Deep Dive of recent developments!

I thought it was time for a bigger update with more details on what's going on with the project and me as a person and all that! 

I will try to do this more often in the future too to enforce that this is meant to be the main place for info and art related to the project.

So let's make a little deep dive into my artistic brain and tell you a bit more about recent developments!

First of all, let's peak behind the curtain of how I do comic pages, shall we?
Here's a WIP of the last comic page. I did a lot of colour tests until I found ones the page has now. Yan Lin once had a yellow/golden cloak but that seemed a bit too much and here we have a symphony in blue - which just was too much blue for my taste. As most of you know, this is a learning project for me and while I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this medium, every page holds something I haven't tried before. An example: I have never drawn an elderly person before. Tibor was number one and Yan Lin here is number two. Also I've never really drawn crystals which you might notice on one or two of the buggers because I messed up the physics but hey! Learning process, right? The biggest challenge with this one was to find an overall concept for the page that would carry the idea of a vision without me having to spell it out in a text box. I had many different concepts in mind. Some I threw away because they included difficult angles that I simply didn't feel ready to draw. For example: diagonally from above, which causes everything to distort in a complicated way. Looks fancy if you get it right but it's soooooo hard to figure out when drawing!!! The next comic page (still in good progress) on the other hand is challenging because of the lighting and also dynamics. Meaning people move, fall, jump, things like that which means their hair and clothing needs to respond in a way that somewhat seems to make sense physically. I want it to look cool but also convincing. It doesn't have to be completely accurate of course but convincing enough that it doesn't jump into the eye while reading. That has always been my goal: Create a smooth and constant reading experience. Though technically I take too much time between pages to make it super constant but... you get the idea.

In general I feel like I'm at a very important point in the project. Why now?

1. I have a functioning process now that I simply repeat when I start a new page. This just means that I figured out the basic "how to do comics" and the page creation comes to me more easily and I'm also more happy with the end results
2. The plot is starting to unfold: We're at a turning point in the story, leaving the introduction and heading straight into the actual adventure and a little foreshadowing where this is all going. Biggest reveal is that of the new main villain for the Arc.
3. The plot is almost finalised. I did tell you in an earlier post that I'm still working out the details and cutting parts to find the final scope and form of this project and I am proud to say that I have almost finished. It is a rather complicated and long creative process but now it just feels like the pieces are falling into place and while the scope is still relatively challenging with multiple issues, it's a lot more realistic for me and I am trying to come up with ways to make every issue, every page count and contribute to this big vision of the project.
4. Finally I've decided to take some vacation days here and there from work so I can work on a teaser. Yes. Meaning video. I wanted to go all in and do animation but... daaaaaamn that's a whole new level! I would go back to 0 with that! So maybe another time. But it's still going to be exciting since I'll show you a little glimpse of the end of this arc, where all of this might be heading. Showing you a few new faces like the one of the new villain along with some other darker characters, the new transformation of the girls, and of course some snaps of characters we love that will return like Elyon and Orube in their new roles and designs. All in all I hope this to be an outlook on what's to come that will get you as hyped as I am about this project! I'm working my way backwards through the teaser, meaning I'm starting with the last three screens which are almost done now and then work my way backwards through the content which leaves me the option to stop at any time and still have the most important bits to make a smaller teaser for example. 

So yeah! A lot is happening for me right now and after... I think three years since I had the very first idea of this project, it finally feels... whole, like it's getting the final and beautiful shape that I'm going to make official with the teaser. Which is why I'm working so hard to get everything right! It will be awesome!!!

On a more private note: I'm engaged! WHEEE!!! Needless to say that with Covid still around we're not really planning anything related to the wedding just yet but... we're just a little step closer to it and just a little more official as a couple now. Plus we have awesome and romantic engagement bracelets! YEAH!

As stated earlier: I will try to do more frequent and more indepth updates from now on so you guys have something interesting to read. As always, if you'd like to get in touch just leave me a comment, guest book entry, reach out on DA or Insta or just write me an email. I love to get and keep in touch with you guys.