Another week goes by, and here we are again. Only this time, I’m finally back to color.
This page isn’t as sophisticated as others I’ve been attempting, due largely to time constraints this week. With some refinement I could bring it up to standards I guess but for now, I am feeling accomplished that I’ve simply managed to get back to full color. And the scene is evocative and emotional, anyhow, even if it is a little simplistic. I dunno. Maybe I’m just too tired to be able to make a rational assessment of it.
This past week put an enormous strain on me. For reasons of tact and good judgement I can’t go into specifics, but it was just a really major outlay of emotional as well as physical energy at a time when I didn’t have much to spare. So the comic suffered a little. But we at least got a whole page in color. Which I’ve now repeated for the third time. God, I need to go to bed.
And so I will. There’s a readership lull at the moment, I know, because I haven’t had the resources to any advertising, but the hard core readers continue to return and I want to let you all know how much I appreciate it. I knew going in that 6-Commando would not in any way what people expect to see in an online comic and that my ins and outs were bound to have a major impact on how the thing got produced, and when. And so to have readers who are sophisticated and patient follow along as I go, well, it adds a little bit of stability to a very unstable endeavor, and so thanks.
And now, I sleep. And until next week, be well, everyone!
Is that your new selfmade font? Looks really good! I sure love to know how you made it.
I’m really feeling sorry for major Sarah, that looks like a really nasty wound! I hope things will turn out OK.
Actually I’m experimenting with freehanding my letters in Photoshop. It’s taking some getting used to but it’s giving me more freedom to make my letters more like I want them – when I letter by hand it’s a lot freer and more open, and this is more like that. We’ll see if it works.
And yeah, she’s really getting a bad time from all of this. I’m being tremendously rough on my characters, I admit.
–M
Oooh handlettering in photoshop! Does it take you a lot more extra time?
Well, not so far, but I’m still working out a method. When I used a font it didn’t really save that much time since I was always tweaking and pushing and prodding it anyway, so this just seemed interesting to try.
–M
I’m liking the new font too and Major Sarah’s effed up face. Screw readership levels, do it for you!
Wise advice, Chris. You remind me of something my brother once told me: Work is what you do for other people, and art is what you do for yourself. And though I make this comic to be read by an audience, in the end, it’s my own little thing and I think that that is really enough to carry it through for me.
Thanks for the encouragement, though!
–M
Ouch! Well, at least she didn’t fall on her burns. Anyway, the comic looks great, and I hope the other pages will be colored soon. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Yeah, as bad as I’m being to her, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. The burns came out looking really badly graphic, actually. But that’s radiation for you.
And I appreciate the encouragement, so thanks!
–M
I hate to be the constant critic, but goddamn, that is one hardy flight suit. Her skin has been burned right off, and yet there isn’t any charring or dirt or discoloration or anything on the flightsuit. Made of Nomex? (I can definitely understand leaving out the dirt stains from her getting knocked unconscious earlier, though. Minor details for a major effort and all that.)
Actually, you’ve hit on something that’s high on my list for when I finally “remaster” this and the first chapter, hopefully for print. Remember that what you see here is always a work in progress, even though I do go to great lengths to make it a finished as I can.
I had meant to give both flight suits a burnt and charred look but never really came down on how to do that, and so it kind of stayed in limbo. I admit that it’s unlikely for her to be so burned while her suit is still “clean.” However, for most purposes, the “cartoony” idiom being established, I have to say I don’t think it does any real harm, though you point out something that could definitely add an extra layer of detail.
And about critiques, while I don’t think I can claim that any artist actually likes to get them, when presented in a reasoned way I am always willing to listen to them. If I weren’t I wouldn’t let you keep posting on my site! But on the other hand, I most often find it necessary to go forward with the whole story rather than going back to fix things. I just file them in my “to be fixed” book. (I actually have one!) And then I move on, resolving to try to get it right later.
–M