The Fruits of My Labor

Issue #22

What I’ve Been Up To

Wow, two weeks go fast when you’re working hard. And what a two weeks of work it’s been. I’ve been plugging away at the comic day in and day out (when I wasn’t knocked out from a recent flu shot) and, as of the time of writing this, I can say that 1/5th of the comic pages are now completely finished.

1/5th may not sound like much, especially with the New Year deadline looming, but the reality is I’ve been taking my time to make sure this comic looks exactly how I want it to. It took me a whopping 3 weeks to do the sketches and lineart for the whole thing, but the results are there. Now I’m in the phase where it’s all about backgrounds and colors.

The first chapter is a massive (for me) 35 pages long. But so long as I can finish about a page a day, I’ll hit my deadline with time to spare.

I’ve felt more motivated than ever to work on the comic lately, especially since recently completing a page that intimidated me with its complexity that turned out to be my current favorite page of the comic.

And that’s what I’m here to gush about today. As I’ve sat back and compared the work I’ve done recently with my work from the first iteration of The Chosen One’s Mentor, I’m staggered by how much my skills have improved.

A funny thing happens when you’re an artist. If you create art all the time, you always, inevitably, hit a point where you go, “Wow, my art now is so much better than it was before!” Many times in my art career, I’ve found myself staring down at my work and thinking, “This looks so good! I’ve really developed my skills!”

Only for a few months or years to pass and for me to return to those drawings I was once so proud of and see all the problems with it. My proportions are off, my color choices are terrible, the shading is rudimentary at best, and don’t even get me started on my line quality.

Art, truly, is a road that has no end. For every moment I stand at a peak, thinking, “This is my best work yet!” the reality is, given a bit more time, I’ll find myself at the top of a new, higher peak, which will then have a newer, higher peak waiting beyond.

I’m so proud of the work I’m producing today. I, genuinely, think it’s professional level now, and I’m sure I’ll be proud of it for a long time. But, I also recall when I thought the original TCOM was looking pretty dang good, and now as I look back on it, I can’t help but see all the glaring issues in my artwork that I’ve since gotten better at.

And I know that, given that track record, in another year or two, I’ll be looking back on the work I’m so proud of today and seeing all the little flaws in it I’m not currently able to notice at my skill level.

And that’s so awesome. I can’t wait to look back on something I’m currently so proud of and know that I’ve gotten even better since then.

So, time for some compare and contrast, and a preview of what’s to come in the remake of The Chosen One’s Mentor.

Simplicity is Key

Before I jump straight into talking about my new, favorite page, I wanted to show another panel that demonstrates the changes in my style and skill level.

Introductions are important. The first time a character appears on the page is a big deal. How they appear and the emphasis you place on their appearance clues the audience in on how important they’ll be to the story.

Which is why, regardless of the iteration, my main character, Rennen, needs a stellar first panel to show up in.

In the original, I gave him a slow introduction. The page starts with a zoom in on his home, the tower, and the audience first sees him from behind, working in his lab. He casually demonstrates his ability to use magic by snapping fire into his fingers, and then a large panel shows him front and center for the first time.

I recall at the time of making this that I wanted to focus on showing who he is rather than telling the audience in no unclear terms. The tower showed the audience where he lives. The lab showed that he’s an alchemist. The fire showed that he can use magic. It will be another two pages before the audience starts getting any exposition in the form of dialogue.

I thought that was a good choice. I still do. But I also like the way I’ve chosen to introduce Rennen in the new version as well.

I remember this page taking an eternity to make. The lab is super detailed, but I wanted it to feel cluttered and alive.

I’ve since learned the first important rule of comic making: don’t overdo it. I could easily remove half the details I packed into this page and the audience would still get the gist. I didn’t need to individually design every ingredient bottle and book on the shelf. Especially since, at the end of the day, most of those details are too small to even see!

Fortunately, it didn’t take me till now to learn that lesson. I’d picked it up during the original run, and you can see in later chapters that feature the lab that I’ve significantly reduced the complexity of the background while still achieving the intended look.

The new version doesn’t introduce Rennen in his lab. Though the rule of not overcomplicating my background still applies. Instead, his first introduction comes at the top of page two, following an introductory scene of Nolan pacing anxiously outside the birthing chamber.

One look at this panel, and I think the differences are clear. My lighting is better, my color choices are improved, my lineart and the overall quality of my character designs are refined.

Just look at Rennen from the first iteration and compare him to now. The first iteration is, clearly, more detailed and rendered, but the second is just better. Simplicity improved this introduction by a ton. He’s the clear focus of the panel, with only a few details around him that are easy to glance over without feeling bogged down.

I love this new introductory panel. And I think what follows is a scene that characterizes Rennen far better than the original. We don’t need to know right out the gate that he’s a magic-using alchemist. Instead, we get to see something more important: that he’s a supportive friend to Nolan. I look forward to you all seeing the whole scene!

Ramping It Up

Of course, there is such a thing as having a panel be too simple. Especially when something very important is happening on the page. Like introducing the chosen one.

Once again, my original comic had a bit of an onramping period before the proper introduction of Levi. Seems to have been a writing trend of mine at the time. I think I’ve outgrown it now. Levi floats in this abstract, purple cosmos before unleashing his power, which, as the next page reveals, was in a confined space with lots of people in the room.

I’ll be honest, I knew at the time of making this panel that something was off. But I just couldn’t put my finger on how to make it better.

Now, with a boatload more experience under my belt, I know exactly what was wrong with this panel.

It’s not dramatic enough. Rennen and his shouting take up half the page. Levi and his flamethrower are a small part of a wide shot where, visually, not a lot is going on. There is way too much empty wall visible in this shot, and a ton of wasted space as a result. Entire sections of this page have nothing to look at, and it makes the entire shot feel too open for the effect I had wanted of everyone being trapped in a room with a fire-breathing baby.

So let’s kick those flames up a notch…or twelve.

Now that is a situation. This shot is way tighter. You feel that those poor nurses and clerics are trapped in the corner. Eva is just visible amidst the flames KO’ed in bed. Levi, in all his glowing, fire-breathing glory, is the true star of the page now that Rennen isn’t taking up half the shot. (Though he does feature in the two panels below, it doesn’t remove that claustrophobic effect.)

The fire was a big worry for me. Despite my studies, I still didn’t feel confident in my ability to render fire. And this scene was important. I wanted lots of flames.

It took me hours over the course of two days to make this page. I didn’t want to rush the flames, or I knew they’d look subpar. The flames actually cover a lot of the work I’d done on designing the room, but that’s alright. We’re not here to look at the interior design, we’re here to look at a fire-breathing baby threatening a room full of people. (That’s a very silly line to read without context.)

When I started this journey, I knew my ability to draw and render fire was mediocre at best. Now, I feel a lot more confident in my ability to make a fiery scene.

When I started this journey, I felt like backgrounds and interior shots weren’t my forté. Now, I feel like I have a better grasp on how to stage a room and the people in it to get everything I need in the shot.

And let me just take a brief second to say that my sound effects have also improved dramatically. I was originally doing hand-drawn effects, but I dropped that pretty quickly in favor of using text. Despite that, I still felt like my text effects were too stiff and awkward. But now, after a little more studying of how other comic artists make their sound effects look, I think I’m approaching a good style. It certainly looks much more professional.

And there you have it. That’s what I’ve been up to these last two weeks. If things continue according to plan, in another two weeks I’ll be over halfway done with the comic. Next up for me is the big water scene that contrasts that massive fire scene I just did, but I’m not nearly as scared of the water scene as I was the fire one, so I’m excited to see how it turns out!

With that, I’ll wrap up with the project of the week and send you on your way.

Project of the Week

Ever since I decided to start working on projects with the intent to sell them, I’ve definitely unlocked a sleeping part of my brain. As time has gone on, I’ve gotten more and more ideas for projects I want to make. I desperately wish I could just touch the computer or a piece of paper and get them out of my head, because I think they’ll be great and I’m excited to show them all off.

But I need to tackle them one at a time, so I’ve started with a little series. After doing some research (namely, walking around stores with home decor sections and seeing what was on their shelves), I settled on a few ideas for some fantasy-themed home decor using trends that are currently selling.

One interesting trend I spotted was a series of pictures featuring animals in bathtubs. Good home decor for the bathroom.

“Hey, what if that, but dragons?” thought my brain, and thus, a project was born.

I’m tackling this project in the physical realm. I’m making my pieces on 8 x 8 inch sheets of paper and coloring them with colored pencil. As of right now, I’ve completed the sketches for two of them, which I’ll show you now.

I’m still deciding on my exact colors, and I want to make another two dragons to round out a four elements inspired set. This probably won’t be done two weeks from now, which will already break my “one project a month” oath, but considering I’m making four drawings, I’ll consider my oath not broken if I finish at least one of them two weeks from now. The other projects rattling in my head are singular pictures, so it should be easier going forward to keep to my one project a month goal.

But that’s what I’ve got for now. If you think these are looking neat, stay tuned! Eventually they’ll be available to buy! Which reminds me that I need to figure out the logistics of that in the coming months, too. Yaaay. Here’s hoping it’ll all be worth it.

And that’s all for this week, gang. Thanks for reading.