December 31, 2008
Clockwork Game, Sketchbook Fun
I was scanning and prepping ten new pages tonight, and I thought I'd share some of the better-looking sketches from the storyboard book. Some are from upcoming scenes, and some are just me doodling. (My favorite is stately old Anthon.) Enjoy!
(Click for a larger version.)
December 28, 2008
More Self-Publishing Resources
Lately I haven't been very good about keeping up the Self-Publishing Resources section of Vogelein.com, mostly because I'm still trying to figure out this self-publishing stuff myself. The stakes keep changing, as do the ways of getting your work noticed, and it's hard for me to say much of worth on the subject right now -- I'm still flinging spaghetti myself, and as soon as I see what sticks to the wall best, I'll feel better equipped to blog about it.
Until then, I'm going to start linking more often to people who do know what they're doing -- people like Sara Ryan, because she's a really great writer and she writes some pretty awesome comics in addition to her prose work.
Here's a quote from her journal entry, "On Writing and Risk, Redux":
Does being an author carry risks that other fields do not? Yes. Obviously, unless you’re doing, say, reporting in a war zone, the physical risks to life and limb are minor. This is not mining, or heavy machinery operation, or farm work, or firefighting, or combat. But there are other kinds of risks. Friends, family members, and lovers will see themselves in your work. They may be flattered, but they may also be deeply hurt. Either way, you may not have had them consciously in mind at all when you created those characters or situations. Also, as a writer, you spend a lot of time in your own head, which is not always a pleasant locale.
Go read the rest, it's really good. And if you haven't read Sara's stuff, go read that, too.
Also, here's a really nice essay written by Lisa Jonté, on the blog of Lea Hernandez:
It occurred to me that building a good rep is not much different than building a good credit rating. The best advice is to start small. With credit, you would start a small account, make small, (easily paid off) purchases against it and make timely payments. So, by that logic, to establish a good rep you would take minimal jobs (one at a time please!) make only minimal promises and follow through in a timely manner. However, you also have to make a living, no easy balance to strike, but (I think) doable. Perhaps the focus should be on an entire year, not just the next project at hand. Seeing as how we are about to start a new year, I think this is as good a time as any to start fresh.
Good, sound advice in there. Go read.
| Comments (0)December 16, 2008
Artistic Masochist
Man, I'm an artistic masochist lately. This week's page had four separate crowd scenes in it. Four. I am a real glutton for punishment.
On the other hand, I've really crossed a mental line with the story, and despite the horrendous amount of time each page requires of late, I'm having a real blast. The pages are looking a heck of a lot better than they were, and -- fortunately or unfortunately -- I'm probably going to go back and start tinkering with earlier pages once I get this chapter done.
One of the minor benefits of being a self-publisher is that I don't have to release my book until its ready. This can be as much curse as blessing: one has to know when to stop tinkering and print the darn book already. However, it does give me the luxury of going back and bringing the early versions Kempelen and Anthon closer to their final look. I wound up deviating from the model sheet as I found out more about the characters' personalities, because the changes looked better and rang more true than my original designs. It will also give me the chance to make the entire chapter more cohesive, artistically -- the advancements I've made with page composition and execution in the last fifty pages are really visible to me, and I hope they will be to my readers, as well.
So yeah. Visible improvements (at least, I think so, YMMV) are a good thing, except for my free time.
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