still going to be slow for the foreseeable future.
Comment
Went through and changed all the pages from B&W and yellow to B&W and gray.
I like the yellow. I really do. I feel it’s more unique for a comic, but gray just works better in more situations than yellow does. much easier to blend it with hatching techniques, and it just goes better with B&W in my opinion. Currently using a 30% gray for the majority, and occasionally 50% when I need some section to stand out a little more. The yellow I used before was around 50% value and was just too dark. if it made it lighter it was this weird unappealing tan color that I really didn’t like at all, and I didn’t really want to do blue or purple. I’m trying to figure out techniques and ways to save time with the comic, and a more open style is one of the better ways to do that at the moment. The yellow just seemed to conflict more and more with how my art direction is going. Thought about the gray for a while and decided to make the switch before I had to change even more pages. went back through and streamlined a few pages’ dialogue too to hopefully make things a little clearer. Let me tell you, it is very hard to keep a consistent pace and mood going with as many curveballs as life has been throwing me at the moment. Please bear with me. hopefully I won’t have to do another major overhaul with all the pages at least.
The good thing about an anthology series is that each chapter doesn’t necessarily have to look identical in style. time will tell on that front.
Cal
A song from the Ogitos, translated. To be played with accompanying instruments, preferably lyre, shong, and drum.
“Turn your ears and eyes to the heavens!
Turn your ears and eyes to the heavens! Praise.
Tigan was the first.
We are the children of Tigan. No equal has existed before or since.
He is the father of our nation, [and led our people away from] the demons of the desert. Praise.
Miress was the son of Tigan,
and Miratan the son of Miress.
Sidrak was the son of Miratan,
and Akkadir the son of Sidrak.
Akkadir the vanguard, the caretaker, he called forth a flood to destroy the wicked Khan of Dumessi.
What good are your boats now, river people? Praise.
Evek was the son of Akkadir,
and Kugavev the son of Evek.
Afkist was the son of Kugavev,
and Devukkah the son of Afkist.
Devukkah the singer, the poet, the savior of the decade of famine.
The rains came for us but no others, rainmaker! Praise.
Zugavek was the son of Devukkah,
and Eigek the son of Zugavek.
Kevel-Ek was the son of Eigek,
and Keval-Ol the son of Kevel-Ek.
Keval-Ol, the [rider-turned-leader], innovator, creator of the [true bow]. (note: the tivek)
A dozen armies felled by our arrows, pillar of the west! Praise.
Four more sons have since passed.
The time is upon us, though none know the day or the man.
We wait for the next. The one who will destroy our enemies and make them a mat beneath our feet once again! Praise and praise forever.”
Scribed and translated by resident journeyman Ione Boreg during his 3-year stay with the Keval clan of the Lan Otigos. The untranslated rhyme and meter is superior in Lan Otigo tongue.
this is close enough to a character concept in my opinion.
it can be pretty tough sometimes but it’s always fun to have to design clothes and armor and such with non-human parameters. Of course the motherlanders aren’t that different from humans but it’s enough. One of my mains goals with this story and setting is to create things that are realistically exotic but could still conceivably exist within the setting. it’s not high fantasy, so I’m really trying to make designs and such that would believably be created by the people there with their resources and technology.
For instance, very little wood or metal is used in the Motherland world. it’s too rare or hard to shape with their resources. Much of the armor used by soldiers and such is a type of molded resin, along with kevlar-like hauberks made out of durable fibers from the local ecosystem. A wide variety of construction methods and designs exist in this era, influenced by cost and efficiency, and of course, looks. Rich people can afford more expensive and efficient protection than your average town guard. armor evolved in real life to counter the weapons of the day and vice versa, and here is no different. That said, the evolution of their technology can be anachronistic at times compared to our own history.
I really want to try to make things that are realistic-looking while still looking cool or at least interesting. A helmet in real life is designed to protect your face first and foremost above looks (with some less than “cool” results for the sake of efficiency), and boy do these characters have a lot of face to protect. a mask that totally covered their entire snout and ears would be very protective and practical, but looks real goofy as a result. It’s a challenge to find designs that do enough of both practicality and aesthetics, but that’s the fun in it.
