My art and thoughts from my second time participating in the month-long challenge
Hooray, I just finished the Inktober challenge this year. I drew a different illustration each day in ink based on the prompts provided by the challenge. I also made each illustration space themed since I’ve been working on a sci-fi comic.
A four-page sci-fi micro-comic
I made this little comic called NINA over the last few weeks as a way to get back into drawing page-sized comics traditionally and experiment with some new tools. It’s inspired by Blade Runner and Tsutomu Nihei’s Blame!. It was drawn on 9″ x 12″ bristol with technical pens. I added tone in Clip Studio Paint. I hope you enjoy it.
How it’s been going and my aspirations for the next year, plus a collection of my art from the first year
I started making comics seriously a year ago in September 2017. It was an intentional change from exploring the world of filmmaking with the hopes of being able to tell visual stories entirely on my own. I can’t believe that a year has flown by. I’ve been enjoying the process of making comics and growing as an artist. It’s been slow going at times but ultimately rewarding.
My new comic launches today, with a new episode releasing every Tuesday
Today’s the day that I launch Lunar Space Colony, my weekly sci-fi webcomic. The first three episodes are available to read today, and I’ll be releasing a new episode every Tuesday.
The story is about Bri, a young engineer who leaves Earth to work aboard a massive self-sustaining colony that orbits the Moon.
It’s my take science fiction and slice of life.
You can also read Lunar Space Colony on Tapas and WEBTOON, both of which have dedicated phone apps.
I can’t believe it’s already July and that LSC is launching. I’ve been working on it every day for the last few months, and I’m going to do my best to stay ahead and hit the weekly release schedule. I hope you enjoy the comic and stay tuned for where the story goes.
A peek at my process for iterating on a comic panel
When making the art for a comic, I do a rough sketch, letter the text and sound effects, ink over the rough sketch, and then add Color.
Here’s what a panel from Lunar Space Colony looks like in the rough thumbnail stage:
And then after inking:
I’ve tried skipping the rough sketch to see if I could speed up my process, but then I end up lost when trying to figure out what goes where at the inking stage.
Once the inking is done, I go in and add color:
Lunar Space Colony has a pretty limited color palette since I’m still learning color and need to work relatively quickly with the weekly deadline.
That’s the evolution of a panel from sketch to ink to color. I’m sure that evolution will only get better and better as I improve as an artist.
I’m going to start publishing Lunar Space Colony in only a few days! On Tuesday, July 3rd, I’ll publish the first three episodes and then publish a new episode every Tuesday after. I’ve hit my stride with the project and am enjoying working on it. I’m excited to share it publicly soon! 🙂
My experiences and the outcome of attempting to make 24 pages of comics in 24 hours
On Friday and Saturday I participated in my first 24-Hour Comic Challenge where I made 24 pages of comics in 24 hours. It was a heck of a challenge, and I’m happy to share that I successfully completed it!
I documented my experiences in the video above.
The result of the challenge is an action fantasy comic called Lavender, which can be read free online.
How I’m going to publish the project and a sneak peek at the first episode.
I’ve been steadily working away at my next project, Lunar Space Colony. It’s a slice-of-life sci-fi story about a woman named Bri who leaves Earth to work on the colony. It’s a longer story that I’m going to serialize weekly online. My plan is to launch the first few episodes on July 3rd and then release a new episode every Tuesday after.
Continue reading “Lunar Space Colony Launch Date and Preview”
I’ve been wanting to do a 24-Hour Comic Challenge for a bit now, and I’ve got the date all set. I’m going to try to make 24 pages of comics over 24 hours on June 22 and June 23.
It should be a great way to push myself to work faster and hopefully learn a lot.
I’m not doing it on the international day in October because I want to take on the challenge sooner, and I’m also not going to go for 24 consecutive hours. I’m planning on taking 8 hours to sleep. I’m not into staying up all night, and skipping a night of sleep will really throw off my life balance.
My employer, Big Cartel, has an Arts & Service Hours program where we can use some time to work on personal projects, volunteer, or learn new skills. I’m using some of my hours to take on this challenge.
I’ve got a little over a month to prepare. I’m feeling a little nervous, but also really excited.
After a bit of a break between projects to focus on developing my skills, I’ve started Lunar Space Colony in earnest. I decided that I’m going to publish the project online in weekly episodes as vertical comics instead of print sized pages. Printing my last project was a good learning experience, but I want to instead focus on accessibility and publishing regular chunks of the comic.
Also, with this change, I started drawing digitally. When I started making comics last September, I set out to focus on using traditional tools because it seemed like a nice way to take a break from the computer. After taking some time to think about it, the power and ergonomic implications of digital started to really appeal to me. I don’t have space for a drafting table or a setup that would serve me best for traditional art. But I do have enough space for a tablet. I’m going to write more about this switch soon.
After taking some time to get used to drawing digitally, I began Lunar Space Colony by designing the characters.
Bri is the main character of the story.
I’ve heard so much about the benefits of meditation over the years, but I’ve never given it an honest try until now. I’m grateful I did. I’m going to do my best to continue to do it.
I haven’t had too much to share lately because I’ve been studying drawing and comics. But this week I started working in earnest on my next project, Lunar Space Colony, and I’ll be sharing concept art and details soon.
Brett Chalupa's Journal 