I’m on page 4 of Coptopus, and things are going smoothly, creatively. The best part of page 3 (which is a splash page) is the fact that I can leave a big section of it undetailed, as I can slap the title over it later in Photoshop.
These are the things that concern you when you need to crank out 22+ pages – layouts, pencils, inks, lettering, scanning, prepping for the publisher. Economy of time is wonderful – but so is making an artful, complete page.
I’ve also been drawing live on webcam. I wish that I could present a closer, more detailed view, but I’m not exactly sure how Mark Crilley does it over on the YouTubes. I liked him better before he went all manga.
Someone asked me why I don’t just quit my job and crank out more pages, more paintings, more art. It’s something that I ask myself every day. It’s a catch-22 : I can’t do it because the market for ME doesn’t exist enough to support me, and the market doesn’t exist because I don’t have enough time to dedicate to it. I think that maybe, maybe after I pay off 2 of my 3 Trifeca Of Debts (student loans, car, credit card), there’s a window of opportunity there. That’s what selling everything on eBay is for, I suppose.
Anyone want a nearly complete run of Diamond’s 7″ scale Star Trek : TNG & DS9 figures? Oh, how I’d love to have an army of variant Picards running around my place – a Locutus in the kitchen, an ‘All Good Things’ on the TV, a ‘Dress Uniform’ in the bathroom… there are bigger dreams, though.
There will eventually be a place where I can go and exist uninterrupted, make my own mistakes, choose the people who I involve in my life.
For now, join The World of Coptopus on Facebook. Brian & I both update it regularly (so far), and I plan to run contests & community things through there also.