Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Page 67 complete! Halloween delay :)

Well, you can't have an update EVERY day. Halloween preparations and other "RL" work didn't allow me to finish page 67 yesterday. However, I was able to finish this morning!

So, here is your Halloween treat! -- page 67 is complete, with a preview at right.

There probably won't be an update tomorrow, as we are enjoying Halloween fun. Then, it's back to work. Getting closer!!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Page 66 complete! 2nd update today!

Amazingly, I was able to finish yet another page today! (Technically, most of page 65 from the previous post was done on Friday, I just finished it early today.)

Page 66 is one of those pages that make me believe most people will think this is the best issue so far. It's has many scenes of, and varied kinds of, growth throughout.

Only 4 more pages, and 1 cover* to go! (The "cover" is for issue 5, a sneak peak of which will be shown at the end of issue 4.)

"Missed it by that much." — Maxwell Smart

I was sooo close to completing page 65 on Friday. I missed it by "that much" (See? I am holding my finger and thumb away from each other by just a little bit).

Things turned out slower than expected for me for my "RL" work. I was just about done, when I realized that the background on the last panel wasn't quite right. The angle was wrong on the pool. So, I had to re-render the background, as the shot I needed wasn't in my gallery of pre-rendered backgrounds. And, of course, it didn't come out right the first time... or the second. But now, early Monday morning, it is complete.

On to page 66...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Page 64 finished, barely.

I worked on the page for a little later than usual, but I just had to finish it. I was sooo close when it was about the time to take a break for the night.

Not sure what tomorrow may bring. If it is not a busy day for me work-wise, I may get another half page done. If not, then the next update will probably be Monday. I need the weekend to rest and do "RL" stuff.

Enjoy the preview. Click the thumbnail !

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Page 63 complete. Boy, oh, boy!

This page went quite well, today! It was a relief to have a break from doing all of the water effects on this one. This was a great page to work on, in terms of art, and storyline. The thumbnail sneak preview gives a hint to the page.

Only 7 more to go!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Page 62 of "H2grOw" is complete!

Ah! We are one step closer to release, with 11 pages out of 19 complete. Only 8 more to go! Page 62 was an intense one, with a lot of water effects (reflections, waves, and highlights). So it took a little longer. This page was one of 3 pages with the most intense water effects.

Click on the thumbnail at right for a larger view.


Monday, October 22, 2007

Update WILL come. Don't worry.

It dawned on me that after starting this blog, and making 3 quick posts, that there was a lull in updates right away. It was purely timing.

This past Friday was a bad day for any updates, as I was crushed with deadline work. This does happen from time to time. Also, we just had a weekend. After a busy week, I need time to catch up on life, and, welll... things like laundry! ;D

Also, each page takes a different amount of time. One page that has a lot of water shots (the one I am working on now) takes longer because of the special effects I have to add with Photoshop. Also, the size of the page makes no difference. Rather, the number of panels AND the number of people who appear in each panel affects the amount of time to complete. The opening pages (see previous issues) have only contained 1 panel, and maybe 1 or 2 people. Much easier than a page with 6 panels, and each panel contains 4 people.

Now... back to inking and coloring page 62...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

grOw/cOmic#2, "H2grOw" Cover


I posted this at my website (www.bustartist.com) a few days ago, but not everyone may know about it.  This is a preview of the cover art for issue 4. While this was shown at the end of issue 3, it was much, much smaller.  Here is the image at 676 x 883 resolution.  Just click on the image above for the full version.

grOw/cOmic#2, "H2grOw" prOgress repOrt


So, for a first entry, I wanted to give an up-to-date status on issue 4 of grOw/cOmic#2, H2grOw.

I am a little behind on my original goal, which was to be mid-October. A number of "real-life" issues stopped all work for about 3 weeks in September. But things have gotten much better, and I am now pushing hard for the completion of issue 4.

Chapter 4: Fighting for Control will have 19 pages of comic! In addition to the delay mentioned above, this issue took a little longer because of 2 rewrites/additions to the story. One major one involved removing one 3-page sequence, and replacing it with an action-packed 8-page sequence. Something new was added with one character that was not even in the original script.

As of today, this is what is done on issue 4:

  • All 19 pages are completed in the initial pencil stage.
  • 10 out of the 19 pages are complete — pencil, "ink", coloring, text, backgrounds, and "special effects".
  • Depending on my workload, I have been getting 1/2 to 1 page done per day.
  • Current target: end of October to early November.

Welcome !

Questions and answers. Updates and changes. Tutorials and hints.

With this new blog, I hope to provide a central location to help all those who have questions about my work. I will try to provide updates to major projects, such as "grOw", on a day-to-day basis. There will not be an update to the blog every day, but I will update when I have made progress on a particluar project.

Right now, I am busy trying to get my current projects out there. However, I hope, in the future, to possible provide some hints and tutorials on how I was able to create my artwork.