OK, issue #2 of "Farlaine in the Saltlands" is complete!

I spent the last 2 days going over all the endless polishes and tweaks and changes to my second issue, Farlaine in the Saltlands, and have now sent it off to people to read. We'll see, hopefully they like it. It already seems a huge step forward from the first issue, so hopefully I can keep heading in the right direction!

I'm also knee deep in writing issue #3, which is going well so far but is a long process. Writing seems one of those tasks that can go in entirely different directions depending on what your content is; what your story is. If you write something random, just from your creative mind with no concerns about plot points or fitting in certain details, it's a very enjoyable freeform activity. But if on the flip side, you're restricted to an existing world, certain things that have to happen at certain times, a set length, pace, characters, etc., it is far more challenging to do it in such a way as to fit in all the necessary parts, and still end up with a tasty souffle.

So onwards I go to continue crafting interesting scenes, dialogue, and characters for the next book, which will hopefully be completed soon enough to allow me to get back to drawing. It's a strange animal to be drawing every day for months on end, and then have to pause for a week while you write and polish. Rush back too fast and you're drawing a weak story. Too slowly and you've lost all momentum. Maybe life just needs a pause button or something...

Editing/Revising Issue #2

I'm not sure how others work, but for me the process of writing and drawing a comic is very long and repetitive, with endless iterations of things as you inch along towards the finish line.

Last night I finally finished drawing page 33 of the second issue, thereby completing it...and then today I printed off my very first copy of the finished product to begin rereading and editing it in it's finished form. I had intentionally avoided going back and reading it as I went, trying to give myself a fresh perspective for when I was done.

It worked pretty well, and I felt like a lot of what I read today was not how I remembered it, which is probably exactly as it should be. I then spent a couple of hours going through marking up endless updates and modifications...text change here, background needs to be added there, this word balloon is too wide, this one too tight, break this dialogue into 3 balloons instead of one, and so on.

I figure I've given myself a good day or two of changes to make across all the pages, at which time I'll then need to go through it again fresh and see if it reads and flows better. I really have no clue how this reads and if its fun and enjoyable or horrific and sad.

At the same time I'm also working on writing issue #3, which means my brain is going back and forth with the past and the future simultaneously, which probably only helps confuse things.

At times like these I greatly wish I had a professional editor working alongside me to help me sidestep and polish this stuff earlier. I really half expect that when I am finally finished with this entire series someone who knows what they're doing will read over it all and suggest 50 pages of new content, rewrites, and polishes that will greatly improve it and take me 4 months to complete...

Drawing issue #2, writing issue #3...

Continuing to plod away on both the comic and this new website and figured I'd post another blog entry to make me feel productive while I take a drawing break...

I've updated the header image, added an About page, and uploaded the original 6 page story of Farlaine in the Tinderlands. Now there's at least some content here. I hope to add more as I can, but I'm still unsure what content to add...probably going to add some prelims, sketches, and character designs next.

I'm doing dual work right now, simultaneously brainstorming and writing issue #3, Farlaine in the Racelands, while also finishing the artwork of the final page of issue #2, Farlaine in the Saltlands. I've found that I can get into a nice groove of doing somewhere between a half and full page of finished ink art every day IF I have a complete script at the ready...but when I am solely working on writing I am often jumping around, taking breaks, brainstorming, or getting frustrated at being stuck. But seeing as the writing is so important, I need to make sure it's the best I can make it before I start drawing, or else I end up wasting time on throwaway work or a bad story.

So I'm trying to write issue #3 while I'm finishing drawing issue #2...the hope being that if I get better at the timing, I might be able to move right into drawing the next issue as soon as I finish the previous one. Currently there's a window of a week or two when I'm writing where no artwork is done, which is not good for the schedule...

Welcome to Farlaine the Goblin's web presence

OK, so today I'm finally starting a website and blog for Farlaine the Goblin. I'm doing this more or less to get the ball rolling on myself so I can hopefully get in the habit of adding content and slowly building up a website for when it actually has some meaning and value, instead of simply waiting until the project is entirely completed and then realizing I need a website, have no content, and now need to create it entirely from scratch.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

For anyone but me and my circle of friends and acquaintances I'm sure you, the newfound reader, have no idea what "Farlaine the Goblin" is, or why you should even care about this waste of digital space.

So allow me to give a brief rundown of the scenario...

"Farlaine the Goblin" is a comic book character of my own creation. He's a tree goblin with a pot belly and a magical tree who's trying to fiind a forest to call his own.

The book is sorta a mix of Donald Duck, Bone, Asterix, and a slew of other old school comics. I am in the midst of writing and drawing a 7 issue miniseries about his adventures, which I began on January 1, 2012. I am 1 page away from finishing issue #2 as I distract myself by writing this. The first two issues are a combined 72 pages in length, so it's not quite your standard comic fare. More like a European comic than an American one. Oh, and it's sideways. And B&W. So I'm sure it'll be a huge sales draw:)

So that's about that. Blog started.

Here's a picture of the friendly fellow to get you acquainted.