India: I’m finally leaving tomorrow for India, until the 10th December. I was supposed to leave on the 17th, but just about everything that could go wrong with the preparations on this trip has gone wrong, so it’s all been delayed. Since it’s the last time I have to post news up, I’ll make sure I post something good, and a flurry of activity this week has been great. For starters, here’s an another Interview with me at “The Pulse”.

The Dreaming: This will be out in December, and the list of Australian Stores where you can buy “The Dreaming” is still here. By the time I get back, Chapter 3 will be up, but Chapter 2 is still available for November as of now. And I finally got the final version books for “The Dreaming”! I must say, I’m impressed by how it turned out. I was always afraid that the book’s tones will be printed too light, since I used Corel Photo-Paint rather than Photoshop for toning, but it turned out pretty much the same shade I wanted it to. So I’m happy with what it looks like.

The Dreaming Bonuses: Paper dolls! I drew some cute paper dolls for the book way back in August, and they’re there, as is Sarah Ferrick’s short story “Locker No. 246”. It’s a great plus to the additional material – not only does it give other artists some exposure, but it feels you’re getting more for your buck (which you are). It’s great when you don’t feel you’re getting a whole chunk of advertisements at the back. In fact, there are only TWO pages of advertisements in this book (I’m totally amazed). The entire book is 192 pages (not counting the paper dolls), so what you’re getting is effectively 190 pages of solid material. This must be the sole OEL manga release I’ve seen that has so little advertisements!

Seven Seas picks up Webcomics!: A Publisher’s Weekly article points to a great phenomenon – webcomics being considered by a book publisher! That publisher is Seven Seas, and kudos to them for also giving full rights to the creators of the webcomics as well. But my point of interest is mostly in the webcomics sphere of things. As I posed in the Engine, there are alot of bad webcomics out there, who at times can swamp the good ones in terms of sheer volume, but a book publisher taking an active interest in webcomics… it raises the legitimacy of webcomics. I would know that better than anyone, since I spent alot of my former time drawing webcomics and thinking that no publisher is going to take an interest, because I’m doing WEBCOMICS, and anyone with a web connection can do that. And somehow, through association, that kinda made webcomics “illegitimate” or something.

But now that webcomics are being given as serious a consideration as any pitch shoved under an editor’s nose at a convention (or in my case, mailed to a company)… that’s WONDERFUL NEWS!! It means that I can continue drawing the longer webcomics I have on my site, like “Keeper of the Soul”, “N.S.E.W.” and “Yuen”, which I previously stopped because I believed there was no way in hell a “REAL” publisher was going to take an interest in something that started as a webcomic. And so I started pitching to companies like TOKYOPOP, where I at least have a chance to be published in book form.

Plainly-spoken, back when I still had time to do webcomics, I considered it mostly a dead-end place where I can download my ideas, test new art styles or come up with new stories. That I didn’t mind, but thinking of the webcomics sphere as something that can be a bridge to being professionally published, rather than a freebie black-hole on the Internet, is liberating. It’ll also be encouraging for other webcomic artists, and a good place to see whether you can draw a story over the long-haul – not least because if you’re getting published, that’s exactly what you’ll have to do.

I always say that I’ll never give up drawing webcomics, and suddenly I feel I’ve been vindicated or something.

Art Overhaul: I’m starting to change my art style for my next projects again, and I find myself gravitating towards a more realistic art style. Aside from an aesthetic point of view, I find that it’s also a necessity – some of the other projects I want to work on will demand a more mature, realistic art style than what I’m currently drawing. Granted, the look of “The Dreaming” is unique, especially in the toning; it was a look specifically developed for a ghost-story set in a haunted Victorian-style school. The vast amount of greyscale toning meant that I had to forego cross-hatching, something that I really miss and is eager to get back into. Since I doubt I’ll ever do another “haunted school” story again, I doubt I’ll ever draw a story that is as heavily toned as “The Dreaming” is.

Here's Link again, looking rather happy. I suck ass at drawing realistic faces, so I'm doing some training in my spare time.

About moving towards a more realistic art style, this has got to do with shedding my earlier artistic influences. My earliest role models were Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2), Adatchi Mitsuru (Touch) and Watsuki Nobuhiro (Rurouni Kenshin), with Nobuhiro’s work being my “ideal” for action scenes (not that I was drawing alot of those). Granted, these artists’ work are still fantastic, but they all have something in common which I don’t want to draw anymore – namely big-eyed, anime-esque people. Their linework is simple and effective, but… hey, I like details. THAT has always been true.

Nowadays, I find myself wanting to emulate artists like Kentarou Miura (Berserk), Yoshitaka Hoshino (2001: Nights), and Kasuhiro Otomo (Akira) when it comes to action. These guys all have something in common – their artwork looks very realistic, and they have styles that are almost illustrational. Which is good for me. Granted, I’m not necessarily interested in drawing IN a realistic art style – rather, I want to be ABLE to draw realistically, so I can tell a certain type of story that isn’t as effective in a cartoony style. I can always revert back to a cartoony style, and indeed, some stories such as “Yuen” work FAR better in a simplified style than it will in a realistic one. And yet, I have serious historical, fantasy and sci-fi stories that will look alot better if told in a realistic, naturalistic form.

Here’s a style that kinda straddles the borders. It was drawn rather small, so it’s missing details, but the general idea are to draw people and surroundings that will look photo-realistic. Because of that, I used a more scratchy style of inking, some cross-hatching, and dot-toning, which gives it a more roughened look. I’m afraid greyscale toning is so smooth it doesn’t make things look “real”.

I want to draw action like Otomo!! I got the speedlines down, but Otomo’s inking is a lot rougher in some respects. Ah well, I can’t exactly emulate Otomo anyway, so using speedlines to give a sense of motion and urgency’s good enough. It’s just practice, so what’s happening here and why, or what these guys look like ain’t important.