Set number 2!

Pages 4, 5, and 6. ...I'm in a debate on keeping my clouds outlined as seen on page 1, or no outlines as seen on page 3. Or maybe just keep it as both. ...Different times, means different sorts of clouds, I guess.

The basically non-existant plot thickens. And to answer a possible lingering thought: there's absolutely no dialogue throughout this comic.

I keep telling myself if I can't tell a story without words, I shouldn't be able to do comics at all. So the origami continues!

Page 3

Phew! Not color-corrected either, sorry sorry. I'll get all..what, 20 pages? corrected, and printed and hey, even bound together. Maybe sell 'em on the website if all goes well. But free previews here while it's in progress is always nice, no?

Page 2

This one has yet to be color-corrected so... I apologize if it looks very off, say, very yellow, or very green, or even neon-looking. It's fairly unsaturated on my computer if that's any consulation! This one took a bit longer than the first page, mainly because I kept going either too light or too dark. Do I leave in all these details or take them all out? etc etc. I suppose it's sometimes a good sign to constantly question yourself.

So, the story continues!

The Start

Page 1, colored in and sort of color corrected on my computer at work. ...I know for a fact that my laptop's colors are very off and if I had the time to set it next to someone else's computer and just FIX THE COLORS for once... I wouldn't have to do double-the-work hehehe. Hopefully it doesn't appear too dark on anyone else's computer. But then again.. maybe it works better that way by covering up any mistakes I might've made. Hoo. Hopefully more to come this week.
Cheers.

Pinky Swear

I brought my scanner back from Jersey. Hence the images to the left!

...I really haven't thought of a good enough title for this comic. It was originally entitled 'The Box' because of the guy's prison. But it's come a long way from simply being all about the imprisonment.

It's 19 pages in length, so far the longest of the unconventional origami series. These are the first three pages, inked and cleaned up if you're curious about the process. I suppose it'll make more sense once it's all finished and in color. If I'm lucky, I'll get them colored by the end of the week. Maybe...?

I swear I'm still alive

...but it feels like just barely. So, after packing up every belonging I had, I was ready to move into Brooklyn starting March 1st. ...And for some reason the landlord decided to try a bunch of underhanded things the DAY BEFORE I was to move in. The moving is on hiatus and I am currently living out of boxes day-to-day while still commuting most days of the week from central Jersey. ANYHOO.

Here's a slew of sketches I've been doing on the train. For this entire month up until JUST today, I kept forgetting to bring an eraser with me while traveling. ...It's damn near frustrating to draw with something that's usually so forgiving as a pencil...when in truth, it's unforgiving without it's life-partner: Eraser.

The image with the kite is a new illustration idea that's been nagging at me for awhile. If anyone's been on NJ Transit and gone all the way up to NYC on it, you'll definitely see lots of half-sunken power lines in water like here. I don't know why, but I find it completely fascinating and can't stop thinking about it. I think it's the idea of how modern day luxuries can appear so haggard and apocalyptic.

The bottom few images are mis-mashed concept art for my graphic novel. ...Still fleshing out ideas, characters, etc. And the last one...well, it's a bunch of really goofy gesture drawings of the protagonist in action shots. I think I was looking at too many Ashley Wood comics and loved how playful his people look when they're shown very far away and doing something as simple as running. His characters will have square feet or extremely exaggerated bodies. Hopefully the next update will happen in less than a month! Sorry!!



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Nightmares

As a child, I had numerous, extremely vivid nightmares. I would mention them once in awhile to my parents. I actually still have some today; sometimes they have the ability to disturb me during the rest of the day after waking up, though I don't mention them as often now. It's something I've come to terms with and just accepted as 'normal' for me. These are some monsters I developed off of a mixture of a nightmare and too many episodes of the Discovery Channel's Blue Planet. On the side, you can find some directions I scribbled for myself during work!

I think it's actually quite a task to draw a 'scary' monster! I had an assignment back in the earlier years of college in a Character Development class to do just that. There were perhaps one or two out of the entire class that could have been defined as something that would bring terror.


As for these... well, I spend 5 hours a day commuting back and forth from NYC so I have many, many, many images of people... on a train. Here's a few of them. There are some character designs are in there from when I was developing the face for the 'Belle' comic as well as other random odditites. Enjoy!

Children

I'm never good with children, and yet for some reason they always seem to flock to me at neighborhood gatherings, BBQs, parties, subways, sidewalks and so on. I really can't seem to understand it. They seem happy enough to run into my legs though.

Anyhoo. I decided to try my luck doing a children's book for a company that publishes
them online. Basically, the stories are fun, short tales that have the continuous layout of 8.5" x 11" (so parents can print them out for their children) and with plenty of space to input text and whatnot. Sadly, I decided to take this job and it's crazy deadline when a few others came up simultaneously along with taking the full-time position to commute between Central Jersey and Brooklyn weekdays while finding an apartment to move into city on the weekend (PHEW!). Needless to say, my spare time was nil and there were many train rides where you could find my face pressed against the glass pane, drooling as I slept half of my way to work at 7:30-8 in the morning.


Here's are examples of 2 out of the 20 illustrations I had cranked out over this past week. ...I don't think I'll be taking on such a project for awhile.

Belle

Same client, 5'2" model Isobella Jade wanted her story told in a comic panel sort of format. Since I've been working constantly in Flash for my internship, I decided to try coloring these in flash as well. Here's two out of the 6-8 panels I've been working on:


I'm currently in the middle of relocating to Brooklyn, hence the slow updates! I'll be working full-time as a Junior Designer for SMERC, in the city, but I DO still plan to update with any new work I crank out!

In the meantime, cheers!

Vertically Challenged

...it's the term I actually use for myself since I'm only 5'3" and has a bit to do with this illustration.

Last week, I was contacted by petite model Isobella Jade who has published the book, Almost 5'4", which is the story of how she began a career as a model through the internet. Apparently Isobella didn't own a computer and would walk up the signature plexi-glass stairs and stand for hours in the NYC's Apple store in SoHo to type out her story. At about 350 pages, that's quite a bit of standing! The deadline was pretty short but here's hoping the illustration is published with the article on her story.