The Far Reaches Webcomic

I know I’ve been very busy and not feeling too great lately to either, really, but I haven’t given up on Far Reaches, though it may seem that way. It’s true I’m working on another project, but it’s in the writing stage. I need to write the whole script first and then polish it, something I should have done with TFR. But then TFR has always been about experimentation.  And that’s why I can’t give up on it. To be honest, I’m not set on how I want to render the art for the new project. So TFR is a great place to work on that until I find a look I’m happy with.

What I’m really working on right now is backgrounds. 3d is nice, but not all publishers hold with 3d. Some people feel that it’s not really comics (some of the ones signing paychecks). I thought I would have finished page 234 already, but it’s turned out more challenging in the background department. I tried drawing a cityscape and wasn’t happy with it.

Then I saw a review of a Gnomon training video: Pencilling Comics with Stephen Platt. I’ve had mixed results with Gnomon videos. Some instructors aren’t very good teachers. But Platt’s art is amazingly done and beautifully detailed, and it’s been an awesome insight into his professional working methods. What really was an eye-opener was the way he handled thumbnails. It’s really given me all sorts of ideas and made me want to start over with page 234 to try to make it more dramatic. It’s an important scene and I want to get it right. I’m determined to finish this chapter and make it really good. Besides, as I said, I need to develop a black and white look and working method that I’m happy with. So thank you for bearing with me (or is it baring with me? I always get those mixed up   )