Happy New Year! (and page)

Yallo, everyone!  I have finished page 126!  Hooray, another page for 2011!

Best wishes for the new year!

Eeeee!!! I finished the page!!

I had extra time I didn't know I'd have tonight.  #125 done!  ETA next comic?  Uh . . . don't spoil my moment.  Seriously, the most honest answer is as soon as I can -- that may be another month from now.

I think Darron's favorite Disney movie would be Aladdin.

Good night!

status

Hi.  Still working on the new page.  Overtime at work = no free time to draw.  Page needs shading, background, and text bubbles to be finished.

So, I've been trying to figure out what Sarah's favorite Disney movie would be.  I think she wouldn't like Snow White or Cinderella because the girl has to go through some hard times!  So . . . maybe Sleeping Beauty?  Her favorite would have to be a romance because, ya know, she's that kind of girl.

Darron's favorite movie would be something else entirely.  I think Sleeping Beauty would traumatize him.  ;)

Until later!  (Hopefully not too much later!)

glitchy blogger and new page

I never could get Blogger to open last night so that I could announce there is a new page up!

Yeah, I think I need to change my update schedule to "at least once a month."  Sorry, but that's how it is -- I'm too busy now to update more often.  Like I keep saying, though, I have the ending planned out, and intend to finish this.  Even if it takes me 10 years.  Which I really hope it won't.

This is the last "save state joke" page -- things start moving again in the next one.  Although I've had a great time drawing Kiaron's silly faces.  :)

Silver!

I can't find my camera cable.  Better pics up tomorrow hopefully.

Happy Halloween!

sorry for the long delay!

I literally had 5 weeks in a row of business travel.  That means no access to my computer.  So, no surprise, very little of anything non-work-related got done.  The next page is in progress -- unfortunately, it won't get done until after this week, probably.

Why?

Two very awesome words:  Halloween costume.  Actually, make that 3 words:  epic Halloween costume.  It involves sewing -- the most complicated thing I have ever attempted to make.  So, in consolation, let me show you some reference pictures and my work in progress.

It has to be done by Thursday night.  Today's progress was that I got those @#$ ^%$# @#%%$ cuffs attached to the sleeves. They look really good now, but I was struggling with the interfacing, and which side goes where, and ended up unpicking two entire seams with a pin and scissors because I don't have a seam ripper.  I really need a seam ripper.

Anyway, I still have to attach the sleeves to the body (it's still downstairs by the ironing board).  Add interfacing to the body and the sleeves.  Sew the lining, and somehow attach this all together neatly so it doesn't have threads hanging all over the place.  Oh yeah, and then sew ribbon in that nifty pattern all over the front.

Doable, I think.  Really.  Wish me luck though (I could probably use it).


Oh, and here's Kiaron's face.  He is not impressed.

Have a great week!

waiting too long for the punch line -- new page btw

Whatever.  Hopefully those who come after who read the whole archive in one sitting will think it's funny.  New page that really shouldn't have been so hard.  I forced myself to cut down on detail -- it bugs me to look at it, but otherwise I might not have finished the page for another week.  >:(  Bah!

Meh.  I should go to bed now.  Good night, all!

eep

Sorry!  I haven't felt like drawing for a while.  It happens sometimes.  Also, I've been busy.  But Elliot is glowering at me, so I'm trying to work on it . . .

interim info -- Elliot's backstory

I've been under stress and haven't felt like drawing, and I apologize.  For the meantime, I thought I could share some background details of the OtW story that probably will never make it into the comic.

Before the comic started, Elliot was a student of some sort.  It's not really important, but I thought it would be something like training in reading, writing, and mathematics so that he can take over his father's merchant business.  Or something like that.  Elliot's heart was not in it, however.  He longed to be a hero.

And so, one day, he trips over a convenient sword and decides he's going to be a hero!  The sword probably said something to that effect, to.  Probably some long spiel about saving the world from evil and/or certain destruction.  Elliot wouldn't have paid attention.  He also would not have questioned why there is a magical sword in the middle of the forest.

So, Elliot has no prior training with weapons.  He's played with swords before, sure, but he's never had any real training.  I'm toying with the idea in the comic of someone giving him some pointers.  But maybe not, because this story is very fast-paced, and that would just slow the plot down.  The unspoken assumption is that Darron could probably teach the kid a few things, since Darron actually does know how to use a sword.

Ah, Darron.  Poor boy.  I thought he was too boring, so I gave him a tragic backstory.  In restrospect, I probably overdid it -- I probably shouldn't have had him freaking out that much about swords, and the dragon . . . but it was just so much fun to draw!

Tune in again, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel for either more behind-the-scenes story . . . or maybe even a comic!  :D

wip

Textless, because I want the final version to have the full effect.  Kiaron does not like to be startled.  Startled Kiaron makes things go boom.  :)

Also, I don't know why my default sketch color is green.  I've never thought about that before, but I've been consistent with it for a very long time.

mostly settled in

But my tablet is lost in the boxes, and I'm too tired to find it tonight. At least I won't need to cook tomorrow, so I should have more time. :)

weekly update

La, well I'm in the midst of moving still. I don't know where half my stuff is. :P I've sketched the next page, but really don't have anything to show yet.

I think I'll be able to get a page done this week, but I have no idea when I'll get the next one done.

number 122

Okay, so here is the page at long last!

Unfortunately, I can't guarantee when the next page will be done. I am moving to a new state, starting a new job, and basically starting a new life. I will try to at least post here once a week with progress updates. And maybe silly sketches, too.

Have a good week!

Inception

Soooo . . . not so good a week, comic wise. Still working on it. I think the problem is, I have a vision in my head . . . but not the skills to produce it.

But anyway, I finally saw the movie Inception. Yes, I know, it's been out forever -- I'm just really picky about the movies I see, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. I did like it, by the way.

But I was thinking after the movie -- I feel like Star Trek has already done every possible sci-fi plot, and so that meant they had already done something like Inception. It took me a while to think of one, but it finally came to me: "Frame of Mind." I haven't seen it for a while, but I think it has a lot of the main elements in common. I'll try to watch it this week, then let you know. :)

Boom!

Kiaron demonstrates his prowess at magic in the new page.

Sorry for how long this took. As mentioned, I made a skirt! (Actually two, since I decided I needed to make a practice skirt). I am now so confident in my sewing abilities that I feel I could sew anything! Hahahaha!

The magic effects took me ages -- mostly because I was trying to figure out how I would convey the awesomeness of that animated spell with a static image. Hopefully you get the idea. Flare is always my favorite spell in Final Fantasy -- until I get the Bahamut summon, which of course, rocks everything. Holy's okay, too, but it never seems to hit as hard as Flare.

I am making a skirt

And I am running out of time to finish it. Argh! I hope it looks okay once I'm done. :*

Also, I am working on the next page.

Elliot, where do you think you're sticking that sword?!

LOL.  I'll fix that later, I promise.  ;)

UPDATE:
Skirt is done!  Yay!

Comic is:

Still in progress.  Sigh.

It's Friday I'm in Love!

Howdy. Woo! It's still Friday, and the page is D-U-N done!

Anyway, this is pretty monumental. 120 pages, almost 4 years (I think?) -- and I finally introduce the villain. Wow. About time, huh? I've been sketching Kiaron since I first came up with the concept for this comic.

Okay, I really need to update the character page now. Gerkie still needs her picture, but I still have to color it. Or I can get lazy and use cropped screenshots. Hmm . . .

bwah?

Number 119 is done. Jeeves is a pretty mellow guy. It helps when you're working with a lot of psychotic monster generals.

Kiaron next page -- whoo! I need a good title . . .

And my little sister says "hi." :)

page 118 is up now.

Note to self: never make a page this complicated again. This took waaaaaaay too long to finish.

But anyway, Elliot apparently never learned to knock. And the action lines for the door don't look quite right, but I've spent enough hours on this page and it is time to move on!

Have a great week! :)

waiting, waiting, waiting . . .

You and me both. Anyway, the next page has ended up really hard (yes, it is my own fault, of course -- somehow I decided it would be a good idea to have 12 figures in one strip).

Lately I am venting my stress by reading a lot. "The Accidental Sorcerer" was quite enjoyable. "The City in the Lake" was good, except that it started the first chapter with the most interesting character, then spent most of the book following the most boring one. My sister wants me to read "City of Bones" but I haven't gotten around to that yet. And I reread "Archer's Goon" this morning. I can't believe it's out of print again! That's one of the best books of all time! And also I finally saw "I am Number Four." That was a really awesome movie! I'm trying to get my hands on the book.

Anyway, I hope this week I'll finally be done waiting. And in the meantime, I'll keep plodding ahead with the comic pages.

it's long past Friday, I know

I was on vacation, hence the delay on the new page. Elliot looks a little too happy to confront Kiaron.

Also, I can't draw dogs. I should have just given the guy a pet elephant. :)

newpageness and long book review

Mmm, I got sick again this week, and slept a lot, hence the delaying of this page.

Anyone else remember the Phoenix Cave from FF6? I really hated that cave. For one thing, because I spent forever hunting those stupid Aquila things so I could get some rare item or other. For another, because you had to keep coordinating between groups to push buttons to open doors for the other groups...

In other news, I just finished (mostly) reading the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series. I say mostly, because halfway through the third book, after yet another close encounter with death, I decided I couldn't stand reading about the less interesting characters anymore. So I read ahead to the ending. Yeah, I've gone back and read a lot of the parts I skipped, but I was just really, really done hearing about Tiamak. In another book, I think I would like him as a character. But here, he was just slowing the plot down. And creating more chapters that were not about Josua. Because seriously, by that point in the series, all I cared about was Josua.

I mean, if you think about it, in about 99% of books, the main character is guaranteed to survive. So, the readers can pretty safely assume that Simon and Miriamele end up with a happy ending. But what about Josua? What happens to him in the end? Lots of uncertainty there! Plus, he was just the coolest character. :D!!

So, I definitely did like the series. But it had too many characters that weren't Josua. ;) And also, Tad Williams has way too many characters getting lost in caves. And hallucinating in caves. I'm never going to be able to write about characters in caves without thinking about this now! Asu'a nuakkha, nuakkha!!

Anyhoo, goodnight all. Have a great week!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Okays, so now the speech bubbles have carets. Er, pointy things. Carrots? Karets? Carots?

Whatever. You get the idea. The page is done. Yay!

I've got to get in a routine for drawing again.

Kiaron is coming! Kiaron Kiaron Kiaron Kiaron Kiaron Kiaron Kiaron!

:)

it's mostly done

It's been a long day today, and I am exhausted. I'll finish the speech bubbles tomorrow. You can probably figure out who's saying what, I hope.

i am invincible!!!!!

Hahahahaha!!!! All my final projects are done! Now all I have are 2 finals! (Which are much less stressful that final projects, by the way).

I may sound like I need a straitjacket, but really I am much more relaxed. I have resumed working on page 115. It should be up by Friday, at the latest. :)

i like to draw on envelopes

It's like recycling, because otherwise I would just throw them away!

So, here we have a sketch of an older Elliot and Fern. Elliot finally got his growth spurt, and he grew fuzz on his chin just to prove that he could. He's glaring off into the distance because that's what heroes do. Fern is claiming Elliot as her arm candy because that is what she does. Yup.

Only 8 final/semifinal projects to go! (Brain asplode! XP)

it's monday

I think I dozed off in class, and dreamed about making a game in excel where you raise and trade dragons. It's like lemonade stand. But with dragons.

Yes, I've been doing homework too long. Especially since making the above still sounds like a good idea. :P

I am haunted by final projects

Yes, I have 6 final projects, plus non-final assignments and non-final exams. I am going slightly completely insane right now. Elliot annoying me is the best I could draw for this week, sorry.

I only have a month left of classes, but there's a lot of work left, so I'm sorry, but it looks like I will have to focus on that for now. You approve of me passing my classes, yes? I hope so, anyway.

Until next time, which I hope will be sooner than May! :P

Happy April First

This is so late, it's not even funny. You know, I totally forgot what day it is. And I forgot that I always do something totally awesome for the comic today. I think this change to the characters is totally awesome. But I only started it at 10 at night, so it's really late.

Um, at least you'll have something cool to tide you over until the next page is done.

Yarr! Have an awesome day!

page yah

Page!

Finally! This page took so long!

Now time for the next one. But first, sleep!

this week is comic fail

At least I'm getting closer. Sigh. :(

EDIT: Comic should be up tonight. :D

weekly update

This page proved harder for me to draw than the average page. The poses I picked turned out to be tricky for me to draw.

Anyway, my goal is to get this page done, and the next page done in the coming week. Wish me luck. :)

yallo

Lots of midterms last week, this week, and next week. Lovely fun.

New page! That is a reeeeally long dialogue snake spanning all three panels. Also, you met the old white mage here. I've kind of missed him. :)

Until next time!

Edit:
Oh yeah, also, you might notice that Thuban is much tanner in this page than the other one. That's just because I'm trying to do more realistic skin tones. I tend to make people too pale. Everyone's gotten a tan since the last 5 pages or so.

still working on the page

Sorry. My health was bad this weekend. Plus I had a lot of homework.

The page is well underway, but I'm too tired to finish it tonight. I got all the characters and the flat colors done at least. :)

It is still Friday, and I have a new page!

Whoot, new page! Hooray for a less-complicated image!

The King of Orchard is named Leo. This fact will never be important, and will probably never be mentioned in the comic. But he has a name now, thanks to a sketch I did a while ago which I should probably post sometime.

Now I really need to go to bed. Have you ever noticed how many comic blogs talk about being sleep-deprived and staying up too late? It's not just me -- it's an epidemic! :)

Sidequest Completed

AKA cramming-too-much-talking-and-action-into-one-page-so-that-I-can-more-the-plot-along-faster-again comic. Yeah, oh well. It's done. I hope you can follow what's happening, because I am SO READY to move on with the plot.

Yes, if it's not clear, Xavandra is demonstrating her power to hypnotize people. Fear her.

And Jordan's floating head wishes you a pleasant evening.

my health is like a yo-yo :(

But, even though I haven't finished the next page -- I have something to entertain you! There was this little music video that aired during the commercial breaks between cartoons, years and years ago. I had the song mostly memorized, and it has run through my head for years. I couldn't remember what it was, and it has really, really bugged me.

But at last, I found it! And now, I am sharing it with all of you. :)



I hope it brings a smile to your face. And it has a good message, too.

Yallo

Lah dee dah page!

I hope I'm getting better. I've had contradicting diagnoses, so now I just don't know.

end of January news

Okay, I suppose it's time I should post a comment here to explain this delay. I had two doctor's visits last week, and I have two more scheduled for this week. I don't think my condition is super serious, but it's really sapping my energy.

The next page is half-way done, as of right now. I will be working on it, just even more slowly than before.

Any suggestions for how I could simplify my pages to try to finish them more quickly?

finally

Okay, I have no good excuses for this new page being so slow.  Nothing about it was hard.  I just . . . couldn't get myself to draw it, for some reason.

A ha ha!  The return of Jordan.  Did you miss him?  I don't think Sarah did.  I've forgotten how to draw his hair.  And, oh noes, it's (sort of) a cliffhanger!  Did Jordan fail to fulfill his half of the bargain?  Will Sarah incinerate him as punishment?  And where's Xavandra?  (Actually, I just didn't feel like drawing her in this page.  She's off to the side -- I promise!).

it's been a wretched week

I drew this for you in five minutes in Paint.  With a mouse.  How do people draw with a mouse?  His arm looks broken, but it's not supposed to be.

Yup.

durp

Gaaaaah, I have to stop nitpicking this page and just call it done!  I had a vision in my head of how I wanted it to be.  It still looks off-balance, but I give up.  It's good enough.  I have to get on to the next page already!

Back to school next week.  Updates will continue to be as often as I get a page done -- as close to once a week as I can.