Added 2 new A* pages:

• A* Episode 10, Page 140
• A* Episode 10, Page 141

Had an annoying headache today and didn't think I was gonna get more than one page done, but then I drank like a couple gallons of water (yes my life is this exciting!), the headache got better, and I got on some kind of roll; not only did page 141 there come out, and I think that's one of my best efforts on this comic so far (I do like close-ups, so that helped :), but I also fixed some eh body width issues with Selenis on pages 137 and 138. Man! I wish I could be "on" like this every day.

Although 141 was a bit of a battle; as I mentioned yesterday, sometimes trying to work straight from a storyboard image just doesn't work, and I relied on that method for both pages today, which I knew was pushing it, and sure enough, it didn't work with 141, so after a long struggle, I had to give up on that attempt and start over from scratch. Gar. Some day I will get better at this and waste less time.

~~~~~~~~

Since I did a Vero artwork comparison recently (ooh, which I posted in the episode's thread on the forum, but forgot to put into the news--well here it is), and since I've now done a low-light profile close-up of Selenis in several chapters now, I thought I'd make a little art comparison of her from that; here she is from episode 9, page 65 on the left, vs the more recent 10:139 on the right:



This is a trickier comparison since they're only about 1.5 episodes apart, but I've at least managed to get Selenis' facial features a little more distinct, as opposed to defaulting to the sort of Greek statue look she had in the older drawing; that also helps when trying to make her face a little more animated, I think. And I've learned a thing or two about eyebrows since the first version, where she...doesn't really have eyebrows, since I got uncertain about it and just left the vaguely eyebrow-shaped shadow on her lower forehead to cover for me. =P I think the eyelashes--and the hair in general, for that matter--have gotten a little better in the meantime, too. And production-wise, drawing the new profile took way less time; on the old one I spent ages just trying to get the bridge of her nose into a decent position, for instance. And finally, the more subtle shadow layers I use now give the newer drawing smoother shades.

But! Looking at the lower part of the older one, I notice that I streamlined the nostrils and lips into nothingness or close to nothingness in the new one, whereas I'd spent a lot of time--and fairly successfully, for me--working them out in the old one. So I should try to remember that: don't skimp on lips and nostrils, self! The old one *was* supposed to be lit more from the front than the new one, so they'd stand out more, but still, I definitely skimped a bit in the more recent drawing, particularly on the (nonexistent) nostil.

Added 1 new A* page:

• A* Episode 10, Page 142

In a desperate attempt to overcome my one-page-Friday lameness, I will now regale you with a tale from my youth, recently unearthed during a trip to the old homestead.

Ahem, Ahem.

~~~~~~~

The Great Power Failure

In this book a nuclear power plant in eastern Washington is attacked by nuclear assault elephants who feed on nuclear power. But they eat to [sic] much and somehow cause a power failure throughout the whole world. As a result the Earth loses its gravity force. Our hero's [sic], Jake and Jane Jamjuice try to escape in their private space shuttle but are captured by invading lizard people from another galaxy who hadn't attacked earlier because the Earth's gravity made their ships go out of control.

So, having nothing else to do, Jake and Jane spend their life in meditation searching for the meaning of life.

~~~~~~~

A great failure, for sure! On the back, whatever despairing elementary school teacher's class it was for wrote "A- Logic will prevail!"

So clearly Jake=Vero, Jane=Selenis, and invading lizard people=Core Sys. Not sure who the nuclear assault elephants are yet. Ooh maybe that's in episode 11! :o

Which hm isn't all that far off now. If I hold to my usual schedule I should finish all but the final page of episode 10 next week. This is the big one!

Added 2 new A* pages:

• A* Episode 10, Page 143
• A* Episode 10, Page 144

Well I drew stuff instead of sleeping this weekend, which seemed kind of silly, but two pages done today and hopefully they aren't too awful, so I guess so far it worked out. ;P Anyhow you may at least get some enjoyment out of this revamp of a "Dark Persephone" look, originally something I made for a game I worked on a few years back called The Matrix Online.



(The original design sketch is second-from-the-bottom in this post on the forum.)

the softness you gave selenis is PERFECT.

:D It felt to me like that one came out sort of like a 50's pin-up or something!

Added 3 new A* pages:

• A* Episode 10, Page 145
• A* Episode 10, Page 146
• A* Episode 10, Page 147

Hey, a three-pager! Maybe I will finish this episode by Friday, after all.

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My Sunday fairy tale comic, "The Princess and the Giant" (check out the latest page here if you haven't taken a gander already this week) is currently featured in the "Comic Spotlight" tab on the front page of comic hosting site Smack Jeeves--or more specifically, the Smack Jeeves Princess mirror is being featured. Thanks, Smack Jeeves spotlighters!

~~~~~~~~~

You may or may not recall that about a year and a half ago I made a poster for a "Miniposters Girl" [sic] contest on Newgrounds.com. Here's one version of it:



Sort of a pseudo-Selenis, see? Well originally the winning entries, of which mine ended up being one, were to be printed together in a little art book. Then the contest holder announced that the book wasn't going to work out. D-oh well.

But this weekend, a mysterious package from Newgrounds' "Prize Department" showed up on my doorstep, and what should it be, but the long-thought-canceled glossy color flip-book of the winning entries! It's a little silly in a way since they aren't selling it or anything, so it's just something nice for the winners to see, but hey, I'm in print! ;) One of the others posted a photo of the booklet somewhere near the bottom of this thread on the Newgrounds forum.

Thanks, whoever followed through on that after all this time! :D

well done... the tension and suspense through 147 !
perfectly horrible, but Plank had no choice.... and she'll be back... !

=o

Added 2 new A* pages:

• A* Episode 10, Page 148
• A* Episode 10, Page 149

Huh! I got nothin' to say today. :o Must...try...to...think of something... Well there is that "Throw It On the Ground" Andy Samberg SNL skit I just saw in some other comic site's blog...a comic that ended like a year ago... Nah too immature anyway. Oh well maybe I'll just get some sleep or something!

Added 2 new A* pages:

• A* Episode 10, Page 150
• A* Episode 10, Page 151

Gosh today I can think of lots of stuff to say, but I guess I'd better save most of it for tomorrow, since *that* will be **the final page of episode 10!** Assuming I get it drawn, of course! :D

Here's a in-progress version of page 151:



I made that for a thread over on ComicFury.

Okay so see you after the next page, when I'll have lots to say about next week and the exciting NEXT EPISODE! :O