Hello all, just a quick update today as, again, it’s quite late as I’ve not been sleeping so well this week and so haven’t been sticking to schedules as well I can. The good news is that my disrupted sleeping pattern isn’t the result of negative thoughts; It’s excitement and apprehension. Hopefully more on that later, but for now, enjoy today’s Elf Blood! Still can’t believe it’s been three years. Still can’t believe I thought I was a good artist when I started 😛
Guess what! Elf Blood is THREE YEARS OLD this week! How awesome is that? It’s not been an easy journey, and there’s been a hell of a lot of learning along the way, but damn if it hasn’t been fun!
I never thought, when I started, that I’d still be as passionate about the comic as I was at the beginning, that I would’ve improved so much as a writer and an artist, and that I would be entertaining hundreds, thousands of people from all around the world. Elf Blood isn’t just a comic to me: It’s allowed me to prove that I can do comics, and inspired me with the confidence and discipline to create print comics, currently standing at one published and one graphic novel halfway-done.
Morning all! It’s been a good few days; I’m sure a number of you know or have realised that I’ve begun therapy to help me through my depression and anxiety issues (don’t worry, they’re not fixing the crazy), and I feel that it’s starting to pay off. One exercise in particular I find is helping is reclaiming the confidence I felt when I was performing on stage, and redirecting it to other parts of my life.
I guess that’s something that’s always confused me about myself; How was it possible that the same guy who could sing in front of hundreds of people had such difficulty in more intimiate social situations? That someone who could address crowds would shy away from groups of people, always existing, often intentionally, on the outskirts of many social circles.
Here’s the thing: Online dating is supposed to help people who aren’t necessarily the outgoing type, or those who can’t spend much time going out to bars, hobby clubs and the like. It’s supposed to be a place where you can look up like-minded people, and chat with them about things you have in common to decide if you want to meet up.
What they DON’T tell you beforehand, is exactly how soul-destroying and energy-sapping the whole affair is. Okay, granted, I’m extrapolating data based on my own experience, but from what I gather mine is a relatively common experience. One where you try and get into the spirit of things, to actively look for ladies with similar personalities and interests and send them messages that do their best to engage them in conversation on common ground.
Hello all, just a brief blog-thing update today as I’m very very tired while I prepost this, having been delayed by an anxiety attack. I’m fine now, but I should probably go to bed and get some rest. I find I feel better when I’ve had a good night’s sleep.
Anyway, I’d like to say thanks to all of you for really taking an interest in Monday’s storyline and having a civilised discussion about the topics it addresses without it devolving into a flamewar. Not that I thought that would happen, certainly not here: I like to think Elf Blood readers are a cut above, and thus far your behaviour shines!
This page was actually quite difficult to do: Not so much because of the content, but because I had to scrutinize every single detail of the art to make sure I was giving the moment the right amount of gravity. One off-model character, one goofy expression, one inappropriate sound effect, and the scene transforms from a traumatic explosion of aggression to a narm-tastic trivialisation of a threat faced by far too many.
It was particularly difficult to get the characters’ expressions right. the most-straightforward was probably Shanna in panel 6, mostly because her face is mostly covered by her hand and her eye just needed to be wide-open in shock. Fliss’ expression in panel 5 was by and far the most difficult one I’ve ever had to compose. The face is a hugely versatile and complex social tool, and even the subtlest modification in the positioning of any of those features can completely change the emotion that we’re representing. In this panel, I wanted to show not just shock, but also physical pain, sadness, fear and betrayal. I can’t tell you how many revisions I made to the pencils on that panel, because nothing I was drawing seemed to do the trick. Eventually, I had to give up and move on to complete the rest of the page before coming back to it and experimenting more until I finally found the combination I felt conveyed how Fliss felt following this unprovoked assault.
Ahoy thar all, as it’s now pushing 2AM as I pre-post this page, instead of trying to philosophize or get riled up about something, I’m going to share one of my recipes with you! If you try it, let me know how it goes 😀 It’s one of my favourites.
Chorizo Stew
Ingredients:
1x Ring Chorizo
1x Can Chopped Tomatoes
1 Can Butterbeans
1x Large White Onion
1/2 Halloumi Cheese
1/2 doz Chestnut Mushrooms
1x Beef Stock Cube (Or equivalent stock: 500ml worth)
1x small green chilli
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
Salt & Pepper for seasoning
*sniffle*
Well, I finally figured out why I’ve been so fatigued this last week, it turns out I’m just coming down with a cold and not anhedonia just seizing my life. Thanks to the impending Dr. Lola for pointing it out, even though I didn’t figure that I was actually a bit ill until a good week or so later 😛
Anyways, in other (more interesting and important) news, I’ve drawn up the outline of Book #2 in my Memecasters series! Which reminds me, I really must look into selling them online, so that you guys can get your hands on a copy of #1. Memecasters, as I haven’t plugged it in a while now, is a sci-fi comic about a group of uni mates clubbing together to use their skills in manipulating peoples’ perceptions to fix problems plaguing the campus population. It’s funny, it’s quirky, and it’s chock-full of post-cyberpunk awesomeness!
Hullo all, hope you’re doing well! Ah, it’s the weekend again, and everything is groovy; I’m picking up pace with Lemon Candies again, and I’ve finally managed to get down a start to my novel that I’m happy with. Only took me eight friggin tries! Now all I need to do is conquer this chronic singleness and everything will be sunshine and rainbows! That’s what happens when you get in a relationship, right?
*cough* Anyhoo, when I’ve not been exploring Pandora in the new DLC scenario for Borderlands 2 (which is well worth a look), I’ve been playing UFO: Enemy Unknown. Words cannot express how freakin awesome (and, at times, INTENSELY FRUSTRATING) this game is.
It suddenly strikes me, that the main disadvantage for somebody at my intermediate art level in working on long graphic novels over a period of time is that, inevitably, your art improves and your style may change. While this is inarguably a good thing, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that it introduces an element of inconsistency to your work. These differences may actually only be very small, and they may go unnoticed by others, but dammit if they don’t just sit and glare at you from the page.
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