Today I bring you some WIP photos of the current Alencia: Tomb of the Unspoken comic pages I'm working on. I made my goal of inking two pages before work today so here are some teasers of the raw inks:
I'm very happy with the pages so far. I think switching to using a brush for inking was one of the best decisions I've ever made :P
Hello everyone!
As you may or may not know, I was able to attend Megacon in Orlando, Florida about two weeks ago and of course had a great time! Aside from being able to visit friends, meet celebrities, and spend my tax refund, I was also able to discover a new favorite comic.
While browsing the artist alley I noticed that many artist's tables featured distasteful images of women to sell their books. This cliche' isn't new, but failed to grab my interest so I kept walking for a while, until I passed by a table that caught my eye. It was the table of husband and wife writer/artist duo, Graham and Caroline Johnson, of 'Serious Turtle Studio.'
Their table featured books and images from their ongoing comic "Of Stars and Swords" which can be read online. They had two printed issues available which were colorful and featured female characters in a fantasy setting, (which immediately appealed to my interests). Furthermore, they were clad in practical yet colorful, and well designed, costumes which further peaked my interest. Upon making eye contact with Caroline I asked her what the comic was about. She said along the lines of "It's about a girl who has to decide between taking revenge, or doing what is ultimately right." Intrigued I bought the first two issues. I read them both while waiting for our flight back to Virginia, devouring them before our plane even landed.
The art was lovely and improved with each issue. The story was strong, keeping me guess with twists and turns, even inspiring a few out loud "OOOhhh!" moments while reading. The characters were each distinct in their design so I couldn't confuse them. The story itself continues online and I highly suggest anyone who appreciates well written and drawn fantasy, as well as spunky female leads, to check it out! I'll be keeping an eye on the updates as well as the release of issue #3. I believe the comic industry needs more well done stories staring female heroes. As I strive to add my own comics to this ideal, I will read and praise the stories of others. If you a know a great comic done by, or staring an awesome female hero, please share it in the comments!
Hey Everyone!
I'm back from Megacon and finally settling back into regular old life again :P I'm securing another second job (and possibly one full time job if the stars align in my favor) so I've been busy since getting back. However I did have a super fun awesome time and even got to see some old friends.
Here is the illustration I got to give to Wil Wheaton of his D&D Character Aeofel.
And here is the autograph I got from him too. The whole thing was a proud moment for me and I'll never forget it.
Next is an inked sketch from my sketchbook. I was having fun drawing my Dovakin, Merion, while waiting for the plane to arrive. This scene is from a quest in the game where she discovers this powerful book and while looking at it realized it was made of various kinds of skin (blood samples from each race of elves was needed to open the container it was in so looking back it probably didn't have human skin on it) but when you open the book you can choose which 'path' you follow and it levels you up in a bunch of stats. I reached a whole new level just from reading it :P But then it disappears...
Upon getting home I had to do some inking with my brush once more. I dearly missed inking with it while I was gone. Ink brush withdrawls anyone? Also added some Typography for fun and tried to make Merion look a bit more scratched up and weather-worn.
ALSO managed to find the perfect beads I had been looking for for my Amulet of Dibella. I tried in furious vain last night to sculpt the little leaves that are meant to be strung with the beads but I just couldn't get them right. The amulet itself is sculpted smaller than it looks when worn by a character. I think it looks too big and garish in the game so I made it smaller. But now with the leaf charms it's backfiring on me. I can't make them to scale no matter what I try. The leaves will not look exactly the same I'm afraid. I'm going to come back to it and try again later. For now this is my 'simplified' version of the Amulet of Dibella.
Next will be the Amulet of Mara! One of my favorite items, and diety, in the game! Also one of the more complicated pieces but I'm confident if I pace myself with sculpting it I can make it look as nice as the original. I'd like to make it as part of an 'Agent of Mara' cosplay one day. The priest robes aren't too complicated and I can pass around the little Mara pamphlets from the game :P Here's a peek!
Aside from all the Skyrim inspired fun I'm currently working on (and thank you to everyone for putting up with all my Skyrim shenanigans lately) I'm also working on getting a buffer of Alencia comic pages inked and ready for lettering/toning. I've got about 7 more pages to go until this next story is all inked. (You may remember some of the comic pages I started back in October, well this is that story continued!)Then when I'm done with the pages I will officially launch Alencia as a webcomic!
The Alencia mini-comic I printed at the end of last year will not be posted online but will remain a printed exclusive. I'm thinking of doing a giveaway soon to celebrate the launch. I don't have a date for it yet as I'm currently getting ready for a vacation and nailing down a second job soon after, but when I have the details ironed out I will share them! Aside from the pages I've also still got to come up with a banner and logo for the project. Progress on those will be posted too!
Hello everyone!
I'm snowed in today so I thought I'd take some time to post some of what I've been working on lately.
Sculpting:
I started working on a replica of the Amulet of Dibella from Skyrim. I used two different kinds of sculpy this time in hopes of painting the 'jewel' to look more realistic as I didn't have one that looked right. In the future I'd like to use metal clay and real stones to create a more precious version of this.
The uncooked sculpt.
After being cooked.
Some sanding and priming to the 'jewel.'
The jewel was then painted, and the rest of the amulet was painted for metallic and aging effects. Now I'm on the look out for beads to make it look as accurate to the game version as possible.
Sketches:
While on the subject of Skyrim I've also been doing some sketches of my characters in situations that arise in the game. My dad is currently borrowing my scanner, so I have more that need to be scanned, but in the mean time here are few new sketches.
Merion got separated from Onmund while defending the city of Whitefun, but after fruitlessly searching for his body she found him safe behind the city's walls after their victory. It's hard to loose a follower when you're so used to having them around.
A traveling mercenary marking Merion's map to show her the job she was going to do. It's not much fun to talk someone into giving you their job but then you have so many places marked on your map you have NO IDEA where they just indicated they were going. That's why she looks confused/annoyed, she has no idea where this woman has pointed to.
Sky-gazing is popular in Skyrim and I can see why. There's just so much to absorb and take in, especially after being cooped up in underground dungeons for days on end.
Be sure to stay tuned, I've got some more news and artwork coming up!
