Staying a little later today, I was able to complete page 88. This one was a bit challenging, especially with the camera angles. As the backgrounds are done separately, using Google Sketch, and then composited later, I had to go back and forth a few times until the rendered background's angle matched the drawn angle of the characters. Add to that was the fact that the angles were not straight on, and it was a bit more work than usual for the backgrounds. Only 4 more pages to go!
Oh, I almost forgot — here is the latest "progress map" so you can see how far we have to go in relation to the entire issue.
With the completion of page 87, I am now 75% done with issue 5, "All's laid bare in Love and War." I thought I would have this page done yesterday, but it turned out to be more labor intensive than I originally thought. However, I think the results more than make up for the extra time needed. Only 5 more pages and the cover to the next issue to go! The update pace may slow a bit, as more "RL" work is filling my schedule, but nothing that should cause any huge disruptions. Enjoy the preview!
For the third time this week, issue 5 of grOw/cOmic#4 has progressed with the completion of page 86. I thought I would get this page done sooner, but I now realize how many layers of detail are going into each panel. And, all of these layers of detail went into every panel of this particular page. The background has been a little more of a challenge in this issue, as it has a lot more going on than the previous few issues. Enjoy the preview! 6 more pages to go!
Yes, for a second day in a row, I am posting an update with the completion of page 85! Not that it wasn't detailed like the others — for it was. However, the page has less panels and characters, as well as the fact that I got a good start on it yesterday after posting that update. I'm making good progress on this much-anticipated issue. Only 7 pages and the cover to issue 6 to go! Enjoy the preview!
This week gets off to a great start with the completion of page 84. A bit of detail on this one, that took so true artistic painting, as I had to work on something that I don't do too often. ;D For a little while, I thought I would actually have this page done this passed Friday; but, then I realized just how much work was needed to complete it. Enjoy the preview!
With a small break in work, I was able to complete page 83 today. This break may not last for long, but it was enough to get another page done within a good time frame. Things are really starting to pick up in this issue, and the next few pages will be a delight to work on. Enjoy the preview!
It took an extra day compared to my previous updates, but I finally finished page 82, which is the half-way mark through this 20-page issue. This page had a number of full-body characters, clothing textures, lighting, complicated backgrounds, and numerous face shots — all of which take extra time. Over the last few pages, I very much like how the sweater texture came out, something I thought I would leave only to the cover, or a few close-up shots. A careful application of Photoshop's liquify command of a flat sweater texture, applied to a layer in "overlay" mode achieved the effect I was looking for even better than I had anticipated.
Working right up to the wire, I was able to get page 81 completed today! It was definitely a detailed page, with many character shots, angles, effects, textures (as you can see here), and, of course, hair. I wasn't sure if I would finish this one today, but I did — yay! As I was working on this page, it dawned on me that I left out some details on the sneak preview cover for this issue at the end of issue 4. When issue 5 is released, you will see a new and improved cover. Some hints to this improvement are in this update's preview. Enjoy!
Since the weekend, I've made good progress on the next page, 80. "Real life" work is slowing me a little, but nothing too bad. I was still able to complete a page, with continued strong lighting effects, in less than 2 days. The next few pages, while not having the same lighting effects, will have multiple panels and details that may keep me busy on each one. In the meantime, enjoy this latest preview which is just a little more vaguer than the last few. :)
At this point, it may also be a good time to put up an issue "map", showing the progress made so far. As mentioned earlier, this issue will be a total of 4 pages longer than normal for a total of 20 pages — 2 more than the previous extra-paged issues of grOw/cOmic#4!
I worked extra late today in order to get page 79 finished. I just couldn't allow this week go by with only getting 1 page done. It was difficult, as "RL" work was eating into my time, and the page itself, which you can tell by the preview, had some serious lighting for me to tackle. All in all, I am very pleased with how this page came out. Enjoy the preview!
It's been a busy week between "RL" work, meetings, and working on a detailed page of grOw/cOmic#4. As of today, I was finally able to finish page 78. The page has quite a bit of lighting effects that took extra time. Adding to that, the aforementioned "real life" work zapped quite a bit of time since my last update last Tuesday. I lost whole days in which to work on this page, due to extended meetings and deadlines. While there is potential for more delays due to this, I think the worst has passed, and I hope to have more time to work on the current issue.
Staying a little later today, I was able to complete page 88. This one was a bit challenging, especially with the camera angles. As the backgrounds are done separately, using Google Sketch, and then composited later, I had to go back and forth a few times until the rendered background's angle matched the drawn angle of the characters. Add to that was the fact that the angles were not straight on, and it was a bit more work than usual for the backgrounds. Only 4 more pages to go!
Oh, I almost forgot — here is the latest "progress map" so you can see how far we have to go in relation to the entire issue.
