Not necessarily in this order...

1. Layouts on the big boards for pages 1-3 of Rocket & Bounce #3
2. Thumbnail review and feedback for short comic
3. T-shirt commission image
4. WordPress tweaks for the Cranky Octopus home page.

What's on your to-do list this week?

This week was exhausting but satisfying. I'm battling a head cold and congestion, which has me a little run down, but on the other hand I did a decent job of being productive each night this week. I've been working on my art trade [link] for an hour or so each day, and then spending the rest of the evening working on a new comic script (more on that another time) as well as the revisions to the Rocket & Bounce #3 script and thumbnails.

In regard to R&B #3 and my recent frustrations, the bottom line is the recent version of the script was just too big and unwieldy. There were several scenes I liked, but also several scenes that, while being cool, didn't really help move things along. With the page count shaping up to be 24 pages or more it was just becoming overwhelming, especially when considering how much time it takes to make each page. That was my problem with the first two pages. As silly as it may sound they weren't needed and something inside just refused to let me go down that road. Some editing needed to be done so I spent part of my evenings this week going over the existing script and thumbnails and building a better story. The new version is 14 pages total and much stronger. I'm excited again. Game on.

If you haven't heard already, the man behind the AFL tournaments has a brand new drawing/fighting tournament starting up. It's called One Dollar Fighter. Details can be found here: [link]

I will be entering my character Paladin. Should be fun!


Also, I recently commissioned to do Rocket & Bounce pics for me and they are turned out awesome. Check out her gallery when you get a chance.


Also, The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics [link] by Freddie Williams II is a must read, if not a must own. Loaded with interesting ideas, helpful tips and more in regards to using Photoshop to make your comic drawing life easier and more fun. Good stuff!

Catch you later,
Gene

Thanks for the various replies on my last journal. Just had some frustrations come to a head and needed to vent. I'm definitely feeling a bit better about things though, so thanks. This week I'm not going to be doing the daily sketches. I have an art trade to finish up and two scripts to rework. The time I've managed to carve out each day for sketches will go to that. I think I've sorted out part of my frustration with my current Rocket & Bounce comic (beyond just artist block or laziness) and will be addressing that too. More on that later.

What the f@#$ am I doing?! I don't want to spend the rest of my adult life drawing pin-ups and just wishing I could make a living making comics. No one read my first two Rocket & Bounce comics and thought "hmmm... this comic would be quite good if only that tricep were drawn in perspective a little better". No, most people said "Pretty cool. Where's the next one?" For Rocket & Bounce #3 I currently have 15 out of 20-ish pages thumbnailed, the cover drawn and inked, page 1 roughed out on the big paper and pages 2 and 3 about to be reworked in the thumbnail stage again because I can't get over it and leave them alone. I have several good excuses for not getting more done over the past couple months, but guess what? Good excuses don't make comics. Six weeks of daily sketches? Fun stuff for sure, good that I kept practicing. How many comic pages got done during those six weeks? Do I really need to keep working on muscles and action poses?! Not so much. I need to work on placing figures correctly within backgrounds. I need to be better about changing up the angles I use in my panels and creating more depth with middle ground, foreground, and background elements. I need to stay focused while completing a page and not wuss out with shortcuts and other bullshit just to get a page done. I need to do the best work I can do, accept my limitations and continue to produce! I am not a finished product. I am still growing. Improvement will only come through doing the work though. Put the time in, do the work. Do the f@#$ing work.

Busy, busy, busy. And tired, lol. Work has been up and down, but my wife and daughter are amazing. Life is good.

Weekly Sketches - Week 6: Teen Week

In the interest of making myself draw more often (and being around DA a bit more), I'm doing weekly sketches. Each week, Monday through Friday I'll be doing a sketch a day, probably a 20 - 40 minute kind of thing, and I'll be taking suggestions for characters to draw if anybody wants to chime in on that. Each week I'll pick five from any suggestions given (so it's not necessarily first come, first serve). If you suggest an OC please provide a link to an existing reference picture!

EDIT: Teen Titans and TMNT at the top of the request list, as they should be. Thanks guys!

1. Mon - Invincible thanks to and
2. Tues - TMNT thanks to
3. Wed - Hot Rod thanks to
4. Thurs - Libery Darling the oc of
5. Fri - Teen Titans thanks to and

And that's a wrap! Thanks again for the input! Much appreciated.

Gene