Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Eldritch: Layline 028

Since things got messed up last week… double update this week!  And I’m posting this early, so you folks will see this even before the folks on my DA page~

Holy crap guys.  Chapter two is done!  Next week’s update will be the cover for Lessons  Which, unless I cut some of the extraneous pages, be longer than either of the previous chapters.  O.o

Also guys, congratulations, you made it through a chapter of a werewolf comic where the main character doesn’t actually wolf out!  I appreciate you guys being patient and sticking with me while I work on establishing the world Faith lives in.  Don’t worry though, next chapter will have plenty of werewolfness!

Now, regarding this page… yeah, this was a bit of a scripting error.  I probably should have spread this out over a couple of pages.  Live and learn?

Also… I know, Maggie moving in was predictable as hell.  Remember page six, where Maggie wanders off to talk to someone about a “rooming question?”  I bet half of you guys realized what was coming right then.  And then, the note on her door twenty pages after that… and, well, tadaaa?  Anyway, now I have someone there to keep Faith from doing anything too stupid. *chuckles*
So! Does anyone recognize the orange-haired boy? 

And yes.  That is a Kingdom hearts knockoff figurine on Maggie’s desk. ;3

Aaaanywho guys, thank you for coming along for this chapter, and I hope you guys join me for the next one!

Eldritch: Layline 027



Hmmm... Blogspot tends got give me issues late at night.  It didn't want to upload last week.  So, here it is, late.  Don't worry though.  I'll make it up to you in a sec XD

 I was going to have a couple of cameo appearances in the background… but work held me four and a half hours longer than I was scheduled and… well, you know. Tis the season for crazy work schedules.

*Laughs* And, once again, Having issues updating the website. Oh well, it'll get done tonight or tomorrow.

Aaaaanywho, I hope everyone has or has had a great Thanksgiving (Man, we’re so late here in the U.S. Everyone else is on the ball and gets Thanksgiving before us XD)! I’m all for a holiday where the family gathers around a super-evolved dinosaur for supper. My mom’s crazy about Turkey, and I’m pretty sure she’s picked out a Sarahsaurus-sized one for us this year.

Anywho, stay frosty folks!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Eldritch: Layline 026



Well, folks, there’s only two more pages of this chapter left to go. Then it’s on to the third chapter, which is longer than either of the other two. Oi.

Also, I’m afraid there isn’t a whole lot of mythology here for me to ramble on about this week, since it’s a rather mundane page… but there is a little geeky reference I’d like to point out…

You see the mug Faith has that reads “Mug of Tea?” I actually have that mug. I use it all the time. However, it also is a tad of a werewolf reference. There was a program called The Gates about a gated community full of witches, werewolves, vampires, succubae, victims of voodun practitioners, the whole shebang. Anyway, one of the characters (who was human, actually) had the exact same mug. Anyway, if you ever get the opportunity, I recommend the series. It was rather fun, and the werewolves were handled well. Actually though, one of my favorite characters was Andi, who’s of mixed lineage… dad’s a human, mom’s a succubus, and the kid got some of the succubus genes. And they actually handled that very well, I was impressed.

So, um, about the comic. If you read the usernames, odds are, you can tell what that “thing with the hat" was last week. It was kind of funny guys, I never intended that to become a guessing contest, but it anyway, to everyone who guessed Thylacine, congratulations, you win the internet. The rest of you all, well, you lost The Game. …Please don’t kill me.

Also… yeah, I had too much fun with the usernames.

Oh! And to those who prefer to read via the website, sorry it didn't update last week. Blogspot wasn't letting me upload anything. Hopefully it'll be nicer tonight.

See ya all in a week!

Eldritch: Layline 025


Oh wow guys… my apologies about that first panel. I thought it’d work out better than that, but unfortunately, I’ve run out of time. So, that will have to do. (Note to self… don’t be lazy next time, and draw the whole dang bird so it can be moved and resized.)

So, it’s been a busy, and kinda stressful week over here on this side of the internet. The week before Halloween all through New Year’s is always busy around here, really. And also, I learned there is some merit to the old saying “Speak of the Devil and he doth appear.” However, this leads to a random werewolfy fun fact: In Italy, “Lupus in Fabula” (meaning “Wolf in the Fable”) is sometimes used instead of “Speak of the Devil.” It, if you hadn’t already guessed, referrs to the wolf in the Red Riding Hood story… which, in early versions, the wolf was a loup-garou.

Hmm, so, on an unrelated note, I’ve received a few comments/notes and such regarding Faith, which run something along the lines of: “Are you sure you aren’t Faith/Faith isn’t you?” or “Is Faith a self-insert?” And you know, technically… The answer is yes. But then again, so is Maggie, and Dylan, and Seamus, and, much as I’d rather not admit it, Todd. There’s a bit of myself in all the characters. There are cranky days where I’m snappy and Faithlike, and there are days when I act as kind of a guide/peacemaker, where I’m like Dylan, and some of my IRL friends might tell you that I tend to ramble like Seamus if you get me going... As if these artist’s comments weren’t clue enough.

Personally, I like to think I’m mostly a cross of Maggie and Seamus.

However, Faith does borrow some of my physical appearance. I… I think I’ve already posted this somewhere, but what the heck, I’ll write it again… When I was first working on Eldritch, The initial character concept was scribbed on a little scrap of something (I think it was a napkin) and read: “Grumpy sister I never had.” So, Faith borrows from both of myself and my sweet-as-sugar sister’s appearances… partially, because it;’s easy for me to draw. After drawing/painting myself countless times for classes, it’s easy to sketch out a character that looks roughly like myself.

Oh, and randomly… No, the thing with a hat is not a wolf. :3

And… I wish I had something more interesting to say. I guess I’m boring this week guys, so, take care, and steer clear of the moors!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Eldritch: Layline 024



    See, here’s the thing about being a werewolf:  you have all of these strange, fantastical problems, like turning into a wolf-creature once a month.  But then you also still have all of your human problems, like paying taxes, figuring out the opposite gender, and studying for exams.
     Or, in Faith’s case, struggling with finding her place in the art world. Unfortunately, not everyone out there is nice.
      Thankfully, I have the good fortune to know many who are.  So, in spite of the occasional unsavory individual, I keep up with the art and I do my best with what interests me.  For instance, monsters, particularly werewolves.  But I do struggle with many things… like the difference between creativity and Originality, which are different things.  You see, I often find myself having to remind myself of something Julie Taymore said:

     "'Originality' is a very dumb concept; it's very late 20th century. It's how an artist assembles his or her influences into a whole piece that really matters."

      Which… is true.  No one can be the capital O sort of Original.  Everyone is influenced by things they come into contact with.  That’s part of why I write such lengthy artist’s comments sometimes… they’re sort of like credits.  I like sharing my influences, pointing to the examples of similar things in science, folklore, media, or mythology.  For instance, I mix my science and myth… but that’s nothing new.  Peter Dickenson’s <I>The Flight of Dragons</I> did a fantastic job of that, and it was written well before I was even born. I just try to do it in my own way.  And in addition, anyone who’s read <I>The Hero with a Thousand Faces</I> can find evidence of the “Monomyth” in Eldritch already.  It’s a formula that everyone is familiar with, and many stories follow a similar pattern.
      However, while I know that it is impossible to be Original… I do my best to be creative.  I try to bring together bits and pieces of my interests in a way that I hope will be different than people have seen before.  Only time will tell how well I do at the end of it all.  After all, Eldritch will have an end, but that’s a very long time away.  Like, at this rate... years.
      And speaking of years… I’d like to thank all of you folks who’ve stuck with me, and been so supportive.  Sometimes, people get me really, really down, but when someone goes out of their way to do something kind for me, it just… there’s no words.  At the risk of sounding cliché… it’s a magical sort of feeling.
      So… thank you guys.  You know who you are, and you have no idea how much your kind actions and words have done for little ol me.

Flynn Lives!