Back for More

This is a test post from a remote location. I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm going to rework things and start posting again soon.

Olias starts his run!

I got my early access invite to The Old Republic yesterday, and had just enough time to make a few characters. My new main is a Jedi Consular named Olias on the RP server Vrook Lamar.  This morning I got him to level 3, taking it nice and slow.  For me, I like to absorb all the details and not rush through the first time I play a game, so this should keep me busy for quite some time.

My Zazzle Store

I've started my own Zazzle store! A lot of my artist friends have been selling things there, so I decided to try my hand and see if things actually move there or not.


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Art for Today - Paul the Samurai

A few pages I inked for a Tick spin-off book called "Paul the Samurai" for New England Comics. Pencils by Dave Garcia.

Art for Today - Ultraforce

Two more pages I inked from Ultraforce #2. Pencil breakdowns by George perez, finished pencils by John Statema.

WoW - Transmogrification

Patch 4.3 has gone live, and the first thing I did was visit the Transmogrification guys to get my gear redone.  It turns out I have a lot less things in my bank than I thought I did.  All my major toons had some things to improve upon.  My main, Skulfrak, had a full set and looks pretty badass.

I spent about an hour doing that.  For the rest of 4.3, I'm not going to be killing Deathwing, so no interest there.  I have a few new 5-man dungeons to kicked out of for having shitty DPS and not knowing the fights.  Other than that, 4.3 doesn't really give me a whole lot to do, and there are no more patches on the horizon until Mists of Pandaria comes out.  I'm sure that won't be any sooner than six months - probably closer to a year away.

Good thing Star Wars: The Old Replublic head start goes live in 15 days!

Old Republic - More beta shots

The big weekend beta is over now, and I had a blast getting my first experience in The Old Republic.  In the last hour, I abandoned my mission (so as not to spoil the story) and headed off-word, making my way to the Republic fleet, and then to Coruscant.  It was all very well done, but I only scratched the surface of what's in the game.  Still so much to see!

I don't any other beta approvals yet, so it's back to WoW for a few weeks now.

The Old Republic - First Impression

The Old Republic first impressions - having a blast. Played a Jedi Consular for 6 levels. Full voice acting and choices of response in quest system makes the story much more real. Reading quest text is dead. The writing is great, graphics are good, everything flows, and it’s easy to figure out where you are, where you’re supposed to go, and why. I’ve only done a few levels so far, and not even touched space travel or combat. If the rest of the game is as good as what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to keep me playing for a long time.

Mid-life Crisis

I've been thinking a lot about my artistic career lately, and what I'm going to focus on next.

The comic book thing has never really taken off for me.  I'm good at it, but after all these years, I'm not getting any offers to draw or ink anything, and my own projects haven't been able to get past the first few pages in the last decade.  I learned a lot from all my work in comics, but I've come to the realization that I'm never going to be more than a hobbyist in the field, and maybe I should devote my efforts to trying to become better at something I have a better chance at succeeding in.  I'm sure a lot of my art will continue to be influenced by comics, though.  It's a part of who I am.

I've gone back to school, and am working on a BA in web design and interactive media.  I've been building web pages for more than 13 years, and the progress this art form has made since I started has been staggering. There are a lot of new tricks that I need to learn, and I've been working on the list.

So, I'm primarily going to be focusing my attention on becoming a better web designer.  I'll be posting a lot more notes and blogs coming up as I re-design my own site and put the things I've learned into practice.

Daytona Beach

Here's a slideshow of a bunch of vintage pictures from my hometown, Daytona Beach. Some neat shots in it.

Art for Today - Inking the Tick!

A page I inked from The Tick - issue 11. Pencils by Ben Edlund.

Desktop for Today - The Old Republic

Here's today's image - a shot of Sith Tombs from the upcoming Old Republic. Still no beta invite!

Hunter Time!

I'm pretty sure my time in WoW for the next few months is limited. I've pre-ordered Old Republic, it's paid for, and I'm just waiting for a beta invite.  I'm fairly certain I'll spend quite a bit of time establishing myself over there.

A week from today is Blizzcon, and they'll almost certainly announce the next expansion.  But it won't be out in December.  I'd guess at least 6 months - more likely a year - is the time we'll have to wait for the next major content patch for WoW.  Until then, we have only one patch to hold us over until then, and the big thing in that is the Deathwing raid.  I'm not a raider.  Leveling alts is about all I have left to do in the game until the next expansion.  Blizzard knows TOR is coming out, and they're entering the between expansion lull, so will they just let things slide, or will they announce something big and surprising?  I still love the game, but two years between expansions is just too long.  I'm sure I'll be back in WoW when they add some new content, but they need to step up development cycles, in my humble opinion, so I'm betting TOR will be my new gaming home.

So, until I get that beta invite, I've started leveling a hunter alt on Steamwheedle Cartel.  Tholian (with her pet named Webb) used to be my bank alt, but I dusted her off, gave her some heirlooms, and got her from level 28 to 32 last night and this morning. Totally re-learning how to play this class!

Art for Today - Heart of the Wizard

 Another project I started - Heart of the Wizard. Story, art, coloring and lettering all by me. This was mainly a test of an art style I was going for.

Art for Today - Heart of the Wizard

Another project I started - Heart of the Wizard. Story, art, coloring and lettering all by me. This was mainly a test of an art style I was going for.

Infinite Canvas

Working on some ideas for doing an online comic utilizing the Infinite Canvas idea.

A web page has an entry point, and from there, I can drop a variety of content forms on a two-dimensional plane that stretches infinitely down and to the right. Text, images, animation, sound, video, stacked layers - anything I want. The only considerations I need to make are the size of the Window the viewer sees the content through, and the length of over abundant load times. I’ll need a system to be able to jump to the next “page” in the series. But, the beauty is, the pages don’t have to be in order! There can be multiple threads and jump-points to other links.

When it’s no longer just static images, it probably ceases to be what we know as comics. It’s a hybrid medium of comic books, animation, and interaction. In short - a new art form that can no longer just be thought of as a web comic. The term “comics” doesn’t really apply anyways, as the medium is not mostly funny. It’s not comical in nature. I guess it would be considered more of an episode, or a webisode than a comic book.

The trick is maintain a flow and keep the navigation easy. I don’t want the reader to become lost or disoriented.

Publishing and updates are instant. Art is much quicker, because it’s done at web resolution, and not for print. Edits and corrections are possible and easy to do. Constant and regular updates provide daily reminders that the project is there on social media.

My obstacles are - I get bored, and I have no feedback, so I drift away. Working on a project for a long time with the intention of publishing it later, keeping it under wraps the whole time, is a killer for me. I need feedback. I need encouragement. Putting something out on the web allows me to add “like” buttons and “share” buttons. I need a forum and a Facebook page where people can comment and ask questions.

Just throwing some ideas out there.

Art for Today - Heart of the Wizard

Here's a few pages from another comic project I wrote, drew, colored and lettered. It was mainly for a test of a new style I was going for, and I was happy how it turned out.

Desktop for Today - TOR

To get myself in the mindset of switching gears from WoW to TOR, today I went with some concept art for the planet Taris from the Star Wars universe.  This game takes place 3000 years before Luke and Vader, so there are multitudes of Jedi and Sith running around. Should be fun!

Art for Today - Inking Venom!

Here are a few covers I inked for Rune back in the Marvel/Malibu crossover days. In one, he fought Venom, and another, Adam Warlock.