Author: Cal

Deltani – Beyale

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Cal

“Some call the sun the beacon of hope. Others, the clear wind following the storm. I have no need for these.
The sun shines on the bay. The winds push it forth. But it stretches beyond them both. The sea is my home, and the spire my only knot.
It reminds me that I am free…”

Memoirs of a Sailor, -12y

Valley Star. The Gateway. Beyale. Jewel of Deltani and the port city of the civilized world.

The Deltanis often claim that the site of the city was marked with lightning by Robalem himself nearly 600 years ago. Once seeing it, it is hard to dismiss this claim. The grandeur of the city needs no defense.

Whether marked by lightning or not, Beyale was founded around 600 years ago, likely by the old Deltanis. The city has changed hands and names several times but has been a key player in trade and diplomatic relations in the area for centuries straight, almost entirely due to the location of its port. With mountains on the north and east, it is shielded from weather and is a safe haven for ships to winter. Its vanguard location in the bay and close proximity to several other major cities such as Deltani Mer and the Avato ports of Carthis and Rokur cement its status as the undisputed trade queen of the region.

Land travel in the area is difficult but not insurmountable. The mountains necessitate pack animals with hardy dispositions. Defense of the city in the past has been won or lost by the defenders holding the high ground, of which there is no short supply. Once passing the northeastern ridge, the land flattens drastically and the area is much friendlier to travel. Those that do not take the coastal route through Carthis often use this course to reach the Avato Capital.  

While the status of Deltani as an autonomous vassal of Avato is often a sensitive subject, Beyale is thankfully one of the less volatile centers and frequently seems less preoccupied with the political scene at large than the rest of Deltani. Riots are bad for trade, and many Beyales roll with the ethnic punches as a result to protect their livelihoods. Taxes may be another story, but that is a worldwide constant.

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Time to put down Old Yeller

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Cal

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 Otigos

Posted on July 17, 2018 by 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.

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Character concepts 2 – helmets

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Cal

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.

Character concepts 1 – Lain

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Cal

I’ll probably end up posting quite a few of the character concepts I do on the site. I think it’s interesting to show, honestly I enjoy inventing new characters and scenarios more than drawing old ones over and over.

This is Lain, a character I’ve had since the very early stages of this comic back in 2010. Her basic design and personality has remained fairly unchanged since then, which is a far cry from most of the other characters that will appear in the comic. she’s around 17 or so. I’m looking forward to writing and drawing her cause I think her circumstances and personality will make for interesting stories. I don’t plan in detail too far ahead, I find it more fun to have some rough ideas of who she is and where her story goes and basically fill it in and wing it from there. planning too much makes it turn out really stale when I do it.

Main things I’m trying to figure out are minor cosmetic choices. Mainly the exact cut of her tunic, collar, and what kind of circlet she’s going to wear. I want something that doesn’t cover her eyebrows, I’m leaning towards either a thin band tiara kinda thing or a thicker band that goes around behind her head, over her frills, and doesn’t connect on the forehead. she’s come of age but is unmarried, and therefore doesn’t have the family crest facial tattoos like Sago or Jos, but has her own family mark on her tail or back or something. if she got married she would have the husband’s crest tattooed on her face as a symbol of the family unity, like Ausrea. If it was real, likely her current tattoo would be somewhere visible like her neck or arms, but in comic visibility I don’t think it looks all that great to have every single woman’s arm or neck tattooed and confusing the body language.

She started out pretty tall for a her gender, but I feel I’ve been steadily decreasing her height the more I sketch her. I don’t know, I kinda think it feels right if she’s just average or slightly below average. her slender build combined with her pretty long (and kinda goofy) frills and tendency to wear baggier clothes has a good look to it I think.

Stay tuned to see her coming up in the story!

Frills

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Cal

“Before him stood his bride-to-be, her angelic movements captivating the grocer utterly. Body clad in gown the color of the sky, crown adorned with sleek feathers, frills with beads of gold and white, and a smile of pearl. No other man was as blessed as he.”

The Tides, Peaks, and the Plains, -6y

The frills, otherwise known as leaves or folas, are a semiflexible structure on the side of our faces. Their existence has baffled thinkers and inquirers for ages, as they seemingly have no meaningful purpose or function, unique to other body parts. They do not aid in sensory input to any amplified degree of other areas of skin, nor do they aid in balance. The body can survive their removal, though blood loss and extreme pain will result initially. They do not grow back.

No notable difference in their structure exists between the two genders. Perhaps they serve no other function than to aid in facial recognition. Two lobes with the larger on top are most common, but while the structural difference between the two genders is minimal, the number and size of the frills can vary to the extreme between people. Parents often have similar looking frills to their children in this regard, like other facial and physical features.

Many Rene inquirers believe it is a vestigial structure, one that once had a purpose back when we were as a race closer to the appearance of horses. It may have had a function similar to the antennae that horses use to sense their surroundings. Others vehemently disagree, contending that it is a protostructure, one of the first steps to ascending to a higher plane of biology, and that its purpose will be clear as more of our being advances to compliment it. Developing to higher existence is one of the theoretical methods to usurp the Cycle, though dissenters hold that this has likely been achieved and therefore irrelevant.

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Fauna – Horse

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Cal

“The beast held a noble distinction, even a sadness, that he couldn’t quite quantify. Listing in this forgotten place, it was as much a prisoner as he. Speaking comforting words to the creature, they were but a pitiful help. This ache had only one cure.

They rode as dawn broke into morning. The furor of its pace, the chill of the wind – the anguish of the steed faded… and with it, his own.” 

Green Empire by Doa, -275y

The common horse, the primary steed of mankind, has been core to his history for many thousands of years. This humble beast of burden makes civilized life possible as the primary method of quick transportation, surpassing other creatures due to factors of temperament, cost, strength, and speed. Most breeds are quite hardy, able to survive in all manner of temperatures and terrain across the known world. Rarely a place discovered has no horses or at least knowledge of them.

As the primary beast of burden, horses are more than able to carry one or more people along with their supplies with saddles and packs. Riding bareback is possible but often extremely uncomfortable due to the creature’s ridged back. Wagons are a common and useful alternative assuming that roads are used.

Extensively breeded, the horse can take an extremely wide variety of appearances and functions. The smaller specimens, ranging from chest to head heights, are nimble and are used frequently for personal duties as mounts, with most being able to outpace a running man two or three times over. The Otigos and Rabants specifically breed many smaller horses to navigate their often-treacherous mountainous homelands. The Otigos in particular are some of the most adept and famed riders in the world, with the horse playing a larger role in their culture and daily life than any other nation. Larger breeds can vary extremely in build, and therefore role. Stocky beasts are to plow fields or for intimidation in warfare and are frequently used in the rolling plains of Avato due to ample food to support the primarily-herbivorous creatures. The extremely tall and spindly types of the far north are used navigating the numerous and inhospitable deserts that region is rumored to contain, however very few of those breeds exist in the civilized world.

Colors of the creatures can vary widely as well, with the vibrant and well-marked fiery oranges, reds and purples reserved for the royal and rich (due to expense in breeding), with the common dull blue and grey specimens generally used by those less fortunate. Even still, a horse is one of the most expensive things a family might own.

In Otigan folklore, mankind is united with the noble creature almost immediately upon his creation. They are not sacred, but respected above all other animals… and some foreigners. Rene teachings dictate that the horse emerged from the same waters that mankind and most other animals emerged from. They believe that the horse is ranked sixth on the scale of intelligence of animal-man.

Some peoples in far northwest Avato are rumored to eat them. The capital generally frowns on this behavior.

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Does showing an action condone it?

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Cal

Something I’ve been thinking about lately when it comes to stories is the current temptation of creators to only show things they condone.

for example. personally, I don’t swear. however if I made an historical film about the mafia I’m not going to have Scarface or whoever running around saying “those darn cops”. he’d say something like “those fuckin’ pigs”. Now from my personal views I object to what mr. Scarface says, I don’t think it compromises my views to show his, even if I may heavily disagree with it.

I feel like in this time and place in the world there is almost an assumption that any point of view shown, if not explicitly for the sake of vilifying it, must necessarily be agreeing or promoting it. I don’t think this is true at all. For example, I find no joy whatsoever in inflicting pain on others in my life, but in this comic a lot of people will die- and not in tasteful ways. guilty people and innocent people. this happening has been the case since the dawn of humanity and it will continue to be so until the end. Generally when I show violence in Motherland it is for a reason other than violence for violence’s sake. does showing violence mean I agree with it? I don’t think so. I’m showing something that is, you choose what to make of it.

of course it can be very hard to show events, actions, or what have you in your work without trying to provoke an emotional response one way or another, let alone to help a reader try and empathize with ‘the enemy’. with today’s ease of communication, everybody is [able to be] a critic and often feel an obligation to vehemently agree or disagree. it’s so easy now. being offended is addicting. being offended makes me feel powerful, as it requires you to change. I think the fact it’s so easy to spread your views (via social media especially) without any real consequence is a big reason why so many controversies get so blown out of control now. while I also don’t subscribe to the current notion that “everybody is correct, truth is relative to you”, I don’t believe that every minute controversy one is exposed to needs to elicit an immediate choice, especially one of extreme rejection or acceptance. true beliefs are much more than knee-jerk reactions. sometimes it takes a topic without a clear answer to come to your own conclusions. I just wish more people would do it, and more people would be open to it in return.

that said, of course not every creator will agree with my position, I can only point out trends I see and pressures I myself feel. And of course there is a time and place for the author to condemn or condone whatever trend or action or philosophy he or she feels passionate about – just as there is a time to present it but not necessarily comment on it.

i’ll have to give it some more thought. will probably talk more about it in a post later.

cal

 

Page 31 process

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Cal

(click for full-size)

quick gif of my current process. right now I use photoshop CS2 cause it was free legally. I make a loose sketch “guide” layer first and get the panel layout how I like it before I add the main lines. some panels I do things in different orders but generally I add the lines first and then any background blocks of black or yellow as I need it before adding yellow shading if I need that too. the yellow is there to do whatever i need it to do. sometimes i use it for ‘normal’ shading, sometimes to highlight objects or backgrounds, sometimes both. basically whatever looks best on a case by case basis. I like B&W a lot but I think the yellow is good to help things stand out and makes a very recognizable color palette at a glance. my goal is to have some joe see a page at a distance and go like “yellow and black? must be song of the motherland”. hopefully.

it can be a bit difficult to strike a balance between detail and speed. making it up as i go honestly which is half the fun to me. my drawing style is very loose in the first place so I’m trying to find ways to capitalize on my strengths. too bad i shot myself in the foot on this chapter having to draw tons of buildings and crowds ughhhh

cal

 

Rene text

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Cal

This comic is going to show a lot of different languages and accents. I never was too big a fan of the star trek-like tendency of making characters who are from very different regions speak the same language, especially in eras before mass communication or quick travel. back in ancient times it was common to develop extreme dialect differences even in fairly close areas just do to the difficulty of traveling to other regions. i want to try and show that here.

When a character speaks a language that’s foreign to the other characters, I’m generally going to leave it ‘untranslated’, and will avoid subtitles for the most part. generally the reader will be as in the dark as the characters are. i like this. it makes it seem more real. google translate didn’t exist in ancient times. it also kind of adds to the mystery and sense of wonder by experiencing different cultures, at least i hope.

 

the Rene text above is Gujarati script, a language and alphabet from western India. the font is courtesy of Google Noto, which is a pretty neat project that I would highly recommend checking out if you are also interested in different alphabets and languages. I wanted something foreign (to most americans) but still a believable-looking script. didn’t want something made-up like vulcan or whatever. I browsed through many different ones before deciding on Gujarati because it is pretty unknown in my region and looks very elegant while also simple. fitting for the Renes in the context of the story.

Different languages will be represented by different scripts, but I haven’t finalized most of them yet. I also need to figure out a way to convey accents of languages as well, which is a pretty interesting challenge. will try to avoid spelling out the words (ie texan: “‘ah love ya’ too”) so i’m coming up with other solutions. it’s annoying to read anyway and doesn’t really convey it the way i want.

cal