of Shadows and Light

last week before Finals!

2011-12-07T16:29:00.002-09:00

Here we are. I have a little over a week until I am to present my SHEDYRA project to Garry for final evaluation. I am working on the cover right now and printing the penciled art so I can put it on Bristol board and ink some of them. It has been an incredible journey thus far, fraught with missteps and learning experiences. Looking back, I might not have chosen to try to do this much of a project so special to me in the context of an academic deadline, but I know that I wouldn't be half this far if I was relying on free time alone to get somewhere with it. Now I am closer than ever to getting issue one in the hands of the people, which I hope will be the first major step to getting my foot in the door in the world of comics.

Running the Gauntlet

2011-11-28T17:51:00.002-09:00

Well...It's only three weeks until finals. I can't say I'm remotely as close to being done as I originally expected, but with perseverance, patience, hard work, and a lot of patience and help from my sweet wife, I am running the gauntlet. What I have learned so far is that comic art is extremely difficult to rush, but more importantly, time must be allowed for mistakes, processes, and just plain work. I've also learned that finding individual style can be simple. It takes a long time for personal style to be obvious and natural, but having read dozens of comics by dozens of artists and writers, I can truly say that I have gleaned what I liked in terms of style and attempted to throw my own twist into the batter and push blend. Though I feel often inadequate, inexperienced, and prone to mistakes, what has begun to peek its head out of the ashes has startled me with happiness. It will take longer than originally planned, much longer it seems, but each time I put pencil to paper I'm shaping the world of Shedyra for others to enjoy, and that is a blessing and a personal dream of mine. Not everyone gets to fulfill their dreams.

Pumpkin Art

2011-11-07T13:29:00.005-09:00

I hope everyone had a good halloween! Each year, the jack-o-lantern art gets more and more complicated and fantastic. This year, my wife and I decided to attempt some SHEDYRA characters! I did the sketches, and then my wife transformed them into pumpkin stencils! The piratey one you should recognize from the artwork on this blog, the blue-skinned buccaneer, NARM! the demony looking one I carved, RINDIS, the flame master. You may or may not see both of them in Issue one, but don't worry they're both important characters that I have been refining since tenth grade! Happy Holidays everyone! more updates and some ART real soon!

Realistic Goals

2011-11-02T16:25:00.002-08:00

Hello Everyone. It's been a little bit. Things are so crazy! This Comic project is taking a LOT more work than I originally anticipated. Garry and I worked out a schedule that will allow me to finish a healthy amount of work and go through the complete process, but the original vision of completing an entire 24 page comic in one semester with three other classes and working part time will ultimately not be realized. What will be realized is 13 pages of penciled art on bristol board. Five of them inked and ready to scan and color. And a full color, printed cover! This experience so far has been amazing and I am so grateful for what I have learned so far. Comics are a lot of work but I know it will be worth it!

Update: Drawing for REAL

2011-10-10T08:26:00.002-08:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last post. Life has been kinda insane, but things are fairly even keel now. So great news! I finally finished the render of the VINE BLOSSOM INN on Sketchup and wow did it take a lot of work. But it was worth it. So now I am drawing the scenes in the opening where Jakayla is working and talking to all the sailors that are trying to flirt with her. When I drew the first shot of Jakayla where you can see her face expression and outfit and everything, I freaked out because she looks really LEGIT. I was drawing her for real, in a comic book panel. It was really special! I am really glad to have my wife helping me too. She notices so many things that I don't. She really makes my project go so much better than it would normally. So its slow but happy progress. Now that I have the tavern done, the drawings can happen a lot faster. And once I get out of the tavern, the jungle scenes should be pretty easy. Then we get to the Temple....whew! Well, let's get out of the tavern first.

Shedyra Project: week Two Update

2011-09-12T16:34:00.003-08:00

Another week has flown by, and another meeting with Garry, which means another blog entry to let you all know what has been going on. Well, some huge advances in storyline and scripting. I won't reveal it yet, but with the too-often overlooked brilliance of my wife and some fundamental ideas that we both had, we arrived at some amazing developments for the storytelling narrative style of SHEDYRA and paved the way for many more issues to come!

In regards to scripting, I would like to mention some fun and important elements of scripting and more about the process I went through. First, I produced a narrative, train of consciousness piece based on Jakayla's journal entry, as if she was telling the whole story how it happened, including her thoughts and feelings. I then wrote out a list of all the major scenes and what elements of story and visual identity had to appear in the script. Then, my talented wife took these and began developing dialogue and scene setting in terms of a stage play, since I am not sure what each panel and page is going to be yet. Then, I took these materials and am writing the script, as a stage play, with descriptions of characters, behavior, and dialogue. It sounds like a lot but it goes quickly. The Stage play works because it, like comics, is a visual narrative. The story relies mostly on dialogue and context for character development. We're cheating a little with Jakayla's Journal, but more on that later.

Now, the fun that I mentioned earlier. To make a script sound natural seems easy, but when your story takes place in Shedyra, things have to be different at every level. To help my script and art be original and authentic, I have come up with some phrases from the ancient languages that exist in Shedyra as a way to add cultural context to otherwise merely visual differences between races. If you think about it, the slang and phrases you grow up with that are part of your culture tell a lot about who you are and where you come from. So the people of Shedyra now have phrases like our "Mama mia!" and "Oy vey!"

Another fun thing has been inventing what type of foods and drinks you would see in a Shedyran Inn, since that is precisely where the first big scene takes place. Inventing has always been the fun part for me, whether its history, creatures, or delicious beverages.

I also talked with Garry about style, and how we are going to break the comics plane in terms of panel layout. More on that later. I am really excited with the progress that has been made, and the best is yet to come!

SHEDYRA Project: Week One Update

2011-09-07T16:16:00.004-08:00

Well, the summer is over and School is in full swing. Today I had my first meeting with my Advisor for the SHEDYRA Project. It went really well, and I am looking forward to the meetings yet to come. Garry is an amazing artist and a fantastic teacher. His perspective on art, design, and comics are INVALUABLE and very wise and experienced. I am so glad I have him to guide me as I attempt the heretofore unachievable marriage of ART and STORY into the ever elusive comic.

I wanted to highlight some of the research I have been doing and tie it into what Garry and I talked about.

WRITING- storytelling visually is such a challenge. In writing novels or short stories, you can take all the words you want telling how things look or what someone is thinking. In comics, much like film, unless there is narration you are limited to dialogue for words, trusting to the visual perception of the viewer or audience to pick up the rest of the story. Storytelling visually can be extremely powerful when done properly. I learned about visual storytelling in SCOTT McCLOUD's book, UNDERSTANDING COMICS. He outlines history, theory, and deconstruction of comics and visual storytelling in an unparalleled way.

Garry helped me to think about Jakayla's motivation, who her family is, what her journey and her gift are all about, as well as how the other characters relate to her. In writing I will be utilizing the amazing skills of my wife, who has a degree in writing and never ceases to amaze me. Her suggestions led me to the fantastically successful process of chronological storyboarding.

DESIGN- Garry has helped me define my style, a sort of retro-animation simplistic but dynamic style. We discussed the value of thick and thin lines, and how to suggest form and proportion without excessive detail. The creatures and characters I have designed are great, but what part do they play in the storytelling process? In comics it has to be both visually interesting and narratively relevant. We also discussed the SHEDYRA logo type and graphic.

ART- we talked about my choice to do the art on square bristol board, which was recommended to me by a comic book artist named DAVID PETERSEN. Garry taught me how the square page can take eye movement in any direction, as opposed to the more straightforward eye direction caused by the rectangular, traditional comic book. The art will be penciled, inked, and scanned, followed by (I hope) full coloring in PHOTOSHOP and ILLUSTRATOR.

Another resource I learned about is an amazing program called Google Sketchup I heard about in STAN LEE's HOW TO DRAW COMICS. This program is amazing and is going to help me produce the epic architecture I hope to portray.

AUDIENCE- Among the topics of discussion, my intended audience was brought up. As most of you know, I am intent on creating comics for those of my generation and their families, people who appreciate the things I grew up on like cartoons and Tolkien. I want these comics to be safe for parents to read with their children, and to not only tell a fun and interesting story but promote the values and morals that matter most. I want the readers to be taken in from the cover on, and watch as a great story unfolds, characters grow, and amazing things happen. I want them to rejoice, mourn, and jump with the characters.

Thanks for reading. From here on out the updates will be weekly! Thanks for following this journey with me.

First Character Concept Issue 1!!

2011-06-16T11:12:00.002-08:00

This is the first concept art to grace this site in a while. This is one of the main characters from issue one, a pirate of sorts. Yes, he is supposed to be blue. Shedyra will feature members of various races, many of whom have skin unlike our own, as well as many other features. More on the way! keep an eye out!

Chapter 1 is underway!!!!

2011-04-21T10:39:00.002-08:00

I am officially doing research and going through the process of completing a full color 20-24 page chapter one comic of Shedyra this fall for an independent research!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!! i am so excited about it I can't believe it!!!!!

SPRING FINAL project

2011-04-19T11:00:00.002-08:00

For my final project in Experimental Drawing at UAA, I am attempting to produce and animated type storyboard, that is, sequential art telling a narrative from multiple points of view through showing them like a movie or animation, thus telling multiple versions of the same story experienced in a visual animated type presentation. The story is coming from the first issue idea for Shedyra, featuring the beginning of Jakayla's journey and what she finds at the temple. I will post the whole thing (hopefully) on here soon!

spring break

2011-03-08T14:36:00.001-09:00

here i am on spring breaK! it seems that with no school officially this week i will be working on my glass project. not much else t say right now! More later!

experimental drawing

2011-03-03T14:43:00.002-09:00

Hey all.... its been a long time since i posted last. SHAME ON ME!!!!! for the time being, Shedyra is not on hold per se but since i am really busy with art for school projects, the personal art takes backseat. Hence, I will be using this blog to document what I'm doing in my Experimental Drawing class. So far, I have invented a way (with a big thanks to the marvel roleplaying game) to create random superhero characters and their design elements. I will post pictures of the artwork soon. Also, we have done many smaller exercises to get the ideas flowing. I am currently working on a video edit of the footage from our UNDERWATER DRAWING that we did last week. It was really fun and such a cool experience! Video will be posted when i get it done. in the meanwhile, look out for updates every week or so on here of whats going on with my art and hopefully i will sneak in some Shedyra stuff as well.

Bullet Points

2010-04-28T09:58:00.002-08:00

Hello all. I just wanted to say that my brilliant english degree wife suggested that before I start 'writing' i should do bullet points of all the major story events from the beginning background all the way through so that i know where all the threads are and so i know where to start my story, more towards the middle than the 'beginning'. This makes a lot of sense because most movies or graphic novels are told better when they begin in the present and reveal characters pasts piece by piece as you go through flashbacks or what have you. That way the characters are more mysterious and the readers want to know more about them. What do you think?

Facebook

2010-04-08T08:30:00.003-08:00

SHEDYRA is on facebook now! Please become a fan so i can spread interest in the project. i really want to reach people who are as frustrated as me about the lack of cool graphic novels with christian standards. I am seriously going forward with this and i will post art to facebook as well as discussion topics to see what the fans want as the fan base is built up.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shedyra/106911096016223

David Petersen

2010-03-22T16:49:00.002-08:00

Wow.... David Petersen, the creator of MOUSE GUARD, my favorite artist/writer in the comic world, came to my local comic store here in Alaska and I met him! I got my MOUSE GUARD comics signed, and i got a chance to ask him and his wonderful wife for advice about my wanting to produce a graphic novel. He gave me a lot of advice but the main thing he said was "JUST DO IT!" It was a life changing event and it was so amazing! I am more stoked than ever to get my graphic novel off the ground. And my lovely wife is so supportive I know she will help me! So, this is me officially stating that I am on the case, that I am working each day in some way towards the graphic novel, and I will be starting it soon, soon enough that it wont be perfect. But if i wait until it is, I never will get it out there. I have to get SHEDYRA in the hands of the people! My style will develop over time. If you dont know about Dave check out his blog! http://www.davidpetersen.blogspot.com

I'm Back!

2010-03-03T09:48:00.002-09:00

Well, its been quite a while. Ive been so busy getting married and getting our new place put together I havent really thought of this blog too much. But... I have been working a little on the Shedyra Project when i got the chance. Which is pretty frequently. I have really been thinking and working on geography and creatures to flesh out Shedyra and give it a unique feel. Also i've been refining the core mechanics of the magic system and the history so that i can update the storyline to its best possible version. More artwork and material will be coming out and i WILL post stuff on this blog. I just haven't yet. Theres too much to do! sometimes I feel like if i had 3 of me I might get some of the artwork and writing done that needs to be done. So expect to see me on here more often now that things have settled down ish.

pulp fiction and eighties cartoons

2009-10-11T21:52:00.002-08:00

I've decided that the influences that I've had and ultimate vision that i want to portray is gonna be less like Lord of the Rings or other traditional high fantasy and a lot more like pulp fiction fantasy and eighties cartoons.

This realization came to me as i was viewing an exhibit of pulp fiction magazine covers at the school gallery. These magazines from the thirties and forties were all the rage for a generation of people who needed their fantasy or mystery fix before radio and tv. They were fantastic, over the top, chintzy, and campy but their stylized, colorful, out of this world style is something unique and contains elements of what i want my graphic novel to be.

Another of my main influences comes from the cartoons of my youth, during the late eighties and early nineties when fantasy was really popular. Many of these shows were ridiculous and cheesy beyond belief, but many of them contained artwork and design layouts that were beautiful and strange, and compared to cheap computer based cartoons of today, very artistic and refreshing. Shows like thundercats, HeMan, Pirates of Dark Water, and many more were influencial on me as a boy and their artistic, weird worlds contain elements of space and fantasy that i want my Shedyra project to achieve.

Did you watch these shows or have you seen these magazines? Do you think this is a fun idea?

the comic bug

2009-10-06T20:00:00.002-08:00

This past weekend there was a 24 hour comic book making fest at the local shop here in town. I wish I had known about it before it was too late to do anything about it. I am definitely on board for next year! It was so fun to drop by and see all the people drawing away at their original comic books. It really caused the comic 'bug' to bite me and I want now more than ever to achieve something. I think the first step is a regular webcomic as a way to share ideas and get fans and down the road we can talk about publishing in a book form. Does that sound like a good idea?

something to say

2009-09-10T20:09:00.003-08:00

well, i havent posted in a while, because i usually dont talk for the sake of talking, rather i only talk when i feel like i have something to say. So here I am. I have something to say. Today i talked about this blog with a friend at school who was kinda interested and i realized that I haven't written in a while but i kept talking about how much these ideas and art mean to me, and so i decided to say that i love the Mythos that i have created these past eight years, and that i am committed to carrying it through the best that i can. My question today is, should i create my "graphic fiction" as a webcomic first to generate buzz and look forward to publishing later, or just go for it as a volume of graphic literature and find a publisher? I am totally open to your ideas here- in fact, i want them.

Now more than Ever

2009-02-27T17:56:00.003-09:00

Boy... another several weeks of trying to find cool graphic novels that don't contain sex, nudity, profanity, or gore to no avail. I am sure now more than ever that i need to "Write the books i want to read" so to speak, and fill that niche that desperately needs to be filled. I am hoping that other artists and writers with similar values will join the cause. Someday, there may be many graphic novels to choose from that would be exciting and cool as well as safe. It's not like a graphic novel must contain adult content because they can... look at movies. Lord of the Rings is one of the best fantasy movies ever made and while it is violent and scary for some people, there is no profanity or nudity or anything. That stuff is not necessary to tell an amazing story with incredible monsters, wars, characters, locations, magic, or whatever.

I guess i needed to rant a little.

Mythical Beasties

2009-01-21T22:15:00.002-09:00

This week i've been thinking a lot about mythological animals and the ways they're represented in movies, comics, books, and games. What got me on this topic was playing World of Warcraft, noticing how they use a lot of traditional mythic beasts, but with some at least, they put an original spin on them. This got me thinking about how one of my favorite pasttimes growing up was drawing dinosaurs, monsters, dragons, and other creatures that i made up. For a long time i developed personal versions of "Cliche" or "traditional" beasts, (ie dragon, gryphon, pegasus, elf...) But the ones i really enjoyed were the ones i personally created. I'm not opposed to people using established creatures- on the contrary, there is a reason why such beasts have been in folklore for centuries and the can often be a terrific springboard for one's development with art or writing. It just seems that for my part, i want to be inspired by these imaginary and also real world creatures to form my own, alien fauna, that is, establish original creatures as unique fixtures in my mythos. There are downsides to this, such as the implied description. When you say "a gryphon attacks", you dont HAVE to explain "which is a large, lion-like animal with the face and wings of an eagle". Most people have a rough idea what that means by the mere word. If i say "a Geyrm attacks," the reader has no clue what im talking about. It could be a beast more terrifying and cool-looking than a gryphon but who knows? Luckily, graphic Novel allows for me to show things rather than explain them, but still.... its a little risky. What do you all think? Should i stay true to my original beasties or go with the classics?

thinking in terms of GRAPHIC NOVEL

2009-01-06T22:02:00.003-09:00

Its really interesting when one thing changes your entire thought process. As soon as i started thinking about Shedyra in the graphic novel context, suddenly the story started streching out and branching episodes like it was a plant stalk growing in fast forward. Suddenly the story threads started falling into episodic harmony and i suddenly have new characters and adventures coming alive as they all spin around the vortex that is the Shedyra Mythos. Granted, I havent had a lot of time to think about this lately, but the off times have been an idea factory lately. Im also beginning to imagine how certain battles or scenes could be shown visually in the story as a much more dynamic experience than writing plain text and counting on the words to paint the picture. That can work even better than art if its the right words, but drawing things personally is going to be fun.

Artwork and writing phase 1

2008-12-21T23:36:00.002-09:00

I am still reading the book but in the meantime i am going to start on some character designs and reference sheets for areas, races, weapons, etc. I will also be taking a look at the script; that is, deciding what part of my story to begin with this project. I have hundreds of years of history sketched out, so i will most likely focus the story on an exciting time later in the history with flashbacks or mythologies shown periodically in a different style, to flesh out the writing with backstory from the past. What do you think about this idea?

Visions of Shedyra

2008-12-14T17:21:00.002-09:00

The graphic novel guide is coming along smoothly, and i find it full of good information. However, the one thing that i am not happy with is the author jokes around so much and is so random that he comes across almost like hes irritated by the subject or completely making fun of it. I am trying to take this with a grain of salt, but to me, my ideas and my story is almost sacred in a way, and I am serious about it and about sharing it with the world. It is what i think about often when i have nothing more important to think about. I have so many words and images wafting through my mind, i feel almost as though i owe it to myself and others to put it out there. So the vision will be coming to you - all of you, to share.

WHen one door closes another one opens?

2008-12-09T21:17:00.002-09:00

I'm hoping this is true. I just finished my last day of drawing class until next fall, and i won't lie, i'm kinda sad. But, the good news is that now that my artistic energy wont be sapped from class projects, all my art will be personal, which means character designs, layouts, landscapes, and monsters monsters monsters!!!!! I am really excited to get going on that... i am already seeing the panels and images coming together in my mind. Its only a matter of time.

the beginning

2008-12-06T20:53:00.002-09:00

Well I got the idiot's guide, and it is really interesting. It is funny but almost over the top sometimes. However, it has a process to it that seems sound, so I will see what happens when i follow it. I have enough story material for a substantial series of Graphic Novels, especially if i delve deeper into the journeys of the characters and the deeper corners of the world. So here it is. Im officially starting. stay tuned.

Idiot's guide?

2008-11-28T21:52:00.002-09:00

they are saying the best book for creating graphic novels is THE COMPLETE IDIOT's GUIDE TO MAKING GRAPHIC NOVELS or something like that. While i am not a complete idiot when it comes to art and storytelling, i am somewhat in the dark when it comes to digital illustration techniques and navigating the publication and marketing waters, so i guess this is the book i need. That many reviewers cant be wrong?

Graphic Novel day 2

2008-11-27T10:55:00.002-09:00

OK, so this is a blog about (among other things) my personal journey creating my graphic novel, though it will likely take years. So for day 2, I did some research and joined a newsletter for people who want tips on making a graphic novel. i am planning o getting a hold of photoshop this season. So wish me luck! and i still want tips if you have them, especially on a book to get to help me out if there is a good one.

Graphic Novel

2008-11-25T22:55:00.003-09:00

Ok out there... the votes have been cast and I'm all in favor of doing my mythos as a graphic novel. I have been thinking about this for months and months and the conclusion is that because my work is so visually heavy and my story is so colorful and artistic it deserves to be shown and told.

That being said, I have been working on 'graphic=izing' my characters so they take on a slightly less realistic persona into a more cartoon comic style. My style i am going for is going to be somewhat simplistic and colorful but still dynamic and interesting. Hopefully with Photoshop and a few more classes i can work it up to the level that it needs to be. Does anyone have any books or sites they recommend to graphic novel production?

I have enough characters and story for years of graphic novels if only i can do it right. And yes, they will have christian standards. The world definitely needs more wholesome graphic novels, dont you agree?

Idea Flow

2008-11-20T18:57:00.003-09:00

This week i found some time when i should have been studying to work on some original races for my mythology and from one random doodle i came up with a really cool design for this race and one thing led to another and pretty soon i had designed all kinds of stuff. It occurred to me that often that is how my ideas work... i could try for hours with nothing but when something ignites the fuse it races down until it explodes with ideas!

Does anyone else experience this type of creative idea flow?

It works with writing too. Everytime I get a good idea i insert it like a puzzle piece into the big picture of the story or whatever and it seems to fill gaps that i didnt know were there. I am so grateful to God for helping my mind work that way. Not only is it fun but it strengthens my faith because i know he made me unique and every time i learn something new about myself i am stronger.

Call To Action

2008-11-18T15:06:00.002-09:00

There are so many voices in this world crying for attention, and who doesn't enjoy adventure and action fantasy, whether it be in writing, games, art, comics, movies, or what have you? But, the world is fast becoming a darker and darker place, full of confusion and changing values.

Therefore, I propose to produce fantasy works that are in harmony with Christian values; books and pictures that you could trust to your children. Works that are fun, exciting, dramatic, and adventurous without being gory, occult, or obscene. Stories that you can tell your children, pictures you could appreciate without wincing, and stories that teach true principles of good and evil, right and wrong, light and shadow.

If you are a fantasy writer or artist who feels this way I want you to join me! Together we can make this world a better and safer place to explore through the visual and written story.

Let's get ready to illustrate

2008-11-17T09:50:00.002-09:00

Its monday morning, and i am pausing before i start the day. Today I have a few hours before classes, so I am going to work on illustrating for a while. I have been commissioned to illustrate a children's book and I'm really excited about it! That being said, my personal artwork dealing with my own invention will be a little less until i get all this illustration done, but you know how it is. One thing after another- We can only do what we can do.

Anyone out there have any tips on illustration?

First official posting

2008-11-16T21:57:00.003-09:00

Well I'm here. I have been working on this mythology of mine for years and years, and I am now sharing it with the world. What i hope to accomplish will take time and work but you will see it develop. Hopefully you can give me feedback as well. Thank you for coming and please bookmark me if you are interested in writing, fantasy art, movies, comic books. or any of the favorites listed below. There will be short stories, poems, songs, pictures, drawings, and its only the beginning.