Major Frost

Hello Faithful Reader (that's you, I.Ghost!)

Here, for your viewing pleasure, at least I hope you like it... is page 3!!

Page 3

So firstly, I wanted to talk about the name on the jet below the pilot in the first panel. I think they stencil the pilot's name on the jet near where they sit, I'm not sure they do it, but I thought if it is done, it would be a cool, clean way to introduce the name of the pilot. When I did it, I didn't think about the name much, just pulled something from the air, and then when I started discussing this comic in this blog, I thought... I need a title for this thing, and came up with "Flight of Fancy", thinking, ahah! The pilot's last name will be "Fancy". We'll see if it sticks. I'm open to other ideas.

What I like in this page is how I was able to create a kind of "face to face" dialogue between the pilots in their planes (in panels 2 and 3), and the last panel is good and dynamic and I think it "reads" logically and well - you can see the jet coming in, then banking, pilot responds and then the jet zips off the page.

I can see shading is going to make this work, to separate the jets from the background, to show how they are turning / rolling and also to suggest mood, as the shadow and shadowy jet do in the 3rd panel.

Something I keep doing, but think is wrong, but am not yet sure how to handle is the smoke trails behind the jets. I think I need them to show where they were, but I don't think there would be a contrail behind a jet flying low in an arid environment. 

Flight Of Fancy?

Hello faithful reader (Illustrated Ghost), among others!

I don't want to preface this post with much, and I especially don't want to make any grandiose statements about hopes and plans for this one, I just want to start it and talk about it, and with luck, see it through.

But what is it ?!!

It is, as Mr. Ghost requested, a longer format story. The working title is "Flight of Fancy". 

DON'T CUE THE TRUMPETS!  Please!  No fanfare.  Let's just do this thing... quietly.

I'll try to do a new post weekly and that will likely be just one page, but today, I give you two pages.

 

Page1

 

 

Page 2

 

Ok. REALLY rough. And as you can see, drawn on lined paper. I'm using cheap "exercise" books that have three holes and are staple bound. The lines are helpful for creating panels and the low quality of the thing means I am not very precious about it... yes, I still hesitate if I decide I need to erase a good drawing and better it, but less so than if it was done on nicer paper in ink.

Of course, hand lettered text that will probably change. Maybe at some point I'll figure out how to create my own font. Always wanted to do that.

What I like about pages and what I've found pretty easy to do, is to use the motion and direction of the planes to "suggest" how the reader should move through the page. I find they read very quickly. I also like how some drawings and word bubbles cross over the panel lines. I think those "tricks" pop the viewer out of thinking of this as just a comic and also make the drawings/pages more dynamic.

The drawings of the planes are already better on the second page. I'm not entirely up on how they (Canadian CF18 jets) should look, but right now (in the early, rough, don't get ahead of yourself already stage), they'll do.

Surprisingly, I really like how the rocky landscape is going.They're fun to draw, and really enhanced with a bit of cross hatched shadows. 

And I'm also trying to employ the technique of putting something in the last panel on each page to inspire the reader to turn the page and keep reading. 

I hope you like what you see, I hope you like the next instalment, and I hope, without getting too much ahead of myself, that I can keep at it!

Power of Love

First time for everthing, and in this case, first time of adding some animation to my blog.

Hope you like it. The first is an "animatic" or timed storyboard of what I planned to animate. The requirements were that there had to be some sort of silent communication between the characters and at least one of them had to show a change in mood or attitude.  Also, there had to be a run, walk or leap in there somewhere to show one's ability to add previously created animation into a shot.

And here is the final animation.

It turned out pretty much as I planned. It's a bit hammy, but... well I think it communicates. I could have spent more time finessing the timing and facial expressions, and some motion, but overall, it's pretty good. I haven't done FX in a LOOONG time, nor do I have much experience doing them, so the explosion at the end was (obviously) "borrowed" footage.

Never Say Kant

Oh boy has it been a while since I've created a new post. Hope you've not been waiting. Is anybody out there? Hello? Where'd you go?! 

... AAAaaanyway, this one was inspired by a poetry seed/prompt Chris showed me. The prompt was a quote by Galileo "I believe that good philosphers, like eagles, fly alone, not like starlings who fly in flocks." It made me think of a (torture) room in hell where all the great philosophers are locked. Their job/penance? Well, to write trite greetings cards messages, of course!

The drawings turned out pretty well. I did a few roughs, but then got tired of trying to make it better and got bored and just hurried to get it done. As usual, I like the rough pencil-like line. I like the character designs. That devil sure is creepy what with the black corneas and white irises not to mention the teeth. I thought of putting a forked tongue in his mouth, but I... I didn't.

All the way along I thought I'd make the philosopher Emanual Kant. I did a nice design for him and everything. It looked great until Chris pointed out that the "I think therefore I am" was Rene Descartes. DANG!!! Just the sort of mistake I'd make when in a hurry to finish something!

As you say, Mr. Ghost, Photoshop is the sanity saver. Another layer, a new hairstyle and voila! Kant became Descartes!  

What's to Love?

I'm happy to present another comic featuring that little devil. He'll need a name at some point, but, that's not what this blog is about, so let's get to it.

Pretty simple story/joke here, and I think it is clear and understandable. The once thing I'm not sure is entirely clear is that I wanted to suggest the baby sounds like a fierce cat, not that whatever in the carriage is a cat, and I think the line coming from the carriage suggests the latter, even though that line is present in the other panels. It needed the line, but still, I think that little line is confusing.

Yes, I did hand ink the letters, 'cause I just wanted to get it done and up here. I tried to make them look nice. Hope you like 'em, Mr. Ghost.

Yeah, I re-used the carriage (CHEATER!!!), but I did the shading differently for each panel, which helps it look a bit different.

Again, I like the poses on the devil, and his facial expressions. I really like the grey shading  and flying fur lines on the cat, which help to accentuate it's anger.

I think the joke is cute, but also a bit unexpected.