Progress Report
4 days ago
– Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 04:04:43 AM
It's 5am somewhere (it's 5am here).
I lied, here's yet another update before the issue is done. Things are coming along. Not as fast as I wanted, and I'm still struggling with some emotional issues, thanks to the year of no return. I'm having more good days than bad now, though!
I've been cleaning up the sketch layouts and prepping them for colors. I have what amounts to seven more pages of sketch layouts to finalize for coloring. I say "what amounts to" because some pages have half the panels ready for color while the other half are still sketch layouts. So, it's an estimate...
All pages are lettered, some are lettered like this above example where the dialogue and such is final, but the balloons and font style may not be (and may be missing tails, etc)--I'll be cinching that up after colors, during the final lettering pass.
Speaking of coloring, I briefly experimented with a blended style of shading on this panel from the final page of the book. I think I'm going to stick with mostly cel shading for the interiors, but I may incorporate a style similar to this example of Shina Usomon on the covers and prints of future issues.
Her tiddies aren't supposed to be this big, but the idea of having the one rest on her arm while leaning against the wall was too funny to not do it. I do a lot of things just because I think they're funny, and hopefully you guys also find them amusing!
Anyway, that's all the news for now. I don't know if the next update will be telling you to check your email or not, but we're getting really close!
No joke title today, but some good news.
26 days ago
– Mon, Jul 01, 2024 at 07:45:24 AM
I've been dreading making this update, so I put it off for... a month? I feel like at this point from the perspective of someone on the outside, I look like a tragedy hypochondriac. So, I wanted to wait until things got back on track before dropping more shitty news all over everyone's collective face.
First, the good news is I'm working again, I contacted the printer (again), and everything is lined up for releasing the book later this month. I'm wrapping up the remaining inks this week, the book has been almost entirely lettered for ... months now, due to how I've been working on it (sketch page -> letters -> inks -> colors -> revisit letters).
Laguna passed away at the end of May. He had been diagnosed with early stages of chronic kidney disease in February. Two months later his numbers hadn't changed, but he had lost some weight. They attributed this weight loss to him being switched over to a lower protein diet for kidney health. A month later he suffered a total renal failure.
I noticed he wasn't eating, so I force fed him via plastic syringe for a single day, and the next day I took him to two different vets. They both told me the same thing: there was nothing they could do. Despite his other organs being perfectly healthy, his kidneys had completely failed. By the time he stopped eating to when he passed away was less than 48 hours. He was almost sixteen years old and still acted like he was a young cat. I laid with him for several hours at home until he died in my arms. He was my best friend.
Last year I bought that mechanical keyboard I had talked about getting so I could avoid triggering his feline audiogenic reflex seizures. I replaced the switches and the caps and it actually worked really well. It still makes noise, but it does so at a frequency that was low enough it didn't seem to bother him. I didn't share any pictures of him and the keyboard because I couldn't get his ass to sit still long enough to keep him in focus. Anyway, here's an out of focus photo of Laguna and the keyboard from last year:
I'm honestly more upset about Laguna passing away than I am about all the divorce horseshit. My now ex-wife chose to be an asshole (and continues to be one), but Laguna didn't choose to die. Not to be overdramatic or anything.
So, there you go. What more can go wrong in the worst year ever? I guess we'll find out, but at least my dad is improving. In the meantime, Murasaki #1 will finally be done. I'm excited for everyone to read it. I'm excited about continuing the story, and I have more plans on top of that. It's going to be a good year--eventually!
The actual time-to-deliver these issues should be three months, and that's at a relaxed pace. Looking ahead to future plans, that's the schedule I still intend to adhere to.
Thank you all again for your legendary patience, and for everything you've done for me and for Laguna. I hope the book was worth the wait, and I hope you'll come back for round two afterwards. The next update I make will be telling you to check your email for the digital copy and that I'm locking addresses for physical editions. I love you guys, and I'm very sorry for all the can kicking that has happened since December.
Long time, no update
2 months ago
– Mon, May 20, 2024 at 09:39:46 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Are We In High Gear Yet?
4 months ago
– Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 02:56:09 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
In the Year 2525
5 months ago
– Tue, Mar 05, 2024 at 04:44:25 PM
That might be when this issue is actually finished!
I'm Kidding...
I basically lost all of January and most of February with the COVID shit and my dad, but he's finally on the mend. There are other things going wrong that I haven't spoken much about (I don't think I've even brought it up here in an update). I dislike talking about things because I feel like I'm making excuses.
Basic jist is my wife of 14 years left me and is filing for divorce, won't explain why, and refuses to talk to me. Then the shit with my dad happened and I just checked out of reality. Spent most waking moments the last couple of months trying to help my parents and distracting myself from the fact that my life has otherwise fallen apart.
My life has turned into a Paul Rudd romcom and I hate everything about it.
That said, I'm still working on the first issue and I hope to have it done relatively soon. Here's the latest in-progress page so you can see things are moving forward, just not very quickly. I'm really hoping to have it printed by the end of the month so we can get this series moving into the next issue ASAP.
I don't know if I'm going to keep running with the "we're going to get sued" gag, but we'll see! She's definitely going to say "ha-do-ken", though. Suck it, Capcom!
What do you think: should I stay with the cat trying to keep me out of legal trouble schtick?! Either way, that third panel is really putting the "tiddie" in "tiddie comic", amirite?
