Two characters from the new comic; I was exploiting them to practice expressions. I have some expression sheets by Andrew Loomis from my character design class last year to work from, but I can’t find them in any of his books, which is mildly irritating. Oh well.
On story constructions.
When I first started on Alice, I was trying to make it one big long narrative with one big long plot. A number of webcomics manage that admirably, but having read a lot of print comics series lately (“a lot” being 57 issues of Fables and several trades of Hellboy), I’ve come to appreciate the short-story-arcs-(which often have to do with a larger overall plot)-with-intermittent-side-stories way of doing things. It seems a lot more flexible to me, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. So I’m going to be thinking in terms of “issues” and “stories”, because it’s easier for my brain.
On process.
I’m also trying to work in chunks instead of from week to week; I have about 2/3 of a script(!) for the first issue done (around 20 pages when I’m through, methinks), and after that I’ll be working on the thing by stage, instead of by page. (Hah, I rhymed.) While this means there won’t be anything to see (except for what random bits I post here) for a lengthy bit yet, it does mean that once I’m to the coloring, you’ll be getting a lot, steadily.
I’m waiting to finish the (digital) painting for the cover of the first issue of the new comic (yes, I’m already doing it) before I launch the site; otherwise that page will just sit there empty for eons. Good news is, I’ve worked on it (and other related things) for several days in a row, so it’s mooooostly done. Bad news is I’m losing the will to finish it. XD