The moving of apartments and traditional endeavours

While I’m fully aware that I haven’t updated this blog (I was just reminded by Grim who was in the process of updating hers!), I have been insanely busy these past few weeks!

First things first, I HAVE FINALLY MOVED! Hectic decisions and phone calls and bills have finally been settled! It was a hard choice, but it has been made and I feel that things are better off now! Also, I’ll be able to get back into making comics! But more on that later, CHECK OUT MY NEW WORKSPACE!

Terrible picture, but it was 1 in the morning I think?

While not impressive, I managed to snag a corner of the bedroom and set it up like a miniature office! My novels and textbooks have been moved to the Spartan-like Bookcase in the living room! I also managed through my books pretty quickly, since I AM a Librarian. References books, box folders, sketchbook and binders and notebooks etc. are all finally in ONE PLACE!

I haven’t been able to draw digitally in the past 2 weeks, so I’ve been doing a lot of traditional stuff. Luckily, I’m not as terrible as I remember! I shall be posting more sketches tonight, but here are the ones I put up on twitter!

The very first original characters my sisters and I made. The grinning one was mine :)

Old Original character! This time I drew her actually looking her age!

The favourite of my recent sketches! Did I mention that my very first character was a magical girl with 2-tone hair?

This one was done 2 days ago I think. Did it to reacquaint myself with my baby tablet after setting up my space. Figured I may as well add it here! 

Naturally, I tried using the nibs more! This was mostly a mixture of nibs and micron pens though.

Still working on working the nibs better, but I like how this one turned out!

I've gotten some more copics (my are old as balls. PFFFFT.) and more nibs so I am definitely planning on doing more traditional stuff! As for the digital art, I'm really keen on getting the Cintiq 13HD. The reason why I haven't gotten the '22 is the sheer size of it. Now there's 13 (that happens to the THE PERFECT SIZE) I'm set on it. Though I'll take some time before I can acutally move on that decision. 

IN COMIC NEWS!

Grim and I have submitted our comic for Ink'd Well Studios' Fearsome Fables II and while it was a blast to work on, I'm glad it's out of the way! With my tablet back, I'm hard at work on the second anthology we're participating in! More on that once I have word on more details and updates.

To be honest, I can't wait to be done with all the anthologies so I can focus more on :EPOCH Files and Howard & Edgar. Comic anthologies gave us some real experiences about deadlines and publishing though and I can't even begin to describe how awesome it is. Comic people are awesome.

Anyway! That's all for the art/comic update! I've got plenty more sketches, but I figured I should scan them instead of taking crappy pictures. I'm working on my environments and prop designs more so once I get a bigger bundle, I'll share 'em. 

Oh hey, I also like to bake. Not the fanciest thing but it's very therapeutic!

 

Note: I followed the recipe of some website, I can't remember. I will be trying THIS ONE next once time allows!

And that's all for the update! Stay awesome!

Much Love

.L

The Incorrigible Walkthrough of Comics

Finally, an art update!

I’ve been reading The Incorrigible Children ofAshton Place by Maryrose Wood and it is FANTASTIC. I’ve always loved funny historical books with a fantasy/supernatural spin to it (hence I’m such a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones.)! Maryrose Wood is already on my favourite writers list!

Fantastic series and I recommend it to anyone who loves Middle Grade or just the funny historical fantasy genre in general!

My favourites include Penelope, our spirited main character and Lady Constance Ashton who is so animated and charismatic that it’s hard for you to hate her. Also, Simon is adorable.

Drew this after taking a break from inking the horror comic that Grim and I are doing for an Anthology.

Speaking of the anthology, here’s a preview our story! Again, I’ve paired up with Grim, as I always do, and have somehow managed to squeeze this between all the comics and my day job! 

Also, the anthology is for charity. Check out the Comics page to see the other Charity anthology we participated in last year!

And also, because I’ve been meaning to make this for a while, here’s a walkthrough of how I made a page of :EPOCH Files. Nothing detailed, but let’s see how this goes.

Once Grim finishes the script, I tumbnail /storyboard  the whole comic. Afterwards we move to revisions. Once revisions are made, I go ahead and start drafting the pages.

The drafts usually take several tries and I start to rethink and rework the layout. Once I get that done I'm ready to make proper sketches. I use Paint Tool SAI.

Making fine sketches takes some time and it's where I, unlike the previous steps, pay more attention to the depth , perspective and anatomy of the figures and backgrounds.

Here's what the fine sketch looks like. I usually  do the background first, then the figures but I jump back and forth sometimes.

Then I proceed to ink. The time I use differs depending on the page but I ink pretty quickly . During this part, I tend to make alterations to the original sketch. It's just a constant editing process.

 Note: The blue and red lines are margin lines. Blue being the "Live" area and red being be "Cut Off" area, or "Bleed" area. I use this format for printing (No plans for printing :EPOCH Files so far though).

Once I'm done inking, I move to doing colour flats. I HATE this part because it can take ages. This stage still has room to make edits to your line art. Once I finish the figures, I move onto the background.

Once the flats on figures and backgrounds are done, I start shading them. This is a pretty quick process, unless I make some edits.

Once done, I move to Photoshop where I add SFX and  texture brushes to add skin blemishes. This prevents the overall comic from looking like it's made of plastic.

Then I add the dialogue. I usually add the text first, then the speech bubbles. After a few more minor edits (eg. The  color of the wall.), I'm DONE!

I hope that was at least a little interesting  read/look at!

Ok, I believe 2 posts in one day is enough. 

Much Love

.L

Massive Art Pile!

Today's update shall consist of 2 PARTS!

First, as promised, an art dump. Second, actual recent stuff, plus a walkthrough!

I’ve recently tried out a different way of inking digitally and while I’m happy with the result, took a too long. It’ll be a while before I can ink that way with my normal speed.

Now a dump of some drawings that I put up on my tumblr or twitter. I always end up forgetting about them.

Sketchbook River from :EPOCH Files in a simple alternate outfit.

Sketchbook Mary from an upcoming comic; Howard & Edgar.

Sketchbook Warren, a character from a story I'm writing called Refuge.

Travelbook concept art of an upcoming anthology comic. Done on the ferry.

Scrap paper drawing of a Character from said upcoming comic anthology.

Kids in the library say the strangest things.

A drawing done for an old artsy high school friend of our "avatars".

And there you have it! Actually, there are more, but they're not available to me right now. Hopefully I'll get them all up at some point.

Much love!

.L

Wow

Wow.

How long has it been? March is almost over and not a single post? No art? No writing?? WHAT HAS BECOME OF THIS YEAR’S PRODUTIVITY?

Despite the lack of bloggy updates, I’ve been very productive. So much that I haven’t even the energy to update! Even my tumblr has been collecting dust, aside from the artsy reblogs.

Anyway, February was extremely tiring and I haven’t been able to draw properly due to the busy-ness…  ah ok let me start over.

I had to take care of several things during Feb, so art and writing were put on hold and even comic updates were delayed. Now that March has rolled in and I am free of other worries,  regular updates shall resume! Hopefully.

Grim and I have been hard at work with comic stuff! In fact, just a few minutes ago, we came up with some pretty solid stuff! It’ll be a while before we get to work on it, but it’ll be worth the wait! At work, Grim and I have to make several promotional posters. When the fat cats want changes, it’s a waste to just toss them away so….. Sketches made from A4 paper torn into 4 pieces with markers and a felt tip pen xD

Thorax

Sordis

Moira

River

Speaking of comics, we've recently got all our anthology copies!

Gurukitty's Once Upon A Time Anthology (I did the cover!)

Ink'd Well Comic's Charity anthology, Fearsome Fables!

They’re all super pretty and filled with awesome stories and comics so I hope you guys check’em out! You can find more info on Grim and my contributed stories at the COMICS page!

Grim’s been working hard with inking too! Does some pretty god linework after only a short time! We’ll be posting update on that too (Upin her blog! Check it out!)!

Here's one! Inks by Grim, Pencils by LuvWyer

We both still have a long way to go, and the process is a painful one, but the end results are what matter! 

Also, the Korean variety show Running Man is hilarious. WATCH IT.

All that aside, I've been working on a new story, one that stemmed from the short story snippet I wrote back in January. It's tentatively called Refuge and I'm still ironing out the kinks! I've written the outline in 3 days so there are a lot of things needed to be rewritten, removed or replaced. It's told in the perspective of Warren, an immortal boy and is hundreds of years old, but it mostly centres around Mel, a fire-starter who is emotionally and mentally unstable.

Mel (left) and Warren (right)

I've got a pretty clear idea of how Warren looks like, but I can't seem to get it down. Either way, Mel's all set!

In other news, it's Diana Wynne Jones month and I've been reading her Chrestomanci series! Fanart super soon!

That's all for now! Next update will be an art dump for sure! Plus some character designs I've got in mind for comics and stories! Here’s to a year filled with creativity!

Much Love!

.L

Here's something more recent...

I'm working on another comic anthology, Ink'd Well Comics' Fearsome Fables, with Grim. Here's a sneak peek! This will be our 4th comic in print! I need a drink.

Still in the process of inking!

More details on the comic in the future :)

Much love dudes, much love.

L