We've all been there ☝️, haven't we?
THE SOLAR GRID #5 is now 87% complete. Exclusive preview will go out to press, reviewers, and fellow makers later this month. Anybody who wants to be added to the list can totally just let me know.
Good morning + onward.
So late, but getting closer! Currently lettering, which is kept enjoyable by making the dialogue up as I go. I obviously had some idea what was being said in the drawing phase of these pages, but not in any detail and I kept it very loosely floating around in the back of my head without committing any of it to paper.
I didn't always work like this. Chapters one and two of THE SOLAR GRID I wrote full scripts for. But then I realized that only really makes sense if you're writing for someone else to draw (and letter and edit, etc.). It's not really necessary if you're doing the drawing yourself, might as well save on that scripting time. Also, from the standpoint of the craft of comix, unlike film where you can't really change the dialogue after a shoot (minor exceptions include scenes where you can't see an actor's lips), in comix you totally can! So why not save dialogue till last anyway? Seems odd to ignore a facet that is so specific to this medium.
Easier for makers who work all aspects of their comix though.
Of course, I cheat a little, because I've got the best assistant in town:
The year is 949 After the Flood, and life on Mars isn't all it's cracked up to be.
From the 5th chapter in the award-winning graphic novel THE SOLAR GRID, coming soon to TheSolarGrid.net
I used to color at a rate of about 2 pages a day, but now I'm lucky if I wrap up a single page every 2-3 days.
Look at this madness though:
Not gonna lie, quite proud of how it's turning out, and truth be told that's a pretty rare feeling for me.
I think it was after Chapter 2 when I was contacted by someone (who is awesome) offering to act as editor on THE SOLAR GRID, an offer I had to decline only because I knew my process would bring nothing but terrible agony to this poor person. I have nothing in the way of a script (loose plot at best), my thumbs are practically unreadable by anyone other than myself, I work on my pages until literally minutes before upload... Agony, I tell you, agony!
And that was around Chapter 2, which still resembled what you'd expect out of most comix (well, to a degree). But now (Chapter 5) I'm coming up with things that look like this:
None of the text featured in the above preview includes any of the actual captions or dialogue that will finally make it into the page by the way. It's just a bunch of text I came up with in the process of creating the art. The inevitable dialogue and captions? They come later, and I have none of it scripted anywhere. It's all in my head. It only comes out during the lettering phase. I have no idea how an editor might even begin to navigate a project like this. I sure as hell know nothing like this can ever come out of the corporate assembly-line system of making comix.
Also in regards to the above pictured panel, I'm looking forward to what kind of space western vibes N Slash A will come up with for the Soundscape. Every now and again, I'll give tracks 1 and 2 a listen for just the right push to carry on with this project. I can't get over how deliciously textured those tracks have turned out.
In other news, today I bid farewell to this piece from February:
It shall be missed.
Inbox at 31. Neck could use a replacement. Awaiting newborn's arrival any day now. Local newspaper's obituary section was 43 pages yesterday.
Of course I was bound to include an art gallery scene sooner or later.
Inbox at 23. Current background listening: The Disruptors Podcast with Andrew Maynard.
Coloring at a rate of about 2 pages a day now, which as I type this puts me at 22 days before I'm done. Add a couple more days for lettering, so 24 days in total before bringing Chapter 5 in for a landing. Let's say 30 days before release.
Still too long if you ask me. Will try to work faster, but hopefully 30 days is the maximumest I need.
Needless to say, the process of creating THE SOLAR GRID has made clear the virtues of the assembly-line system by which corporate comicbooks are created. Where as you're penciling page 5, page 3 and 4 might already be in an inker's hands, with page 1 and 2 already being colored by a separate colorist.
Might be worth it to look into a working system that takes advantage of said virtues while avoiding all the pitfalls that tend to come with that assembly system (rehashed storylines, aesthetic sameness, lack of authenticity, etc.).
Something to think about later. Back to work for now.
Tell me this hasn't been “The Mood” for the past four some months at least?
I gotta admit, feeling pretty good about how these pages are turning out, not so good about my pace though. But I did manage to put the newsletter out last night, and a new review went up on ganzeer.reviews, so that's nice.
Inbox at 25. Will blow through those as quick as I can over coffee before breakfast, shower and some tidying up before a video interview thing. Unlikely that I'll get around to working on my pages before 3pm.
Onward.
Insomnia hit yesterday instead of the weekend, so I found myself up till 3:30 AM. Not working exactly. Given that I typically start my day at around 7:00-8:00AM, I can seldom function past the 2:00AM threshold, but my mind is still abuzz and much thinking tends to occur.
Woke today at 7:00AM and have been a zombie since, despite the 4 cups of coffee I've downed. Still getting some penciling done, but it is a slow drifting affair. Not full pages or anything, just bits and pieces of additional material that need to make their way into the chapter. It may only be a mere 20 pages, but it's a dense bastard, with some pages including 3-pages worth of material in them.
I suppose that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless you see the sneak peek I posted a couple days ago.
There's probably room for a regular anthology called KRACKLE collecting an assortment of comix that include panels utilizing the “Kirby Krackle”. Getting the rights to all the comix that would go in it though would probably be a nightmare.
Inbox has climbed up to 90, and this cursed chapter is turning into an eternal pandora's box.