Forsaken Stars Monday, November 23, 2009

Issue 1, Page 19
Sera ties Azzi to the fission core column, wondering all the while if she's taking the correct course of action, remarking that her father once told her never to make a deal with the devil. Azzi counters with the idea that it's not so much a deal as mutual favors (as if that's somehow a completely different animal). After all, when did the devil last surrender to make a deal? To further make his point, Azzi assures the Captain that he has no interest in her soul. Sera laughs at him and counters with the fact that she is a Soulless, a human born outside the Godshield, outside of God's purvue, and therefore she has no soul to steal. But Azzi isn't so sure of that.

But more to the point, you the readers know that the only soul Azzi is concerned about is his own. As she leaves the fission chamber, he quietly thanks her.

So this is a bit of craziness, inspired by the X-Men films' Cerebro and Astonishing X-Men's Danger Room. This is the interior of the big sphere that is the Bluebird's power source and main source of normal space propulsion, the fission chamber. I thought it would make a great set piece. It sets up Azzi for some intense, Christ-on-the-cross-style suffering, which you'll see in issue two. A vampire in a fission chamber? It's like a matchstick in a brush fire. So why would he agree to this? Maybe he sees it as part of his atonement, a requirement on his road to redemption, the only choice Sera, and perhaps fate, left him with.

"The narrowest path is always the holiest." --Depeche Mode

Other Projects

Occasionally, and not very often, since I don't consider myself a professional artist, have no schooling in graphic design, and by no means have a side business as an artist, someone will ask me to create a piece for them as a gift for either themselves or a loved one, and even more infrequently, someone where I work will want to utilize my talents for a greeting card or newsletter or other attention-getter.

These last few years, I've even been asked to do some wall art. My friend Sandra asked me to create three different pieces for her kids' bedrooms, and once my brother Gary got wind of the first one, he asked me to do up his own twins' nursery before they were born. These pieces are fun and always a challenge, since I don't paint unless asked to, so I'm always having to relearn how each and every time I do it.

Most recently, between jobs and pouring all my artistic energy into my webcomic, I was asked by my friend Wes to look into a project happening at his IT company that was looking for more traditional illustrations for an upcoming presentation. There I met Dave, who really plugged into my art style, and I've been producing illustrations/renderings for him and his company, particularly Mini Blue, the student laptop store they just opened, for the last two months. Exciting stuff. You can see much of the art at my deviant art page, and then you can swing on over to my myspace page and check out some photos from the grand opening itself!

With having met all the Mini Blue deadlines, I can now return to Forsaken Stars. You can look forward to more promotional art, including wallpapers, and sneak peeks at the second half of issue two!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ali, for her patience and her steady hand. She actually took up a brush and helped me finish this last piece, filling in edges, unpainted blocks and even a few tree trunks in those last hours. Ali, you're my Sun and Stars.
Also I should apologize for falling asleep during the midnight showing of Twilight later that night--I did my best to stay up for the werewolves, and got a kick out of seeing Michael Sheen turn up as Leader of the Volturi, after having been Lucian, leader of the Lychans in the Underworld films. It was a cool movie, and we thank Liz and Grant for inviting us AND treating us like VIPs! They is Awesomesauce. Liz, you name it and I'll draw it. Grant, you need fan art, let me know, it will be yours.

That's all for now, gang! Enjoy your weekend!

Forsaken Stars Thursday, November 19, 2009

Issue 1, Page 18
Azzi offers himself up to Captain Sera as a prisoner rather than face ejection from her ship. But she is no officer and she has no cells aboard. He suggests the fission core, where he will be too weak to be a threat. Sera knows he will very likely die in there before they reach the interior of the galaxy, but he says she's given him no other choice.



As much fun as this page was to draw, given the widescreen style panels, and dizzying exterior view and final punch close-ups (the close up on Sera in this page reminds me of Liz Phair, whom I was definitely crushing on at the time I drew it), it was definitely a tricky scene to write. I had to come up with something so outrageous, yet believable enough that Sera could consider allowing this seemingly invulnerable creature to remain aboard her ship for even a minute longer. The fission core-as-prison sounds so insane, especially for a vampire, that it gave me quite the satisfying shiver. AND it sets up a great visual if she decides to go for it.

So tune in next Monday to find out!

Forsaken Stars Monday, November 16, 2009

Issue 1, Page 17
Azzi relents under Captain Sera Besh's bluff(?) that she's willing to blow up her ship rather than give him passage. He acknowledges her crazy and asks if they might retreat to more comfortable surroundings and have a civil discussion, but Sera simply wants him off her ship. Azzi asks for his ring back, but she pockets it.

So I thought I'd offer quick page summaries here on the blog, and follow them up with whatever commentary might be appropriate to the given visuals. Hopefully this should make the blog more valuable to you, Dear Reader, and further motivate me to actually keep up with the blog side of things and not let it slide until something momentous happens.

Of course, I did write this issue about eight years ago, and began illustrating it not too soon after that, so I may be a little hazy on the why's, how's and wherefor's. Still, the second half of this issue is only about four years old, so it shouldn't be too tough, right?

I do remember having a tough time with the backgrounds on this page. Perspective and landscapes are my weakest areas--it's why I didn't become a comic book artist fifteen, even ten years ago. But I thoroughly enjoyed writing the first encounter between the 1000s year old cultured vampire and the ballsy, street-tough 19-ish year old girl space captain. And how frustrating it is for him to not get his way, despite all his powers of manipulation and self-imposed humility.

New Stuff!

Lot's of stuff going on!

I jammed on a Ladies of Forsaken Stars wallpaper, you can download it at http://robsojourn.deviantart.com/

Got myself a twitter, follow me at http://twitter.com/ForsakenStars

And currently I'm knee-deep in a commission for a company that's opening a computer store for kids, with the deadline being Wednesday! (The Grand Opening is Thursday.) So I'm using quick-drying acrylics, and let me tell you, it's not the easiest medium to work with. Here is a shot of the warm-up piece, the HP head:



This is 11"x14" and the final will be a 24"x48" skyline. Wish me luck!

New Kickass Banner!

This one has been in my head since I thought about turning Forsaken Stars into a webcomic. Had to have the lensflare!

New Dimension

There's going to be an added dimension to the second issue: light washes. This gives the art texture and depth, and more contrast. The downside is that it takes significantly longer to finish a single page. So I may try and find a happy medium for future issues, maybe the occassional wash for emphasis. What do you guys think? Here's a sneak peek at one of the finished pages:

New Sexy Banner

So I'm gearing up to market Forsaken Stars to build a readership. There is a requirement of a minimum of 20 comics in the archive before I can pitch/pimp my comic on the Comic Genesis forums themselves. So far twelve pages have been uploaded, and the rest of the first issue will be parceled out through the first part of December.

So until I can pitch within the CG community, I figure I should be pimping it everywhere else. In the real world I'll be passing out cards and flyers, and on the interweb, I'll be whipping up banners of varying sizes and themes and posting them to various comic sites. Hopefully my nearest and dearest friends won't get sick of me talking it up during this 'press junket.'

In reading up on 'how to pimp my webcomic,' I've learned sex sells just as good here as anywhere else, so here's the first of many sexy Sera banners: