Month: February 2023

Almost the end of the month, and the schedule finally slipped out from under me. No worries, I’ll have it realigned before I take a break.

Yeah, I’m officially running out of steam, but that’s okay; the plan was to take a break from the comics during March, so after I get the last two done for the month, I’ll be doing just that. I don’t know if I’ll upload them on the correct days (tomorrow’s one may only be up by Saturday), but the story will wrap up before February ends. Honestly though, at the rate I’m going, I might extend my break through April as well; it’s a long time to step away from the comics, but it would give my intended social media campaign a bit longer to gain momentum. Plus, there’s a different piece I might work on alongside it at the same time…

At the end of April, Comic Con Cape Town is finally happening, properly this time; I’m naturally going to be there all four days. In the past, I’ve often attended as part of the Artist Alley, but like the last Comic Con Africa, I’ll instead be behind my fiance’s table in The Block, selling dice at The Dragon Wagon.

(By the way, if you’re local and want some cool RPG dice, check out thedragonwagon.co.za, order now, beat the rush!)

I’m obviously happy to be a part of her business, though I do miss having my own table. Not that I ever really turned much of a profit from the last few Artist Alley’s I attended; I’ve never been on the kind of level where I stand out compared to other artists, and buying full comics over art prints is often not in most people’s budgets, not to mention the printing costs. That said, I will be bringing a bit of my artwork along; I had a bunch of postcard prints that I sold through The Dragon Wagon at the last convention that a lot of people seemed to like (by virtue of the fact that they sold out!), and part of my March project is getting more of those done. In addition, there is a little something else I want to work on, for a bit of networking and advertising: my own promotional ashcan zine.

Ashcan comics are great little nuggets that get handed out, often for free, at conventions; they’re usually no more than a few pages with a little bit of artwork, promotional material for artists about their current projects. I’d like to get one of my own done, something that I can pass on to the other tables and anyone who happens to walk by, advertising this website and getting my readership up. In tandem with the social media campaign, it might be helpful in getting a bigger spotlight on Fifth Ace Comics, and allowing me to implement new things. On the other hand, I’m going to need time to get the zine ready, and that may include April as part of it; if need be, I can always upload the zine pages on the website, since they will be canon with the rest of the Showcase. I’m thinking of it as an origins issue, something that introduces the characters of Apex City, and a brief narrative describing their abilities and where they come from; nothing that can’t be figured out from context, but neat and encapsulated in print form.

Still, got to finish up February’s stuff first; if I need the longer break, I need the longer break, and the only person busting my butt over it is me.

Ciao for now.

Schedule is slipping, but not falling through, so that’s still something.

Yes, granted, there was no Magic Beans this week, but if I’m going to let something slip between the cracks, it could be a lot worse. I never thought my social life would be well-developed enough to the point that I would actually be missing out on “work” in some form; the Showcase pages have been delayed in production, but were still uploaded day-of, and I’ve got a good feeling that I can still keep the schedule on track for the rest of the month. The inverters at the day job are more or less online at this point, so instead of two-hour set intervals of working on my laptop battery, I can now use my laptop while plugged in, albeit in short bursts whenever I get a free moment. I won’t say it’s just as efficient; I’ll make it function as I need to.

Given that there are times when I cannot work on artwork directly, I’ve also been looking at my writing a bit more. Most of my comic scripts are very free-flowing; I prefer using the Marvel Method when it comes to my own work. It’s a lot quicker to plot out a 12 page comic with simple descriptions and thumbnails, and then working out the exact details as the pages are completed. This can sometimes lead to being written into a corner, but that’s less of an issue with shorter stories, and because I’m not collaborating with anyone but myself, there’s no chance of mis-interpretations. That being said, for longer scripts, having a more comprehensive breakdown is a lot more helpful; yes, I am indeed working on a longer script.

So far, through the Fifth Ace Showcase, I’ve been introducing characters and hinting at a larger mythology in my superhero universe, though the short story format doesn’t leave a lot of room for character and/or plot development. That’s because the Showcase is exactly that: a showcase, displaying all the little pieces that are going to be used in a much grander design. Not all the pieces involved in that design are going to appear in the Showcase, and there’s a chance that not all of the ones displayed will last; such is the nature of the beast. The longer script that I’m developing is going to be the official “main” storyline of my universe, intended to be an ongoing series featuring my characters teaming up and taking on the world together. I had the basic outline for the first issue done almost a year ago, and now that the Showcase has had some development, it’s almost time to get the ongoing story started in earnest. Naturally, this is going to take a LOT of work…

I have NO idea when I’m going to find the time for my longer stories, while still maintaining the Showcase and Magic Beans, and also working a day job. The ongoing series might only manifest several months down the line, or more than a year from now, but it is most definitely coming. A large, ongoing, ever-evolving universe of stories has always been the goal of this project, and that’s not something that just happens overnight. These things take time, effort, energy; all things I have in limited supply, and I accept that fact. No matter how long it takes, or what form it eventually takes, this project will continue through stumbles, burnouts, hiatuses and whatever else comes. And I can only hope it will be entertaining.

Ciao for now.

When does relaxation become an obligation?

When does the thing we do for fun, that we use to unwind and put ourselves out of the real world for a while, become something that we are obligated to do, no questions asked? Is it still relaxation at that point? Are we still gleaning fun from it, if it is something that we are forced to do? Does it lessen the experience, or make it any more or less important that it be done?

For the record, I’m not questioning whether or not I’m still having fun with this website and my artwork in general; I’m absolutely still enjoying it and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. But in a sense, it does relate to what I’m thinking about. I’ve set myself an upload schedule, and I get disappointed when I deviate from it, and sometimes the artwork doesn’t flow the way it should when I need it to. This can very easily sap the joy out of creating, and this craft that I love can seem like a chore. Yet after it all, I’m still here doing it; it remains relevant, because my upload schedule may be disrupted soon due to a bunch of social obligations that are the real focus of this philosophical musing.

As I’ve mentioned before, my primary hobby outside of art is role-playing games; I got into Dungeons and Dragons several years ago, and have since become the de facto Dungeon Master for my friends, and I’ve made many new friends through the hobby. I enjoy the creativity, the collaborative narrative, the improvisational nature of the storytelling; it’s my no-holds-barred creative downtime activity. However, I was slated for no fewer than three evening D&D games from tonight through Sunday, each one different from the last; in tonight’s game, I would get to be a player instead of DM, Friday’s game is a paid gig, and Sunday night is me running for a group of friends. Naturally, this may set my artwork back a touch (I’ll still be uploading; tomorrow’s page is done, though Monday’s might be late), but I don’t mind so much because I enjoy playing the game. That said, the motivation levels for each of those groups is variable.

Sunday is a long-running game that we’ve recently returned to, so I’m happy to be back at it; it’s a fun time, the players are great, etc. I’m getting paid for Friday’s game, so by default I’m obligated to be there, but I’m okay with that, because the vibe is still good. Tonight, on the other hand, where I have the least responsibility, somehow feels the most mandatory of the lot; due to some bizarre rules that were supposedly in place before we started, there are certain people in the group that make it feel like missing the game is a criminal offence. Now, I hate missing out on a session as much as the next person, but the last time we cancelled on this group was due to some very real health concerns, and we didn’t want to progress with half a group; we were still made to feel like the guilty party for backing out. It sparked some rather nasty passive aggressive arguing, and we all agreed to let it go, but it was still enough for me to jump on any excuse to worm my way out of going tonight. I didn’t do so because I’d get more free time (as nice as that would have been), rather because a Shakespeare play of all things, sounded more appealing.

So in comparison, the game that I’m the most obligated to be at feels like the freshest thing on the menu, while the one where I have the least responsibilities feels like the leftover sandwich that’s been in the back of the fridge for several weeks. I guess that means that a hobby only starts to feel like a chore if it is actively treated like one. I may have an update schedule for my artwork, but if it slips, I am the authority that can give myself some slack; I may be paid to run a D&D game, but if I have to cancel, I know that the people involved will understand. It’s when someone else tries to put the yoke on me, someone seemingly less understanding and more entitled, that they cause the thing I would normally enjoy to become a thankless task. It’s probably why day jobs feel so exhausting, and why so many kids hate school; having the power and agency to decide when and how you have fun is what makes it fun in the first place.

Guess this means I should keep a close eye on games in the future; if this Thursday group is still as tense as I suspect it might be, it may be worth cutting that thread completely. There are less toxic ways I could be spending my free time, like say, getting more comics done.

Ciao for now.

The smouldering continues, but the fire is still alive; not burning out this time!

Won’t lie, it took some proper downtime this past weekend, but I was able to avoid burning myself out; I was incapacitated for most of Saturday, spending the morning in bed, while rounding out the day by running D&D, and getting my creative mindset back on track. I felt right in doing so by having the remaining pages of January’s Showcase story completed ahead of time, thus keeping the schedule running at least until after the weekend. 

It feels good to be a page or two ahead; by the time of this being posted, I have finished tomorrow’’s page and next Monday’s one as well. There’s an important birthday this weekend, so I’m going to need Saturday free once more, but no other major social obligations are on the table until next week, so I’ll have plenty of time to get more pages done. Also, luckily for my personal productivity, the inverters that were supposedly installed at the day job continue to be non-functional; unfortunate for the office, incredibly helpful to me in getting stuff done. 

Having that little extra wiggle room allows me to be more experimental in my artwork, trying new things and improving on what I’ve done in the past. Last month, I was focusing primarily on lighting techniques, which I am carrying over into February’s story; even from the first page, I’m already pleased with the subtle improvements that it has brought, adding that little extra depth and pop that wouldn’t be there otherwise. This month, I’m focusing on perspective and panel layout; my figure work has been satisfactory for a long time, now I’m going to get my backgrounds up to snuff. My continued experiments with art programs have yielded some fun results; the perspective ruler tools in Clip Studio have been a joy to work with, and you’ll be seeing the benefits of them from the very next Showcase page.

As far as panel layouts go, I’ve been told in the past that I have a good eye for flow and continuity in my storyboarding, but I have noticed that I tended to stick to the grid format a little too rigidly in the past. I’ve been attempting to loosen up my panels a bit more in recent pages, and now with February’s story, I want to go a little more wild. The setting and imagery is meant to be really trippy and weird, and I’d like the panel flow to reflect that; it’s going to be a fun challenge getting everything to look coherent while still giving it a surreal vibe.

All this to say: I am really excited about my own artwork right now, more than I have been for some time. I’m excited to be trying new things, I’m excited for the stuff I’ll be doing in the March hiatus, and I’m excited for the stories to come afterwards.

Plus, if I can pull far enough ahead, and my social media boost functions the way I hope it will, I may even be ready for the next stage of Fifth Ace Comics; keep a close eye out later this year…

Ciao for now.