Where's My Post!?

Make more posts, mister!

So, as you've no doubt noticed I didn't post over the weekend or yesterday. How lame. Sorry bout that, but I have continued to make progress. I'm now about to start page 20 which is awesome. That means I only have four to go. Depending on how the rest of the week goes I might not quite manage to finish by the end of the month, I have a lot going on at work, but I'm still going to try. We'll see what happens. Either way I'll be shading for sure next month.

So that's where I stand at the moment. Also, next month I'm working a ton of hours, so posts will be a little scattered to be sure. But don't you fret, I'll be sure to do my best to post as often as I can when there's something worth posting about. As always, feel free to write in or comment.

A Morning Off...

So, last night I was super super tired. The result? I gave myself the morning off. Don't you worry though, I'm still going to work on 'ol page 18 later tonight, I just figured I would sleep in a little bit so I wouldn't be a zombie all day at work. That said, enjoy your Friday, be awesome, and look forward to another post either later tonight or tomorrow  about page and 18 and hopefully 19!

Onward to page 18!

A picture of the work in progress at Skyland Studios.

So as many of you may know, blogger wasn't quite cooperating with me yesterday, which resulted in an imageless post. Today everything seems to be up and running.

So, I didn't get myself up quite as early as I planned but I still came darn close to finishing half a page this morning anyways. That means I'm still on a good pace to finish up these last six pages before the end of the month. I must say I'm also excited to move on to the shading stage, and also on to the next story.

I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen in the next story but things always seem to take on a life of their own during the thumbnailing stage. That's what I guess I enjoy most about my process is that at any moment things can change. I'm not a huge fan of full scripts;I find them to be a bit stale and rehearsed by the time you get to the final page. I like to let things breathe and happen in the moment. It seems to stimulate the creative flow!

"Fathoms" - 17/24 Pages Complete

So, I had a kinda cool photo I was going to put up with this post, but blogger isn't cooperating. That said, I'm posting anyways imageless though it may be. This morning I got up early as planned and finished page 17. That leaves only seven pages to finish the inking on this first chapter. I've still got a shot at finishing it within the month if I push a bit hard.
On another note altogether, I've decided that when I begin the next chapter, I'm going to take you through my entire process from script to finished pages. That way when I'm discussing my progress, perhaps it'll make a little bit more sense. To give you an overview in the meantime though it goes something like this: script, thumbnails, inks, shades, lettering, cover. Rinse and repeat for each chapter. So right now on this story I'm on that inking stage. So even when I have that finished there's still a good portion of work yet to do with the shading and lettering. Then I have to think of a cover! For some reason that part seems to have gotten harder over the years instead of easier.
Ok, that's enough talk! I'll be back at it when I'v got another update, and hopefully some photos, blogger!

Another Change...

Ok, so I didn't get a chance to work on my pages again before going to sleep, but I did make one more change. I've put back the comment feature. So you can now leave your comments once again. I got rid of it before only because nobody ever seemed to use it much. That said, hopefully you'll feel free to hit the old comment button and say something. Good, Bad, Ugly, doesn't matter to me as long as you let me know your reactions. I can't get any better if you don't tell me what's not working!
I'm setting my alarm for 7am to get up and draw some pages. Wish me luck!

Three Days In A Row!

I'll bet you thought I wasn't going to post today... WRONG! I haven't had a chance to sit down and finish up page 17 yet, but I did add Cap to the Who's Who section on the right hand side of the page. Check him out! I'm not sure if I'll add any more characters right now as most of the others are revolving villains, etc. But you never know! That's all for right now, but maybe if I finish up page 17, I'll report that too. We'll see!

"Fathoms" Page 17

Derik's Air-Heart portfolio in action

Hi again! Day two of the brand new blog and I'm already posting again. But that's the idea, to get myself excited about working on the book again.
This morning I got my lazy ass out of bed early and got right to work, and behold! I have half a page done! It really is that simple. I've come to the conclusion that it's not about how much you get done, just that you try to get something done every day. No matter how big or small. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time later tonight to work on this page some more, but even if I don't today is still in the win column. There are only 24 pages to this current chapter, so I'm not doing too bad actually. In fact, If I can keep up a decent pace I should have the inking on this one wrapped up by the beginning of next month. Oooh! Sounds like a fun challenge for myself. Let's see if I can finish this chapter up by July 1st. That would put me in great shape to finish the next story by the time I take my vacation, which would mean that I still stand a great chance at finishing this book on time by January 1st. Now that would be awesome! Let's see what I can do... More tomorrow.

Blog Enhancements

So, as my first order of business on the new Air-Heart blog, I've added a few new things. I've taken down the old banner and put up a new banner reflecting the change to the site. On the left side of the page I've also started a brand new who's who to get you in on some of the main characters from Avion. I'll be adding to it as I go along. I need to add Cap for sure, and perhaps a few villains as well.
I still need to decide exactly what the contents of the posts will be here on the site. I don't want to give away the details of the upcoming book, but I do want to show off my progress in some sort of way. I'll be thinking about that one for a bit...

A Fresh Start

Ok, so it's time to come at this from a new direction. Up until now my blog has been a useless extension of a portfolio online. It hasn't really served any purpose other than to be a presence on the web.
Last night we watched a movie you may have heard of "Julie & Julia". The film is all about a blog writer and her project to make every single Julia Child recipe from her famous cookbook. Well here's the deal - her blog WAS her project. It wasn't just images and recipes, she used it to guide her through her journey, to help her accomplish her goals and stay on track. My blog? It's just random pictures every week.
To get to the point I think the blog needs a more specific purpose. I've been terrible at working on Air-Heart recently. Yeah I could give you a million and one excuses as to why, but I won't instead I'll say that going forward this will now be an Air-Heart blog. I want to use the blog as a tool to keep me working on my next book and to stay on top of my project. Sure every once in a while I might post another cool image if I make one. But right now I need focus. So bye bye DeQuential art, and hello Air-Heart!