Funny how simple things are when I first think of them. 🙂 Something as simple as the new page layout – taller, to better match the dimensions of printed comics – gets really complicated when I decide to get inspired by Winsor McKay and do away with panels, borders, and other comic page conventions. Something as straightforward as perspective gets real wonky, REAL fast. Good thing I’m changing things like that throughout the course of the five books.
Each book will be a little different – it’s really five separate stories, but each sharing a common theme of sorts. I think one thing this experiment (DtC) has taught me is that I enjoy writing more than other aspects of comic-making. But then, with the new Cintiq, I’ll actually be drawing again – for some fairly large pieces of the story. So, I’m sure I’ll rediscover the joy of that part, soon.
So… yeah! Scott McCloud is our guest star for Book One. Scott’s been very tolerant and indulgent of me over the years, for which I again publically thank him! He’s a great guy in every way I could hope to describe. I’ll try not to abuse his personna too badly as he serves as Penny’s guide for this segment of her journey.
I’d planned to use the old 3D model I first made of Scott ages ago, but after several trips through stacks & stacks of backup DVD-R’s, all I could find is the images I rendered back then – no original model. So, I was forced to start from scratch, and as one would predict, the model this time is far superior. Serendipity at it’s best! Now, I only need to get used to the new version of 3DS Max, and the new render engine I’m changing to… The first 5 strips (this week and next week) were rendered using the old methods – but the stuff I’m cranking on tonight uses a new renderer, and hopefully the change won’t be too jarring. I’ll make the transition as smooth as I can for y’all! 😉
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