Here we go...

[Sæglópur]

Well, I have always been bad at any form of loose, or free-form artistic endeavour. I have a background in computer animation but lack any physical skill to bridge the gap between my mind and the screen. I've tried to combat this a few times to varying degrees, but never to any real success. This being said I have noticed that my previous endeavours never came with much in the way of pressure or bursting creativity.

In an attempt to combat this, I have come up with a storyline for a comic that I quite like. You know, super heroes and their ilk. I won't reveal the plotline just yet, but it revolves around a down and out graduate with no real prospects. He comes to find out about his super powers through fairly traumatic means, which I intend to eventually be able to show you all.

Unfortunately the lack of afore mentioned skill is something I am going to have to use time to overcome. An unrelenting swathe of improvement, even on a single panel. I am cheating a little by making the absolute most of the line tool. Which is essentially where my first panel is right now. 6 hours, and 1,000 lines later I currently have the beginnings of an alleyway. Now the real work (AKA freehand) begins.

(04.03.2016)

I'm fairly happy with the perspective of the piece so far, and I suppose becoming overly detailed and perfect would cost me in terms of continual quality. As you have probably noticed, there is a lot missing. Most of these areas will be filled via freehand, if I can pull it off.

(24.03.16)

I've been working on concept art for characters, as it's a big struggle for me. Using a lot of reference images and taking a few hours just to make sure what I design looks relatively human. So, here is Vixen; a character from the comic. The text is totally stolen, but it won't be published at any point so I will use it for the effect.

(24.03.16)

This is a slightly more shoddy version of Vixen. The theory being that she just needs to lose the jacket and leggings when she decides to gear up. Hopefully my ability to draw mouths will improve soon!

(24.03.16)

And one last update for the day, this is Nathan. He is the protagonist, a rather boring individual who's life is irrevocably changed for good or bad. I suppose we'll see!

For the colour of the composition, and the comic in general really; I am going for a gritty semi-realistic approach. How that will affect the drawing of the characters, I am not yet certain and believe that it will be my biggest challenge.

If anybody has any suggestions or tutorials on helping my skills grow (especially with character design and posing), it would be great to see them!
Thanks.

[Raymond]

I'm not the most artistic person, but the perspective in that image looks really nice. I'm not sure if you've seen this show, but it reminds me of something I would see from Ghost in the Shell.

It's nice to have goals, especially when those goals are set above you're skill level. That's how you improve. I think you're off to a good start and it seems like you have a good mind set. I'm not someone who can really give you advice on drawing, I just thought I would give you some encouragement to continue with this. If you do end up finishing this comic, remember to post it here so we can check it out. :)

[Vito]

Shit, the detail is awesome.

[Sæglópur]

Hey, thanks guys. Progress is slow, but steady. Real life has a knack for getting in the way when you're intent on completing personal projects.

I've been working on concept art for characters, as it's a big struggle for me. Using a lot of reference images and taking a few hours just to make sure what I design looks relatively human. So, here is Vixen; a character from the comic. The text is totally stolen, but it won't be published at any point so I will use it for the effect.

(24.03.16)

This is a slightly more shoddy version of Vixen. The theory being that she just needs to lose the jacket and leggings when she decides to gear up. Hopefully my ability to draw mouths will improve soon!

(24.03.16)

And one last update for the day, this is Nathan. He is the protagonist, a rather boring individual who's life is irrevocably changed for good or bad. I suppose we'll see!

(24.03.16)

[Sæglópur]

I guess no body found my last post that interesting. Makes sense, I have poor character art. I've been working on a lot of the 'behind the scenes' work. This includes expanding the story far beyond where I will ever be able to get to in this project. But one of the more important parts is getting the panel structure sorted out for the volume. I'm looking for around 60-80 pages all in all. This will allow for a lot of story, but also seems like a manageable task with enough effort put in.

I have the first twenty or so pages with a complete storyboard and panel layout. Stick figure drawings to make things simple. And so I have set to work on creation. Today I thought I would share my current progress on the first page of the book. It's rather incomplete but should show that I am indeed working on the project.

(22.04.16)

• Panel 1: Text. 'Sometimes, I don't know why I try.'
  'It all just ends up in failure.'
• Panel 2: Close up of Nathan facing a mirror in the bathroom stall of Lithco Industries, fiddling with his tie.
• Panel 3: Text. 'Look at me.'
  'I just bombed another interview.'
• Panel 4: Nathan's tie hangs from his hand, with the two top buttons of his shirt undone.
• Panel 5: Exterior shot of Lithco Industries. It's evening. Nathan is walking away from the building, tie in hand.
  Speech bubble: "At least I don't live too far from here..."

As I say, it's a little rough around the edges. But I will continue to spend time to improve the work, whilst utilising Photoshop's powerful tools to hopefully add a shine to my display. This will include adding light sources etc. to make the shading more realistic, reworking line art and adding to it where needed.

[Raymond]

I can't say much about the story since there isn't that much of it yet, but the picture of the building looks nice. I think the outline on the bushes that line the walkway might be a little too dark though.

[Sæglópur]

I'm a little wary about posting the storyline, but I think I might work on a synopsis and see if I can put it in the first post. I suppose it would help people visualise what I am doing!