Once again little work done these days, not enough to have anything finished to show over here. In fact I'm programming this post a few hours in advance at an ungodly hour, I didn't even realize it was monday!!
Last week I was talking a little about drawing. That brought some memories about my sadly long time forgotten attempts of doing some comics. Back in the day I used to doodle while taking notes in class (school and university alike). Though nothing really artistic or out of this world, I used to make up stories, build some mildly complex plots and just put my pencils on the paper. Last time I did so was when I embarked myself on the silly adventure of some WH40K fanfic. Not only I did some pencils, but I also decided to apply some colour (the very same acrylics I used for the minis!).
That of course meant that I went sooo slow that I never finished the plot I had in mind and I abandoned the project while in #2 out of 8 volumes I had planned. But anyway I finished #1 (48 pages) and #2 was quite on its way. I have no decent scans of the panels, but some petty pics.
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| Volume #1 finished |
I experienced not only RealLifetm issues (which led me to abandon the project), but... artistic discrepances with some of my pals. The plot itself had quite a RT flavour, the lead character being an adventurer who is hired by some misterious xenos in a hive city underworld in order to recover "something" important to those pointy-ears weirdos. During the expedition the group gets involved into major problems as the stuff they want to recover is in a conflict area and the adventurer is himself being pursued by a Commissar and some more people who have their own plans for desertors like him...
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| Of course we had some of these! |
Well, some pals thought that the story wouldn't fit in the 40K universe, as some of these ideas were no more canon and official fluff was pretty going on some other direction. So after some heavy rejection from a few people (the Oldhammer movement hadn't been invented by the time!) I felt somehow tired. I realized that I was being slave of a) other people's IP and b) other people's opinions, and I should not give a shit about any of those!
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| Smiling guy of the scenics... |
Of course you can see the limitations coming from my puny art and the limitations coming from the use of acrylics on paper...
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| There was to be a double splash on every volume |
It's a shame I didn't carry it on, I had done other comics before, but
this was my first serious attempt on colours and an extended script to
be developed on several volumes.
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| My intention was to give some part to every single major Army in the game |
The project is currently on a dead end, it's been this way for... eight, ten years maybe? Something like that. The fact of handpainting everything was killing me, I simply couldn't keep on at a decent rate. What I've been thinking of lately is getting back to the beginning, but with two major changes. First of all, setting the plot in my own universe, far from other people's IP. That gives me freedom to do whatever I want and not having anyone telling me 'GW doesn't support your interpretation'. And secondly, going into digital art. I could do the pencils and ink, but colouring a full scale comic totally overwhelms me. It's simply not a realistic plan nowadays. I would like to think that digital colour would offer me some leverage on that aspect.
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| Cypher approves my idea |
Well, of course it's not a real-real plan, it's kind of a wish. But well, that's my fantasy, hey!
If any of you have real interest in this attempt of comic, I believe I could scan what I have. Using Photoshop I could translate it into English and making it readable for everyone, but please understand that this would involve a number of hours! So I guess I would only do it if there is any real massive interest, hehe! If not, just be patient, I'll remake it all under a new perspective and a similar-yet-very-different setting. Yes. At some point. In the future. Ahem.
I'll hopefully bring more minis during the week! Preferably new ones, I'm on it, I'm on it...
Such a pity you never finished that, some cracking concept art there. It is an even bigger pity there isn't enough room in the 40k universe for more people's viewpoints. I get (& love) the grimdark aspects of the universe, but there should still be room for lone adventurers, rogue traders and rebels who don't have horns growing out of there heads!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I must say those above aren't certainly the best or more representative pics of what this all was about, but you get an idea. My story was planned in a way that it started as an adventure (veeery RT style, lots of RPG elements) and was growing and spreading to a full scale conflict, with massive battles and stuff, kind of a compendium of all this universe, trying to put together my old fashion point of view with the more modern-like stuff. Ambitious, too ambitious, I'm afraid, hehe :P
DeleteFirst off, your art is really good. I fully support the idea of you restarting the project. I think going digital is a great idea, hopefully you already have a tablet. I've used a cheap one and it makes drawing so much easier. I think this should be posted on Facebook and Google to drum up support. I'm excited by this project.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words, Sean! Yup, I've got a basic tablet and a (quite) rough knowledge of Photoshop (more kind of an extended Paint to me :P but enough to make some doodles). The only key to improve is practice, practice, practice! I really should put hands to work...
DeleteIt is indeed a very nice project you had, I have started a comic just like you (as the author while a friend was drawing) and I know ow frustrating it is not to finish something. While I totally love the "fresh" from it, I do not think you shoul dput any more time in this apart from scanning it really. It's not about he comic itself but more about using your energy for what's ahead rather than for what's behind. With a newborn you'll surely find you have to use time a little differently or maybe that's just me.
ReplyDeleteANyway, I genuinely loved seeing this gold nugget from the past and it truly is something I'd have loved to read in english or french !
Thank you! Hehe, yes, I know you are a true supporter of 'what's done it's done'. The thing is that I believe the story, though not being extraordinary, still has some potential and I'd really like to take it back again; my two options are resuming where I left it (half #2) and keeping on the WH40K plot or restarting it in my own universe.
DeleteFirst option would make me finish #2 handpainting (and taking #3 on digital), with 'official' fluff costraints. Second option would mean reinterpreting everything from the beginning, but giving the project a more coherent aspect ad treat.
Ahh, decisions...
All ideas and opinions out there are welcome!
What a great project. Always cherish past projects, they teach you how to measure and build every project after.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Right, that's the best way to learn, building on what you previously did! (both right and wrong, hehe!)
Delete"Los Marines!" Awesome work, I'm sure there's something you can still do with it. I'd guess some scanning and photo-shopping would tidy it up quite a bit. Also, I'd probably enjoy it more if were were in English rather than Portuguese, but - hey- that's just me! Muy obrigado for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks! That's Spanish, mate, I'm afraid this was made loooong time ago, I had not a single plan of going anywhere with this, it was some kind of artistic onanism :S, only a few pals ever got to see that.
DeleteI sometimes think about how funny do these things sound in a different language than the original :D
Que buenisimo, =)
ReplyDelete¡Muchas gracias! Al final me vais a animar :D
DeleteGo for it man, anything that gets you creating is a good thing! =)
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, the urge of creating, whatever it is, is what really makes sense. A day spent without creating any shit is a day gone, hehe.
DeleteThanks for sharing this little nugget of gold Suber. It's a shame you never completed it as from what little I can see from above it is clear you have put a lot of love and hard work into it. I tried drawing comics when I was young too but it was mainly 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff or football comics if you aren't familiar with the title. For some reason I loved to draw shots being made by strikers or saves by goalkeepers. Weird huh? LoL
ReplyDeleteRight! Roy of the Melchester Rovers! Wow, that's a classic! Hehe, you're cheering me up to draw again :D
DeleteThanks a lot for sharing this. Your art looking amazing! I can't imagine the amount of hours it would take. I would gladly devour anything you'd produce, although I shudder at the amount of work it would take. In any case, I just enjoyed these few frames, and the story lines they conjure up in my own imagination.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the best work is the stuff we just do for ourselves, outside the grown-up world of official publications, profit and recognition. Ultimately, I think that's what makes us happy (or me at least).
Thank you very much! I agree, best work is what you produce for yourself, out of other's expectatives. Then is when you reach your full potential. That, however, opens the question about art, as art (any kind of it) is supposed to be designed to be 'open', to be shared; unshared art loses quite a quality, from my point of view, and once a work gets to the public, it must be subject to constructive criticism, for then belongs to an extent to the public too...
DeleteWell, I guess it is a whole world of opinion!!