Wednesday, December 22, 2010

GC#4, page 69 complete!

I knew I could get at least 1 more page done before the holiday week, and with the completion of page 69, I was right. This page was fairly detailed, which took some time. "Real life" work took a break as clients must be getting to take off for their holidays, and didn't bug me. :) This gave me more time to work on grOw. I will probably get a head start on page 70 this week, before I take a break, but it is detailed enough that I will not be able to finish it until after the new year.

I will be away from Dec 24 to Jan 2, and no new updates will be made during this time. I will actually be out of state, visiting family. Happy Holidays to all!
Enjoy the last preview of 2010!

Friday, December 17, 2010

GC#4, page 68 complete!

With just minutes to spare before the weekend, page 68 has been completed! "Real life" work has taken a quick pause, as clients haven't gotten back to me on certain projects (that are still in the works), so I had more time to get another page out the door. It helped that this page was a little easier on the amount of panels, faces, and details — a sum of which can really slow things down. However, the next 3 pages are all quite detailed and have multiple panels, so they will take more time. Only 4 pages to go!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

GC#4, page 67 complete!

We are another page closer with the completion of page 67. Only 5 more pages to go (plus the cover to issue 5)! A small lull in between "real life work" projects has given me time to work on this page. I am not sure how long it will last, as new projects are waiting in the wings for approval to begin. In the meantime, I will continue with working on grOw as much as can. Enjoy the preivew!

Friday, December 10, 2010

GC#4, page 66 complete!

Ah, we come to the two-thirds mark with page 66. It's been another busy week with the end of the year looming, but I am glad I was able to at least get 1 more page done before week's end. Well, only a week and a half left in this year for updates. In the meantime, enjoy the preview of a character I haven't shown in a few pages.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Whew! Page 65 of GC#4 finally complete!

It's been a grueling week, but I was finally able to put the finishing touches on page 65. This page is another heavily detailed page. However, it's been delayed more due to "RL" work messing up my grOw work schedule. The end of the year is traditionally a busy time for me in this respect — some clients want things wrapped up and completed by the end of the year, and others the "new project" to start at the beginning of the upcoming new year.

Enough of that, though. As you can see by the preview, this page was chock full of effects and details. A lot of layers, layer effects, and smart objects were used on this page (for those of you familiar with Photoshop). So out of the 1,417,500 pixels that make up this page, here is a sneak preview of 90,000 of them. Enjoy!

Monday, November 29, 2010

GC#4, page 64 complete!

I worked extra late to get this page 64 out. I wanted to make sure I got a good start to the week. The next few weeks will be quite unpredictable, as end-of-the-year work is racing in. We've only got 7 more pages, and the cover to issue 5 (which I am still undecided on what it will be) to go.

Here is a map of the progress of this issue. I hope I can finish it by December 18, or it will most likely have to wait until the New Year. I will be out of town from Dec 24-Jan 1 on some very serious personal business.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

GC#4, page 63, completed!

It's been a long and hectic week wrought with unexpected deadlines and technical troubles, but I was finally able to get page 63 done before the holiday! More great news is the fact that this page represents the completion of the first half of the issue — 9 of 18 pages done. We're about to pass over the hump, racing downhill towards the finish line! Enjoy the preview! And Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. followers!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

GC#4, page 62 complete — finally.

Whew! Page 62, a multi-panel, heavily detailed page, is finally complete. I mentioned before how the number of panels, including the number of faces, can slow down production due to the exact nature of the details involved. Well, add to that mixture the details of FMG, and I've got a page that took quite a bit of work to complete.

Someone asked in the previous post "How much more detail is there in drawing the muscles compared to a regular girl, BA?" Well, depending on the content of the panel of course, I would say anywhere from 4 to 10+ times as much. Imagine the shading of a "normal" arm is just like shading a couple of ball shapes. You have the highlight, the middle shadows defining the shape and some deeper shadows to give true depth. The typical arm may have 3-4 elongated ball shapes — the shoulder, the soft bicep, and the forearm. Now, look at the last 2 previews, and see the number of "ball" shapes that make up the details of the muscles. Whew!

So, as I move forward, thank you for your patience in waiting for this issue — it is definitely taking a lot more work than usual. In the meantime, enjoy the latest preview!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

GC#4, page 61 complete!

I was really hoping to post page 61 preview yesterday, but I just... couldn't... finish... it... in time. I was so close, though. If I was able to do so, it would have been only 1 day since the last update. However, the next page has a LOT more detail, and my workload is increasing. So, I wouldn't expect page 62 to be completed within 2 days, as the previous ones have been. In the meantime, enjoy the preview!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

GC#4, page 60 complete!

The musculature is coming easier, especially after finishing page 60. While the details are taking noticeably longer per panel, the more I do, the easier it becomes. And, the easier it becomes, the faster the pages will be completed. I must say, it is quite a contrast of stature in the current character line-up. :D Enjoy the preview!

Friday, November 5, 2010

GC#4, page 59 complete!

Yep, page 59 was another one of those pages that I really didn't think I would get done in the day I had hoped, only to surprise myself when, suddenly, I realized I was flattening the Photoshop file into a single image and cropping it for the blog. :D This page, as you can see by the preview, took extra time due to the detail involved in "sculpting" the characters. As part of a "growth sequence", there was more than one image like this. Enjoy!

(5 pages down, 13 to go!)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

GC#4, page 58 complete!

Whew, page 58 was sure a detailed page. Five panels, each with at least 2 people per frame, takes quite a bit of work, especially when you are working with wet hair, drips and sprays, wet clothing, thin clothing, musculature, and other features. I really thought it would take me 3-4 days, but "RL work" was kind to me, and let me finish early.

Monday, November 1, 2010

GC#4, page 57 complete!

I have to say, coming up with the preview to page 57 was a bit of a challenge. I didn't want to show anything too revealing (I hate when all the good parts are shown in a commercial for a movie -- there's nothing to look forward to). However, I also didn't want to show anything too vague (such as nothing but wrinkled fabric). So while this preview is not completely revealing, it shows just enough to hint at some interesting possibilities. ;D Enjoy!

Friday, October 29, 2010

GC#4, page 56 complete!

While still rolling in, my "real life" graphic design work has been surprisingly, yet mercilessly, not as crushing as it could be, but just enough to be active. Because of it's leisurely pace, I was able to complete page 56 in about 2 days. The details from issue 3 are back, giving me plenty to work on in each panel. The next few pages vary greatly in their complexity, so the completion rates will be similarly different. Enjoy the preview of the second page — 16 more to go!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

GC#4, page 55 complete!

The first page of issue 4 has been completed! I was able to get an immediate jump start on the issue and worked long to complete page 55. I can't say that all pages will be done this quickly, partially due to the details involved with FMG, partially due to "RL work". Since a few of you don't find Dean T. William Barkings too sexy, I included some text to help enhance the preview. ;D Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4, issue 4, pencils complete!

I was hoping to get this done yesterday, but once again, I got swamped. I finished up pencil drawings of the last 2 pages of the issue today, and spent the last 2 hours scanning the pages, touching them up, and getting them ready to be used for the ink and paint stage. Each page takes 2 scans, and then compositing, since the original drawings are about 11" x 14.5" and my scanner only does 8.5" x 11".

Some questions and requests have arisen in the planning of this issue. Having never done FMG before, people are unsure of how far I will go. It is a good question. As with any growth fetish, there are wide ranges of taste on how far they go (or grow!). The BE and GTS communities seem to have a rating system for stories ("large, huge, Wow!" and "mini, meso, mega, etc"), but I am unsure if the FMG community does. Without trying to give anything away, but being honest to those who have certain expectations (or desires), I will say that the woman in question will make Arnold Schwarzenegger look small, be larger than is physically possible, but not so much that she looks like she can't move. I have been doing some research on FMG (and real life female body building) in an attempt to maintain a feminine body sculpting look. Of course, it will be hard to please everyone — some will think it is too much, some will think it is not enough — but, hopefully, most will think it just right.

I will say this. I have gained a new appreciation for the theme. The experience has also enhanced my understanding of the bodies musculature, recalling the figure drawing classes I took in college.

Don't forget, along with the FMG, the issue will also contain miniGTS(mesoGTS), as well as BE, lactation, PE, and some NipE.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4, issue 4 pencils progress

I've been working away at the next issue of grOw/cOmic#4. Balancing it with my "RL" workload, I've been very focused this week on researching reference material (found some great stuff) as well as drawing the full size pages. So much so, in fact, that I realized that I forgot to post an update every 5 pages or so.

This post is to let you know that I have just completed 11 out of the 18 pencil drawn pages. I think the results are coming along quite nicely, with the newly found reference materials helping out immensely! At this rate, I am hoping to start showing color previews of inked and colored pages by next week sometime. Crossing fingers.

In the meantime, enjoy the pencil preview!

Friday, October 15, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4, issue 4 moving along, albiet slowly

Over the last 2 weeks, progress has been made on issue 4 of grOw/cOmic #4, but not as much as I had hoped by this point. Still, a decent amount of work has been done, much of it "behind the scenes." This has been somewhat delayed due to the recent flood of "real life" work that suddenly dropped in my lap, and may still be coming down the pike. Today, however, was a free day, and I used it to work on the latest issue of grOw.

I have completed the thumbnails of the issue for all 18 pages. This includes the reworking of the first 8 pages which were already done months ago.

I also took a few hours to format the text. Back when I created grOw/cOmics #1 and #2, I would look at the amount of text in the word balloons and narration boxes, and make a good guess on room I would need to fit them. It usually worked. However, occasionally the results would be disastrous, and I would not have enough space to fit the artwork properly. This required me to rework the drawing, or cut text. Now, I lay out the text of the entire issue, within the framework that is based on my thumbnail sketches. This way, I know exactly the space required, and it allows me to better design each panel so that the image and text work well together.

I have also been doing some research on "reference material" on women's muscular bodies. :)

Lastly, I have completed 4 and a half pages of the issue in pencil form. This is going a little slower than usual, due to the extra rendering required for FMG.

All in all, things are progressing fairly well. I hope to start showing color previews again soon.

(** comments locked due to excessive spamming)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4: next steps

Thank you!

Thank you to all who purchased the latest issue of grOw/cOmic#4 "grOwing Desires". I am happy with the feedback I've gotten, and, as usual, will apply anything pertinent to future issues.

Thank you to all of you who notified me of issues of my work being illegally shared on various boards! I am moving as soon as I can to squash them. Your support in this is greatly appreciated!

And thank you for being patient for the last 10 days without any blog updates. I usually like to keep the "Release" announcement up for a week; but this time, it went a little longer due to ... you guessed it ... a serious flood of "real life work" and triple the normal stress that comes with it. It was a doosey of a week! And what timing, too! Had I waited just one more day to release issue 3, it would probably have not been released until tomorrow (10 days later)! I was just too overwhelmed.

But that workload is mostly done, and I am turning my sights on issue 4: "Your wish is by my command." I have worked on it a little this week, mainly reviewing the script, rewriting sections, reworking the page planning thumbnails, and adding 2 more pages. I decided to make all issues in this series 2 more pages than normal, at 18 pages each!

I will now be continuing the planning of the full issue, and then on to the pencil drawing of each page. After every 4 or so pages, I will post an update (as usual) on how that stage is coming along. Then, when that is done, it will be back to the page-by-page updates as they are inked, colored, and completed.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4, issue 3 Released!

grOwing Desires
Chapter 3: "Don't be shy over spilled milk."
18 color pages, 2 cover versions, and 3 image-only pages in the Appendix.

Having narrowly escaped two growing girls that evening, Jon barely made it back to his girlfriend's dorm room when he ran into a third — MaryBeth. This time, the dorm-mate's breasts were growing, her ass and hips were filling out, and her breasts had started to give milk.

His previous two run-ins with the expanding women tested the limits of his forbearance against the mysterious, preternatural lust that was overtaking everyone. But his resistance was finally shattered by this third encounter. And Jon was determined to milk the situation for all its worth.

Includes 3 bonus pages in the Appendix that are text-less, images-only reproductions of the best 3 pages.

Category: Breast Expansion (unknown: big, huge, wow), lactation, ass/hip expansion, PE

Friday, September 24, 2010

GC#4, last page of issue 3 completed!

Well, I wasn't sure it was going to possible — in fact, I really believed it would not be — but I decided to work later since I was so close, and finally completed page 54. This is the last page of issue 3! Now, all I have to do is ink and color the cover to issue 4 (which will appear at the end), do a full proofread and make any corrections, make the PDF, and then set up the store, and we have a release! Release day all depends on if I get killed with "real life" work early next week (which is a possibility), but I am hoping between Monday and Wednesday. The next new post here will be for the release of grOw/cOmic#4, issue 3, "Don't Be Shy Over Spilled Milk"! All... most... there!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

GC#4, page 53 complete!

The next to last page of issue 3, page 53, has been completed! We've only got one more page to go, and the cover to issue 4 (which will be shown as a sneak preview at the end of issue 3). When these are completed, a last run-through and proofreading will be done and the final PDF will be created.

I am hoping to have a release by end of next week. I know this sounds far away with how little work is left, but "RL work" is rearing its head, and it may slow things down considerably. It's too early to tell for sure. Who knows. We could be lucky enough to have a release by week's beginning! Cross your fingers. In the meantime, enjoy the preview!

Monday, September 20, 2010

GC#4, page 52 complete!

And here I thought page 52 was straightforward enough to be completed in 1 day (last Friday). Nope. While it may have been possible, as usual, a few work-related jobs jumped up out of nowhere, and took most of my time that day. Even more work came up today, but I was just just able to finish the page before day's end. The effects nearly caused an extra day, as what I once thought was going to be an easy page (based on the pencil drawing), turned into a texture- and effect-heavy page — two items which are not apparent on the pencil drawing, since they are added after inking and coloring.

Only 2 more pages and the cover to issue 4 to go! Hang in there!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

GC#4, page 51 complete!

With another round of massive splatterings and detail, page 51 is now complete! Thank goodness I learned the ins and outs of Photoshop's Brushes Palette to produce effects like these, or else the last few pages would have been impossible achieve. We're down to 3 more pages, and the cover to issue 4! Hang in there!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

GC#4, page 50 complete!

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull this off, but I was able to finish page 50 just 1 day after that last update. It helped that I finished page 49 early in the day, so that I could start on the new page soon after. Today was filled with a bunch of new "rl" projects that slowed me down a bit. In addition, as you will see by the preview, there were plenty of effects and detail on this page. However, I was able to wrap this new page up by the end of the day. Only four more pages to go, plus the cover of issue 4 (which is already pencil drawn and waiting for ink and coloring).

Monday, September 13, 2010

GC#4, page 49 and other info

I almost had page 49 complete this past Friday, but there just was not enough time to finish up the effects. I am making decent progress in this last third of the issue, with a few bumps slowing me down. Mostly the usual, but some are more annoying (see below). Again, the last few pages have "special Photoshop effects" that may take a little more time for each page.

I want to take this opportunity to once again thank all those who support my efforts and purchase grOw. Without your support, there is no way I could afford the time it takes to put into the cOmics and stOries! You keep supporting, I'll keep drawing — for years or even decades to come!

I also want to thank those who have helped notify me when they find illegal sharing of my works, so I can put a stop to it. I've followed up on all links I find. Following up on some links this past Friday was what slowed me down and caused me not to finish page 49 until today.

I also want to clarify the "credit card theft" I mentioned in my last post. The credit card in question was NOT stolen via my website. It was stolen before, and then purchases were made using it. My website is, and always has been, secure. It is hosted by a professional company, and all transactions are processed by CyberSource, another high-end professional credit card processor.

Enjoy the preview!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

GC#4, page 48 complete!

It's been a few days, but page 48 is now finally complete. The work on this page did take longer than the previous few weeks' quicker production rate due to a number of factors: hurricane preparations (which luckily were not needed -- but it was a very close one), the Labor Day holiday, some "RL" work that cropped up this week, an annoying few hours dealing with a stolen credit card used to purchase grOw*, and just a slew of effects, filters, detail, and motion blurs that had to be applied to this page. Some more of the same effects will need to be applied to the next few pages, so these will take a little more time — but the effects will be worth it! Enjoy the preview!

(*I am on to you, Josh, and you've already received an email from me! Don't think I won't follow through on this.)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

GC#4, page 47 complete — just before Earl

Working quite hard over the last 2 days, I have finally finished page 47. Ripe with a plethora of effects and detail, this page took a hell of a lot more work than I had anticipated. Just looking at the Photoshop file confirms this, with 87 layers total. Panel 2 — which this preview is from — was 23 layers alone, and took me about 5-6 hours to complete. Luckily, Hurricane Earl is looking to just brush my area (tropical storm strength, 2-3 inches rain, 30-50 mph winds), and thus, my storm-prep time was kept down, allowing more time for "grOw"!

Enjoy the preview! I am also including an updated "issue map", which I have reformatted so as to portray the "halfway" mark more legibly.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

GC#4, page 46 complete!

Taking a little extra time than previous pages due to extra "special effects", page 46 is now complete! Dramatic shadowing, semi-transparent/wet clothing, growing/moving "blurs", and lots of moo-juice, all make for extra work. Aaah, but it is worth it, as the page looks great! We're passed the hump, having finished 10 of 18 pages for this issue. The next page has similar effects, but a little less detail in terms of panels. Hopefully, I will get this completed by Thursday morning. After that, I may have to take a break and prep for the Hurricane, depending on its final track on Friday. Enjoy the preview!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Bam! Halfway mark for GC#4, issue 3!

It's been quite the productive week, having just finished page 45, which completes the first half of issue 3! I wasn't sure if this was going to be possible, but I hung in there extra late today to get this page done. Whew! It was a marathon session, as this page has lots of detail and 5 panels. OK, time for a restful weekend — I need it. :) Enjoy the preview! The second half starts Monday!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Surprise! GC#4, page 44 complete!

Unlike the last few pages, I was able to make great progress with page 44 and complete it within 1 day of the last update. With the last page taking about a day and a half, I was able to start on this one early in the day that I posted page 43, thus, giving me more time. What's also cool is that when the next page is complete, we will be at the halfway mark! Enjoy the preview!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

GC#4, page 43 complete!

I really thought I was going to be able to finish page 43 yesterday, but, unfortunately, just enough "RL" work to be bug in progress popped up. I tried a new but small effect on this page, which I think came out quite nicely (but not shown in this preview). On to page 44! Enjoy the preview.

Monday, August 23, 2010

GC#4, page 42 complete! Issue 1/3 done!

The next page in the current issue, page 42, is now complete, bringing us to the 1/3 mark of the complete issue. This is the 6th of 18 pages for this release. The pace has been steady, though I wish it could be quicker. However, a combination work and details of each page are making progress at about 1 page every 2 weekdays (sorry, but I rest on the weekends :) ). It may be quicker, or longer, over the next few weeks, depending on the same factors: workload and page detail. Hang in there! Progress is...well... progressing!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

GC#4, page 41 completed!

I am happy that in only 2 days, I was able to finish page 41. This may sound like a long time, but between "RL" work and the fact that this page has 6 detailed panels, with plenty of facial expressions, movement effects, and blurs, it is actually an achievement. :) Steady work on this issue will continue, though a few slow downs here and there may occur. Now, it's on to page 42 (the 6th page of 18 in this issue). We are a third of the way there! Enjoy the preview!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

GC#4, page 40 complete!

Finally, after 4 days of trying, I was able to complete page 40! I was about 75% done by last Wednesday before my long-weekend vacation. I really thought I was going to finish by then; but, as usual, an unexpected round of "real life" work poured in from many directions, including while I was away. It took a few days to sort it all out, and get through it before page 40 was able to be finished. Some more is coming down the pike, so updates may be a little slower than they have been recently, but I am trying my best to make progress! In the meanwhile, enjoy this enticing preview! ;D

Monday, August 9, 2010

GC#4, page 39 complete!

I pushed hard to get page 39 done today. I am trying to make as much progress as I can, since there may be only 1 more update this week. As of Wednesday evening, I will be going away for an extended weekend vacation. I will be back again next Monday to continue working away at issue 3. Depending on how "RL" work goes over the next 2 days, I may have 1 more page to show before I leave. All work and no play makes BA a dull artist. ;D Enjoy!

Friday, August 6, 2010

GC#4, page 38 complete!

I was hoping to get this page, and the next done by the end of this week, but it didn't quite work out like that. Page 38 was more complicated than I thought, with numerous panels and lots of facial expressions. I also had a bit "RL" work pop-up and ruin my grOw pace. Well, on to page 39! Enjoy the preview!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

GC#4, page 37 complete!

The first page of issue 3 (titled "Don't be shy over spilled milk") has been complete! Page 37 opens with more explanation to the mysterious cause of the students' growth. With the slight rewrite and extension of growth scenes, this issue will also be a 2-pages-more-than-standard length of 18 pages! Enjoy the first preview of issue 3!

Monday, August 2, 2010

GC#4, issue 3: pencils complete!

I just finished drawing the last page of issue 3! Now, it's on to scan the pencil sketches, and use them to ink and color the final pages. I have to scan each page twice as the over-sized page I draw on won't fit on the scanner bed in one pass. After that, I have to stitch the two together, and make any digital edits (moving a character in a frame, zooming in or out, adjusting a line, etc), which is much faster than erasing the drawing and redoing it.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Work on GC#4, issue 3 has begun!

I usually leave the "new issue" announcement up for at least a week, to make sure everyone knows it has been made available. A lot of times during that week, work doesn't start on the following issue as I focus on fulfilling orders, answering email concerns and kudos, posting and responding to forum posts on the newest issue, and the like. However, this week, while doing all of that, I was busy at work on the next issue. So far, I have made some text rewrites, added 2 more pages (bringing issue 3 up to the 18 pages that have made up the first 2 issues, which is 2 more than usual), and I have spent hours pencil drawing the first 11 of 18 pages, 6 of which I did today alone! I've made great progress in this first week, post issue 2. Some things are brewing down the line that may slow this speed, but I hope it won't be too much. I will keep you informed. For now, enjoy the rough preview of the first pencil sketch of issue 3.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

grOw/cOmic#4, issue 2 Released!

grOwing Desires
Chapter 2: "The bigger they are, the harder they ball."
18 color pages, 2 cover versions, and 2 image-only pages in the Appendix.

Continuing where he just "escaped" from the growing boobage of Kara, Jon tried to return to the dorm room of his girlfriend, Lynn. However, he is confronted by a dormmate of her's, Jeanette, who just found out what happened to giant-boobed Kara. However, she seems more interested in what changes have occurred to Jon, and will beg, plead, grow and even force him to share it with her. Includes 2 bonus pages in the Appendix that are text-less, images-only reproductions of the best 2 pages.

Category: Breast Expansion (unknown: big, huge), PE, tall and miniGTS/mesoGTS

(This post has been locked due to excessive Spamming)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

gC#4, issue 2 completed. To be released soon!

I finished the cover of issue 3 which will appear at the end of the soon-to-be-released issue 2. My wife, Juliekat, has completed the proofreading, and I have made the needed corrections. The PDF is nearly done, and I will be taking a last minute read through.

However, today turned into an unexpected crazy "real life" work day, and seriously delayed what I had hoped to be the release day (today)! I still have to set-up the store and finalize the PDF. I doubt that will happen tonight, as I have other responsibilities I have to attend to. I hope to have a release by Wednesday! It's too bad, though, as today would have been a great day for a release, as it was my birthday! :)

[Edit: You can get some sleep. Don't look for a release tonight. I have more to do on the issue than I have energy right now. And thanks for all the birthday wishes!]

Monday, July 19, 2010

GC#4, page 36 completed!

Yes, the final page of issue 2 has been completed — page 36! All that is left now is to draw and color the cover for issue 3, which will appear at the end of issue 2 as a sneak preview of the upcoming chapter. After that, I just have to have a final proofreading of issue 2, creation of the PDF, and uploading to the store! I will post when the cover for issue 3 is complete (but I will not be showing a preview, or it will give away too much too soon). Then, the next update will be announcing the release! Thanks for all the comments and close following of this issue. I am glad everyone is so excited for this newest installment.

On a side, personal note: I went and saw "Inception" this weekend. Wow! What a trip! Loved it. I mention this as grOw/cOmic#4 too, in some ways, will mimic the movie in how the explanation of the plot will not always be in a linear fashion as you normally expect. That, and it was just a cool movie! ;D

Thursday, July 15, 2010

GC#4, page 35 complete! One more to go!

Another late night to finish the latest page — page 35. It was a busy day today, and I wasn't able to finish this one earlier as I had hoped. Tomorrow may be more of the same, so I figured I would do it now. We are just one page (and a cover for the next issue) away from completion! Then, it will be on to the final review and proofreading (which my wife, Juliekat, will be helping me with this weekend), and then, the final PDF production, and setting up the store. All. Most. There! Enjoy the preview!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

GC#4, page 34 complete!

I made such good progress on page 34 today, that I had to continue to work later than usual to get it done — and I did! Yet another page with details, angles, scale, and lighting, it was very difficult to choose an area of the page to crop for a preview. Sorry for the super vagueness, but you know the drill. ;D Only 2 more pages and the cover to issue 3 to go!!! Enjoy the preview!

Monday, July 12, 2010

GC#4, page 33 completed!

Page 33 was yet another detailed page in terms of composition, lighting, effects, and scale. It took extra concentration to pull it off, thus, the later update. However, I think it really paid off well. This page, along with page 32, are definitely going to be a few of the "biggest" pages of the issue. Enjoy the (vague) preview! (And, you know if it's vague, we're coming to the climax where little should be revealed.)

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

GC#4, page 32 completed!

As I write this, I am listening to the soundtrack for The Bourne Supremacy — namely, the track called "Bim Bam Smash." It is a high-energy piece of music that played during the climactic chase scene in the movie — a chase scene that, I believe, is one of the best car chase scenes ever. The first time I saw it, I let out a huge exhale at the end, having forgotten to breathe.

I mention this, because while finishing page 32, this song came on, and I truly felt it was a good parallel to the brimming climax that is now happening in the issue. While there is no "chase" (though there sort of is a "pursuit", in a sense), the energy is ramping up as we approach the end of the issue. I knew this was going to be a great page, and wanted to make sure the lighting and effects reflected this. There are lots of shadows and blurring for depth of field. This is one of the reasons this one took longer (in addition to the July 4th holiday). Enjoy the preview (and the progress "map")! I'm off to page 33!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

GC#4, page 31 completed!

I made better progress than expected, and was able to complete page 31 today. It definitely took some work to coordinate the effects, blurs, and background angles on this page. It's hard to say if I will get another page done before the holiday weekend. It all depends on the workload tomorrow. If not, then have a happy 4th!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Another Day, Another Page — GC#4, pg 30!

I made really good progress on page 30 yesterday (after completing page 29) and finished it up today! I had some fun with this page, creating motion blurs and effects to show movement (a.k.a. "growth"). I really like the results. Now it's on to page 31. For the next few pages, progress will definitely not be as fast as these last two. The next few pages are more detailed, require more work on lighting and effects (heck, we ARE getting into the thick of things with the issue!). A few small "real life" projects are in the queue, but nothing too heavy, so I should be able to make decent progress over the next week or so. Enjoy the preview!