Quality Vs. Quantity

It's something I constantly struggle with; whether it's worth it to spend a ridiculous amount of time on something if the product is beautiful.

In webcomics time is of the essence, too many missed updates and your fans will stop checking back. In the seven (eight?) years I've been reading webcomics I've seen three finish where they were intended (and two of those were by the same person), but I've lost count of how many that have just up and died. Some of the comics I follow now are showing signs of imminent failure, updates have been slower and slower over the past few years, a few are down to once every month or two. Hell, I failed the first time I tried it, six months and ten pages.

I really hope I can do it this time. I just went back and recolored all the trees in the five pages I have finished to make them match and look more aesthetically pleasing. It took me two days. I don't think I'll have to do it again, but the wasted time really put a dent in my production schedule. I'll probably only have up to seven done for tomorrow when I wanted eleven. I was banking on those to get me through the next eleven weeks in England in case I don't have time to make more while I'm there. If just a little slip up can put me this far behind can I even keep the comic going? Should I have just left all the mismatching trees? I could have got more done, but I'm a perfectionist, and I do have to say they look nice now.

Oh well, now I have to go write all the dialogue in. Ugh.

Better

It seems to me that every time I feel as though I've accomplished something with my art I turn around and see what the "professional" community does and it's like I'm still a high school student copying anime.

I mean, look http://www.conceptart.org/

I want the skills to make artworks like all those thumbnails.

I was admiring the pages I've completed for my webcomic, when I decided to google something and ended up there. I'm almost fourth year in my BFA, why can't I do that yet?

Where do I go to learn that? What program do I take? I thought fine arts was the highest you could go, but I can't do that yet.

I know I could, and I do feel like I'm getting there. I'm much better than I was when I started this program. (Much, much, much better. I can't look at my old art without suffering embarrassment.) But I know I wont be up to that standard when I graduate, and if there's such an abundance of people better than me how do I get a job? I'll need to take more supplementary education, but what program? Where?

That's what I was googling for, a program. I can't tell which ones are worth it though.

Things I Learned While Making Webcomics

Trees are green.

No, really. I mean, that seems obvious right? But when you draw trees, and you go to colour the trunk, what colour do you use?

It's brown isn't it? You're going to use brown aren't you?

Don't. Stop right there.

You see, if you use brown as your base, going lighter is going to take you into the yellows and oranges. Which is fine if your tree is all by itself on a hill in bright sunlight or something. But in a forest? Go with green, trust me. Your leaves are (most likely) going to be green, and since the complementary colour to green is red those orange highlights are going to get an impressive boost and be the most eye-catching things in the picture. So for a nice background use a yellow-greenish brown, and darker green-browns for the shadows, even go into blues a bit. for the lights use a lighter brown-brown-green, and you can finish with some (tiny) yellow-brown for the highlights (only where direct sunlight will hit it).

The second thing I learned from making webcomics is to colour your pages in order, that way you don't discover six random pages out of eleven in that you've been colouring trees wrong.
(I went 2, 3, 4, 7, 1 and that was where I found out how to colour trees.)

Always go in order, then you can excuse earlier goofs as learning from experience.

Virtual

The virtual is the "almost real", like in the phrase "It was virtually..." meaning it was so close to being [that thing] I almost believed that it was. So a virtual reality is a reality so close to being real that it almost fools you into thinking it is real. But see, we're using the world wrong. When most people use "Virtual Reality" what they mean is "Digital Reality", because as soon as the reality comes into being - even in a digital sense, it doesn't have to be tangible to be real - it ceases to be virtual. Because anything virtual cannot by definition exist.

I guess that means that the stereotypical "Virtual Reality" is indeed still virtual, as there is no fully immersive sensory substitute for real life. It might be possible in the future, but then it wont be virtual.

Of course, the problem with digital reality is that people go too far with it, instead of producing under-rendered stylized people, in their quest to create the hyper real. Objects and people too real to be real. Have you seen some of those new fantasy and science fiction covers? People look really creepy when every pore on their face is rendered in loving detail. Cut it out dudes, it's just wrong.

Also, New Media writing is almost as hard to understand as Philosophy writing, except with considerably less bullshit and talking about God. It's really similar otherwise, they're both primarily concerned with debating whether or not something qualifies as a legitimate existance, expression, or state of being as defined by rules with nearly no basis in anything that exists outside of the author's own head.

Project Proposal

Aha! I'm back again, and using my epic powers of blog controllingness I have eradicated That Awful Blog Post. And it shall never darken our door again.

Except when I have to do another assigned reading, next week.

For now here is a project thing I have to post.

Project Proposal:

Title (working title): Deck of Fools

1- Technologies: Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign


2- Outcome:

My webcomic, Deck of Fools, has long since stagnated. I am going to revitalize and relaunch it, building a new website and finishing chapter one, as well as getting a head start into chapter two. I hope to develop a maintainable schedule of updates to get on course for it's eventual, distant completion.

3- Idea:

I am going to experiment with various storytelling methods within the realm of comics and graphic novels. I hope to find a workable alternative to the "strip" layout and do away with borders between panels while still maintaining a clear sense of narrative.

Logistics

1- Timeline:

The scripts for the next two chapters (possibly three) will be completed in detail over the next few weeks. Class time will be devoted to creating the new website, upon completion of the website, scripting, and thumbnails, all available time will be devoted to finishing chapter one. If, when chapter one is finished, there is a reasonable amount of time remaining production will begin on chapter two. No pages of chapter two will be uploaded to the website until all are done so as to avoid a repeat of the situation I have at present found myself in.

2- Presentation:

The work, when completed will permanently displayed of my available space on the school server. It will also be accessible through the website Comic Genesis, at the url deckoffools.comicgenesis.com
The work may also be available for viewing in a limited printed form.

Distractions - Schedule

Clone (Blue), Lucy (The House), Abbas (Mr. J), Me, Jordan (Pirate), Muir (Fish)

Well, it's that time of year again. While I might not have the same amount of projects to get done the ones I have are pretty big. Just passed in the last big Drawing one today, gotta bring the lifedrawings to the office before Friday.

Friday - Folklore Term Paper
Friday - Bronze Sculptures (4)
Some point in the future - Digital Final
The same point in the future - That Awful Blog Post
December 14th 2:00pm -5:00pm - Folklore Exam

Let me elaborate, I have no idea what this paper is supposed to be about, beyond "something to do with the collection assignment". It also has to be 7 pages long. I haven't written an essay that long in four years, I don't know if I still remember how.

Bronze Sculpting. As much as I love it, it is incredibly time consuming, and dangerous. Seriously. Dangerous. I have to make a post about what I did to my hand last Friday, for now lets say that it's out of commission for anything more strenuous then washing dishes. Even typing up this post is bothering me. Anyway, still have a pile of work to do on these, finish grinding, hammer and welding, then patinas. Ugh, and they're huge.

Digital! it's a castle thing. Not too worried about it at the moment, lets make it through Friday first.

That Awful Blog Post. Did we get sent the thing we're supposed to respond to? Or was that the chapter we read in class? If not, I don't think I have it.

Folklore Exam. It's an exam, what else is there to say about it?

Man, all I want to do is sleep. I'm sick of working.

Here, have a quick sketch I did of Abbas. I changed him a bit since last time. One of his eyes is crooked, but it's late and I don't care enough to change it right now. I think I'm slowly overcoming my urge to make him pretty, he looks a lot more lizard-like now. I'm also vacillating over how to spell his name. Is it better Abbas or Abbass?

His hair is like, a natural mohawk or something. Like those spines on iguanas, only fluffy.

Fire! Fire and Heavy Metals!

Ok, so Like, I actually did this two weeks ago (ish). But, an event as awesome as freezing my butt off while using a giant blowtorch in the middle of the night cannot be let pass without a remark of some kind.

So here, a remark.

Man, the more pictures of myself I draw the creepier they get.

What was I doing with a giant blowtorch? Why preparing molds for bronze casting of course!



Bronze Casting!

What did I cast? Well, you'll have to wait a bit before I show you, they're not quite finished yet.