Nurpling
Page six. Click to enlarge. More rambling below the image.
As you're drawing the eight thousandth leaf in a drawing like this, you start to ask yourself what exactly it is that all this detail really gets you. The costs are obvious - the drawing goes more slowly, your wrist hurts, the legibility of the image can even suffer. So why do it?
For one, meaningful detail helps to model form. If you've decided on a "clean" look (and I'm not sure why I decided that, but whatever), you can't fall back on crosshatching or shading to indicate surface contours. Adding detail is a way of showing the lie of a surface. For example, I drew all the seams on the girl's costume. It's not because I have a fondness for seams. It's that, drawn correctly, the seams turn your figure into a wire frame model. The same goes for belts, straps, buckles, shoelaces, and buttons. There are pitfalls -- if you go too dense, you can lose the silhouette. If you draw even the tiniest button at the wrong angle, it will blow everything and make your image look flatter.
It doesn't just work for figures. Panel lines, rivets, and insignia perform the same function on a drawing of a spaceship. All those rocks in the background help to indicate the shape and orientation of the hillside. The place where I suck the most is in the trees. It is very easy to go into automatic mode when you're drawing a giant mass of leaves, and that can lead to disaster -- the orientation of every leaf is important. My plants always go flat. I suspect the solution is to find a shorthand that doesn't require me to draw every leaf. When I finally learn this shorthand, I will punch my past self in the nutsack.
Digital tools can also lure you into absurd situations. Until about twenty years ago, the only way an artist could increase the density of detail was to work larger. Of course, even if you're drawing on a sheet the size of a tablecloth, you always have an intuitive sense of the relationship between the panel and the whole. Not so with zooming. In the bottom-left panel of the page above, I forgot how zoomed-in I was. I actually sweated the orientations of the arrows in the quivers of the army men (those are the little specks marching behind the big hairy speck with a house on its back). When I finally zoomed back out, the panel was just a grey mass, completely unreadable. I had to erase two hours' worth of leaves and redraw them at a larger size. It was heartbreaking. The zoom tool now allows you to draw more detail than is perceptible by anyone who isn't a raptorial bird. This is silliness, and I will try not to make that painful mistake again.
It's not all bad, though. Detail can also have a legitimizing effect on things. You're kind of dressing your drawing up in a tuxedo. Weirdly, I've noticed that as I add detail, the dialogue tends to change. I'm forcing myself to look at the scene as a real place, with real people in it. I gradually fool myself into taking the scene seriously, and hopefully it has the same effect on the reader. Detailing also makes you spend more time with the drawing, which gives you more opportunities to discover and correct flaws.
Geof Darrow once said something about detail being a crutch -- that he used it to mask weaknesses in his drawing. This is typical self-effacing Darrow, and it's not true. That man draws really, really well. But I feel his point. Adding stupid-dense detail might be the easiest way to get applause. People like to see an obvious accumulation of man-hours. This arrangement sometimes makes me feel like some kind of con-man. All I can say is that the drawing doesn't tell me it's done until I've drawn what I've drawn. Maybe I have a bad case of horror vacui.
That said, after spending more than a week on a page, nothing feels nicer than sitting down with a John Porcellino book and taking some deep breaths. A nice, open, white space can be the best thing ever. As I gain confidence, I hope to learn how to do this, as well.
Changing topics. I'm starting to think about how to get this printed. I've talked to a couple of publishers, and they poop their pants (you can hear a little "blert" noise over the phone) when I tell them how slow I'm going. So I guess I have two questions: First, is it at all conceivable that a publisher could be okay with a three- or four-month turnaround between issues? Would readers even wait that long? Second, does anybody have experience with self-publishing? Can I expect a decent level of quality? Is it insane to try to market your own work? Would I spend all my time addressing envelopes? And how much do you think someone might pay for a full-color, 24-page issue?
To sum up, is there some business model that turns all this labor into food on my table?
And please don't say "go faster." That's my wife's job.
Don't worry about single issues. Single issues are a dying breed. Publish on the web, then collect the whole thing into a trade when you're done. It's more cost effective, and you wont have to worry about the slow pace.
ReplyDeleteHi Nate,
ReplyDeleteThought Id offer my 2 cents on this one (as a comic fan/former comic store worker) your work holds up well enough and seems interesting enough that I think you could get away with a long wait between issues and still hold a fanbase, but there will be some who gripe because of it. 3-4 month turnaround is actually not all that bad. Again, I point to Warren Ellis/John Casaday's "Planetary" which is now coming up on 3 YEARS waiting on the final issue #27. Thats obviously an extreme example but another would be Jay Anacleto/Brian Holguin's "Aria" (which has stunningly realistic pencils) that only would do a 2-4 issue miniseries every couple of years because of the time it took to create them... if the arts good, many will come back.
As to your question about pricing... your average comic right now from DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, etc are running between 2.50 and 3.99. I don't know bout anyone else, but I'd happily drop $5 an issue to own your works of art. For that matter, considering the level of detail, I think some cool wall posters would sell well too. But thats just my opinion, not expertise talking.
Well, thats probably about 2 dollars more than my 2 cents, but just thougth I'd throw it out there.
Just got thinking, and decided I should explain. If you want an example of what i mentioned, see Warren Ellis' Freakangels. http://www.freakangels.com I mean, Ellis is a pretty big name in comics, so don't think of publishing on the web as being only for people who can't get published traditionally. It's just that comics are moving away from single issues. Many web comics have much higher readerships than the top selling superhero hero books right now (the top selling books sell maybe 150,000 per issue these days, it drops off dramatically after the top 10ish http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/1850.html while some webcomics pull in more than double that daily. it is rare, granted, but...), and that can translate into trade sales much more easily than single issues will be able to. No matter how good it is, it will sell a couple thousand copies per issue. If you're lucky. If you want some more immediate income, you can put ads on the site, ask for donations, or sell merchandise until you have enough pages for a trade. But single issues are extremely risky, especially with a long turnaround between issues, from a new writer/artist. Web based trades sell less *per month* than single issues, but they make up for it in longevity. They keep selling month after month, and it costs less per page to have them printed.
ReplyDeleteWords of wisdom, dude! I've been slaving at a digital work in particular that has taken me months, just because I keep zooming in too far and getting too anal over small details. I've decided to limit my zooming to 300%, and that has helped immensely... maybe a limit like that will work for you.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question, I think the whole writer/penciller/colorist/inker staff makes comics easy to crank out every month, while your art style tends to take longer. I don't know how much of a market there is for it right now, but I know I prefer the slow pace if it means that the artwork is as good as yours. Right now, Image is releasing VIKING, an excellent comic by Ivan Brandon and Nic Kline. The issues are released about once every two months, but it's worth the wait for the beautiful artwork. Besides, Darrow himself isn't really known for his massive catalogue of releases: he takes his time, and his art becomes a huge selling point. Far better, in my opinion, than the artist who cranks out nothing but pencils for a handful of books each month, only to have them colored and inked over by someone else.
Anyway, I don't really have any professional opinion to answer you with, I just hope you don't compromise in any way just for the sake of mass production. You have a unique and badass art style - keep it that way.
As far as leaves go, I have to fall back on Gabriel Rodriguez, but only because he happens to be the most fun I've had at this job so far. :x
ReplyDeleteAn example of his moderation in leaves:
http://gabrielrodriguez.deviantart.com/art/LK-In-The-Can-01-134820506
If you pick up L&K volume 1, you can see on many pages where he would break trees up into kind of layered areas, each enclosed, with some individual leaves thrown in there.
His style's very different from yours, though.
I don't know if this might help you at all, but since you're doing this entire thing from start to finish, instead of doing each step separately as you are, why not do it in fewer steps? Or maybe even backwards?
The pencils-inks-colours-letters assembly line progression is a product of trying to make it easier for multiple people to do the different tasks on a book. Instead of starting with a pencil thumbnail sketch, why not start with a gray speedpaint for each panel? Then you can resize, shuffle, get a feeling for where you want to draw the eye in the final product, blow it up to the final working size, throw colours over the grays, firm up those colours a little, throw down inks where they're needed...
Not compromising a beautiful style is all well and good, but you do have to eat at some point.
Publishers are willing to choke down four-month gaps between books when an artist has a big name already. IDW is accepting a six-month gap between L&K volumes, but the six issues of each volume still have to fly. And the book's written by Joe Hill, so they know the readers will be willing to wait that long.
Have you been trying Manga Studio?
At that size, just copy-paste the soldiers. Jeez. :P
You're going to kill yourself with foliage at this rate, man.
You're aware of Warren Ellis, of course, but are you aware of Freakangels? It's technically a webcomic, a batch of pages put out every week, a book printed whenever they've got enough pages built up. If you can build a following that way, publishers may be willing to wait a little between books. But they -do- put out more than one page per week. And it's Warren Ellis.
If you're looking to have this serialized, either as a monthly/bimonthly or a webcomic, you should have atleast the second/third issue all done before starting. At a 6-months-per-issue rate though, you're still going to run into trouble.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be doing yourself (and your story) a disservice with 4-month gaps between issues.
Making comics has a lot to do with cutting corners.
jillbamfette - A lot of great points. I've been sniffing around the web comic idea for a few weeks, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Jiyoung, my wife, reads a lot of Korean web comics, and over there it's a totally viable business model (with major portal sites sponsoring creators, who then make more money on the back end when they're released in print, and then AGAIN when their stuff is adapted on film). It's a shame there's no "online Marvel" to take comickers under their wing. Well, I guess Marvel is doing online content, but on a much smaller scale. Anyway, the sales numbers you supplied are particularly sobering. It looks like if you're not doing a superhero comic, you're pretty much dead in the water. It's funny -- people who deal with printed comics have started to warn me not to post too much of my progress here, while the web contingent is telling me to post everything. I'm at some kind of crossroads. If I do end up releasing this through the web, is there a preferred method of presentation? Possibly a free comic viewer-type thing?
ReplyDeletecapt_parsons - A former comic store worker! I love the internet! All this brain-power at my fingertips. It's heartening to hear that someone thinks a slow-but-polished product might actually sell. And because the last issue of Planetary has taken three years, I too will take three years for my first issue. You said it was okay, man. Looking at the pricing of other titles, I think I'd probably be shooting myself in the foot by asking for five bucks. I was kinda thinking I'd go one dollar higher than the production cost, which looks to be about two bucks, depending on volume. But then again, if I make one dollar per issue and only sell two thousand of them... not good. Posters are an interesting idea, although that will just slow down the comic even more. I wonder if the pages themselves could be released as posters? Hm. Thanks for the knowledge!
Dorian - Another guy in the take-your-time camp. I need to hear these voices, as I occasionally lapse into episodes of self-flagellation over the speed issue. Thanks for helping me be okay with myself (and who knows, I've only made six pages -- things might speed up over time). I gotta check out Viking.
Eagle - Those Gabriel Rodriguez pages are brilliant. I don't know why I've never heard of this guy. The grey speedpaint approach is an interesting idea, though the harder I think about it, the more I think it would take even more time than the way I'm doing it now. The finished quality would probably be better, though. Hm. You may have just made me slower! I have tried Manga studio, and I'm still fiddling with it to see what it can do -- I'll post again when I've got a solid opinion. Ah, and I did copy-and-paste the soldiers, to my eternal shame -- I was merely pointing out that the arrows didn't really need to be included at all. Thanks for the pointers!
Giannis - Yeah, it's looking like I would have to cut corners to make any money with this. But that just gets me back in the position I was in at Gas Powered Games -- making stuff I wasn't super happy with and feeling vaguely guilty all the time. I'm coming to grips with the fact that this won't be a profitable enterprise. Well, if I go back to making games, I can still do this (even more slowly) in my spare time...
Sorry if that sounded harsh. I'm totally a member of the take-your-time camp, in theory.
ReplyDeleteRealistically though, that only works if you've got an extra income to sustain yourself.
As a starting-out cartoonist myself, this is something I obsess over too, and my style is much simpler and faster to work in.
I think what I'm trying to say is, you can definitely make money off your stuff, however slowly you work, especially if your story is on par with your art. But if you want to make a living off of comics, that's when the corner-cutting comes in.
Hate to sound like I'm experienced or anything, this is just stuff I've been realizing as I go.
You're getting good feedback from people who are artists and know something about the comics business, which is great. I am not an artist and I don't even read a lot of comics, so I can only give you the perspective of a person who reads a lot of books.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read most comics, I glance at the art and then go straight to the words--this is a habit that I find almost impossible to break. It was emphatically broken for me starting from the first panel you posted here. Everything comes together incredibly well--detail as well as the breadth and scope of what you're showing. Everything is "just right"--the very detailed rocks and leaves are just right for what you're drawing.
Perhaps not every panel will need this same high level of detail. But by being so generous at the start, by drawing such a rich and fully realised world, you are inviting the reader in irresistibly. It's exciting--I want to keep seeing more. I don't know if this was a conscious strategy by you, but that's why I think I found it so magical and transporting. What I'm trying to say is that everything is working very well together. I would not be going on and on like this if the art were more like what I'd seen in other comics :-)
Also, you hit an important target early on with the writing. After the silence and anticipation builds for two pages, it opens with the most exciting words to kickstart a story: "Is something wrong?" This is perfect.
So, as a reader I'm going to wait as long as it takes to see more, and I would happily pay whatever it costs. Psychologically, the longer I think your story is going to be, the more I am willing to wait, if you see what I'm saying. But unfortunately I am not a typical comics reader--you should probably listen to the bread and butter people on those issues. I'm sure you will be able to find a solution, but for now, please just keep going :-)
Just to add more fuel to the fire Nate, when I suggested the idea of posters, I meant exactly what you concluded... use a page or two straight out of the work your already doing for the comic.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I suggested posters though, is that if you're still thinking about creating it independantly... your line work and style stand out by themselves and will sell comics, but if you need a way to catch the attention of the comic buyer who has never heard of you when there are literally hundreds of comics on the shelves in competition with you. A poster distributed prior to/at the same time your comic kicks off would be an ideal way to get a lil attention in the stores for you. Just my opinion though.
On a separate note, Gianis is right about realizing that if you have a long wait btwn issues you wont have sales during that time... your fan base might not go, but you dont keep selling, so a balance needs to be found, but I'd still drop $4 dollars easy for your art even if there is many months between issues. Its stunning bro.
josef - That's a very helpful perspective. I've been particularly self-conscious about my dialogue, so if the words are working for you, that's a huge relief. Thanks for the encouragement!
ReplyDeletecapt - Yeah, you're probably right. Once it comes out in stores (wow, that seems like the distant future), it'll need promotional posters. I'll need something for comic conventions, too. Thanks for the compliments, by the way. Water in the desert.
Hi Nate,
ReplyDeleteJust an idea but have you ever considered working for publishers in France? That might be suitable for your type of art, which has tons of details. Usually it takes around 9-10 months for an artist to finish a 60 page graphic novel. So instead of trying to publish it in 24 pages monthly magazine format, you can try giving out a book every year. Might be a good idea to contact them and show your portfolio.
Emre - That's a good idea. Which of the French publishers would you recommend? I've talked to a German publisher, and they seemed much more interested in low page counts with a high level of finish. They balked when they heard how slow I was going. Publishers in general don't seem to want to take a chance on somebody who's never made anything before.
ReplyDeleteI think France would have a better market and publishing force compared with Germany for your art. Dupuis, Dargaud, Futuropolis and Soleil (google it as Soleilprod) are the few I can remember now. Actually this link might be a better help than me:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Belgian_publishing_houses
I agree with Emre. Your style, the amount of details and the need of much time - everything fits a publication in france.
ReplyDeleteSkip Germany - it's not the best place for publishing you comic. The exposure is just not that great nor the payment.
Hi I came across your blog, when it was featured on www.io9.com, and I'd just like to say, I think your artwork is AMAZING. So there's that. I hope your stuff gets published ASAP.
ReplyDeleteOne way to solve the zooming problem is to have two windows open for the same image. One zoomed in, and the other zoomed out to see the whole picture. Unfortunately, this often requires dual monitors. Have to say, it's a great time saver!
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm a fan of detail but this amount is doing negative things to your time, your readers and most likely your body in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThe first and last things I don't think I have to explain, but the reason it's a problem for your readers is that we don't view the world in hyper-every-leaf-realism. When you look at something, you see a few specific leaves on a bush and a whole lot of blur on the rest. If you draw every one it looks forced and fake. It's highly distracting to the overall page. It does the very much opposite of what you're trying to achieve. Not only that, but readers only spend about 5 seconds on each panel (and most of that is in the reading of the bubbles). They aren't going to see some of the big stuff, let alone the whole day you spent on bushes.
Ease off and find a way to indicate things without drawing each. The rocks in particular...geez. There's no way we see them like that at that distance. Draw zoomed out!
I do want to see what you do with the color on the figures. Right now they remind me of creepy soul-less 3D dolls, but I have to figure that's going to change with color. The lineart of the other panels really came into it's own once color was added. The designs are nice--creatures and weaponry. I'm going to guess that's what you did/do in your day job. The whole style is like that. A very strong influence.
Fascinating discussion here , I'd have to agree that market for this type of work would be greater in France , or perhaps even in an anthology like Heavy Metal or Pop Gun.
ReplyDeleteI'm presently 33 pages into a online graphic novel which I and the magazine who publishes it eventually hope to collect and and have printed. Given the marketplace and the skittishness of most publishers , I'm not even thinking of shopping it around til it's all completed.
Looking forward to your progress. I like what I've seen so far ;-)
Emre and Christian - Wow, those Franco-Belgian houses put out some beautiful stuff. I think I'll wait until I've got more to show before I start cold-calling them, but I've filed their names for future pestering. Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteCrying Sham - Thanks a lot!
Eric - Someone else emailed me the same advice a couple of days ago. I'll be setting up dual monitors tomorrow. Thanks for the excellent advice.
certainwonder - Having just come out of an industry where I never got to finish anything to my satisfaction, I'm enjoying the novelty of working on something until it feels done. Perhaps I'm going a little overboard with the detail, but I hope you can forgive my need to step over the boundary of too-muchness in order to learn where that boundary lies.
Dominic - Your stuff is great! Good luck with the graphic novel, and congratulations on making it to 33 pages with that level of polish. I'll be following your progress closely!
Nate, this comic would probably jump you right to the top of the list over at Heavy Metal magazine... but you would have to finish it first to solicit it, at least one "chapter" of pages. Kevin Eastman's a cool guy, relatively easy to get in touch with, and I think he'd relaly love this stuff.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'd forget about doing this as a traditional comic book. That market is dying a slow, painful death, and its core audience members probably wouldn't like this work - it's not superheros or big-boob-babes. Your work is much more in the Moebius/Ladronn vein and definitely appeal to the people who like that work. If you can get into the American Heavy Metal mag, that will send you a long way toward approaching the French and Belgians.
I would certainly suggest also sending samples of this, once you get 8 or 10 pages colored/finished, to Humanoids Publishing.
You might also want to submit it to Kazu Kibuishi of the "Flight" series. I don't know if the subject matter would be right for "Flight," but the art quality is more than ready. Kazu can probably point you in a few good directions as to where to take this, but he'll tell you to finish the story first, too.
As far as drawing all those leaves, you could always make a brush out of a single line art leaf in Photoshop or Painter and set up the various angle/size/direction settings to let you draw the leaf (or a series of leaves) in a single swipe of the pen. I've done this for paintings, I have a number of leaf brushes made just to make doing shrubbery and trees much much faster. (If I want to be really painterly I'll go back and touch up some of the speed-leaves to look more individual.)
Nate- Your stuff is breathtakingly good. And it's good to hear you're starting to think ahead about what to do with your comic in terms of publishing.
ReplyDeleteThe cold-hard facts of the print biz can be very discouraging to new talent. Most independent titles are considered a success if they can manage to break even on the sales of individual issues, in hopes of finally making a little profit when the book is collected in a trade form that can be sold in bookstores with a longer shelf-life.
You could easily sell an issue of your book for $5 on your website or better yet, in person at comic book conventions. People would buy it. But you'd have a tough time moving a lot of product at that price in the open market. And remember that if you were carried by the big comics distributor, they get a 61% discount off of your cover price. So, even if you charged $5, you'd only get a little more than $3 back from sales. And you'd need to have a high enough print run to get your print costs below $2 (a couple thousand minimum.) Again, it's an uphill battle. Luckily, you've got the art chops to be very successful.
A great resource for more on the realities of the biz is the "Bolts & Nuts" column by Steven Forbes at Project Fanboy.
http://www.projectfanboy.com
If you want to take a week to do each page, go ahead. Make your masterpiece. But the realities of print are going to make it difficult to turn a profit in the near or medium term.
You said you wished there was an "Online Marvel" for new talent. There isn't. However, there IS and "Online DC." Check out Zuda comics. It's one of the few publishers out there that offers the potential for unknown talent to get paid doing creator owned work. And you could get away with a page a week schedule there. www.zudacomics.com.
Good luck!
Your work is inspiring. It may be that the profitable business model is tucked away in the "how-to" rather than in the finished product. Maybe I am meddling, but consider an abridged "blog" that dovetails into the finished "I have completed my comic how-to" coinciding with the release of the finished work. I am talking the thirty-five dollar glossy that sits high and mighty among the "draw manga" and other glossy "how-to's". Packaged right (that is, your art smack-dab-on-the-front), this could sit eye-level on major book distributors art sections. Anyway, I see this as master art stylized as "comics."
ReplyDeleteJeff - I didn't even know Heavy Metal was still around! That's a very interesting idea. Eastman runs it now? As in, TMNT Eastman? Wow! Thanks for the ideas. As to shortcuts for leaves (lowers voice to whisper)... I actually did this in a couple of spots, but don't tell anybody. Heh.
ReplyDeleteTyler - Zuda, where have you been all my life! Great lead there. Thanks! And that Bolts and Nuts column is great stuff, too. Your post is an embarrassment of riches. Thanks again!
The Robot - This is a really interesting idea. A couple of people have mentioned this -- especially if the comments could be included, this might be something I would pick up at a bookstore. Lets see if this blog keeps attracting good ideas like yours. Thanks for the nice compliments!
Nate, I just read post-mortem from May 18th, 2009, when you put the nail in the coffin of Star-thingy. Wow! I had no idea what you must have gone through to get to life after death. I really like what you wife said about "personal projects" vs "hobbies" and I would hope that the the life in your current work is not sucked out in any way as you glance over the fence at commercial profits. For inspiration, do a little research on the "pet project/hobby" of William P Young, that became the current best seller "The Shack." This was a self-published thing that took off and created its own little David among publishing Goliaths, a genuine grass-roots effort. So, I voted for you over at comic blog elite and I see that you are climbing. Ride the wave, man! But, don't get a big head over it :-) By all means, even if the "timer" runs out and you need to get back to the day job for awhile, let us see something of this in print.
ReplyDeleteNate - Heavy Metal is DEFINITELY still around and as good as ever. It definitely would be a method to get your story out there.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, I totally second The Robot's idea, I was thinking the same thing, but he beat me to it. Editing and focusing you're trials and tribulations from this site along with highlighted insights from commentors would make for a powerful "How To" book. You're incredibly detailed and stunning art just add icing to the multilayered cake. I'd also really love to hear about how you developed/wrote the initial skeleton and then expand the story. As always great stuff bro.
capt_parsons - I'll definitely be posting more about the writing process. So far I've been writing about whichever thing I'm currently grappling with, and since I've already got the story nailed down for the first dozen-or-so pages, writing hasn't been a major preoccupation. Once I cross that threshold, though, you won't be able to shut me up about writing. You'll yearn for the good old days when I whined about flatting. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI would also like to point out that your dialogue is very clear and awesome so far - I find that Ashley Wood, Paul Pope, Sam Kieth, and pretty much any artist who writes that I've seen usually has awkward dialogue that makes the story difficult to follow. Granted, you are only a few pages in, but the dialogue isn't cryptic or weird at all... it makes me want to read the rest of the words, not just look at the rest of the artwork.
ReplyDeleteDorian - It's a relief to hear you say that. With a couple of these pages, I've spent a day or two doing nothing but reworking dialogue. Sometimes I wonder if that's why my characters have such blank expressions -- so that I can radically change their speech after the fact without having to change the drawing. All that effort, and I'm really just drawing stick figures! Anyway, thanks for the encouragement.
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ReplyDeleteWow, all the comments above are so learned and helpful.
ReplyDeleteBut elf ears are perfect for nurpling!!!!!
That is the best thing I have seen in a long long time.
Your art is gorgeous, the coloring is unique (to me at least), this totally looks like a title I would pick up. Your dialog just tickles me. I'll keep coming back to check out your progress
Vylettefairwell - Wow, you're the first person to actually like my dialog. That tickles ME! I was a little unsure about the nurpling line (Especially because a previous commenter pointed out that ears cannot be nurpled). For my part, I think you can nurple just about anything, within reason. Thanks for the generous comment!
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ReplyDeleteNate, have you spoken to Oni? I heard a podcast with their Editor in Chief and they seem to greenlight projects mostly based on 'Do at least 2 of our small team of staff think this is awesome?'. They've put out some very good stuff as a result, and seem fairly accomodating to the artists involved - a graphic novel a year would be perfectly reasonable through them (a la Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley).
ReplyDeletezeero - You know, I haven't quite figured out what I should and shouldn't reveal about publisher interactions on this blog. I'm erring on the side of caution for now. As to whether I'm talking to Oni... yes, I am talking to Oni. There, that was easy!
ReplyDelete