Wednesday's are almost a bit of downtime as regards running this blog, insofar as I don't need to sweat about subject matter, it's already pre-determined as we get to catch up with Gina, Cary and Rabby as they endeavour to unravel the mystery that lies at the heart of "Cloud 109"So as you will recall (late arrivals to this blog can just check the five previous week's postings to catch up) the trio have explored a cave in an alien world and been near shredded by steel toothed mini zombies, they are now back in The Cloud 109 cyber lounge discussing what went wrong, but there is worse - much worse to come...
So I'll just reprise the previous page plus the new one and today as well as working
on a comic strip for the Royal College of Anaesthetists which is along the lines of encouraging small children that anaesthesia is fun (something which terrestrial TV is intent on getting the rest of us to sign up to.), I shall hopefully get this page of Cloud 109 licked into shape. You'll note that the guy with the yellow top is no more and the walking figures (which were in the end photo based but the guy leaning against the wall lighting up is from a drawing - more about him and his tattoos tomorrow) are adding to a nice feeling of movement in this important first panel.
I'm just thinking what a superb bit of visual storytelling you've done with that splash page of the monsters. Because there's this very big, high-angle shot for the drama. And then with two narrow strips you've economically shown everybody logging off - which is much more effective than if you'd done it as a Star Trek beaming-out or something. I'm envious - I could have thought about that sequence for hours and never have hit on such a brilliant way to handle it.
ReplyDeleteDave - this is too much!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to go and soak my head in a bucket of ice cloud water to stop it from swelling any more but I really do appreciate your kind words which mean a heck of a lot to me - they're like an added impetus to keep on keeping on.
Really great to see how you work with this project, Peter.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing how other creators get to the finished printed pages.
With this Blog you have made it as near to looking over your shoulder, whilst you work, as possible.
Certainly keeps me coming back to read more.
I agree with Dave too, Cloud 109 is a wonderfully told piece of work!
Best,
Tim...
(''j)
Many thanks Tim and really good to read about your exploits in Malta, I'll be checking in to The Wizard's Keep for the next instalment.
ReplyDelete(This is really a belated response to your post about the art of drawing eyes - but on account of the superb peeper action going on in the first page up there, it feels kind of on-topic...)
ReplyDeleteWhat I was going to ask was... you love drawing hair, too, don't you? It's tangible. I get the impression that plenty of illustrators like to vanish merrily into the process of drawing eyes and hair. I mean, what else is there..?
Oh yeah. Giant beasts. Of course! Getting rather exciting, this...
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ReplyDeleteOh wow, I remember these pages now!! I headed here after your lovely email and wow, I remember being so impressed the first time I saw these.
ReplyDeleteThey're so lovely and full of impact. Fun and characterful characters, an intriguing story, and such striking artwork! You need to find a great home worthy of these awesome pages.
What's the status now? ^_^
Hi Emma, well the book is definitely happening. We did initially receive a solicitation from one of the big deal publishers who seemed very enthused when they saw it on the web, but they then went cold on the project after sitting on our presentation for like months. But we're cool with that, bottom line is that David and I would rather work with someone who is 100% committed to our vision than be a second or third priority with a publisher who for reasons that I can well understand, needs to play safe and concentrate on creators with a proven track record, which is very much the case at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWe have already had very generous offers from a couple of indie publishers who are willing to cover all the costs of getting Cloud 109 onto the shelves of independent comic shops throughout the UK and US, we also have had an offer from another publisher who would be able to offer us distribution through mainstream outlets - so reaction is promising at the moment.
We've also been able to secure exposure in a fantastic US comic anthology called Hive which is stuffed with some truly amazing and inspirational comics by a lot of creators working the indie circuit at the moment.
All very exciting stuff - so we're getting there, slowly but surely and this blog is really a very vital part of the operation, so that by the time we go to print we have built and nurtured our audience.
Some really nice pages look forward to seeing more, also really like the process stuff really interesting and helpful to someone just starting out doing their own strips
ReplyDelete