. Is it me, or has it run out of ink really quickly? All the large areas of black, and the lettering and the thin lines were done with another pen, too, so... I dunno, but sixty A5 pages of pure line art doesn't sound like a lot to me. *frowns at Faber-Castell*

You know the drill: for readable text, click the images :-).

The Darkest Hour 54-57

These pages have been really difficult. I took a bit of time over them, but I'm still not happy with them. This episode is important, but hard to get right. I chose to continue with the tale rather than to linger over the difficulties; I'll edit later. Suggestions are welcome!

As always, click the pictures for a readable view.

Kundry

Because sometimes I need to use a pencil, an eraser, a Staedtler pen and some watercolour paint, to prove to myself that I can still do more or less finished pictures.

The Darkest Hour 51-53

I'm sorry about the delay. Here are the next three pages. They are inked in a few different styles, with pens and brushes, just as a try-out. I still haven't made up my mind at to how to ink the definitive version :/. Opinions?

As always, click the images for a readable view.

The Darkest Hour, 48-50

So here we are, at page 50, and the less-than-nice beginning of the Arthurian epic. It's probably not much of a consolation, but Ygraine will have her revenge one day.

Hm. In the first panel, Ygraine is a giant, and in the second she is a giraffe. But it gets better from the third on :-).

As always, click the pictures for a readable view.

The Darkest Hour 45-47

There was a time when I posted three pages in an update. Then I posted more. Now I'm back to three :-). Mind you, there may be more next time - it depends on how I tell the story. Today's set of three happens to fill the last three pages of my current notebook. And next week's update will include page 50! That's quite a milestone for me :-).

Oh, I must add a correction: on the second page, in the last speech bubble, please replace the second "battle" with "fighting". I didn't notice this until I was cleaning up the scan :/.

We are getting to the ugly crux of the story. I wish it were more cheerful, but it isn't. We have to wait for Gawain to get to the fun bits of my tale.

As always, constructive criticism is very welcome!

(Click the images for a readable view.)

The Darkest Hour 41-44

The (more than usually) lamentable quality of the art on the second page is entirely to blame on the Belgian railways, who saw fit to give the commuters on the way to Antwerp a very old, very shaky train in the morning. It was impossible to do any decent work and I had to give up entirely because my lettering wasn't legible. Fortunately in the evening we got a different train and I could finish this instalment on time :-).

Oh, and Merlin has a beard now. I decided that he really looked better with some hair on his chin.

As always, click the images for a readable view!