How are you doing, comic-wise?

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:48 pm

I need to make a new thingie for the thing

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:05 pm

You ever get that big production number done?

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:51 am

I'm getting close.... close "er"? I underestimated how long it would take to ink everything because some of the bgs are fairly intricate.

Taking that "day off" helped because it made me feel better enough to just not feel obligated that I ended up doing work on the comic anyway

I'm expecting coloring is going to be equally a slog seeing as that's usually my least favorite part anyway, but I'm getting there.

JSConner800 · Post by **JSConner800** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:21 am

Well, we've been having some trouble fixing our art style, and we have nothing yet for part 2...also our illustrator just quit. So I'm about as shitty as can be, comic-wise.

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:04 am

JSConner800 wrote:Well, we've been having some trouble fixing our art style, and we have nothing yet for part 2...also our illustrator just quit. So I'm about as shitty as can be, comic-wise.

Well, shit

I'm so sorry to hear that, dude. I hope they didn't quit on account of the criticism and reviews commentary- I understand though how sometimes that can get under somebody's skin enough to make them not want to bother anymore.

RobboAKAscooby · Post by **RobboAKAscooby** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:38 am

JSConner800 wrote:Well, we've been having some trouble fixing our art style, and we have nothing yet for part 2...also our illustrator just quit. So I'm about as shitty as can be, comic-wise.

That sucks dude, I hope ya find someone new soon.

Who knows it might even inject some new enthusiasm into things.

JSConner800 · Post by **JSConner800** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:39 am

Well, it had a tiny bit to do with that, but only in the sense that it galvanized us to try and improve and our attempts at improving were coming up short. We've always known that the art isn't where it needs to be, and only by moving through part 1 on cruise control were we able to live with that. It was our own decision to fix the problems with our visual style, thanks to the nudge provided by WAY 2014, but Evan has reached the point where he thinks it's no longer worth the time and effort for a project that we're doing just "for fun" (it is fun but for me, creative expression has always been more than just that). He's been inking the panels himself, and the results aren't much better than what we had before. In some ways, it's worse. I think that's what's frustrating for him - either we stay the course and continue in mediocrity (something that Alex probably won't agree to because it means more work for him) or we put more of a burden on him for potentially worse results. Also, it's taken us over two months, and we don't have a single strip finished. The lack of results may be wearing him down as much as anything.

Basically, I have to think about the worst case scenario. Do I let my baby die, or do I try to do the impossible and find a decent sci-fi comic artist online who's willing to work on my story for free? I honestly don't know, but I can't imagine giving up on Steel Salvation just yet. Part 2 was going to be amazing.

JSConner800 · Post by **JSConner800** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:43 am

RobboAKAscooby wrote:That sucks dude, I hope ya find someone new soon.

Who knows it might even inject some new enthusiasm into things.

Thanks Scoob. I definitely think with the right artist, things will get better. The problem is, I don't know where to find one, especially not for the price I'm able to pay

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 12:43 pm

You can try looking for an artist to collaborate with over on SmackJeeves (I only say it because it's more active than these forums are). Shoot me a PM if you think you want to pursue that and I'll show you whereabouts to go. It could be a bust but you wouldn't have anything to lose, and you might find somebody who'd be down with working with you guys.

I can understand where Evan was coming from. It's really frustrating to want to improve but feel like you're not making any headway. You have to put in a lot of work and if it's something that you prefer to keep as a simple hobby than as a HOBBY, sometimes the rewards just don't seem to be there.

JSConner800 · Post by **JSConner800** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:22 pm

I talked to him about it and he's agreed to meet with us this weekend, so we'll see if he changes his mind. I don't have high hopes, so you'll probably be hearing from me soon. I really appreciate the offer either way. You da best Cuddles

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:57 pm

VeryCuddlyCornpone wrote:over on SmackJeeves (I only say it because it's more active than these forums are).

Wow, it's like a web forum full of people who make comics! I had no idea those still existed. Is it a good community atmosphere?

So, in my pursuit to become a great painter, I forgot how to draw comics. Or, rather, whatever might have been a cartoon style that I had developed over the years has since sort of unraveled from disuse. The digital coloring end of things is actually going better than I had expected, given that I'm truly just jumping in with no experience, but the drawing part -- y'know, the part that I should already kinda have in the bag -- is sort of stuck between wanting to be western-style/realistic and more cartoony, and whenever I look at the results, it makes me make a face like this:

I'm not sure if I want to go cartoonier or if I want to go more realistic, which is the real problem.

While I work out the kinks of the direction I want to go in this, I can keep writing the comic, so at least I have that going for me. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about things. Once I get the style I want to work in all hammered out, I think I'll be rolling. I haven't been this stoked to just sit and be creative in years!

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 7:04 am

JSConner800 wrote:I talked to him about it and he's agreed to meet with us this weekend, so we'll see if he changes his mind. I don't have high hopes, so you'll probably be hearing from me soon. I really appreciate the offer either way. You da best Cuddles

Anything you need, boo.

Bustertheclown wrote: While I work out the kinks of the direction I want to go in this, I can keep writing the comic, so at least I have that going for me. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about things. Once I get the style I want to work in all hammered out, I think I'll be rolling. I haven't been this stoked to just sit and be creative in years!

This makes me so, so happy

I see so many people fall out of love with art, and it's so infrequent I see anyone fall back. Care to share some more samples in the doodlethread?

This has inspired me to hopefully make some real headway today. I keep getting thrown back as a result of different things like moving my sister to college. I'm also in the middle of doing a huuuuge cleanout of my room

so I feel weird sitting down at a desk that currently has almost nothing on it (and not because it's supposed to be that way but because everything's being sorted elsewhere).

Every day that passes and i see the "Last updated: X Days ago" ticker grow longer I get more agitated. :/ I'm still such a long way from being ready to upload. Honestly have not even touched colors yet, that'll probably be two weeks of work. But hearing about other people working happily is getting me motivated again

can't stress it, just gotta do it.

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:16 pm

I never really fell out of love with making comics. I just stopped doing it. I burned out on creative work all together, and it took me a while to pick back up the pencil, but I don't believe I have it in me to walk away from art forever. It's an aspect that defines far too large a percentage of my entire being. I just needed to get back to a creative place of love again, and that meant cartooning. I realized not long ago that in my "serious" artistic pursuits, the thing I love most about making any art -- the ability to relate a story -- is the thing that I was being driven to give up. Now, I have that back, and I'm excited to work again. But I needed to recharge in order to get to that place.

It sucks when you treat something you love as a job, but get little more than a sense of obligation out of it. When you're working so hard on something that provides so little of the expected compensation for the effort, it can be really disheartening. I know that all too well. May your inspiration overflow, and may your soul sing out with notes of joy at every line you draw.

Humbug · Post by **Humbug** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 3:41 pm

I'm only one page away from the end of the climax and then it's on to wrap up and epilogue. I can't believe I'm so close to finishing the plot of book 1 (well there's still extra content to work on, but the main part is practically done!). the pages just seemed to fly by.

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:44 pm

That's impressive! Congratulations, Humbug! Third reboot's the charm, it seems.

Humbug · Post by **Humbug** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:32 am

Haha, yup.

VeryCuddlyCornpone · Post by **VeryCuddlyCornpone** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:00 pm

Way to go Humbug!!!

Finished a crowd scene, 7/13 pages are ready to be colored yaaaay! A ha ha ha ha ha I thought this scene was going to be up by September, ha ha ha ha ha ah aha haafheuihtoeuiooo

could be worse tho i guess so idk u kno

idk

id

RobboAKAscooby · Post by **RobboAKAscooby** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 1:29 pm

Well my plan to get caught up over the weekend didn't work out (instead I had a Scooby Doo marathon) but I've got my fingers crossed for my days off this week.

I'm having a very blah time getting this current storyline started, I know once I get the first few pages done I'll have momentum but right now it's just...

...

Yeah, motivation is eluding me at the moment.

Humbug · Post by **Humbug** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:24 pm

That's great, Cuddly!

JSConner800 · Post by **JSConner800** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:24 pm

Well, things are looking up after our meeting (sort of). Our illustrator has agreed to stay on, but we all agree that it feels like there's a missing person in our team, because Alex's skillset doesn't really cover lineart and shading, or at least not in the style that we feel our comic needs, and Evan doesn't want to do it if he has to continue doing the lineart. Our solution is to find an artist somewhere who can do the lineart and shading while Evan continues to do the pencils and Alex handles the website, ads, finishing touches, etc. That way we're all playing to our strengths, but we need to find the right person to get our style in line with the story we're trying to tell. We're also willing to pay a decent amount, and I think that will open up our horizons considerably.

We've got a long way to go before we're back in action, but it's a step. And Evan's gonna continue penciling strips each week while we look for our missing link, so we should have a beefy buffer by the time we're ready to rock. I just have to put together a hiring process, which means scanning some pencils and choosing script samples. I've also heard people talk about work-for-hire contracts and such, so I need to look into that. Do you guys have any experience hiring artists or writers? At the moment I'm absorbing all the information I can on the subject.

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