3/21/2015
It's a Saturday, so I am working on Pawns of Fate! Specifically, I am adding the text and working with issue 8 in Clip Studio Paint. It's slow progress as I am still learning a lot of the nuances of the program, and working with layers is not intuitive yet. It doesn't help that I have Arsenal on in the background (yes, I love Premier league...) Anyway, I continue to test fonts etc. I'm this far and still not happy with my main word fonts. I have finally found one I like for spells. It's Hobbiton Brushhand and I found it free on a font page. Sadly, the version I have doesn't give any credit, so I will have to look for that (yes, I know it's a tolkienesque font, give me some credit...). I can't decide whether it is more important to have a cool font, or a clear one to tell the story. I lean toward the latter, but know there should be a middle ground. I'm old enough to remember when everyone screamed “hand letter, hand letter!!!!” but I simply do not want to do it, and feel it is passe. I'll go with fonts.
I have to confess this decision has some practical reasons for me. I still lack some confidence in my ability to draw at a high level consistently (Sheesh, I shouldn't, I mean I have over 150+ pages...), so I treasure my pencils a bit too much. Why does this matter? Well, I have very rarely inked anything, and only with a gel pen, so I fear the brush inking that really makes art pop, and inking is a necessity before hand lettering...I know, convoluted and silly in the end...
And please don't say “just ink on the computer”, I have to find niches of time to do the penciling, so finding time to ink on a device I'm still in the learning process on...well, maybe someday.
Same goes with finding someone to ink it. I am just starting out. And cannot afford to pay someone, and do not have a friend with the skill and time to offer it free. This is all a learning process I am stumbling through. A two steps forward, one back situation.
On another note, I continue to waver between a monthly issue idea, and a more manga-like “books” theory. The idea of trying to lure people to my gallery every other day with new pages has some appeal, but also seems foolish with something that isn't designed to be daily or even weekly. So monthly issues seems a good compromise. Yet, my story lends itself to longer chunks of pages, thus the “book” idea. Remember, I really do hope to survive through selling my art skills, and Pawns of Fate is one of those skills. Somehow in my mind, the “book” format seems more viable. Well, I need more research to find out if any of it has a chance. At the least, I do plan to put the first book up here in black and white for free and/or donations if I can figure out the logistics. Color will have to wait.
All of this still hinges on figuring out the internet system in general. Remember, I'm a trained historian and professor, not a web designer! I have yet to really get any notice beyond selling miniatures through Ebay. So bear with me.
PS: I just looked through a bunch of Foglio's Girl Genius...and became jealous. On one hand it's demoralizing to see how good a talented group of people can be! On the other, recognizing that five or more artistic people with a lot of experience all added to its creation gives me hope. I have the writing and penciling skills, so shouldn't feel discouraged when I stumble over other aspects like color, inking, and the business management side.
Well, my first post, so I probably rambled, but that's what these are about, right? Anyway, have fun out there people! I am with all of this!
It's a Saturday, so I am working on Pawns of Fate! Specifically, I am adding the text and working with issue 8 in Clip Studio Paint. It's slow progress as I am still learning a lot of the nuances of the program, and working with layers is not intuitive yet. It doesn't help that I have Arsenal on in the background (yes, I love Premier league...) Anyway, I continue to test fonts etc. I'm this far and still not happy with my main word fonts. I have finally found one I like for spells. It's Hobbiton Brushhand and I found it free on a font page. Sadly, the version I have doesn't give any credit, so I will have to look for that (yes, I know it's a tolkienesque font, give me some credit...). I can't decide whether it is more important to have a cool font, or a clear one to tell the story. I lean toward the latter, but know there should be a middle ground. I'm old enough to remember when everyone screamed “hand letter, hand letter!!!!” but I simply do not want to do it, and feel it is passe. I'll go with fonts.
I have to confess this decision has some practical reasons for me. I still lack some confidence in my ability to draw at a high level consistently (Sheesh, I shouldn't, I mean I have over 150+ pages...), so I treasure my pencils a bit too much. Why does this matter? Well, I have very rarely inked anything, and only with a gel pen, so I fear the brush inking that really makes art pop, and inking is a necessity before hand lettering...I know, convoluted and silly in the end...
And please don't say “just ink on the computer”, I have to find niches of time to do the penciling, so finding time to ink on a device I'm still in the learning process on...well, maybe someday.
Same goes with finding someone to ink it. I am just starting out. And cannot afford to pay someone, and do not have a friend with the skill and time to offer it free. This is all a learning process I am stumbling through. A two steps forward, one back situation.
On another note, I continue to waver between a monthly issue idea, and a more manga-like “books” theory. The idea of trying to lure people to my gallery every other day with new pages has some appeal, but also seems foolish with something that isn't designed to be daily or even weekly. So monthly issues seems a good compromise. Yet, my story lends itself to longer chunks of pages, thus the “book” idea. Remember, I really do hope to survive through selling my art skills, and Pawns of Fate is one of those skills. Somehow in my mind, the “book” format seems more viable. Well, I need more research to find out if any of it has a chance. At the least, I do plan to put the first book up here in black and white for free and/or donations if I can figure out the logistics. Color will have to wait.
All of this still hinges on figuring out the internet system in general. Remember, I'm a trained historian and professor, not a web designer! I have yet to really get any notice beyond selling miniatures through Ebay. So bear with me.
PS: I just looked through a bunch of Foglio's Girl Genius...and became jealous. On one hand it's demoralizing to see how good a talented group of people can be! On the other, recognizing that five or more artistic people with a lot of experience all added to its creation gives me hope. I have the writing and penciling skills, so shouldn't feel discouraged when I stumble over other aspects like color, inking, and the business management side.
Well, my first post, so I probably rambled, but that's what these are about, right? Anyway, have fun out there people! I am with all of this!