Final

Here is the completed final inks
of the fan girl image. I inked the
wings with a brush... pens bleed
on the rice paper, so I didn't have
a choice. I think it came out ok.

This is the cropped image for the
art walk postcard that we're doing.
The actuall image is on a 10x15
inch piece of rice paper. This is
page 3 of 4. This will be one of
the short stories in Collectanea.

I changed the mp3 player to one
that lets me upload the music I
want from my own collection. So,
check it out, I'm happier with what's
up there now. But, I'm unhappy
with how it crowds the image. I'll
add and change songs periodically.

I'm still looking for the ideal mp3
player, so if you know of one...
tell me about it!

Cover fire

Or just super fucking simple.

Maybe without the Kanji, even.
Simpler still. Take that,Kanji!

Cover up

Or maybe it's all just a dream.

Forgive the crudeness of this,
it's just a mock up of the idea.

I don't know, being in my house
right now is like living on the face
of the sun... I can hardly think.

Covers

Small





















Meduim





















Large

A few variations of the overlooked,
but obvious cover image... I like it
but, the image has nothing to do
with anything in the book... I guess
I could try to give her a short story...
but, I don't know if I want to do that.

Still, I think it's a strong cover, though.
I dunno. This is why I've started the
cover early. Plenty of time to figure it out.

Cover up

I thought I'd throw the logo design
over one of my cover ideas and see
how it worked. I'm putting it up here
so that I can see what it looks like
next to the plain cover... I'm not
against a cover image, I just think
that you should look and see what
everyone else is doing, then do the
opposite. It helps you stand out.

Besides, it's not like I have an editor
that won't let me pull some crazy
shit like this... because it won't sell.

What I like about the plain one is that
the logo is just off the center... here,
it's obviously up at the top, which is
much more conventional... I dunno.
I'm going to let all of this stir around
my brain while I'm on vacation.

What do you like better?

Cover Action!

In retrospect, that last cover is a
little too busy, and I think I'll go
with something like this instead.
Fonts are only place-holders at
this point. I need some new fonts,
but all the good ones cost money.

I'm still entertaining the idea of
putting a drawing or painting on
the cover, you know, something
to set the issues apart aside from
the small number... but damn it if
I don't like it all simple like this.

We'll see.

Take Cover!

Part of me wants to do the
Collectanea cover like this.
(This just being a mock up.)
No drawing, just a lot of text
and texture. More like a book
and designy, instead of being
all comicy... the stories are all
fucking artsy-fartsy, so why
shouldn't the cover be too?

You know, let the stories speak
for themselves. It's not going to
be on a rack in stores, (well, I'll
probably see if my LCS will stock
it, they do that, I believe) I don't
really need it to reach out and
grab your attention, I've already
got that if your're buying it, right?

---------------------------------------------

And, if anyone out there knows of
a good music player widget that I
can upload my own mp3s into, let
me know, eh? I'm not very happy
with the last.fm one at the moment.

Though, I've updated it with some
cool ambient music. Enjoy!

Cover concept

Here's one of the cover ideas
I've been playing with for the
book... the drawing needs a
few adjustments, but you get
the general idea... I'm still
playing with a few other ideas
and I guess whatever comes
out the best is what I'll use.
Maybe I'll use the other images
on later issues... maybe not.

Collectanea?

A little update on where the
fuck the book is at current...

I was working with someone
else on writing Tramonto. His
computer took a big shit, and
I haven't heard from him in...
about a month and a half. So,
between that and deciding to
redo Terminal, the book got a
little delayed. Well, I'm tired of
waiting to see if I hear from him.

So, Tramonto isn't going to be
in the book. It'll probably show
up later... I don't know right now.

This image is a test for the story I
am replacing Tramonto with...

I think this story will fit better with
the tone of the book anyway. Now
it's all weird surreal 'artsy' stories.

Collectanea

I don't know if I'm going to
have the book done by June.

I think the printer is going
to take a while either way...

I think it'll be worth waiting for.
I hope you end up thinking so.

(Also, wow, this image is huge
and I have no idea why... maybe
if blogger was working right.)

Terminal cover

Now for something a little
more classy...

Working on the cover for
the book today. I figured
I'd make the front cover a
Terminal image, as it's the
biggest story in the book.

This is a work in progress.

Still going over possible
titles for the book so I can
stop calling it 'the book'.

Terminal

The title page for Terminal 1.

It's a strange story, but I don't
want to ruin it with details yet.
You should be going in with as
little info as the character in it.

None of it will make sense...

...and none of it should.

Thumbnails

Click to enlarge...

Thumbnails for Terminal 1: Arrival Lobby.
I like to work out the dialog over the thumb
nails. This way I can tell how much room I
have to work with, the general flow of the '
ballons, if they're conductive to the flow of
the art or not, and see the entire thing with
out having to have 12 full pages open at once.

though, I have to remember what changes have
been made from thumbnail to the final pages.

This is only a section of what's taped to my wall
next to the desk... the 'wall of work', if you will.
My constant reminder of how far behind I really
am... fuck.

So, I'll use the last four or so pages of the book
for 'back matter'. As has been suggested, a look
into my process. Like 'special features' on a DVD.

Notes and work

Boy, long time no post eh?

Well, after some shit getting
in the way of everything, I am
finally back! Work work work...

Planning out the now 28 (I think)
page 'personal anthology' comic.
I've posted my notes so you can
see what I've got planned.

Waiting for the second draft of
dialog for Tramonto chapter 1.
Finishing the final page layouts.

Working on dialog for Terminal
1: 'Arrival Lobby'. Finishing the
final page layouts.

Plotting out the untitled story, and
deciding what to do about the last
few pages of the book and the cover...
as well as the still sort of 'secret'
things I'm working on.

It's all very exciting!