Update: grOw/cOmic#3 and Stimulating Sale!

grOw/cOmic#3:
The latest issue has been compiled and completed, and sent off to my provider to upload to the store. It all depends on how long it takes them to do this. In past, it was as little as 24 hours, but as long as 1 week. This longer time was before they switched owners. So far, the new guys have been much more on the ball. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I used to be able to upload the file myself, but due to system changes on their end, I can no longer do this.

The BA Stimulating Sale:
Many countries may be offering their versions of "stimulus" plans for the economy. But at BA Studios, I will be offering a "Stimulating Sale" upon the release of grOw/cOmic#3, issue 5.

The sale will go for 1 week from the time of release of the newest issue of grOw/cOmic#3 (issue 5). Terms of the sale will be announced at time of issue 5's release.

Final page completed!

Page 82, the last page of the issue, and of the series, has just been completed! I thought about it long and hard, and in the end, I left the last page as one. In my last post, I mentioned how I was thinking of splitting the page into two. I started doing sketches of what the pages would look like split, and I decided that it would be best for the story wrap-up to keep it on one page — splitting it would have seemed too drawn out.

So, instead, I took the pencil drawn version of the page, and moved and resized panels in Photoshop until I got the right balance and eased up a lot of room from the original "crowded" design. It is still a busy page (in detail and text) but it is now much better, and no more busy than other pages from other issues. The detail (4 unique new backgrounds, and a lot of faces) is also what made this page take so long.

I am now going to work on the cover, in which I mistakenly "flattened" the Photoshop file. This caused all the "cover type and effects" to be layed permanently over the art. I usually show the cover artwork without any of these on the second page of the issue. I have an "older file" that is the drawn artwork, without the shading — so, I won't have to totally recreate from scratch.

After the 2nd cover is recreated, I will be finalizing the PDF, setting up the store and the icon artwork, and then it is release time!

Thank you to all who have been following this series! I hope it has been an enjoyable one. This last issue (the "epliogue") finishes out the 5-issue series in a grand flourish.

Page 81 complete!

It's been a few days, but the next page is finally done. The usual delays occurred -- "real life" work deadlines, plus a detailed page that took extra time.

We are almost there. I may add one more page — I haven't decided yet. I will not really add anything new, but rather split the last page into 2, since there is a lot going on. But I am not sure if there is enough to split. I am going to do some roughs before trying. This is the last page (or pages) of the entire series, so I want to do it right. And, as someone asked in an earlier post about the extra pages in this issue: no, it will not raise the price! :D

Hang in there! We're getting closer!

Pages 79 and 80 complete!

This is a late update in the day, but I wanted to really work to get TWO pages done today -- and I did. Both pages 79 and 80 are now complete, leaving just 2 pages to go! Actually, I do have to do a little more work than that, which is on the cover. As you may know, I always show the cover, and then inside the issue, I show the cover artwork again without all the "cover stuff". Unfortunately, I mistakenly "flattened" the Photoshop file for the cover before making the inside artwork. I did have an earlier saved version elsewhere, but I have to do "re-shadow" and "re-effects" everything. So, I have to half-redo the "inside cover." Hang in there! Just 2 pages (and a half-cover) to go!

Page 78 completed finishing a 6-page week

From famine to feast, this week finishes with a total of 6 pages completed -- a far cry from the past few weeks. I am glad I was able to make so much progress. I am also glad at the results, for though the pace was high, quality actually improved (IMHO).

Here, again, I am showing the progress map. We are down to the last 4 pages of the issue, and the series! Hang in there!

Page 77 completed!

Moving right along! Another day, another page. Progress has been steady (knock on wood). This page was a great exercise in lighting. I really like the way the shadows and highlights came out on this page, and the preview shows some good examples. I have also been experimenting with coloring the line work more — darkening the lines in shadow, and lightening the highlighted lines. I have also been lightening the "detail" lines, so that they are more natural. For example, there are lines that denote the creases in the skin on the knuckles. If I left them full-strength, the hand may look too old and wrinkly. But by keeping the lines, but lightening them to slightly darker than the surrounding skin, it looks more natural.

Page 76 Complete

Well, things are still on a roll, with yet another page completed in the last few days. Things are moving quite nicely for now, but may hit a few bumps in the next 2 weeks. I don't foresee any real delays, so there should be at least a few updates each week. We are getting closer to the end! Only 6 pages to go!

Page 75 completed! 2 pages in 1 day!

Yep, today I was on a roll, and had the opportunity to get 2 pages done. I wanted to make sure I took advatnage of the time I was given, especially considering the slow progress over the last 2 weeks. I can't say this will continue in this manner, but here's hoping! In the meantime, enjoy the second preview of the day!

Page 74 completed!

We are now into the second half of the fifth issue of "An Inconvenient Growth". I stayed up late last night so that I could finish this page, since I had made such great progress on it. However, I was too tired by the end to post it. Now it's on to page 75!

Only 8 more pages to go! Here is the updated "progress map" for the series, so you can see where we are to-date.

Page 73 completed!

I had the opportunity, before things got busy again this week, to work on another page. This represents the end of the first half of the issue. 9 pages done, 9 pages to go! I think things will still be busy for me, but much better in terms of grOw updates than it has been. I am crossing my fingers that the workload will be much more balanced now. Enjoy the preview!

Page 72 completed!

I wanted to finish and post this page Thursday morning, but, unfortunately, my car gave me untold grief yesterday, and I spent the entire day weighing my options. So, I wanted to make sure I put this preview up by Friday morning. We have 1 more page to go (p.73) and we will hit the halfway mark! Remember, this issue is 2 pages longer than previous, at 18 pages. For now, enjoy the preview!

Page 71 completed... finally.

It's been a long time since the last update, I know. I wanted to have this page done within 1 week of the previous page, but that was not to be the case. There was just too much going on to finish it in that period of time. I can't quite say at this point if this amount of work will continue, as it is too early to say so. The work that is pulling me from completeing the next issue is constantly changing -- unfortunately. Hopefully, I will not be updating once every week-and-a-half, but rather every 3 days, at least. Hang in there. In the meanwhile, enjoy the newest preview!