Issue 12, page 10

Page ten is all sketched. Yay! I'm loving this 'leave the sketch rough and use the first ink pass as a clean sketch' method. Though I may need to find a shorter name for the process.



Lettering will begin in a bit. I need to have some lunch first. My wrist is acting up, so I want to be sure to take some aspirin. Not to mention, grilled cheese and tomato soup sounds really good right now.

edit: Lettering done. Wrist is getting worse, so I'm going to go ice it for a bit. Inking later this evening, maybe.


"There has never been a great athlete who died not knowing what pain is."
-- Bill Bradley

Issue 12, page 9

Another sketch down, this one for page nine of Issue 12. Moraine's not bothered by much, apparently. Ash and Samson, on the other hand, are not so sure.

I don't know why Winter is so snippy. She just seems like she'd be the more aggressive and confrontational of the two Fey Queens.




"Let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but at the same time, let them feel the steadiness of your resentment."
-- Lord Chesterfield

From Issue 12

We're going to try something new. Once an issue, I'll post a finished page as a little sneak peek.

Here's the finished page eight from Issue 12. As I said last Friday, I don't do dynamic poses too often. As a result, I'm rusty and not too confident. I should really do them more often to get a bit of practice in. Luckily, there'll be a few more opportunities in Issues 12 and 13 for that.



As to why it took so long to finish this up (the rough was done up Friday, after all)... I've gotten into the habit of having my weekends off. Lettering, inking, and toning were all done yesterday. And yes, I stayed up way too late. I got caught up in inking. Which, when you think about it, isn't really a bad thing. It does make you tired the next day, though.


"My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that, 'achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that's nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.' "
-- Helen Hayes

Issue 12, page 8

Another page sketched. I get to draw the Fey Queens and Moraine for the next two pages. Snippy dialog and ice magic ahoy!

I'm actually kind of happy with how the fourth panel's turning out so far. CN:H is such a quiet, political-type series for the most part. Making things look dynamic isn't really in my comfort zone.




"Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid of you at that very moment."
-- Andre Maurois

Issue 12, page 7 (inks)

I know the top panel of this page doesn't look complicated and impressive but, for some reason, it was still a bear to ink. I'm finally in the groove to ink today and it's evening time. I hate when that happens. I work better at night sometimes.



I'm trying something new with inking - eliminating the clean sketch step and doing a soft, smooth first pass at inking with the page at 50% size. It seems to be working so far.

I love Prince Matthew's lion doll. So cute!


"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
-- Voltaire

Issue 12, page 7

After being sick and taking a week and a half off from drawing, I'm finally getting back to work on Issue 12. Thank goodness. Time off is nice, but all I keep thinking about is the pages I could have gotten done. Antsy, antsy.

For now, here's a screencap of the rough sketch for page 7.



Now that that's done, I can eat lunch. Clean-up and lettering this afternoon.


"I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect."
-- George Carlin

MFF and the con situation

I'm still getting over being sick, but I'm becoming a little antsy from not being able to work on CN:H this last week. Hopefully I can get a bit of sketching done today. Which, will be nice.

Midwest Furfest is coming up next weekend - November 19-21. No, I'm afraid we won't be heading out. There was a slight kerfuffle with scheduling that knocked it out this year. My parents made plans earlier this spring to visit us in September. Because of that, we decided to skip MFF this time. Why? Two reasons. One - Matt only has so much vacation time available each year and he planned on taking time off while my parents were down. And two - MFF is only four hours from my folks. So, the last two years we've been spending the week after MFF in Iowa with my parents. Since they were coming out this year, they told us not to worry about visiting them in November. It made sense, so we picked up Baltimore Comic Con instead.

Unfortunately, something came up and their trip was canceled. And, by that time, the dealer's tables for MFF were filled. C'est la vie. While my parents are making plans to come out next year, they're looking at sometime in the spring. Which means, MFF is on our roster for next year.

I'm sure some people are wondering why not go to MFF anyway. The reason being is cost. Cons are fun, yes. And MFF has been a blast the last two years. But again, I'm running a business. And, because the business doesn't pay me that much at the moment - the lion's share of the profits go to keep RCSI running and upcoming projects printing - I don't have much to spare personally. I haven't taken a paycheck since September due to the Supporters area not updating. I'm still working on pages, but I'm not taking a check. That's how small business works at times. So, while fun, I should remain at home this year.

For everyone who's going, I just want to say have a great time and a safe trip! Also, please remember to thank the con staff. They put in a lot of hard work to ensure you have a fun weekend. And a lot of time, their work goes overlooked. So, give them a thanks if you can. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Thanks, guys!


"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
-- John Lennon

New RCSI imprint

Matt and I were planning to change the company name to something else - since RCSI can be a little confusing to pronounce. But, the more we thought about it, the less it seemed like a good plan. We've been doing CN:H under RCSI Publishing for a while now and changing it just - strange as it sounds - feels wrong.

Still, the logo needed a slight face lift. While the original version looks nice at full size, it's too hard to make out quickly as an imprint. So, here's the new version...



Yes, it's simple. But, that's what you need for an imprint. The colors can be adjusted for each cover.

This was the logo idea for the new name. I still like it but, as I said, changing the name from RCSI Publishing just doesn't feel right. And I don't know about Matt, but I'm superstitious enough to follow my hunches. It's worked out well for us so far.



On the comic front, this last week has been a wash. Between being sick and just constantly exhausted for some reason, I haven't gotten any drawing done. I was looking forward to starting up again today, but the muscles in my right forearm down to my wrist keep twitching violently. I must have slept on that arm wrong. Looks like today will be a light sketching day with the heating pad nearby. Damn body.


"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is."
-- Ellen DeGeneres

From the morgue - 'The Art of Top Cow'

I've been picking up random books about comics lately. Stuff about the careers of various people in the industry, as well as art books. Not 'draw this line here and construct a face this way' instruction books. No, more just me looking for insight into what other people have done.

I'm not interested in reviewing books because, to be honest, there are others out there who are much better at it than I am. Seriously. Still, I'd like to mention a few now and then, just to say, 'hey, these great resources are out there.'

So, for starters, there's this book I picked up last month called The Art of Top Cow. Aside from 'The Magdalena' comic, I've never read anything published by Top Cow before. But, this book was sitting in the comic shop in the discount area and the art was too gorgeous to pass up.

The book itself is quite large, over 300 pages of full page, full color art. There are next to no words, however. Just little type in the margins mentioning what issue the cover is from. So, no interviews or words from the artists here. Which, is a little sad. Those are always a nice touch. I'd also have loved to see more of the work in sketch form for comparison, but that's just me.

Have I found it useful: Actually, yes. I'm really interested in seeing what others do when it comes to covers. I can't seem to come up with solid, eye-catching covers to save my life. I've had a few decent ones, but most fall flat of what I want. (I'm beginning to understand why a number of comics have an interior artist and a different cover artist.) It's been a good source for sparking ideas, as well as discovering new methods I like... such as how one guy draws flowing hair or how another shows movement in a cape.

It's a bit pricey - most of these art books are for some reason. The cover price is around $35, though if you look around, you should be able to find a copy for a little less. I got mine for around $13, so check your local shops and see what you can find. It's been out for a year or so now and it probably wasn't that big of a seller. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.


"Try to be inspired by something every day. Try to inspire at least one person every day."
-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Three queens

It is so late - or is that early? I'm not sure. All I know is, I'm tired. But, Issue 12, page six is finished. I'm quite pleased with how it came out. Here's the page without the lettering.



Okay, I need to get some sleep. It's after 2:00am here. Night all.


"No one is worthy of a good home here or in heaven that is not willing to be in peril for a good cause."
-- John Mason Brown

Fake Kirby Krackle (inks)

I've spent the day inking Issue 12, page six and I've got about half of it done. At the moment I'm trying to do a sort of fake Kirby Krackle for the magic. The magic smoke I usually try is nice, but a pain in the neck to ink. I've been seeing the Kirby Krackle in some of the books I'm reading and kind of like it. So, I thought I'd give something like that a try.



It still needs some work, but it's a start.

Well, back to inking.


"Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it."
-- Confucius

Issue 12, page 6

It took a while, but I finally pegged down a layout for this page that works. These free-flow, panel-less pages are nice now and then, but I'm starting to get burned out on them. Thank goodness this one should be the last for a while.



As I've said before, I don't have any schooling in doing comics, just the little bit I've picked up from books. As a result, layouts are difficult for me to figure out at times.

Inking tomorrow. For now, I'm taking the night off. Later.


"The first principle of ethical power is purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention - something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself - the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead."
-- Ken Blanchard

Max and Vicky

I was browsing around the net this morning when I found Max refered to as a gynophobe - a person who has feelings of fear or contempt for women - because of the old 2003-2004 comic pages.

It's funny at times the conclusions people jump to. What do I mean? Let me give you a little hint at what's going on behind all this.

You see, first off, the old 2003-2004 version of the comic is not canon with the current comic. It's being posted online to show how much my work has (hopefully) improved, as well as to offer a little something extra each week. They are not flashbacks, just old work. So please, don't take it as the definitive background of Max and Ruby. Otherwise, you may get confused. There was a final reworking of the series between the ending of the old 2003-2004 version and the current version which started in 2005. Pennyworth is no longer a bird, for one thing.

Secondly, Matt and I were still learning how to do a comic at that point and hadn't figured out things like dialog, pacing, and flow yet. I'm still working on those, to tell the truth. The end result... Max was suppose to come across as being slightly uneasy around women, not having a hatred of them. So, a lot of the problem was clumsiness on our parts.

The truth about Max is, he doesn't trust many women. He doesn't trust many people, period. There's a reason for that, which will come out in the current version of the comic. It goes back to Vicky. You remember Vicky, right? She was mentioned in the early pages of "First Encounter" - http://www.codenamehunter.com/archive/comic/2007/02/19 - and briefly in Issue 8 - http://www.codenamehunter.com/archive/comic/2010/02/15 and http://www.codenamehunter.com/archive/comic/2010/02/22.

As I said way back when "First Encounter" was done, Vicky Meins is not a nice person. You'll learn what I mean in Volume III. Let's just say if you think men are the only ones who engage in "drink spiking", you're sadly mistaken.

A big part of me wants to spend the day sketching the dialog where Max tells Ruby about what happened between him, Vicky, and Brad. But, I do have other work to do and that's not planned to happen for a few issues yet. I wish I could just pull the pages, fully formed from my head now and then. It'd be a lot quicker, that's for sure.


"The craftiest trickery is too short and ragged a cloak to cover a bad heart."
-- Johann Kaspar Lavater