39 - The Mayor of Ghoulsville

First page here. 

I feel like this is one of my more controlled semi professional pages. 

Enjoy.

Nick

38 - Oh, The Destruction

First page here. 

Getting behind on pages. I'm hoping to make up some work on my Christmas and New Year's holidays. It's work but it should be fun work.  

Check ya later. 

Nick

37 - Enter Doc Destructo

First post here. 

I like this page. 

Me. 

36 - Back to it

First post here. 

So, I've been falling behind a bit. I still have a buffer but it is shrinking. Time management skills are not at full effect at the mo'. 

Holidays will make that worse, but there will be a rearranging. 

I'm looking forward to the next story arc. This Ghoul Town arc you see before you was intentionally actiony and really about me dipping my toes into how to make comics. I'm going to try and improve the storytelling and mood in the next arc. More personal to the characters. 

Anatomy, perspective, and composition are always things to improve, but I feeling the need for my story to pull me in more and hopefully it will translate. 

Nick. 

35 - The Eye of the Storm

First page here.

A little extra drawing. Ode to Hammer Films Dracula and Van Helsing. 

Check ya later. 

Nick. 

34 - Not Bad

First page here. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I was supposed to post last night but I was up late doing pre-Thanksgiving preparations and totally forgot. So today it is. 

Enjoy. 

33 - Duels

First post here. 

I made up a little weird layout this time. It was a bit experimental. The top right triangle is one battle and the bottom left triangle was another. I could have made the divider larger or filled in the margins with black to emphasize the pattern in retrospect. 

Otherwise I enjoy this page even if communication isn't perfect. 

Nick.

32 - Playing Doubles

First page here. 

So here's the next page. I like this one a bit more than others. I hope you dig. 

Nick

31 - %#*) Talking

First page here. 

I'll still be doing black and white without the washes (grays) for awhile. Hope you enjoy. 

Nick. 

30 - Enter at your own risk...

First page here. 

I kinda like this page within my ability to like any of my stuff. I'm falling behind I'm going to have to get back to drawing. 

Later, 

Nick

29 - Behind Door Number 1?

First page here. 

Same old same old. Had a batch of not comicking but getting back on the horse. Still have ye old buffer so publishing on time. I like the bottom left panel. I mostly see the flaws so saying I like anything at all I do is a positive step. I love Riley's lines in the last panel, much nostalgia in that. 

Another sketch. 

Next time. 

Nick. 

28 - Splash Page!

First post here, folks. 

So anyway, I'm destroying my brushes. My brush care skills are far below extraordinary. So I'll be buying some cheeps I can learn how to take care of brushes with. When I master that I'll go back to my beautiful Winsor Newtons. 

Hey, here's an extra sketch. 

Nick

27 - Ghoul battle montage, yo!

First page here or you could just check the archive tab above which only has the ones link for now. Ah well. 

So I dropped the grays and I'm learning more about how to comic in pure black and white. Like I probably said before, the grays will come back. This is a phase. 

I'm a bit behind. My 20 hour work week of comicking crashed a bit when I got sick and so I have to rejigger things. Part of this is that my lack of sleep made me sick. So, I'm going to try a 15 hour work week and see if I can inch back up to 20 hour over time. 

Been enjoying Luke Cage TV show on Netflix. Not done yet though. Just finished Manifest. 

That's all folks.

Nick.

26 - Sneakin'

First post here. 

Been fighting a cold and so I'm a little behind on my comicking but all is not lost for I have the amazing buffer. Plus I'm starting to feel better so work shall recommence. 

Check you later. 

Nick.

25 - Ghoul HQ

First post here. 

So don't have much time for talkies. 

As you may have noticed, no gray tones. I'm practicing pure black and white to try and improve my inking without relying on gray tones to fix things. I will likely go back to gray tones eventually. 

I have an action sequence coming up and I flipped through some manga and realized that I could break down every action panel into maybe 15 categories. So I'm going to try and use that knowledge to choreograph an upcoming comic battle. Not this page, but several down the line. 

You'll see.

Nick. 

24 - Finding the Ghoul Boss

Here's the first page. 

Things are going alright. I'm going to try the 20 hour webcomic work week for another month and see if I can up it to updating twice a week and maybe doing some social media promo type stuff for a change. 

Promotion has been essentially non-existent thus far. 

Check you later. 

Nick. 

23 - The McMillans

First page here. 

So I've started to do a 20 hour webcomic work week. The schedule has to flex but so far has been good. At this rate I'll be doing 2-3 pages a week. I'm going to stick this out for a month or two to make sure my rate is consistent before publishing more than once a week. 

Keep comicking, true believers!

Nick.

22 - Discussions

First page here

So I nearly forgot to post even though I was stuck home most of the day due to a dead battery. Go figure. No time for tons of words. 

Anyway folks. 

Until next time

Nick. 

21 - Clear

First page here. 

So I like this page. I feel like it is the first page of good storytelling I've done so far. Nothing is perfect but I'm digging it. 

I've recently been noticing that I've been randomly squishing webcomic time into my life and it is not working. I find that life and in particular my old habits of life are sneaking back up. And so I've realized I need to get more rigid about scheduling and tracking comic work time. So I'm changing my mindset. I am about to start treating this as a 20 hour a week unpaid part time job. I know this means not much to those who don't know me, but I think it may be helpful to someone trying to do what I'm doing with my webcomic if anyone ever reads it in the future and has similar ambitions. 

Thats's it for now. 

Nick. 

20 - Anyone Home?

The beginning lies... here. 

So not that you need to know this but I'm writing this and prepping on Tuesdays and just final tweaks on Wednesdays a.k.a. post day. That's because I have chores scheduled on Wednesdays that have been neglected due to lack of prep. So Tuesday nights are post prep and more comicking. 

I posted early last week because I forgot I was supposed to hold posting. 

No extra pics this week. See ya. 


Nick

19 - Fleeing the Scene

First episode here

Next page. Still a bit behind on the buffer, but not too bad. Today was a scan day, scanned 8 pages of the webcomic and two sketches. 

Here's a couple of sketches I did and the final piece I did for an office charity thing. 

Later peeps, 

Nick

18 - That's it.

First page HERE

So things have been going alright. I've been organizing time badly a bit so my buffer shrank, but I'm pressing forward and I'm going to try and rebuild the buffer. 

I also feel that while I do want gray tones in my comics I need to learn to do a cartoon without using them as a crutch. So there is a batch coming up that will be without grays as I try to figure out inking purely. 

Time pressures have made me feel that my progress has stalled. I need more time drawing but I haven't quite got the hang on getting to make it happen. Working on it. 

I realized I've been getting hair breakage on my beautiful and expensive brush which hurts me deeply, so I'm going back to using a cheap brush until I learn how to use it properly. 

And now to some art extras...

So this is one of the approaches to inking that feels good and I will incorporate over time. It's a Mike Mignola/Street Fighter Alpha hybrid approach. Yes he has too many abs/torso is too long. It's a sketch. The little head below that is not in that inking style, obviously. 

Next is a vague poster/cover practice attempt. Little dude is Ramjit "Black Arcane" Tejani, one of the core 3rd Eye Society characters who won't appear until next story arc, probably. The big dude is a version of Mr. Antara a sinister character. Both will likely be redesigned some prior to appearing in the comic, but it was a fun sketch. 

The last extra piece. Another cover/poster sketch attempt. That's the whole main cast without mentor characters. L to R: Simon "Zen Panda" Kozlov, Ram "Black Arcane" Tejani, Emma "Cyberian" Schmidt, Derek "Silent Seeker" Stockton, Riley "Doc Destructo" Schmidt, Chloe "Broken Wraith" Martinez, and Alexis "Red Dragon" Martinez. 

Nick

17 - Boom

First page of comic here. 

So today I have a migraine, so short and sweet. Just the comic. 

16 - Hello, Stranger

First page HERE

I almost forgot to post today. I was distracted. 

Another ink practice. 

Thanks

Nick

15 - The Ride Out

First page HERE

So normally I focus on the comic and then jot down my current comic related thoughts very quickly. This time I started typing these words slightly ahead of time. Progress! Science! The Future!

So I know I was just yapping about gray tones last week, but now I'm focusing on the inking and trying to see if I can create a well balanced page without grays. I know other people can do that, I'm just trying to do it myself. So in about 9-10 pages you'll likely see a page with no gray on it... probably.

Now that I'm drawing more often I feel like every moment is a miniscule incremental learning experience. Some observations:

• I've settled a bit on inking first with tech pens then brushing. This is becoming my norm. Although I neaten up after with tech pen again.
• Drawing feels in some ways like I am touching/feeling around imaginary objects with my mind. Practice is helping, but I don't have the time to practice much.
• I do better with an hour to warm up, but I usually only have 10 minutes at most.
• My head still isn't grappling with perspective. It is a major uphill battle. I think it will be THE battle.
• I like to draw FAST, but it looks better if I slow down at certain points. Slowing down and being careful are very hard for me to do.
• I like to practice doing gestural/tube people in different positions, different angles, etc. But I just draw the same familiar/safe angles/movements unless I come up with a mini-story which drives the tube person's actions. Even if it's something as simple as shopping in a supermarket. Story always helps me.
• The cardstock paper I'm using is limiting how fine I can draw. I used some better paper for a charity piece and I can work much finer on it.
• I saw a Wieringo Spidey pencil page and an Olivier Coipel inked Thor page live and direct. I realized I need to be much more careful and precise down to a smaller scale and with smaller lines than I currently use. They are just tight, yo. (I'm Gen X and I slang that way. That's what's up.)

Totally irrelevant to the comic. I started watching Penny Dreadful on Netflix. it's a SHOWTIME series and it's pretty good, fun in a dark way. Reminds me of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman comic a bit.

Below is an ink brush practice of Derek a.k.a. Silent Seeker, the team's resident ninja of sorts and field leader. I like how this one came out. It was fast and felt natural. 

Later, 

Nick

14 - In The Wings

First page HERE. 

Another page down. I'm maintaining my buffer for the moment, but I'm going have to do some things organizationally before I can do this more than once a week. 

I liked most of this page. And here's an extra sketch, because I said so. 

Werd

Nick.

13 - Run Away, Run Away

First page here. 

In case you were wondering, the title of this page is indeed a Monty Python reference. 

Got a lot of wrinkling despite the use of my BIG dictionary to flatten it on the scanner. 

As usual I like some bits more than others. 

My latest micro obsession is simulating something closer to manga style gray tones using ink wash and over my very un-manga style. 

I'd say my style is not remotely settled because I have far too much still to learn, but currently is mostly influenced by Arthur Adams, 80s Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and lately the Sickles/Caniff/Toth lineage. At least that's what I can see in the bones. Gaijin Studios alumni who I love to death are not showing any presence in my style yet. Just observing. 

So anyway the ink heavy styles I'm used to have a very different approach to gray tones, use of light and dark, line, shapes compared to most manga. I'm trying to find my place in the grays. I'm looking at Toth's Zorro, Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and various manga, most recently Full Metal Alchemist (which I am re-reading) and the original GITS and Appleseed by Masamune Shirow. Quite disparate, but fun to try and figure out what to do, especially not using computers. 

Here's another ink sketch relevant to nothing except my beautiful beautiful brush. 

Anyhoo, have a good one. 

Nick. 

12 - Batter Up

First page HERE. 



Comic is moving along fairly well. I'm about 10 pages ahead of this page and the tone is changing, getting a little darker. 

Just listened to Mike Mignola talk to some art school kids on Youtube and it was great. It was very encouraging to hear him be like - "I have no idea what I'm doing, but people seem to keep paying me." Although, that's more a paraphrase than a quote. 

I too feel like I don't know what I'm doing but I'm unpaid of course. This IS the process of improving and learning what I'm doing. Ya know? So it's all good. 

Cool tips during sketching in these Sean Murphy Vids - one, two, three. 

In particular the 70/30 rule in art composition. Basically every page or panel should be dominated by black or white. Whatever is 30% will naturally be the focal point and use that to storytelling advantage to direct attention. I noticed a murkiness to some of my pages and felt they didn't work very well, but didn't know why. My instincts were correct and now I know why. Excellent!

Anyway... here are some more ink practices using some characters I made up with my wife - The Stolen Binz - rock star/monster hunter/Scoobies. Inspired by The Amazing Joy Buzzards. All the drawings are way off model and style but they're just practice. I love brush no matter the results. It's magical. 

Still using pencil, paper, tech pens, brush, ink/wash, scan, scale, post method. Low tech.

11 - Lodged

START HERE if you're late to the comic. Otherwise...

So I like this page better than some others. I have better control of the figures and it approached how it looked in my head. I especially like the lightning in the first panel and the arm through ghoul in the second. I usually dislike my work so this is good progress for my head space. 

Most ink wash work by the American pro comic artists tends to focus on the painterly aspects and/or an accurate depiction of light. I think I want to use it more like manga tones which sometimes accurately depict light but other times use it more expressively. 

I'll be going back and forth between the two approaches, rather unconsciously over the next few pages, and more consciously later. 

Here's another ink practice piece. Nothing special. 

New time. 

Nick

10 - Charge

Alright plan is going alright. I only penciled a page, so this weekend is big catch up, ink 1 page, pencil/ink the next. 

Here's a free inking practice sketch. When I first got my Winsor Newton Brush.

Until next time. 

Nick

9 - Sneak Attack

So I created a buffer of 10 pages and So far the buffer remains. I've finished another page as I'm posting this one. 

Process wise, still the same. Sketches. 8 1/2x11 paper. Rough in blue and/or red pencils. Tightening in HB lead. Inking first with tech pens. Then come in with Winsor & Newton series 7, size 6 brush (my favorite). Brush the blacks, Then I usually go from lightest wash (watered down inks) to darkest. Scan in as a B&W image. Re-size using GIMP. Post. 

This is going to be the same process for some time. Presume it is about the same for the foreseeable future. 

Still learning. 

Enjoy. 

Nick

8 - What Derek Sees

So I'm back after a very long hiatus. I had a major confidence crisis and crashed completely. I've had some realizations and this time it's for keeps. My head is much straighter than it was and I'll be publishing every Wednesday barring disaster. 

I've learned several things working on these comics. 

1. I press too hard in the pencil stage. Blue and red pencil everywhere! 

2. It doesn't matter that much if you scan it in as a black and white image. Yay! 

3. I love inking with the brush with a deep magical love even if I screw everything up. It's magical! 

4. Autocorrect on blogger has been turnt up since I last updated and it is very annoying. 

5. Scanning takes awhile to get the hang of. 

6. Positivity catch-all - Optimism. Doing it for the love of comics. Practice helps. I don't know what I'm doing and it is okay. 

Check you later.

Nick