Category: Last Watch Before Dawn

Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 6

Making progress! There must be a better way to format speech bubbles, but I have yet to discover it.

Large image below the cut:

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Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 5

Dialogue! Finally!

Edited to add: WordPress’s suggested tags on this were “Bible,” “Jesus,” and “Christianity.” Why, WordPress? Your AI is drunk.

Below the cut to spare your RAM:

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Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 4

I tried all those fancy brushes last page, and I honestly think I like the simpler look better: just the one brush, using cross-hatching for texture and in-between shadows. I’m interested to know your thoughts.

Here we have a big sci-fi reveal. Image below the cut:

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Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 3

This page kicked my butt and adding text in Photoshop is not exactly a nightmare, but more like one of those frustrating dreams where you’re trying to do a simple task and your brain keeps generating obstacles.

I’m still working out the art style and used some fancy brushes for this one. Let me know what you think.

Below the cut to save your RAM:

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Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 2

I think I’ve been threatening you with this page for like two weeks now. Maybe three.

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Last Watch Before Dawn: Volume 1, Page 1

So it begins!

To avoid gumming up your scrolling with a huge image, I’ll put it below the cut:

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Bonus art on Patreon! Comic pages coming soon!

A black and white digital drawing of a three-eyed skull with curling horns on top of a stack of books. Two rolled paper scrolls lie on the tabletop next to the books, and someone's arm is visible behind them.

Here’s a little snippet. You can see the entire image on Patreon! As a bonus art, this is available to paid subscribers, but the comic will be available for free and paid members.

I’m about to start working on the first page, so stay tuned! I should have it out sometime next week.

Comic Update

Pencil sketch of a tall man with large ears and long hair seated behind a desk. He is dressed in a kimono, his arm and shoulder out on the right side, and sarashi bandages around his midsection. He holds a stack of papers in one hand and an ink brush with the other, holding the brush up to his face pensively. A stack of books sits at his elbow. An oil lamp in the shape of sort of a squat goblet sits in the foreground.

I still have to get my drawing tablet set up, so enjoy this pencil drawing. His name is Tomoya Daichi and he is pretty important and importantly pretty.

Also, we have a new title: Last Watch Before Dawn. It better reflects the secret demon-hunting organization at the story’s heart, and avoids some heavy, real-world cultural connotations that will distract (or at least will distract me) from the fictional setting.

I’ll be working on getting the tablet set up this week, which means that actual comic pages are not far off. Stay tuned!

Comic progress!

I’ve finished sketching the layout of every page. The art and science of comics is to guide the reader’s eye in the correct direction, ensuring they pause where the pacing needs to slow and move quickly when it needs to speed up. We’ll see how well I managed when I start drawing.

I guess I have to start drawing now. It’s intimidating, but I did this all to myself.

I’ll be working on a new and improved title, as well. I’ll be back with more updates when I have them.

Chrysanthemum Dawn: comic script preview

Here’s what I’ve been working on in between episodes of The Well Below the Valley. (The text is recreated below, for screen readers and/or people who don’t want to squint.)

Right now, I’m still learning how this process is going to work. For a traditionally published comic, the writer would hand a script like this to the lead artist(s), but since I am a team of one, I just need to have enough information that future me can remember what I was thinking. I also haven’t started storyboarding yet, so I’m guessing on layout and panel styles. Pacing in sequential art is a complex process of guiding the reader’s eye around the page, and it’s something I’m going to have to learn by doing.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! I hope this little snapshot intrigues you.

Text is recreated below the cut:

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