From The Edge Of The World...

Air-Heads!
Hello once again. This week I'm writing you from the sandy beaches of the Outer Banks, in North Carolina. As I had mentioned last week, I wasn't sure what my Internet access would be, but as it turns out the house we're staying in features all the modern convinces one could ask for.

This week's drawing is a sketch right out of my personal sketchbook, featuring a poster like design of Amelia and Cole. I'm still really liking the design I've arrived at for Cole, he looks menacing, but has an experienced look about him gained from all of his years on the battle field. I think this image also shows off the stylistic changes I've made to Amelia, who I think is looking kinetic and edgy.I may wind up fully finishing this one when I get back home to my studio. You'll have to forgive the shotty digital reproduction, I only had my cell phone camera available to get the image up online.

Even though I'm on vacation, I've been taking time out to work on Air-Heart and think about the plot of the book. At this point I'm awaiting some reviews on my plot outline before I move forward to the thumbnail stage. Last time around, I didn't wait to get feedback before moving ahead, and I regretted it a little bit, as the comments that I received would have caused me to change a few things, so this time around, I'm waiting it out.

Lastly, we're celebrating my Mom's 50th birthday, so feel free to send your birthday thoughts and wishes as well. I'll post again when I get back to the mainland, hopefully with some thumbnails. In the meantime, sound off in the comments section below!

 =D=

Villain Spotlight: Cole

The menacing Cole

Hey Air-Heads!
I hope all is well with ye. I've been quite the busy bee this week getting ready for vacation, and unexpectedly getting ready to move as well! It's been quite the week as you might imagine. All of that aside, I crammed in some time to stay focused on Air-Heart. Most notably I hammered out the concept sketches for Cole over here. The finished image to the left is the fully realized final design in action.

Cole was the leader of The Skyrates during the war when Amelia was just a child. He was a terrible dude, guilty of destroying many a skyland in his day. He's about to come back in a huge way for the new book, tentatively titled "Return Of The Skyrates." With Cole back in action, you can bet the The Skyrates are going to be a force to reckon with once again, and with all of the personal drama Amelia has tied up with their organization, things are about to get heavy.

Interestingly enough, Cole is actually one of the first villains I ever designed for Amelia to combat. Through some odd circumstances, however, I could never find the right story to bring him in on. At long last, largely owing to the fact that this book will be in a longer full-story format, Cole is about to have his day in the sun. I always wanted to make sure that when I finally told a story with Cole, that it was heavy-hitting and full of drama and personal baggage for Amelia, and I think I've finally reached that platform with Return Of The Skyrates. I'm incredibly excited about giving him his due, and I'm going to strive to make sure that I give him plenty of room to shine and kick butt. Good news for you, but very bad news for our favorite pilot.

On a more general story note, I've finished up the detailed scene outline and I'm awaiting some reviews before I move forward to the thumbnail stage. I'm very happy with the direction that things are headed in, and I can't wait to start the visual part of the process to see what inspiration will conjure up.

That's about all for now my friends, I'll be MIA for about a week while I try to relax at the beach. If I can I'll drop you a line... Until then!

=D=

Scripting It!

the full script in all its glory

Air-Heads! (Nick name for fans of Air-Heart?)
Welcome to another all-new edition of the same old blog. As I mentioned last time, I'm in the scripting phase of the new book. That being the case I thought that I would share a little bit of my writing process with you. To the left you can see what will mostly likely be the full script for the entire story. Say what?! It's only one page long man! It's true. I am just not a full-script kind of guy, sure I've worked from a full-script in the past, but seeing as I'm an artist first and a writer second, I find myself wanting to keep the spontaneity of working in a more visual way. Baring that in mind, my script (blurred out to prevent spoilers) is only one page long. On it I specify a few essential things such as; the principal characters involved in the story, the motives of said characters, a break down of the acts and plot, subplot and designs I'll need to develop for the story.

Having completed this "micro-script" I'm just about ready to start working on some thumbnails. The only thing stopping me is that while this script provides an overview of all of the most important information, what it doesn't cover is what each scene will be about. I usually create another one or two page document in which I break down the story just a bit further into the individual scenes that make it up, so that I can make sure I have a clear direction and pacing before I start sketching out my ideas. Otherwise the artist in me will just go wacky trying to cram every visual idea in my head into every scene.

So, as it stands right now, I'm about to start working on the scene breakdown. After that I'll be able to break out the pens and pencils and start thumbnailing away. You can expect to start seeing some drawing for the book coming up very soon. If all goes well I should be sketching by the next time I post. The story is coming together slowly but surely, and I'm ironing out some of the issues I was having earlier on. It's a challenging process as always, but the payoff is oh so sweet.

Well, that's about it for this time, check back soon to find out the latest! Also don't forget to like us on facebook (Air-Heart) and follow us on twitter at @airheartcomic!

=D=

The Poster, Posts A Poster

click for larger view

Hey peeps! As promised, new artwork! It's been far too long as I'm sure most of you know. This image is a trinity of Amelia, Joey and Cap. If you've been following Air-Heart for a while, you may notice a few of the subtle costume changes and stylistic improvements. I'm shooting for a slightly more streamlined look along the lines of one of my biggest idols Bruce Timm. If you're unfamiliar with him, check him out now! In some of my more recent work I felt that I was going a bit overboard with details and ultimately setting myself back as far as productivity is concerned. Coinciding with my "fresh start" I'm trying to get back to the swift lines and less is more style that got me excited about working on Air-Heart in the first place. React with comments below if you like!

Regarding the development of the next Air-heart book, I'm currently in the writing / planning stage of the process. I have a solid direction for the story, but I'm working on narrowing down the specifics and getting everything organized. At this point, I'm still not certain if I'm going to work full-script or from a tighter outline. The writer in me would definitely like to explore the possibilities of dialogue that come out of scripting a story from top to bottom, but the artist in me would rather work looser and focus on letting the story develop organically. It's a bit of an internal struggle at the moment, but I feel like the answer will fall somewhere in the middle. The plot is also a bit up in the air as I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate all of the elements that I'd like to see come together in the new book. There are certain characters and plot points I'd really like to explore, but sometimes those things can be crammed in to the detriment of the story. I want to walk the line between cool action, interesting character development, and a concise story. It's an interesting adventure to be sure, and one I'm looking forward to exploring further in the months to come.

Before I go, a quick reminder to leave a comment below if you have a chance, I always love hearing from the people!  Lunch is calling so I'll leave you for now, more as it develops!

=D=

A Fresh Start

So... It's been an incredibly long time since I've dusted off the old blog. For those of you who may not recall, a while back I started a Kickstarter project for the next Air-Heart book. Unfortunately, the project did not raise enough funds to be supported, and I never really moved forward with that book. There was a good period of time where I felt let down and disappointed about that result, and it kept me from producing work.

Fast forward a few months, and I'm at my best friend's wedding, and recieveing a ton of questions from people regarding my artwork. Sometimes it takes some outside interest for you to find your spark again. After thinking it over for some time, I think I'm finally ready to start moving forward once again. I have a clear idea of what I want to do next with Air-Heart, but I want to take my time so that the project can really shine before I make it public. That said, you can be sure you'll find character sketches and updates here on the site in the months to come. I won't make any promises about the frequency of the updates just yet, but I think I'm aiming for once a week...let's say Monday's perhaps? No matter what happens next in the evolution of the next book, you can be sure that you'll hear about it here on the site as it happens.

To give you some idea of where I'm headed, you can expect to see the following featured in the new installment:

• a single "feature-length" story
• redeveloped character designs
• continuity starting from the new book forward!

More soon... I will warn you, since I'm getting going on this whole journey again, I'm apt to overpost for a little while at first, but that just means more awesome content for you!

=D=

What's Going On? Where are the posts!?

Hey people! For those of you wondering where on Earth I've been, it's simple. I'm where you should be, on my kickstarter page funding book II of Air-Heart! Come on over and check it out. I'll be posting there all the way up to the new year, once a week just like always!

=D=

Kickstarter Week #2: The Artist in The Hat

Hello once again!
This week marks #2 for the kickstarter project! We had our very first contributions this past week, a special thanks to Joey and Michael for their support. We're now 5% funded, but as you might imagine, that's a long ways off from where we need to be. So, everyone should keep visiting the site, and pledging when they can. Remember that it's all-or-nothing funding, so if we don't make it, we're back to nothing!

The hat, in all of it's glory.

So, for those of you who have gone over to the kickstarter page, you may have noticed that the $500 reward tier offers a custom embroidered logo hat. Well, to ensure that the product was as mega awesome as it should be, I ordered one in advance. I'm proud to say that I'm very pleased with the final product and I've been wearing it every day since.

As you probably know, a huge piece of this whole thing is promotion. What better way to promote your idea than to have a hat, emblazoned with your logo, for people to ask you about when you see them. Well, that's the idea anyways.
I'm very happy with the quality of the hat, and I'm pleased to offer it to all of you who can afford the super high tier. For those of you who can,t not to worry, you can order the hat here on my blog by heading over to the store tab and following the link.

Production of the book is still underway, I'm currently shading pages and getting ever closer to starting the second chapter of the book. I'm extremely excited to get back into the drawing portion of the process.
That's all for now folks, be sure to check us out on facebook and twitter as well as the kickstarter page!!!

=D=

Kickstarter - Week #1

Yours for a donation of only $10!

Hey peoples!
So, the first project update has been made on the kickstarter page, so you better check it out! The update features images of the embroidered logo hat, and the promo poster. So, exclusively here on the blog; I'll be showing you some in progress images of the trading card, featured as one of the donor gifts when you choose to support the project.

The trading card features some background info on our favorite heroine, and a cool image of her striking a ready pose as she embraces adventure. She's not shaded yet as you can see, but that will be tomorrow's fun. I really had a fun time putting this together, I'm thinking I might do one for Joey and maybe Cap in the future...

Getting back to the point, the first week of the kickstarter project has passed. Unfortunately this week didn't see the progress I had hoped for, but there's still 53 days left according to the clock! That still leaves plenty of time for you to show your support. But hurry! Nobody wants to be a rotten egg.

That's the deal-e-o for this week, next week on the kickstarter blog, I'll be posting a preview from Mirror's Edge! In the meantime, be sure to check us out on facebook and twitter, and stay tuned to the blog for more exclusive content!

Air-Heart: The Kickstarter Project!

Hey people! It's official, Air-Heart: Mirror's Edge has now launched on kickstarter.com. You can now donate to the project by following the link right here and pledging any amount you wish. The project is all-or-nothing funding, meaning that the entire monetary goal must be reached in order for any of it to be received. No donation is too small, and your support is greatly appreciated. For your support we're offering a bunch of totally awesome rewards. Check out the video, and pledge!

The donation period will run for 60 days total, ending on Friday, December 30th. Feel free to ask us any questions you may have about the project, kickstarter, the rewards, or anything else related to the project by e-mailing us at: airheartcomic@gmail.com

Kickstarter / Video Production

Holy directing stuff Batman!
So, for those of you who are unaware, I've been working on my promotional video for my project on kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is a place where creative types can promote various projects and seek donations and support from a very cool community of people. They strongly recommend that you produce a promo video, so... I've been working hard on putting it together.

It's been a trying process to say the least, I've had some very limited experience making videos so there was a little bit of a learning curve. That said, I wound up with what I'm hoping will be my final product. I'm just awaiting an initial reaction from a few folks to make sure it hits the way I want it to.

In other news - I'm still shading the 1st story to completion. I've had to let it take a back seat due to the video production. I'm hoping to launch the video and my Kickstarter project by November 1st, and then I'll be able to concentrate more fully on the comic itself.

Also, Air-Heart is now on both facebook and twitter so be sure you "like" to "follow" us! That's it for the moment, I'll be posting a link to my kickstarter project page as well as the promo video as soon as they're ready to rock n' roll!

=D=