Issue 5 is now complete. To Be Released Soon!

Yep, page 92 has been finished! Again, the preview is somewhat vague and not as descriptive as some of the previous previews — but, hell, it's the last page! :)

It is really a satisfying accomplishment. I checked my computer's "H2grOw" directory (a whopping 7.66 GB of information for this series alone) and found one of the first files for this project: a PDF that I made as a "reference manual" for all of the characters. This file was dated July 2006. Nineteen months later, the series is complete. Compared to the first grOw/cOmic ("Milk Farm"), the pace set here was overwhelmingly faster.

"Milk Farm" took 5 years, and was only 52 pages long. But then again, that was before my foray into BE (and other body modifications) comics was "tested". When I was only on page 10 or so of that comic, it was hard to say if I had the mental strength, conviction, and motivation to put so much work into an untested project. It had its ups and downs (there were periods of about 4-8 weeks at a time — and once there was a 6 month period — when absolutely nothing was worked on). But in the end, it was the supportive fans like you that helped make it possible. Without your support, these projects would be impossible for me to create. My guestimate for the amount of time this series took: anywhere from 500 to 750 hours (I meant to keep accurate track this time, but got caught up in the work, and not the red tape). I could never do that without financial support of those who have purchased my books so far. I simply could not "afford" the time. Thank you.

Technology definitely helped to increase productivity. A new Wacom pen tablet (an 11" x 6" Intuos3) really helped increase both speed and quality in April 2007. This was right before the start on issue#3. Issues 1 and 2 were hand drawn in pencil (as they ALL were); but, when it came to redrawing the lines after scanning the pencil, it was done with a mouse. While I have had 16 years of mouse drawing and photo-retouching experience to that point, the Wacom made a huge difference. As of issue #3, the pencil drawing stage was much less refined. Why? Because with a mouse, I had to trace the refined pencil drawing exactly. As good as I was, my "tight" mouse-drawing skills did not match my hand-and-pencil drawing skills. I needed the tighter lines in the pencil stage to keep me on track. With a Wacom pen tablet, I was able to cut out the refining pencil stage, and combine it into the "digital ink" stage due to the Wacom's capabilties.

But not just technology, but practice and technique refinement added speed and quality as the issues went on. I think back to my "method" in issue 1 and compare it to issue 5. Issue 5's production method has to be at least 50% faster, and more than twice the quality. I'm happy with that!

So, now it's on to the final stage: post-production. This usually lasts 1 to 4 days. It includes proofreading, correcting, PDF assembly, store configuration, and release. You can check either here, at my website store, at the BEA (Forum and my Gallery), the Process, or at Giantess City for the notification when Issue#5, "Losing Control" is released.

Thanks for joining me on this ride!