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:

Big Doings

It's been awhile since I've posted in here 'cause I've been hard at work setting up the NEW FORSAKEN STARS SITE! YES! Okay, if you go there, you won't find much yet. Turns out getting free hosting has a downside: you've got to create your site from scratch, and that means learning html. You'd think after twenty years at the keyboard I'd have learned something about the magic script that exists behind the hundred-thousand or so sites I've visited since the internet was invented. But what I know could probably fit on the tip of my little finger. Thank God for my college-aged girlfriend, or as I'd like to call Ali, a child of the internet. I read tutorials 'till my eyes bled, and she helped me get through the FTP and then a smidgen of web page design. Hopefully the site will get spruced up in the months to come, at least close to what the site was under the homestead site host and builder. At least that's the dream. My sources told me this was the way to go, and it does look like I've become a part of a very large, wonderfully geeky community. Much thanks to the gang at keenspot and comic genesis.

Today I've been having fun designing banners for the site, now I've got to figure out how to link the web url to the following images:









Oh, if only it were as easy as the linking was on this blog...

About a Page Per Day

The thumbnails are done for issue #2, and considering I started sometime at the end of August, that averages out to about a page per day. And while about half of them are finished pencils, that still leaves a lot of drawing to be done, and I have to admit I will most likely want to ink every page before it's scanned. (I'm thinking of leaving flashbacks in pencil.) Only then will I feel comfortable putting in the word balloons, captions, etc. I sure hope it doesn't take another month to complete this issue. The big comic book publishers like to be at least six issues ahead of the issue they're putting out, and even independents like to be two to three months ahead. So that's where I'm trying to get before I feel like I can relax. Looks like 'personal time' is going to take the hit for awhile, but most of my friends and family are pretty busy themselves these days. But at least I can say I've got a solid visual layout for issue two down!

New Characters and Detailed Thumbnails(?)

The seventh issue will involve some cage fighting, so I figured I should design some fighters. Here are a couple: one a robot meat-grinder, the other an undead hulk.


Don't worry, I'm hard at work on the second issue. So much so that my thumbnails through page ten have become nearly finished pencils! Here's a peek:

I'm also working to find a new home for the comic. Much thanks to everyone who has provided their feedback and encouragement! And for those who haven't, what are you waiting for?