P.O.W.! Challenge 15--The Messenger

[Ilaekae]

http://photos.imageevent.com/aljmary/conceptarts/CA-POWexLOGO.jpg


P.O.W.! Challenge 15
Deadline: Sunday, October 26, 2008, 11:59 pm anywhere in the world.

Topic: The Messenger

We're back to comics, and this one was inspired by a post that Arttorney made in the "Words before art" section. His suggestion involved a bike messenger, but I've purposely left out the word "bike" to widen the possibilities a bit. His original post is below for your reference. You can interpret the art any way you wish, and the more creatively, the better. Any media. B&W or Color.

You can present your solution as a minimum of TWO to a tentative maximum of SIX pages which adhere to standard comic specs as below...and, yes, you can have the first or last (or both) as a splash page if you want. You can go to additional pages without asking if you have a decent idea that requires it--just don't get too extreme on page counts

Standard Comic Book Size:

--Trim size: 6 5/8" x 10 1/4"
--Live art area: 6" x 9"
--Bleed size before trimming: 6 7/8" x 10 1/2" (1/8" in all directions)

This thread will be the place you ask questions on this challenge, trash talk, post WIPs and post your final art. See the READ THIS FIRST thread for all specs.

Good luck.

P.O.W.! Challenge 16 will be posted before Sunday Midnight, October 26, 2008.


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SPLIT

One idea I had back when I rode a lot was future noir story that focused a little more into bike art, like in the early going of Akira before it went all hocus pocus and giant blob oriented.

Lane splitting is allowed in California. For those not in the know, that means you can ride your bike between the rows of cars along the dotted lines. It's kind of maniac behavior but can really get the adrenaline going.

Many attorney services exist in the large urban areas which hire bikers or bicyclists as messengers because of their increased abilities to beat traffic jams (and deal with gas prices).

How does this all come together? Well supposing a couple of bike messengers are having lunch down town after their pickups or deliveries and they get their bags crossed. Then it turns out that one of them is working for the evil firm from Hell and gets killed when it turns out he no longer has the bag with the Maltese Falcon, or O.J.'s bloody clothes or whatever the hell was in there. Then the other guy finds out about this (and probably about what is in the bag he inadvertently got) just in time to start the great series of chase escapades and meeting all the cyberpunk weirdos who might be able to help him somehow (or might betray him, who knows). Ramble Ramble Ramble.

What's in the bag? It's got to be something incredible to drive the story arc onward into ever more hair raising escapades. What kind of characters does our hero know that he might be able to go to (for change of identity documents, or to tell him what the hell the thing in the bag is). What are the inevitable assassins like?

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A little note here for all of you who have supported the P.O.W.! Challenges...

A lot of people posted "O'BOY!" comments when this idea was originally announced, but the actual involvement by the membership has been rather abysmal. We have five or six steady people who really put their hearts into doing (or trying to do) something every single Challenge (or at least as often as they can), but it's getting to the point where I'm going to start thinking about closing down this section. Making happy noises and promises is one thing--actually doing something is another. If there doesn't seem to be any interest over the next few challenges, I'm going to assume this is a waste of time, and close it down so somebody with a better idea can get a chance in here.

[arttorney]

Thank you Ilaekae.

@ other folks: It looks like you gotta use it or it falls off. Next thing you know, we'll have Furniture Assembly Instructions of the Week (FAIOW) or Can Label of the Week (CLOW). At least in here we can have fun.

[AhChu]

I'd hate to see this section closed down, Ive missed 2 deadlines for this coz of silly ol work and I think it's a cool challenge area...and to be replaced by CLOW instead would be horrible, I'm in for this for this round....oh and a side note that was a cool idea for having a writer supply a script to draw to for "The Otherside"

[AhChu]

K here is the begining of the story i've come up with, pardon my poo spelling.

Opening - Inside a labratory - Present Day

Group of scientists in discussion over a ordinary looking man they are watching in a containment room through a digital two way mirror.

"Good Morning Sarah" the man says

"How does he know we are here, can he here us?" One of the scientists leans over and whispers.

"Sssh" Another replies.

Sarah reaches over and hits the intercom button.

"Good morning John, how did you know I was here?"she asks worridly

A smirk cross over Johns face

"You would be suprised of what we know." "And we have a little proposition for you"

Sarach quickly switches of the intercom with her trembling hand

"oh my god, he is infected."

Thats all I got so far, the idea is john has been infected with some nifty Nano-bots and john aint john any longer and boy does he have plans for them.
Any tips of crits would be great, especially with writing as I'm more a picture person myself, trying to keep the story basic but interesting...just wanna get onto the drawing

[Chance.]

Yahaaa

Don't close it down old cat! I have been awol for a bit but I'll throw in some garbage! It'll be just like old times. You'll never get me to shut up now!!! Bwah hah hah hah etc...

[Grief]

!!! A New Challenger Approaches !!!

[Jason Rainville]

!!! A New Challenger Approaches !!!

Ditto

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(on topic, does it have to be attorney's brief, or can any messenger running with important news/package theme be good enough?)

[Ilaekae]

Arttorney's story line is just where the idea came from. You can use it if you want, or go in an entirely different direction, as long as it involves a messenger as the main character.

I'm having flashbacks to one messenger I used back in the 80's that had the most incredible body and a passion for skin-tight Lycra outfits. That chick caused more wrecks while on her bike than any drunk driver that ever existed. :P

I think I'll use her in my attempt if I can work it out.

[arttorney]

I think my idea would be hard to do anything with in six pages so I was going to style mine as "Chapter One" anyway.

The current title reminded me of "The Messenger" a song on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Eno/Byrne. [Edit: Actually it's "The Carrier" so once again I only think I know what I'm talking about] There are an awful lot of ways "The Messenger" can go if your imagination runs a little wild.

[Jason Rainville]

Man am I ever a pussy. Well I don't think I'm going to be finishing this since I realized that I HATE comics (reading and drawing) so... yeah :(.... sorry

[SalOnimaruRem]

Sonna bitch am in!!!

About time i get back to P.O.W :D

[LogicINK]

First timer here. Thought I'd try my hand. I've always been interested, but it's hard to find the time. Anyway, here's a WiP from page 1.

Crits?

[llothcat]

I'm in...


I hope this challenge continues...but the last challenge really wasn't my cuppa fun.

[arttorney]

LogicINK I like the outdoorsy colors and the shadow of the guy's bike and of him, though rudimentary at this stage, are already giving him a three dimensionality as though he is riding out of the page. Good sense of action.

[Sundance]

I won't participate...








(that is my lame attempt at reverse psychology)

[SalOnimaruRem]

ok all finish and updated :D

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p1.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p2.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p3.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p4.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p5.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p6.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p7-1.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q147/Shadowkhon/POW15p8.jpg

[Kmadden2004]

Whoah! Whoah! Whoah! WHOAH!

What's this I've been hearing about closing this section down!? Count me in as a faithful follower :yayca:

Sorry I haven't entered any challenges recently, my internet connection was switched off for a month whilst I changed suppliers (damn you BT!)

[Grief]

i finished writing the comic.

...its over 3800 words long though, so it'll be interesting to chop it down to a workable length for 6 pages.

getting some character design sketches done now (and neglecting my university work huzzah!)

[Ilaekae]

"......its over 3800 words long though..."

Does your mother let you out alone at any time, and if so, how do you find your way home? :P

What the fuck is there about a messenger that would require 3800 words?!!?! I could rewrite the Origin of the Species in fewer words...



...and I got mine started. My bike messenger has huge boobs, sounds and acts like Dennis Hopper, and there's an alien rock band in it. :)

[LogicINK]

So, I've apparently committed to a messenger running from zombies. In my professional work, I'm production designing a horror flick and I think I have zombies on the brain. lol

Anyway, another WiP from page 1 and a first pass at page 2. These are incredibly rough. I hope I have the time to finish 'em before the deadline.

I'm excited to see what you all have cooking :)

Arttorney - Thanks! I'm glad you like that shot. Something feels awkward about the placement of the arm and the zombie that's been decapitated....not sure how to fix that yet...

Oni Rem - That's one bad@$$ rider. I love your clean lines. I'm too damn heavy handed. I get frustrated unless I use velum as an overlay. Anyway, I like your story beats and I like seeing the creature run before we get the reveal of what he's running from. However, he feels detached from his environment in that shot. I doodled a quick little thing (I hope that's not rude) that might help the rhythm and detachment issue.

Frame 1: Creature at perch or in field or whatever looks up--something's caught its attention & we get to see a bit of the area around him: all appears well.

Frame 2: Close up: FEAR. Something wicked this way comes

Frame 3: Creature moves through/backwards through the shot in a manner that creates some distance/depth.

Frame 4: reveal/pay-off

What I think this does is earn you your reveal a bit more. The beats are there already: creature looks around; creature sees something and is afraid; creature runs; reveal. But I think having a beat where we get to see a bit of the environment/surrounding area that this creature inhabits before jumping into a close-up to capture the fear allows for a bit more build to your reveal.

Anyway, take it as you will. Just my gut instinct when I saw your page. Great rendering, by the way. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Without further ado, my WiPs:

[SalOnimaruRem]

Thanx logic i see wat you mean :D
That makes a lot of sense!!!
after i have finish all the rest and i have time left i will try to change it to that =)))

[LogicINK]

More WiPs! Still looking for crits!

Three pages is all I think I'll be able to manage by tomorrow night with work and all. But I like the sequence. The final panel will have a word balloon that says something like "We got your message" or something like that to tie it further into the prompt.

Anyway, critique away! I'll try to get some more time in on these later today.

Cheers!

[Grief]

okay posting the story wasn't working.....

so the story is attached. download it if you need a good laugh in pathetic prose.

it hasnt been edited, and needs to be adapted from short fiction into a more workable format for comics, so a lot of the descriptions and inner thoughts of the protagonist will be done with visuals.

[edit] also my sketchbook has a few sketches of the characters on the latest page, if anyone wants to see how thats coming along.

[Kmadden2004]

Here's a little character sketch for my protagonist that somehow has merged into a front cover... no idea how that happened.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/messengercover.jpg

It's good to be back!:rocker:

[arttorney]

Come on, Jason Rainville! Give me something to believe in. There are still a couple of weeks. Take it from the guy who knows. Experimentation is allowed in here. If you hate comics, make a new form of sequential art that is not comics. (I admit nobody votes for the radical stuff, but those who don't draw don't learn.):mittenbop:

Oni Rem- I can see that you have been working on varying your line weights. Awesome! Don't give up.:anime:

LogicINK- This is really shaping up. I was going to have some motorcycle action in mine, and I've taken my reference photos, but it will probably prove quite tame compared to some of your X Games bicycle stunts. This is daring work. Everybody seemingly loves zombies around here too.:dead:

KMadden- Still just a start, but I know you produce very consistent quality in a very consistent style. FYI, when I was showing the POW 10 entries to a colleague who is a sophisticated appreciator or sequential art and he said you were pretty clearly working at a pro level. I would say that your style won't work for every editor but those who like it will like it a lot.:drinkup:

Grief- You are a pretty complicated guy. I can't wait to see what you draw for us.

[Kmadden2004]

Attorney: Thanks for the endorsement. I'm just trying to remember which one POW 10 was... wait, are you talking about The Student of Prague? Aw, man, even I think that wasn't my best work! Nah, I'm really trying to up my game for this one (both as a writer and an artist).

Once again, thanks for the thumbs up, and good luck with your entry.:teeth:

[Angel Intheuk]

Eh up! - this is my first go at a P.O.W...

...I've tried to stick loosely to the original idea. It wasn't going to be as cartoony as it turned out, but hey sometimes you just gotta go with it...
Crits highly welcome :)

[D.Carles]

First post ever here! I don't want that topic to sink!

I loosely adapt the story line, I hope you like it!
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6305/powxv01pi7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Sorry guys, I'm not going to make it on this one, hope i have the chance to spare some time on a other POW! next time.

Cheers!

[Bl@stzone]

you can count me in. makes me a first timer too. but im hoping i can swing a pretty good one. since the zombies have been taken im going post apoc. i wanna see if i can do this every time there i one of these i keep the story going. see if we cant keep up our established character s:)

[arttorney]

It's getting crowded in here. That's cool. There's about ten days left and I got my damned taxes out of the way. Looks like I'll have to finish up my pencils this weekend and ink the early part of next week. I have been hoping to image it and see if I can color digitally so it will be nice and deluxe.

Looks Like I'll have to step up my game a little bit with some of these other efforts I am seeing.

[Grief]

hey D.Carles a quick point for you:

IV is the roman numeral for 4
XV would be 15

keep it up, looking good so far.

[D.Carles]

What? it's alerady POW 15?

lol, at last someone was paying attention to my stuff, thx Grief i must been really tired when i send that.

I will fix that now!

[Bl@stzone]

im really gutted now. my warrior of an intuos 3 has coughed up some weird error. i cant seem to get it working. gotta wait for the boys and girls at wacom to figure out whats wrong and email me the cure :P

[daestwen]

Don't close down, Kitty!

Look, I will even give it a shot, this week!

I had this weird image of a gluttonous messenger girl that scarfed down onigiri for power-up energy...

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[Ilaekae]

Damn! Mine is coming out too long as usual. I'm going to rework it to try for maybe 8-9 pages.

[Sundance]

I have started one. I will be at two pages if I get lucky. So far two panels down...

Less lounge...more drawing!

[arttorney]

I had some trouble with the copy machine reducing the image so for now I am giving it in two parts.
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[SalOnimaruRem]

hey yall i updated mines on the first page

[arttorney]

Here is my penciled page 2. (Well, the bottom one third didn't scan right so you don't get that.)
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[llothcat]

damn, i'm behind again. Just a panel. And I actually wrote a script for once too.

[arttorney]

Pullin' for you, llothcat.

You're a wild man, Oni Rem. I get a big kick out of your piece. I think it is your best yet, at least in POW. Lots of effort is showing.

[SalOnimaruRem]

hahaha thanx arttorney yeah i feel like it is my best piece in POW
i actaully put effort into this one...i dont know why but i did and it feels normal lol

although i rush a little bit in some as i notice its getting close to my sis wedding and i had to hurry it up a bit because i wont be able to scan it, put dialogue, and post it when that day comes.

overall am happy with this one :)

[Kmadden2004]

Okay, here's page one;

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_1-12.jpg

Pages two through to six will appear as and when they're ready... or when I have a complete mental breakdown, whichever one comes first.

Good luck, everybody! :yayca:

UPDATE: Here's page two...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_2-3.jpg

[arttorney]

I knew I could count on you KMadden. Come on you other folks. Finish up. I know it is a battle to bring yourself in front of the pages day after day, but let's face it, it's what you'll have to do if you ever want to get paid.

I've decided to stop at page three where my guy has made his pick up and now meets his friend for lunch. This much I think I can ink and color by the end of Saturday.
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(Hope this looks better on a good monitor!)

[Sundance]

OK...here is a page.

[Kmadden2004]

Attorney: Thanks for having faith in me. But I won't lie to you, this challenge has been a bit of a bitch for me. It had to come along just as I was swamped with dozens of (okay... two) pretty big commissions, and on top of that there've been times where I've had to dog sit by new labrador puppy, which meant being away from my computer for hours on end.

I guess what I'm saying is I'll try my hardest to get the thing finished by Sunday...:zzz:

[llothcat]

only page one and it's not complete yet. Gah! i still have to come up with characters.....!

[arttorney]

Challenging angles. I think it will all be worth it when you finish it.

[Redfrog]

Great topic.
This'll be my first P.O.W. Its a sensational idea.
Normally i wouldn't get a chance to do one due to work commitments but i figure you have to make time for something this cool.
Here's my first two page layouts - will probably look at doing four pages in layout form and then design the characters and vehicles properly. then i'll do the page refinements.
Gonna be fun!

[Kmadden2004]

Redfrog: Welcome to the fray! :teeth:

Yours is looking really good. Nice realistic setting, lots of action, impressive.

Dammit, I just wish I could draw bikes like that! Good luck in getting your final entry in.

[Redfrog]

Thanks Kmadden2004!
Glad i could finally have a go at this. haven't had the opportunity to do anything comic book format in years! Is turning out to be really fun!

Here's the next 2 layout pages.
This makes up the four pages i think i'll do for this strip.
Its no masterpiece storytelling on my part but hopefully
you'll get the general idea.

[arttorney]

I am glad to see you're getting such a kick out of the bike art Redfrog. It looks good.

Here's my page 2 and 3 inked. I'll see how my Kolourpaint does to color digitally today, but I have a traditional coloring backup plan that should fit mah style.
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[Hideyoshi]

just saw this topic and felt like doing some digital drawing/comic practice :perv:

Redfrog: nice!

[Farvus]

Hey. That's cool one. Just watch out beacause it feels almost like Blame comic by Tsutomu Nihei :D.

[Grief]

Hey. That's cool one. Just watch out beacause it feels almost like Blame comic by Tsutomu Nihei :D.

exactly what i was thinking. very cool.
LOOK OUT KILLY

crap this is due tomorrow... i havent really started.... too much... awful work for class in the way... ugh.

[Hideyoshi]

I know guys! Lol, I thought it was so obvious that I didn't even bother mentioning it :P
I am extremely influenced by Niheisan when it comes to manga... T_T

Thanks!

[llothcat]

one more day....please!

[Kmadden2004]

Aw man, mine feels really amateur now, especially compared to Hideyoshi and Redfrog's WIPs...

[Redfrog]

Hey Kmadden,
I really like yours. I am a particular fan of the pose and lighting in the first panel on page one. Captures the feel and dynamic of the pose really well!

Hideyoshi- thanks man! Yours totally rocks!! Do you use Manga studio to create yours? I have never used it myself and was curous. love the haftone effects you are getting through your!

[Farvus]

I never done anything serious connected with comics before so it's rather poor. Someone told me I look like young Frank Miller. I thought I could try something then. I already got some clue when it comes to visual style :P

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[arttorney]

@ KMadden: Then jus' step up and beat their asses, mang! They're scared. Look there's sweat on their foreheads!

@Redfrog: Funfetus was cranking out some pretty good panels with Manga Studio Pro Edition in the early editions of this challenge. I gathered it would figure out perspective for you and some things like that. Probably worth the dough if you are into panels and into digital.

(Awesome turnout this time!)

Finals below, unless I get better images in which case I will inform Ilaekae regarding which are the real finals.
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[Redfrog]

Hey Farvus, nice high contrast style.
My only suggestion would be to download some fonts to do your illustration justice. Try Blambot or 1001fonts for some free fonts you might be able to use.
Great job on the comic though! :)

arttorney - nice job on yours man, and thanks for the info on Manga studio.

Here's my first page, refined then inked. Will post the others once i've finished them all.

[Grief]

sorry guys, i'm not going to make the deadline.
the story i developed isn't one i would feel good about rushing, so it'll sit until i can do it properly.

until then this POS for class has my attention for the weekend.
501578

i'm not enjoying it.
[/wrists]

[arttorney]

At this stage of your career nothing could be more important to you than getting through to that piece of paper. I think you can do the portfolio thing.

Get the piece of paper. Make me proud.

At least 4-5 other people did substantial work on this. I see you. Push through to the end. You can do it.

@LogickInk I think the arm placement on that one point you worried about looks more like he's about to decapitate the zombie than like he has already done so.

@Oni Rem congratulations to your sister.

You guys rock1!!

[Redfrog]

Seems I may have been a bit ambitious trying to start the day before deadline and get four pages done. :(
Here's the second one, but unfortunately that's all i'm going to get the chance to work on tonite. Will definitely finish it and post it when done but it looks like i won't make the deadline...
Sorry folks!

[Hideyoshi]

Kmadden: hey, yours is not looking bad at all! :)

Redfrog: thanks! Nope, I don't use Manga Studio, gave it a try once though. I am actually drawing all this in Photoshop. I made my own inking brush that sort of comes close to real pen nibs... The screentones are bitmaps in halftone mode which I create in a new document and import back into the comic page via multiply. I play with the dots settings until the spacing looks right. :)
Inking on yours looks ace btw!

Farvus: Really great to see you taking a stab! :) Looking good!

Grief: That drawing looks really nice! Too bad you won't be able to finish it!

It would be a pain to see the POW die. Hm...maybe if it did, it could be replaced with 'Scene of the Week'... :P
Similar to the 3CH, but not as randomly fashioned...

just realized I forgot the scars on my character on page 2, gonna fix that real quick!

[llothcat]

I may be a bit late in posting...due to working graves and all. Anyhow...:


(yeah..panel 1 page 2 needs some tlc...working on it...)

[arttorney]

Maybe you didn't finish four pages Redfrog, but you finished two. The last I heard that was good enough. They look pretty exciting. It reminds me of JonZ in Challenge 1.

Your manga style looks great as always Hideyoshi. You inspired me to go out and buy tone film with that earlier one you had put up on your website (challenge #1). I decided to try a different approach to values during this round but I don't think the squiggles lend themselves well to every scene now that I've tried it. I'll probably use them sparingly as a special effect in the future and go back to the tone sheets, especially if they stick onto colored pencil (which I liked).

You're getting there llothcat.

I hope Sundance can get another page of pencils done today. I think he has a solid feel for the mainstream U.S. look.

Farvus. I like how you display skill in flopping back and forth about whether the negative space is black or white and using the two values to show planes such as steps or apex platform. Those last two scenes are a great example. When the facial expressions are important you have the white faces on black. When action becomes important you go to those black silhouettes on white.

[Hideyoshi]

hey, thanks arttorney!
You always have a very disctinct and uncoventional style which is eye catching :)
But yes, be careful with those 'squiggles', well, texture in general. You need to make sure it doesn't distract. In your first panel for example it's used pretty heavily and, eh, 'aimlessly' it seems. You could try to tone it down some maybe? :)

llothcat: (assuming that you're a girl). Wow, I have much respect for you actually drawing some solid background - in perspective! Often, girls tend to insert flowery screentones etc. behind their characters... no offence *cough
It's great how you establish a setting for your scenes and characters! :)

[arttorney]

Thanks Hideyoshi.

Richard Solomon was talking over in the lounge about having a signature style that is accessible. All my life I have had no trouble being obviously different. The quest has always been to figure out how to be different in a good way, to be accessible as they say. Still trying to work a few bugs out of that system. Wanna catch eyes in a good way so they don't turn away in disgust.


Digital looks so good when it is done well and it is definitely more accessible for these forums. Gotta love Edit>Undo.

I found a sackload of hatching styles, vector and 3d capability in Open Office yesterday and today I got the GIMP (my laptop is now a Linux system). Perhaps I can scan some of my more unusual tone screens and add them to the gallery I found in Open Office, or somehow create a custom GIMP stippling brush. GIMP's kind of analogous to Photoshop so I am going to study what you said above about your methods. (Still trying to figure out how to work these bleedin' programs). My Wacom was supported and so my greatest fear proved to be unfounded. My wireless modem remains negative function. Can't have everything. At least my OS and browser are not festooned with a garden of spywares.

[Sundance]

No way I'll finish. Great job to all of those who did; everybodys looks great.

[Kmadden2004]

NAILED IT!!!:steph:

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_1-12.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_2-3.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_3-4.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_4-5.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/Page_5-3.jpg

Not all that happy about how the last two pages turned out, but I'll go a little easy on myself (I've been struck down by the nastiest case of 'man flu' in the world... ever!). Hope I got this in before the deadline...

Now if you'll all excuse me... I need to get some sleep...

zzzzzzzzz

[Ilaekae]

Nice stuff in so far! I'll have two pages at least to post out of the nine I have in the works which will at least allow me in for what it's worth. If anyone is awake now (it's 2:30 am here), I won't have the poll and new Challenge up till tomorrow evening, so you have a little time if you can use it. I'll just assume whatever's here was on time.

I have to make an emergency trip to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning to have my foot looked at--I broke three bones right near my big toe a couple of days ago, and was hoping it would heal if I took it easy, but the stupid thing seems to keep bouncing in and out of pain/swelling...probably going to be a complete waste of time.

[Kmadden2004]

Do I use this extra time to fix the problems that are bugging me about my entry...? Y'know, the multi-coloured mucus I've just coughed up onto my keyboard suggests I might just leave it as is... but I'll see what I can do...

I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Sorry to hear about your foot Ilaekae, hope you have a speedy recovery.

UPDATE: Just fixed the last couple of pages... now I can go off and die quietly in my bed... good luck, guys!

[Hideyoshi]

used the extra time to tighten up my last panel :)

[llothcat]

gah..hope I made it...last page, I admit, is a hack job. I scripted for 5 pages, and only had the time to do 3.:P

[llothcat]

llothcat: (assuming that you're a girl). Wow, I have much respect for you actually drawing some solid background - in perspective! Often, girls tend to insert flowery screentones etc. behind their characters... no offence *cough
It's great how you establish a setting for your scenes and characters! :)

Yep..I'm a girl:D


And thanks...bg's are not my strength, nor is tech, but i'm working on it.


Hope your toe feels better Ilaekae. Luck to ya.

[arttorney]

Sorry to hear about your foot Ilaekae. I'm guessing the doctor will give you one of those things that look like a Frankenstein bedroom slipper and tell you not to walk on it. At least you can probably get some cool pills.

Yay llothcat!

[Farvus]

Yay. Lot's of comics for this edition :). Good work.



I am extremely influenced by Niheisan when it comes to manga... T_T


I'm a big fan of Nihei too. His comic don't even need much story beacause those moody megastructures are enough for me. As an architecture student I share similar fascinations. I wouldn't mind doing some Blame fan-art too once in a while :).

arttorney - Thanks. I'm capable of doing more realistic art. However when I went that direction for comics, I struggled with anatomy and perspective while the whole story (which should be top priority) didn't work out. More graphical style made it much simplier to control. I want to start from the bottom instead of doing something too hard.

[arttorney]

The people are the hardest part for me too. Luckily, there are a lot of styles that can work for sequential art.

I'm really glad we had such a good turnout this time and therefore a lot of different styles to look at. I think doing one with just two values is difficult and daring.

[Farvus]

arttorney - Yeah. To me keeping faces consistent in realistic comic is the hardest thing. I always wondered how some comic artists do this and I found out that it can be helpful to make a clay models of main characters. This way you can draw as loosely as you can beacause it's mostly life drawing.

So today I found some cool freeware program Looxis Faceworx (http://www.looxis.com/en/k75.Downloads_Bits-and-Bytes-to-download.htm) that can make 3d model of face from two 2d images - front and side. It's supposed to work for photos but I painted quickly one face and model from that turned out pretty good. HERE (http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/3577/01sg6.jpg) is result of my test. Not super accurate but I think it's enough for reference. I also tried opening it in Sketchup to see light and shadow. I used Sketchup OBJ importer plugin (http://www.scriptspot.com/sketchup/script/obj-importer) and this face like this - HERE (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3213/02bu8.jpg).

Sorry for small off topic but I think it's good place to share it. Might be helpful for somebody.

[arttorney]

That thing looks great. It requires the Windows XP that I used to have (but no longer). Luckily, the strategy of roughing out my panels then taking photo prints of my brother in those poses seems to have resulted in a more realistic character than my usual drivel. Almost everybody I know is a Chinese-American, though, so if I keep doing that my panels will take on a much more Asian feel. (My secretary was pleased to pose for that one scene but I accidentally made her look fat.)


It looks like there may be a linux version of Sketchup out there, but I would have to recompile the tarball so I'll probably stick to figuring out the 3d tool of my OpenOffice

Edit: I'm thinking about building a template with all those hatching patterns I can find in various layers that can be hidden unless I use them, and then just use the eraser tool to remove the hatching from all the parts of the scene where it is not supposed to be on those hatching layer(s) that I actually use. Does this sound like a plan or is it cumbersome? It's just a kind of negative painting approach.

[Ilaekae]

Arttorney, I've been trying to work out a couple of different ways to do hatching on the machine myself, especially for people who don't have a vector program, so I'll hopefully have a couple of ideas, too. Your idea operates exactly the way old fashioned sheets worked, where you laid down a film and then scratched or cut out the parts you didn't want. I'm thinking, if what I have in mind works, we might be able to create a library of "hatching sheets" or even "brushes" that anyone can use, no matter what app they're using.

Poll for Challenge 15 will be up later today. It's going to take me a while to get all the entries ID'd and sorted for upload. ...lots of entries--what a bummer... :P

[arttorney]

I'll focus on learning good import/export practices for now and try to get good scans of some patterns I have on the traditional sheets.

[Hideyoshi]

Interesting, I am actually using very large cross-hatching brushes that I made myself once in Photshop. They work pretty well and can save a lot of time. Admittedly look a little too precise, but I made a couple with varying density. :)
Combining with screentones they make a good addition to your comics.

[Zergaloth]

Redfrog: digitally inked? what program do you use for that? beautifully done.

[Redfrog]

Redfrog: digitally inked? what program do you use for that? beautifully done.

Hey Zergaloth,

Yeah its all digitally inked. Done from start to finish completely in Photoshop.

Hoping to finish the final 2 pages in the next day or so but i have a life drawing class after work tonite so its gonna have to be tomorrow.

[Redfrog]

Finally got a chance to go back and work these pages a bit more. Want to do P.O.W 16 as well so that will take precedence. Have added halftone effects to pages 1 and 2 and should have 3 and 4 inked soon.