ONE SHOT PRODUCTIONS
January-June 2008

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JUNE 30, 2008
Wow. A TON of work on page eleven today. I did all of panels 4 and 5. I created a background for these two panels, figured out how I wanted to use speed lines, and darkly shaded Calico in both panels. I finished all the lettering on the page including two sound effects. I also added a wind effect to panel 3 and drew in some leaves also. This page is almost done!

JUNE 29, 2008
It seems like page eleven will never end. I added and shaded the dirt texture to panels 1, 2 & 3 as well as the trees and green background. I also had to do a little extra shading on the trees in panels 2 and 3 to make them match with the newly added parts. I also chose a color for the splashing water in panel 6, which is a lighter version of the puddle. I also digitally drew new bubbles on the surface of the puddle in panel 7 since the original ones were very sloppy. Then I moved these bubbles to a separate layer so I can deal with them later.

JUNE 28, 2008
I shaded the brown and grey trees in panels 2 & 3. I added some shading to the dirt layer in panels 5, 6 & 7. I shaded the remaining Shadowlord and Dark Warrior elements in panels 1, 2 & 3. I moved the star-shaped "impact" in panel 1 and 3 to a separate layer (so I can digitally fade it later). But this meant I had to repair part of the brown tree in panel 3 (since removing the star-shaped part left a void there). That wouldn't have happened if I had thought about moving the star part to separate layer BEFORE messing with the tree.

JUNE 27, 2008
I finished the separate background piece I was working on. I added it behind panels 5, 6 & 7. I also did most of the shading for this three panel sequence, including all of Shadowlord, Dark Warrior's arm, and a small plant. Since these three panels are from the same angle, I shaded them together. So, I'd start Dark Warrior's arm in the first one, then the second one, etc. I did this for each of the elements. I still haven't decided what exactly to do with the two panels of Calico.

JUNE 26, 2008
More flat colors today. I finished all of the skin, hair, and clothes for Shadowlord and Dark Warrior. I did the flats for some trees, and replaced the black outlines on them. I blocked off some background areas with flat green. For the three panel "puddle dunking" sequence, I created one background which I will be able to drop into the nearly identical panels. I also added flat colors on CALICO, which is her first appearance in the story. I may make her a silhouette, but I'm not sure yet.

JUNE 25, 2008
I finished the lettering on page ten. Then I fixed something on pages six, seven and eight. Apparently, I had lettered Shadowlord's speech balloons with a white background instead of the light purple background I used in part one. I settled all the art on page eleven, flattened the image, adjusted the brightness and contrast, and changed it from grayscale to RGB. I did some rough lettering to make sure everything fit, then I started a little of the flat colors.

JUNE 24, 2008
I finished all of the backgrounds on page ten. This included drawing some trees digitally, and adding blur to each background to push it further into the background. I also started tweaking the lettering a bit.

JUNE 23, 2008
I finished shading for Dark Warrior's skin, hair, clothes, and armor on page ten.

JUNE 22, 2008
I finished all the shading for Shadowlord's skin, hair, shirt and pants on page ten. I also added the background flats. Later, I drew another version of the character I was working on June 17th. Today's version is more modern, rather than just a "costume" look like the last version. I like today's design much better.

JUNE 21, 2008
Lots of progress tonight. I did the rough lettering for page ten of the Shadowlord webcomic. I changed the format from grayscale to RGB color, then adjusted the brightness and contrast. I then added almost all of the flat colors for the page, minus the background colors.

JUNE 20, 2008
Tonight, I adjusted the "visions" effects in panels 1 and 2. Then, I did the final version lettering. Page nine of the Shadowlord webcomic is complete!

JUNE 19, 2008
I shaded all of page nine today. It was a quick job, but it will do. There's a lot of dialogue here, so backgrounds aren't my priority. Tomorrow, I'll do the lettering and figure out what to do with the "vision of the future" in those first two panels.

JUNE 18, 2008
Today, I added flat colors and shading to the "vision of the future" in panel 1. This is where Dark Warrior projects an image inside of an orb. The complicated part was swirling and smudging this same image in panel 2. I copied it from one panel to the next, then digitally altered it to fit the smoke-like puffs in panel 2, as the image disappears. I did all this in a separate layer, then went back to the original layer to add flats for the stuff behind the orb and smoke (mostly DW's chest). This way, I'll be able to tweak the transparency of the vision layer.

JUNE 17, 2008
A rare day off! First, I penciled and inked a new design for a character I created years ago. I won't go into detail about her now, but she and Scavenger have a tangled past. I then finished almost all of the flat colors on page nine of the Shadowlord webcomic, except for an image Dark Warrior is projecting in the first two panels.

JUNE 16, 2008
Started page nine today. I did the rough lettering, moved the art around within the panel borders, flattened the image, and started on the flat colors. There aren't a lot of detailed backgrounds on this page, so hopefully it won't take long.

JUNE 15, 2008
This morning, I finished the last of the backgrounds of page eight of the Shadowlord webcomic. This was for panels 2 through 5, and it just consisted of shading the flat green background to simulate depth, and free-handing some lines to imply trees in the distance. Late tonight, I did the final lettering for this page. It was a bit tricky because of the amount of back-and-forth dialogue between Shadowlord and Dark Warrior. In panel 2, I felt it was better to not join all of Dark Warrior's speech balloons, so it didn't turn into a jumble of connected bubbles. It should be obvious enough which person is speaking since they have opposite color balloons.

JUNE 14, 2008
I did all the shading on Dark Warrior's skin, hair, clothes & armor, and Shadowlord's shirt and pants. Page eight is almost finished!

JUNE 13, 2008
I finished the flat colors on page eight, including all the trees in the background detail of panel 1. There are also a couple of close foreground trees in panel one that needed some extra moss detail. I added flat color to the dirt portion of panel 1, and flat green to all the remaining panels. Later, I returned to add shading to the dirt section, all the trees, Shadowlord's skin, hair & shirt, and I added a blur effect to most of the trees in panel 1.

JUNE 12, 2008
I added flat colors to Dark Warrior's skin, hair, clothing and armor on page eight. I also added flats to Shadowlord's shirt in each panel. This page is going much faster than the last two.

JUNE 11, 2008
On to page eight! I did the rough lettering, then moved the art around in each panel to make sure I left enough room for the text. I flattened the image, adjusted the brightness and contrast multiple times, then converted it from grayscale to color. I added flat colors to Shadowlord's skin and hair in each panel, but panel 3 just didn't look right. I wasn't ever happy with the way Shadowlord's face turned out in that panel, so I erased his cheek, jaw, mouth and nose. Then I redrew those parts digitally. First, I made a layer where I could scribble some blue lines to flesh out the areas I wanted to draw, then I created another layer to actually draw the black lines. When I was finished, I just deleted the blue guideline layer then merged the new black lines on top of the original. It's not a mind-blowing shot of Shadowlord, but it looks better than it did before.

JUNE 10, 2008
I finished page seven today. I added the quick shading to Shadowlord's mouth and eyes in each panel, then completed the lettering for the page.

JUNE 9, 2008
I finished coloring almost all the remaining elements on page seven. Shadowlord's skin and hair, the shoes being thrown in panel 2, the shading to background foliage in four panels, and some trees I added digitally to panel 2. All that's left now is coloring his mouth and eyes in each shot, and lettering.

JUNE 8, 2008
Whew! I shaded Dark Warrior's skin, hair, clothes, and armor today on page seven. This includes a hand made metal shine effect in two shots. I added the jeans texture for Shadowlord in each panel, and shaded them too.

JUNE 7, 2008
I added the flats and shadows for Shadowlord's green shirt in each panel on page seven. Now that this story is in color, I wasn't sure I'd keep the green shirt. I worried that it might not be a good idea to have him wear a green shirt with green foliage in the background. After much thought, I decided that I liked the green on green, as it helps Shadowlord look like he belongs in the forest. I also added shading to the background of last two panels, and applied a blur to the identical trees in those panels. I added flat blue to the jeans in each panel, but these will be replaced by a jean texture later.

JUNE 6, 2008
More flat colors today. I colored all the backgrounds a flat green tone, added the flat grey to all of Dark Warrior's clothes and accessories, and I did detail work on the only tree I drew on this page. I then duplicated the tree digitally and dropped it into another panel.

JUNE 5, 2008
Finished a nice chunk of flat colors on page seven today. All of Shadowlord's skin and hair, Dark Warrior's skin, hair, and purple armor, and a tree in the next to last panel.

JUNE 4, 2008
Finally got around to doing the real lettering on page six of the Shadowlord webcomic. I used the rough lettering I did a week or so ago, and added white (or black) boxes behind the words. The second and last panels on that page were a bit tricky because of how the text had to be placed. I typically don't like to letter on top of the focus art. I had to cut around Dark Warrior's loose lock of hair in panel 2. In the last panel, I had to decide whether to have Shadowlord's joint text bubbles go around Dark Warrior's text bubble or behind. I decided it looked fine behind, which is a little unusal looking because the text bubbles in this work are purposefully translucent. I haven't seen much of that in comics, but I like it.

JUNE 3, 2008
Today, I did some rough lettering to page seven of the Shadowlord webcomic. This helped me move some of the images a bit to make room for the words without obscuring much of the main art. I also adjusted the brightness and contrast of the page so I won't run into the same problem as page six. Then I typed up the blog entries from the past few days. I had written the daily journal entries in a notebook while I was out of town.

JUNE 2, 2008
This morning I drew some plans for a new banner for next year. These plans were similar to some I had drawn before, but I made some minor changes and additions. While on the plane back to Memphis, I sketched two versions of a character for an upcoming project. The sketches were a before and after of a character that undergoes a transformation halfway through the story. A transformation that makes one's skin paler and teeth longer :)

JUNE 1, 2008
Day Three of Wizard Word Philly. In addition to a little more sketching, I also jotted down some notes about an upcoming comic I'm planning. I've already written the story (about a year and a half ago), but I wanted to expound on certain themes found in the tale. I also got to chat a bit with artist Liam Sharpe, who was penciling & inking cover art during the show. Oh, and today makes 11 months since I started this blog!

MAY 31, 2008
I had forgotten how busy Saturday is at this show. There were a ton of people here. We sold some books, passed out some flyers, and drew some sketches. I love having my banner up behind me this year!

MAY 30, 2008
Day One of Wizard World Philly! The show is fun, as usual, and I also did a couple of sketches of Shadowlord - which didn't turn out so great. Artist Curtis Rhodes was at our table, and he cranked out about three different pin-ups of One Shot characters!

MAY 29, 2008
I printed the "Shadowlord" T-shirt today, then created and printed a new "Midnight Train" shirt and another "Fall in the Bamboo Grove" one. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent flying, first to Atlanta (?) for a connecting flight then on to Philadelphia.

MAY 28, 2008
Today, I designed and produced a T-shirt featuring "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." This is one of the shirts I'll wear while promoting my comics at the Philadelphia Wizard World show this weekend. I also designed a "Shadowlord" T-shirt, but I haven't printed it yet. Oh, and I had to decide how much of each comic to bring, and I packed accordingly.

MAY 27, 2008
Lots of progress on page six today! I put in all the backgrounds, added shading to Shadowlord's teeth and eyes, and did touch up work on anything that needed it. Suddenly, it looks like the colors are all finished! Next stop, lettering!

MAY 26, 2008
I did all the major shading on Shadowlord's skin and hair on page six today. I also replaced the black outlines of all the trees. Plus, I had to do touch up work on Dark Warrior in panel one. I didn't start with a clean enough black and white image, so I'm finding light grey spots in some of the black outlines. It's going to make this page take a little longer than I'd like.

MAY 25, 2008
I didn't like the way the shading looked on Dark Warrior's armor plates, so I looked up some online tutorials. After a little trial & error, I had shading on the armor that I a much happier with. Mainly, because the armor is now mostly dark with a little bit of purple for highlight. Before, it was mostly purple, and certainly not dark enough. I refinished the armor elements in 3 different panels on page six.

MAY 24, 2008
Back to the Shadowlord webcomic. I spent a lot of time adding shadows to the first shot of Dark Warrior. This is the first time we see Dark Warrior in the series, and I'd like the panel to look good. The colors are working out pretty nicely, and I am particularly happy with how the shading looks on his tunic. The fabric flows in a manner fitting a levitating warlock. I'm really pleased with how the hair and armor is looking too. This page is taking forever, but it's mostly because I'm developing techniques to use on Dark Warrior since I haven't colored him before. Oh, and I got my flyers today (the ones to match the eight foot banner). They look good!

MAY 23, 2008
I woke up this morning from a vivid dream. I quickly jotted down as much about it as I could. As I got ready for work this morning, I also thought more about the dream. I was able to expound more on the premise I had dreamed, and wrote more notes accordingly. In the dream, I was witnessing a display of powers by three people. Once I was awake, I realized that some of the characters in my dream were played by famous movie actors. I included their names in my notes to help guide future character design.

MAY 22, 2008
I spent about an hour and a half coloring tonight. I colored the remaining trees and some costume elements. What took the most time was experimenting with flesh tones to use on Dark Warrior. Sometimes his skin looked too pink, sometimes too tan. I finally arrived at a skin color that seemed to suit the character. I also took some time to find the right grey tone to use for Dark Warrior's tunic. There's still more to be done on this page (mostly backgrounds).

MAY 21, 2008
And now the fun part! I did some quick lettering on page six today. I may redo the lettering later, this was just to make sure there was enough room in each panel. Once this was done, I made those word layers invisible, and starting coloring! I started with adding flat colors to Shadowlord, and the background trees. It's a little different this time, because I'm coloring the whole page rather than individual panels. It's better this way for two reasons. One, this is the normal way most colorists work. And two, this will take far less time. This is because last time, I colored more than what would appear in the panel. This time is already working out better.

MAY 20, 2008
I assembled page ten of the Shadowlord webcomic. Then I did the same for the more complicated page eleven. On this last page, there are eight panels which is about 2 or 3 more than I normally use in a layout. And what's more is that there are a couple of sequences here that use similar (almost repeating) shots for pacing. Of course these are still in black & white, but I can move on to coloring or lettering next.

MAY 19, 2008
I assembled the rest of page seven, and put together pages eight and nine too.

MAY 18, 2008
I assembled page six today of the Shadowlord webcomic. It's still in black and white for now. I just adjusted the brightness and contrast of each of the five panels, dropped each one into the ready layout image, then resized each panel to fit nicely and still leave room for lettering. I also did this to the first 3 panels of page seven.

MAY 17, 2008
More grunt work tonight, as I created blank image files for the next six pages of the Shadowlord webcomic. That is, I made a file the right page size, made it all white, added black borders on all the edges, then broke the page down into panels by adding more black lines. For this particular project, I like all the black borders to be the same thickness, and all the white gutters (in between space) to be the same width. This isn't particularly hard, but it took me about an hour or so to get these six layouts how I wanted. With these pages (six through eleven), I'll be able to start dropping in the black and white art into these ready-made layouts.

MAY 16, 2008
Here it is! May 16th again. The one year anniversary of the day I decided I would not be lazy when it came to creating comics. And to celebrate, I scanned then individual panel art for pages six through eleven of the next Shadowlord webcomic. Okay, it wasn't exactly a celebration, and scanning is probably my very least favorite part of making comics. But I do feel quite satisfied in the journey I've made over the last year. I hope to produce even more in the coming months than I have in those past.

MAY 15, 2008
I penciled and inked panels 11.7 and 11.8 tonight. These panels complete the art for page eleven of the Shadowlord webcomic. But more importantly, today signals the end of a year's time since I made this commitment to my comics. It hasn't been easy, but here I am. A year later, a leap year in fact, and today is the 366th day in a row that I've worked on my comics. Sometimes its fifteen minutes to draw & ink one panel, sometimes it's spending hours at a convention introducing people to my comic world. I've got a lot more to do, so I hope to carry this plan on into another year :)

MAY 14, 2008
I wrote a little on a future Shadowlord web story. It's Shadowlord's first battle after the brief skirmish with Dark Warrior. In this new story, Shadowlord faces a freaky monster in woods. I'm setting the scene up something like a horror movie. Tonight, I wrote up until the part where Shadowlord is about to first spot the creature. This was about three pages of action, descriptions, and some narration. I'm writing this one in short story form, with some notes in regard to page breaks. Once finished, I will need to convert it to script form. Later, I decided to pencil and ink panel 11.6 of the Shadowlord project. There's EIGHT panels on page eleven, but that page is almost finished!

MAY 13, 2008
I penciled and inked panel 11.5 today. Oh, and my banner arrived. I love it! I can't wait to take it to Philly for the Wizard World show at the end of the month!

MAY 12, 2008
I penciled and inked panel 11.4 of the Shadowlord webcomic. And I wasn't happy with it, so I tore it up and drew it again. The second attempt was better, but I'm still not ecstatic about it. This scene will probably end up in silhouette anyway, showing Calico running toward the reader's POV.

MAY 11, 2008
I penciled and inked two panels today. Panels 2 & 3 from page eleven of the Shadowlord webcomic. Panel 11.3 was pretty easy because it will use the same background as the earlier panel.

MAY 10, 2008
I penciled and inked panel 11.1 today. This is where Dark Warrior choke-slams Shadowlord during their fight!

MAY 9, 2008
I wrote a short Shadowlord piece today. Although it was not very long in short story form, it actually covered a few different points that I wanted to mention in his story. It starts off with Shadowlord trying to spear fish in a stream, then sets up events for the creepy next chapter. I haven't written anything for Shadowlord in a while, but I think about the story alot. I think that helped everything fall into place nicely for this short set up chapter. I also updated the home page to announce our presence at the upcoming Wizard World Philadelphia show.

MAY 8, 2008
I went back to that Stoic story that I was working on last month. I fleshed out more of the short story, and drew sketches of the four main characters in the story other than Stoic. I haven't got all the dialgoue penned quite yet.

MAY 7, 2008
Awesome. Now that the Shadowlord convention banner is complete, I can do something else... like taking that same darn banner and turning it into a flyer. This went a lot smoother though, as the image and logos were already done. I just had to shrink the image of Shadowlord down from the eight foot banner onto a 4x6 inch flyer. The flyer is set up a little differently than the banner, but uses the same look. I zoomed in where we only see Shadowlord and his fiery purple hand (without leaving room for Calico on the flyer). Once I was finished designing the flyer, I went online, paid for the flyers, and uploaded the image.

MAY 6, 2008
Satisfied with the results of the banner, I flattened the layers into one image, converted it to CMYK format for printing, paid for the print costs online, and uploaded the image. I also penciled and inked panel 10.6 of the Shadowlord webcomic.

MAY 5, 2008
Tons of work on the banner today! I colored and shaded the interior of Shadowlord's mouth, and digitally drew teeth for him. I added some shading to the eyeballs to give them depth. Then, I messed around with the text logo on top of the banner, and I was really happy with the purple fire effect on it. I'm really diggin' the way that new logo looks! I then changed the fire effect on his hand to match the look of the logo. I also added some glow to the website address text. I think this puppy is ready to roll to press! I'll take another look tomorrow before I finalize this project just in case it needs any last minute tweaking. But all in all, I'm this banner has turned out a little better than I expected. I can't wait to see it once it's printed!

MAY 4, 2008
I read about five free tutorials for how to make cool fire effects with my photo editing software, and I watched a video demonstration too. After experimenting all morning, I produced a cool purple and black flame that I'm happy with. I also penciled & inked panel 10.5 of the Shadowlord web project. Once I got all that out of the way, I went to the annual Memphis Music Fest and got to see some good bands perform, including Finger Eleven!

MAY 3, 2008
Sigh. More Shadowlord convention banner. I learned how to do some fire effects, but didn't get what I wanted for the flame coming off his hand. I'll try this again later. I also darkened the background to look more like night, and I also got rid of an annoying patch of dirt showing behind Shadowlord. Oh, and I penciled and inked panel 10.3 of the webcomic during the loading times.

MAY 2, 2008
Loading and procesing times on the banner are getting longer and longer the more I work on it. I checked the specifications on the print company's website. I adjusted the banner to fit as per their instructions. I only did minor tweaking on the banner today, but I did manage to pencil and ink a pretty cool panel for the Shadowlord web comic. Panel 10.3 shows Shadowlord turning around and bring his leg up as if he's ready to kick. It's less cartoony this time than in the original 2001 art.

MAY 1, 2008
Eleven months already? Wow. Eleven months since I started doing this daily journal of my comic work. Tonight I selected a tree background, super-sized it, dropped it in as background on the Shadowlord banner, and added a slight blur. I also merged the Shadowlord and Calico layers to cut down on the overall file size. I also sketched a thumbnail layout of a page of the Shadowlord webcomic, but I don't think I'm going to keep that one.

APRIL 30, 2008
Lots of work on the banner tonight! I added all the shading to Calico tonight. I'm completely happy with how she turned out. I also added more shading to Shadowlord. I realized his pants didn't look much like blue jeans, so I added a texture to them. I also penciled and inked panel 10.2 of the Shadowlord webcomic. This transitional panel is the first new one that doesn't appear in the old 2002 comic.

APRIL 29, 2008
I drew a new version of Shadowlord panel 10.1 but I wasn't happy with the static head-on pose of Dark Warrior. I then drew another version of the panel, this time a closer 3/4 shot of Dark Warrior. I also added most of the shading to the Shadowlord element of the banner.

APRIL 28, 2008
I did a little more work on the banner. I replaced the old Shadowlord figure with the new one, and resized it. The other thing I started on tonight was redesigning the layouts for the Shadowlord webcomic. The layouts of the Shadowlord webcomic (the first three chapters) are based directly on the layouts of the original comic published in 2002. That is, until page ten. Once Shadowlord and Dark Warrior begin to fight, I'm changing the layouts. So tonight, I've been sketching some possible layouts. It's tricky for a couple of reasons. For one, I'm so used to seeing the story told one way already. And the other thing is that I'd like to group certain panels together for pacing purposes, but the pace will be altered since I'm changing the number of panels on each page. The cool thing though, will be seeing more of Calico when she makes her firest appearance.

APRIL 27, 2008
I added the flat colors to the Shadowlord element for the banner. I also penciled and inked something for a new internet ad. AND I penciled and inked panel 9.5 of the Shadowlord webcomic.

APRIL 26, 2008
I scanned in the new Shadowlord element. I had drawn one of his hands separately, and had to swap it digitally. I also erased the flame from the hand and swapped in the good flame from the previous drawing. Oh, and before all that, I used white ink cover-up on part of Shadowlord's hair and then re-inked it. His hair was too high and had to be taken down a bit.

APRIL 25, 2008
Dissatisfied with the previous drawing of Shadowlord for the convention banner, I redrew him. It took a couple of tries to get the right pose and face, but then I drew one that I am REALLY happy with. It will need some digital touch up to remove some unsteady or too-thick lines. Otherwise, it's just what I wanted for this scene! Oh, but the flame shape from the last version was just right, so I'll be digitally swapping that one onto the new drawing :)

APRIL 24, 2008
This morning I pulled up the file of the original Shadowlord logo. I changed the hue from red to purple, resized it, copied it, and pasted it to the top of the Shadowlord banner. In between loading times, I penciled and inked pagel 4 of page nine for the Shadowlord webcomic. Then tonight after work, I did some more for the banner. I pasted and resized my company logo in the corner. I also resized the Shadowlord logo again to fit next to it. I then added the web address underneath those. That all looks fine, but I'm growing less fond of the way the Shadowlord figure looks. I may have to redraw it :(

APRIL 23, 2008
I tried adding dots to the chops around Calico's mouth to imply where whiskers came out, but it didn't look right. I reverted the image back to before the stupid dots. That technique works on smaller, cartoony style drawings but it wasn't working on this banner. I copied and pasted the Calico and Shadowlord elements onto the banner file. I then experimented with moving them around on the page and resizing Shadowlord down a bit until I was happy with both. While waiting through loading times as the program resized or added copies, I sketched a bit. One sketch of a young Stoic turned out poorly and made it to the trash. A smaller sketch of Stoic staring into the clouds turned out pretty cool and I cut it out to tape it to my file cabinet.

APRIL 22, 2008
Back to the Shadowlord banner today. I did some time consuming work on the Calico element for the banner. What took time was finding a way to get the right fur texture I wanted. Once I figured that part out, I still had to experiment with the colors a bit. Luckily, all that time resulted in a look that I'm quite happy with.

APRIL 21, 2008
I skipped over to the Shadowlord project again today, and knocked out the pencils and inks for panel 9.3. I kept this panel very similar to its 2001 counterpart from the original comic.

APRIL 20, 2008
Still working on the Shadowlord banner. I'm making it 8 feet tall, so it takes forever to do anything (because of load times). I was able to put some flat colors on the eight foot Shadowlord element as well as the huge Calico element. Calico took a lot of time too because I used photo reference of the real life Calico. Since the Calico in the comics is based on the real one, I wanted to keep the color pattern accurate instead of just slapping random colors on her.

APRIL 19, 2008
I typed up the first and third sections of the new Stoic story. I also did a bit of editing to the overall story to make it flow smoother. I then turned my attentions to the Shadowlord banner I'm making for the conventions. I had to to search for the drawing I had done of Shadowlord, as it was not with the other parts of the banner. I found it, scanned the parts in, and I started doing some digital clean up to the Shadowlord figure element. And I had to resize his head, which I had drawn too large.

APRIL 18, 2008
I wrote the ending to the new STOIC comic. I haven't fleshed out the first fight scene with the sea creature yet, but the length of that scene will really be deterined by the rest of the book. I didn't know how it would end until I was in the process of writing the final part of the book. The ending emerged as I got more into this part of the story. I really like it! The story will give some insight into Stoic's life as well as deliver two cool action scenes. There's still more to do in this phase of the story writing, but I got a big chunk of it done tonight.

APRIL 17, 2008
I took a break from the Stoic project and knocked out the pencils & inks on panel 9.2 for the Shadowlord webcomic. I also typed up the previous few day's worth of blog entries from the notebook I kept with me on vacation.

APRIL 16, 2008
After a false start trying to write the action piece, I instead filled a page with possible design sketches for the sea monster. I knew it had to have tentacles, or I wouldn't be happy with the fight scene. What I didn't want was a basic squid or octopus. I also did not want it to look like a rip off of any movie monsters either. On the plan ride home (yes, my vacation is at an end), I came up with a very unconventional design for the creature.

APRIL 15, 2008
I started writing the detailed short story version of the new Stoic piece. I finished this for "part one," but the story is starting to outgrow its intended webcomic size.

APRIL 14, 2008
I outlined part two of the new Stoic story. Since I'm here on the island, I was able to incorporate some of the real layout to transition from part one to part two. In this second part, Stoic battles a sea monster out in the ocean just off the coast. Yesterday and today I just worked out a good outline of these separate story parts. I still have to actually write it out in detail.

APRIL 13, 2008
I've been wanting to write a short story / webcomic about "Stoic" for a while. When I made plans a few months ago to come to the Bahamas, I thought I'd set the story here. So I've waited until today to start plotting the story out on paper. After a second trip to the beach in as many days, I've decided to expand on the story. Originally I thought I'd do just a short comic that was only a fight scene. Instead, I've started with a more introspective story as Stoic sits on the beach waiting for a spiritual disturbance he knows is coming. I think I'll still do a fight piece too, but make it a separate story like a part one and two.

APRIL 12, 2008
Woke up in the Bahamas! I've been saving up for this vacation since last year, and it's finally here! I'm still doing something for comics every day though. This morning, I drew a picture of the new female character I thought of yesterday.

APRIL 11, 2008
I got up first thing this morning and penciled & inked panel 1 of page nine of the Shadowlord comic. Spent the rest of the day traveling. In the airport, I had an idea for a new character.

APRIL 10, 2008
With the ninja webcomic done and posted, I turned my attention back to the Shadowlord web series. Tonight, I penciled an inked panel 5 of page eight. I may not be able to update this blog for the next few days, but rest assured I'm still working on comics every day. I'll update as soon as I can :)

APRIL 9, 2008
Today, I built the "add to cart" buttons to order "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." This button will appear at the end of the ninja webcomic. I also made the thumbnail image for the webcomic selection page. Oh, then I updated the home & news page. Afterward, I uploaded the whole shebang to the website, so check it out. Enjoy :)

APRIL 8, 2008
I finished the new ninja webcomic by lettering pages two, three, and four. I also altered the resolution of each to a web-ready size. I then built the html pages for the webcomic as well. It's almost ready to be posted!

APRIL 7, 2008
Tonight, I lettered page one of the new ninja webcomic. It took some tinkering to get the resolution and file size where I wanted. I wrote down the steps I used so I can do this faster with the next webcomic. Oh, and I built page one of the html file for this one.

APRIL 6, 2008
Penciled and inked page eight, panel 4 of the Shadowlord webcomic. Shadowlord's head and hair are a little big here, but I think I'll crop him out and focus on Dark Warrior in this panel.

APRIL 5, 2008
Penciled and inked page eight, panel 3 of the Shadowlord webcomic.

APRIL 4, 2008
I jumped back to the Shadowlord project for a moment, and knocked out the pencils and inks for another panel. This one is about 8x8", but will later be scaled down significantly to fit into the page. I had a couple of thick lines I had to get rid of with white ink tonight too.

APRIL 3, 2008
Finished assembly and digital clean up for pages three and four of the ninja webcomic. It's only a four-pager, so this step of the process is finished!

APRIL 2, 2008
Tonight, I assembled the pieces of the ninja webcomic, page two. I also did digital clean up on the page, deleting the stray marks between the panels. This took a little longer here because of the way I had speed lines protruding from the last panel on the page. I decided to trim those speed lines to stay within that panel. I also started some cleanup on panel 1 of the next page.

APRIL 1, 2008
Another new month! This marks over TEN months that I've been doing something for comics every day. This commitment has really made a difference in my level of productivity. And that's no April Fool's joke either. Tonight, I tediously scanned sections of my oversized 11x17" artwork on my 8.5x11.5" home scanner. The art is the four page short story featuring "Ori" from "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." I also digitally assembled and cleaned up page one of the story.

MARCH 31, 2008
Penciled and inked a large 8x11" scene for Shadowlord, panel 1 of page eight. This is a wide panel version of pretty simple panel of the original 2001 version. Here, we'll see Shadowlord walking away from Dark Warrior.

MARCH 30, 2008
Finished the art for page seven of the Shadowlord webcomic by penciling and inking panel 6.

MARCH 29, 2008
Penciled and inked panel 7.4 of the Shadowlord webcomic. It required some white ink corrections, but turned out well. This is one of the few panels in the original 2001 comic that still looks decent to me. Still, it needed updated with fresh art to stay more consistent with the rest of the current 2008 art.

MARCH 28, 2008
Penciled and inked panel 7.4 of the next Shadowlord webcomic. It feels good to knock out a panel a day lately :)

MARCH 27, 2008
Penciled and inked panel 7.3 of the next Shadowlord webcomic.

MARCH 26, 2008
I made an animated advertisement today for use on a comic book related website (to promote One Shot Productions webcomics). I made four small "gif" format picture files with text, then assembled them with a "gif" animator program. Then I contacted the website to get an invoice to pay for the ad space.

MARCH 25, 2008
Penciled and inked panel 7.2 today. This proved to be a difficult panel. In this panel, Dark Warrior is tossing some clothes to Shadowlord, but I was having trouble nailing the right poses and the free-falling clothing wasn't that easy either. It worked out on my third try, though it may need some digital tweaking later.

MARCH 24, 2008
Inked panel 6.3 of Shadowlord webcomic. Penciled and inked main figure in panel 7.1 of the next page.

MARCH 23, 2008
Penciled AND inked Shadowlord panel 6.3 of the webcomic. Also did the pencils for panel 6.2 today.

MARCH 22, 2008
Inked the panel from yesterday (Shadowlord panel 6.4) and added to the "firsts" web page.

MARCH 21, 2008
I penciled page six panel 4 of the Shadowlord webcomic today. It's a close up shot of Dark Warrior. I also began initial work on a new animated picture ad for the web.

MARCH 20, 2008
Skipped some panels in the Shadowlord webcomic, and penciled panel 5 of page six. The panel shows Dark Warrior talking with Shadowlord. I didn't get to the background yet, but I penciled AND inked both figures in the panel, and I'm happy with both.

MARCH 19, 2008
I inked the Shadowlord figure for the ad banner. I also drew a flame stretching up from his hand, but it took a few tries to get the pencils right for it. I thought I wanted the flame to branch off in three places, but it was never quite right when I would draw it that way. When I finally tried making the flame branch off in just two places, it fit so much better. I also began working on a new page for the website. It's a list of "firsts" for One Shot Productions. It'll probably be done this week.

MARCH 18, 2008
This Shadowlord banner art is taking forever! I tried to draw the Shadowlord figure again today, but it didn't turn out very good. So I drew it again. And again and again and again and it STILL wasn't right. Finally, I scrapped the "camera angle" I had in mind and drew a new version. And thankfully, version SIX was looking good. There are still some proportion issues to resolve for the hand & arm, but I'm happy with the rest of it. This version shows a little of Shadowlord's face, which I didn't think I wanted at first. But after more thought, the title character of my first webcomic series probably DOES need his face showing on the eight foot banner that's advertising his story. Duh. There's a lot more body language in this sixth version too. Before, the unsuccessful versions were very stiff, whereas this version is leaning back in surprise. I was starting to wonder how many times I would have to draw this same pose!!

MARCH 17, 2008
Still working on that ad banner. I decided to run with the version I liked yesterday. I realized that it's going to be tough to draw Shadowlord AND Calico on the same page and have them both turn out well. I tried it that way, and it was not good. So I searched the net for a picture of a tiger or cat with the right amount of upward head tilt, but none were quite the right angle. Still, I sketched the pose and really got what I wanted out of it. I inked that version, and now the Calico element is done.

MARCH 16, 2008
Tonight, I worked on sketches of Shadowlord & Calico to use as an advertising banner at conventions this year. Both versions show Shadowlord amazed at his hand engulfed in fire as Calico watches. In one version, we see Shadowlord's face but not Calico. In the other version, the view is reversed. I think I prefer the one that shows Calico's face. Also tonight, I drew more trees in the treescape I was working on yesterday. Oh, and I researched the prices and available sizes of those banners too.

MARCH 15, 2008
I think I'm finished with the ninja webcomic now. I added the last ink to it, which was a massive blood spray on page four. I also added another layer of grey to the figure in panel 3 of that page, since it wasn't dark enough for me. Since there wasn't much to do for this project, I also drew and inked part of a treescape for use with future Shadowlord webomics.

MARCH 14, 2008
Whew! I worked on the new ninja webcomic for about an hour tonight. I mixed up a little grey ink by adding a drop of black india ink to water in my inking dish. Then I added grey tones to all four pages of the webcomic! I really prefer to add greys to a whole scene all at once like that, mostly in the interest of getting a consistent tone for the entire scene. To get a darker grey area, I simply add a second layer of grey to it. I'm particularly happy with pages three and four, which have some of my favorite panels in this story.

MARCH 13, 2008
I added background details to some of page three of the ninja webcomic. And for the rest of the page, I added "speed lines" instead of background to signal the intensity of the action. I finished the main figure inks on page four, and I fixed a mistake on page two with some white ink.

MARCH 12, 2008
Primary inks on all of page three of the ninja webcomic. Also, primary inks of the first 3 panels of page four!

MARCH 11, 2008
More ink tonight. I inked most of the backgrounds on page one of the ninja webcomic. There are a couple of areas that need a slight touch-up, but it mostly turned out fine. I then went on to ink just about all of page two, including the main figures as well as backgrounds. Then, I inked the borders for all four pages. This project is moving right along!

MARCH 10, 2008
I started inking the ninja webcomic. I inked the main four figures on the page, and then part of the outside borders. I didn't start any backgrounds or greys yet.

MARCH 9, 2008
Four days, four pages penciled. I drew the fourth and final page of my new ninja webcomic tonight!

MARCH 8, 2008
I'm really trying to keep up this pace with the ninja webcomic. Tonight I penciled all of page three. There are four panels, including a shot of Ori in panel 1 that I really love! He's kneeling down (ready to spring into action) while reaching for the sword on his back and pulling his mask over his face. One more page to pencil!

MARCH 7, 2008
Sudden snow storm in Memphis! And I penciled all of page two for my new ninja webcomic!

MARCH 6, 2008
Tonight I penciled all of page one of my new ninja webcomic. That's pretty fast for me! One thing that helped is that I drew all three panels on one big 11x14" sheet rather than each panel getting its own sheet.

MARCH 5, 2008
I finished the panel I was working on yesterday. I penciled the background trees, inked them, and finished the inks on the main figure in the panel. I also wrote a short four-page webcomic featuring "Ori" from "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." I normally script a story in words before doing any drawing, but for this short piece I did something different. I sketched small layouts of each page, and wrote the dialogue out to the side. I still prefer doing an actual script, but I did it this way because this four page short is very action-oriented. I knew I wanted to show certian things and this was the best way to do it this time.

MARCH 4, 2008
I trashed the version of panel 6.1 of Shadoword (the one I drew a couple nights ago). I penciled another version tonight, this time it's the updated character design of "Dark Warrior." Plus, the version I trashed was a 3/4 shot (not quite front on, not quite from the side). What I decided on instead was a head-on front view of this character since this is the first time we reveal him in the story. I wanted a pin-up styled shot of our villain, and the 3/4 shot just wasn't cutting it. I also inked about half of him in this panel.

MARCH 3, 2008
I completely redesigned the look of "the Dark Warrior" tonight. The old 2001 version was basically a guy in a black skin-tight outfit covered in purple armor plates. The new 2008 version incorporates the same color scheme, but looks entirely different. I was never happy with the old version. Now I feel like this character finally looks like he might kick some butt.

MARCH 2, 2008
In future Shadowlord stories, there is a large rock formation that he takes shelter under. I've tried to draw what it should look like, but I wasn't satisfied with how it turned out. I thought of modeling the rock with clay, or at least trying to, but a better alternative opened up. I noticed a rock in a garden that looked very much like what I wanted. Today, I took pictures of this rock from a bunch of different angles. I even got some pictures from ground level that really look like angles I'll use in the story. I also penciled a new panel of the next Shadowlord web comic, and inked part of it. I'm not sure if I'll keep this panel or not, but it gave me a chance to practice drawing "the Dark Warrior."

MARCH 1, 2008
Every time I type a new month into the date here, it makes me realize that it's been another whole month of doing something for my comics every single day. That's eight in a row by my count! Tonight I flipped through "Fall in the Bamboo Grove" and found which pictures to use on the profile pages for the four main characters. I then opened those files, resized them and added them to the profile html pages. I also added a bit more to the main character's profile. Then I uploaded these four new pages as well as the main character profile selection page.

FEBRUARY 29, 2008
Happy Leap Year. Or leap day. Or leap year day. Whatever. I wrote profile pages for TANAZAKI, RE TUNG, and SASAKI, the three supporting characters appearing in "Fall of the Bamboo Grove."

FEBRUARY 28, 2008
Still sick today, but not as bad. I finished the new Shadowlord web ad, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. I spent a lot more time on it tonight than I thought I would. I added a stroke (outline) to the text, but it was still hard to read against the busy dirt background of the ad. So I added a white fill over everything (except the puddle) and gradually faded the opacity until it was light enough to let the text show while still leaving plenty of visual information in the background. Plus, it really helps draw attention to the puddle which is what I wanted in the first place.

FEBRUARY 27, 2008
Sick as a dog today. I started creating a new ad to promote my new webcomic. After reviewing each of the pages, I decided to focus on the puddle in page five, panel 3. After resizing and moving the puddle around on the page, I added the One Shot logo and text of the web address. I also added a "Shadowlord" logo, but it isn't readable when scaled down to the size I need. I removed that one, and will likely just insert text instead.

FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Could it be? Yes! The new Shadowlord WEBCOMIC is up and running! Check out the first five-page chapter right now! It seems like I've been working on this project forever, but finally it's gotten big enough to release into the wild. I really love this character, and I'm so glad people connect with Shadowlord. Even so, I can't wait to sink my teeth into some different projects. Oh, and of course I had to update and upload the "home" and "webcomic" pages of the site tonight too.

FEBRUARY 25, 2008
After some more experiments in file size vs quality, I finally decided. I adjusted each of the five pages to the new web appropriate format. I also added the copyright tagline to each of the five pages. Then, I put together the first html page too.

FEBRUARY 24, 2008
I lettered page five of the Shadowlord webcomic today. In the last panel, another character speaks "off panel" (that is, the speech balloon comes from the panel border rather than a character shown in the frame). I thought it would be good to differentiate this character's speech balloons by making them black with white text (rather than the standard white balloon with black text). That's when I remembered something. I had planned some time ago to have all of Shadowlord's speech balloons be a PURPLE hue instead of white. I tested this idea out, and I loved it. I went back and changed his speech balloons on the other pages. Now, it will always be easy to tell when Shadowlord is speaking, even without a balloon tail pointing at him (such as when he and another character argue, for instance). This brings all the major work on the webcomic to a close! There is just a little more to do, which should be done soon!

FEBRUARY 23. 2008
First thing this morning, I relettered page one and lettered pages two through four. I ran out of time before going to work, or I would have finished the last page as well!

FEBRUARY 22, 2008
I spent an hour tonight doing trial & error to find the right combination of file size vs image quality for my Shadowlord webcomic. I was against the idea of lettering first, then reducing the file quality. But after a series of tests, I found that I wasn't really losing the amount of quality I thought it would, nor was the text unreadable. This will also give me a head start much later down the line, if I were to collect Shadowlord webcomics into a printed form. I finished lettering page one as a result of my process tonight. It shouldn't be long before this baby is done!

.FEBRUARY 21, 2008
I assembled pages three, four, and five of the Shadowlord webcomic. Page three was another challenge, since the three panel sequence had to be individually adjusted and still be exactly the same size. Page four was a snap, since it was only two panels and they hardly needed resized at all. Page five took a while, only because loading all the panels together took a long time.

FEBRUARY 20, 2008
Now that all the layouts are finished, I can start assembling pages of the webcomic. I resized page one and added the black border. For page two, I put all the pieces in place. This took longer than I thought because of the three panels at the top of the page, which needed each panel to be resized in an identical way. This was tricky! After that, the rest of the page fell into place. I still need to toy with the overall size of the page before I decided it's ready.

FEBRUARY 19, 2008
Back to Shadowlord again. Now that all five pages are colored and ready to go, it's time to copy each panel and drop it into the layouts that I've already created. The problem, though, is that the layouts are rather sloppy compared the coloring and effects of the five pages. So tonight, I created new layouts for pages two through five (page one is a full-page panel and didn't need a new one). Because the panels are already finished and have particular shapes, the layouts did not actually CHANGE. Rather, I have created cleaner, more precise versions of the same layouts. I wanted exact, consistent pixel width on all borders and gutters. Now I have it! I also made a long gutter that I can copy and paste to ensure this consistency.

FEBRUARY 18, 2008
I took some time away from Shadowlord today to do some work on the character profile page for the lead character from "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." I finished all the writing for the profile, and all that's left is to make a thumbnail image of the character to display on that page. I also added new profile links from the main profile list (but I haven't uploaded it yet).

FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Completion! Tonight I finished panels 4 & 5 from page five. That finishes the coloring for the first five-page Shadowlord webcomic. I dropped a background into panel 4 and added shading to Shadowlord in both panels. I enjoyed this part of the process, and I'm glad to have learned some new techniques along the way. Still, it will be nice to change gears and focus on other aspects of this webcomic or other comic endeavors.

FEBRUARY 16, 2008
Panel 5.4 was scanned in today. I added flat colors to Shadowlord's skin and hair. I also started some preliminary work on the character profiles for "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." These will be added to the site in time for the release of the new book.

FEBRUARY 15, 2008
I added flat grey color to Shadowlord's skin and hair in page five, panel 5 of the webcomic. I also dropped in a background layer of trees. I skipped panel 4 because I haven't scanned it in yet.

FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day! I opened the file of page 5, panel 4 tonight. I was ready to give it some color when I realized how much I hated the way this panel looked. This is a panel from when I first started redrawing scenes from this story, from about a year and a half ago. Dissatisfied with the art, I decided to try drawing this panel again. After two false starts, I finally drew the panel I wanted. I inked it with an ultra fine point marker, and erased the pencils from underneath it.

FEBRUARY 13, 2008
Panel 5.3 of the Shadowlord webcomic is finished, and I couldn't be more pleased! After adding shading to the ground and leaf layers, I redrew the puddle outline over and over. When I was finally satisfied with the shape of the puddle, I copied Shadowlord's face and hand, flipped it vertically, and dropped a copy of him in the puddle for his reflection. I tried to add a brown transparent layer to the puddle to make it look like mud, but it came out looking orange. At first, I thought I may stop at this point, but then I reconsidered. I really wanted to finish this panel tonight. I found a tutorial online on how to make a puddle effect, and applied the techniques I learned. I also referenced some photos online that show reflective mud puddles. To my surprise, the colors I sampled from the photos were all grey rather than brown. I added some of this grey over the brown, and arrived at just the color I wanted. I finished the picture with some gentle shading around the puddle to imply the dip in the ground where the puddle formed. And voila! Check out a small peek at this panel here.

FEBRUARY 12, 2008
I added tree detail on the foreground and background trees. I shaded Shadowlord and added color and texture to the ground. I also replaced the black outlines of all the trees and leaves.

FEBRUARY 11, 2008
I started on page five, panel 3 of the Shadowlord webcomic. It's a more complicated panel than the previous two. In this one, Shadowlord is leaning over a puddle, looking at his grey face in surprise. I divided the elements of the panel into background, midground, and foreground. I added flat color to Shadowlord's skin and the three brown trees. I also redrew the shape of the puddle digitally.

FEBRUARY 10, 2008
Panel 5.1 is finished. I added shading to Shadowlord hair and skin, and dropped in a background layer of trees.

FEBRUARY 9, 2008
Flat colors added to panel 2 of page five today. I separated Shadowlord's hands onto their own layer. I then resized the hands which I had originally drawn too large.

FEBRUARY 8, 2008
Finished panel 1 of page five. I dropped in a background layer of trees, shaded the midground trees, and added shading to Shadowlord. This simple panel wasn't anything as complicated as that multi-panel sequence from a couple weeks ago!

FEBRUARY 7, 2008
I added flat colors to Shadowlord's skin and hair for panel 1 of page five of the webcomic. I also added flats to the two main background trees, and replaced the black outlines on them.

FEBRUARY 6, 2008
I finished page four, panel 2 of the Shadowlord webcomic today. I shaded his skin and hair, and added a slight blur to the background. When I realized his eyes were just too stark white, I added some shading to his solid white eyeballs to insinuate their roundness. Then I went back to panel 4.1 and added the same eyeball shading (and the same slight blur to the swirled background). I liked the way the new eyeball look enough to go back and add that shading to the eyes of page two, panels 1, 3 & 6 and panel 3.3 as well. I also gave another look at the proof copy of "Fall in the Bamboo Grove," and emailed the print shop with an approval to move forward with the printing!

FEBRUARY 5, 2008
A "Tornado Emergency" was declared in the Memphis area today. After arriving home safely, I finished panel 1 of page four. That was mostly shading on Shadowlord's head and arms. I also dropped a background layer in for panel 2, despite three shut-offs today from my computer overheating (since the air in my apartment is out). After that, I proof read "Fall in the Bamboo Grove," which does not appear to contain any typos or mistakes. I'll have someone else look at it too, before emailing an approval to the print shop.

FEBRUARY 4, 2008
Although it's still winter, a warm front here in Memphis has caused my apartment to be so hot that my computer spontaneously shut down about five or so times tonight. How frustrating! Even so, I was able to put flat colors on page two panel 2. I added the ready-made treescape to the background of panel 4.1, and I tried a number of effects until I found the right look I wanted. In the original 2001 art, there was a simple black & white swirl behind Shadowlord's head as he concentrates. In the new full color version, I wanted to keep a similar swirly pattern. The trial & error process was painfully lengthened by the multiple and untimely shut-offs of my computer. I also got my first look at a proof copy of "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." I haven't given it an official proof read yet, but at first glance it is lookin' mighty good!

FEBRUARY 3, 2008
Today, I placed Shadowlord's new arms on the old art for page four, panel 1. I had to rotate both arms, flip one (since I drew two versions of the right arm), and rescale one of the arms. Then there was plenty of tweaking to get them to look how I wanted. I also took an unsuccessful stab at trimming his hair (which is longer in this art than the other new panels). I added flat colors to his arms, and to his hair.

FEBRUARY 2, 2008
Page four of the Shadowlord project got some attention today. I am recycling art from the 2001 version on this page. I digitally removed the arms and hands which I did not like from the old version. I put flat colors Shadowlord's head and upper body, then separated him from the background layer. I also cut Shadowlord's mouth and moved it slightly up from the previous version.

FEBRUARY 1, 2008
Wow! Seven full months of posting this daily blog! And I've still done something everyday to further my productivity. Tonight, I finished panel 4 from page three. I added shading to the background trees, texture and lighting effect to the background leaf canopy, and shading to the foreground tree layer. I also added some blurring effect to the background layer to help separate it from the foreground. I lightened the background trees later, also to help distinguish them from the foreground. And lastly, I added shadows cast by Shadowlord's hand onto the tree trunk he's leaning on. I also updated the "Home & News" page on this website.

JANUARY 31, 2008
Tonight I added shading to Shadowlord's skin and hair (for page three, panel 4 of the webcomic). I also added some flat background color.

JANUARY 30, 2008
After unsuccessfully trying to add my ready-made treescape to the background of SL page 3 panel 4, I deleted this background layer altogether. The problem was the trees already drawn in the panel were overlapping the treescape ones in an unflattering manner. Instead, I drew some new trees digitally. I also replaced the black outlines on the four trees in the foreground. I also got an email containing my first look at some of the "Pride & Harmony vs robots" art. These first three pages look great!.

JANUARY 29, 2008
Panels 1, 2 & 3 of the Shadowlord webcomic, page three. This multi-panel sequence took longer to work on than I anticipated, due to the number of layers the image contained. Today, I added a different amount of blur to each panel. I also added some shadows, such as the ones cast on the ground by the figure walking in panels 2 and 3. I also started panel 4 today, adding the flat colors to Shadowlord and the trees.

JANUARY 28, 2008
Shaded all three versions of Shadowlord for the multi-panel sequence. I also added some detail and shading to the foreground leaf layer. This sequence is almost finished!

JANUARY 27, 2008
I added the top layer to the multi-panel sequence today. It's some strategically-placed leaves to cover the naked Shadowlord. I also added a scan of some criss-crossing tree limbs that were meant to go in the top part of the panel. I tediously colored, detailed, and shaded these limbs. Afterward, I decided that I didn't like them in this panel. I may leave them out altogether. I put flat colors on the foreground leaves though, and they will surely stay for the final version.

JANUARY 26, 2008
This three-panel sequence is really taking shape. Today I finished the foreground trees by stripping the black outlines away, adding moss detail, and applying shadows. I also added a texture to the four sections of leaf canopy on the background layer.

JANUARY 25, 2008
I added bark detail to some of the background trees today. I also added some moss tones to the brown trees. I replaced the black outlines of all the background trees with a dark grey or dark brown (depending on the tree). I then shaded all the background trees too. The time consuming part today was selecting and deselecting the trees from the other close ones.

JANUARY 24, 2008
One of the things I did today was edit down the arms on one of the Shadowlord figures (panel two version). The arms were just a bit too thick AND long compared to his body. So after much cut/paste/scale/skew work, I was finally comfortable with how it turned out. A lot of work for not-so-obvious results. But I also finished the ground texture today, and added a lighting effect and some hand-drawn tree shadows to that layer as well.

JANUARY 23, 2008
More of the multi-panel sequence today. I added versions 1 & 2 of Shadowlord and put flat colors on them. I finished the flats for the background layer, and I added some detailed shading to the bark of the foreground trees.

JANUARY 22, 2008
I added two new layers to this multi-panel sequence today: the forground tree layer and Shadowlord (panel 3 version). I also put the flat colors on both layers. In fact, I had drawn these tres and Shadowlord as one image, but it needed to be separated digitally. This is so I can turn the Shadowlord layer "off" while keeping the foreground trees visible.

.JANUARY 21, 2008
Today I started a complicated three-panel sequence from page three of the Shadowlord webcomic. In this sequence, we have three tall panels that show Shadowlord far away, and then coming closer to the foreground. In the old 2001 art, the panels are framed by trees close in the foreground. There are rays of light at the top, Shadowlord in the center of each panel, and a strategically placed leaf to cover his naughty bits. There was no background art. In the new version, we still have the foreground trees, Shadowlord, and the censor leaves. What's new is a complete background! Like some other panels, I will put it together in layers. Tonight's layer is the background, which is complicated to color because of the tall skinny trees all over. I put flat color on all those darn skinny trees, as well as the leaf canopy and some leaves on the ground.

JANUARY 20, 2008
This morning I drew a character design I've been bouncing around in my head lately. I came up with the character concept years ago, but I never really did any work on him. He's a captain on a ship, and will somewhat resemble a pirate. But with the whole "Carribean" trilogy of pirate movies, I want to make sure he doesn't resemble any of those characters. He also wears a mask, and it took about five times before I hit on a design that was the right one. I'll focus on his wardrobe later, but for now just having a sketch of the captain is a good start toward doing something with this character. Also today, I finished panel 6 of page two from the Shadowlord webcomic. I added the shading to Shadowlord's skin and hair, and dropped the background into place. The only thing that slowed me down was adding some teeth in his mouth. I hadn't drawn any, which looks fine in black and white. But in color, his gaping maw looks like that of an old man rather than a seventeen-year-old. After a few tries, I achieved the subtle teeth I was trying for.

JANUARY 19, 2008
Finishing page two panel 5 wasn't a big deal today. I added the shading to Shadowlord and his hair, and it was done. What took forever tonight was making digital alterations to panel 6 from the same page. This is a panel I drew over a year and a half ago! It is one of the first couple of panels I redrew from the Shadowlord comic, as a test to see how different certain panels could be. My art style has changed so much since then, and this panel really didn't resemble the other Shadowlord panels enough. The next was longer, and not proportioned to his head and body. And the hair wasn't chin-length, but nearly touched his collar bone. To fix this, I had to split parts of Shadowlord onto different layers. Then I could resize the body and neck without altering the face. I could scale the bottom half of the hair smaller without touching the top half of his hair. Although this took so long, I'm pleased with the results. It's won't be my favorite panel, but it will work for the webcomic. I also was able to do the flat colors for his skin and hair today.

JANUARY 18, 2008
Tonight I started and nearly finished page two, panel 5. I did the flat color for Shadowlord and a tree close to him. Then, I took the treescape from a couple weeks ago, and dropped it into the background. All that's left is the shading on Shadowlord.

JANUARY 17, 2008
Panels 1, 2 & 3 of page two were finished today. I did all the shading on panel 2, then I just digitally redrew the eyes to turn into panel 1. Then the same thing to make panel 3. It took me a while to draw the eyes good enough for me to be happy with them. I'm getting more comfortable with digital coloring all the time, but digital line art is another thing entirely.

JANUARY 16, 2008
Today I was able to start on a series of panels. On page two of the Shadowlord webcomic, there are three panels that show Shadowlord opening his eyes as he begins to wake up. The art is the same for all three panels, except for the eyes in each panel. So today I did all the flat colors for the second panel (becuase the eyes are closed). By coloring this panel first, I should be able to use the art in the other two panels by changing the eyes.

JANUARY 15, 2008
I finished the rest of the panel I've been working on. I added the light effect to the ground layer, and I added shadows to the trees and to Shadowlord's body as well. I am VERY pleased with how this panel turned out. In future panels, I'm going to try to not take as much time. I want the panels to look good, but three days for a 2x6 inch panel is maybe a little excessive.

JANUARY 14, 2008
More work on page two panel 4 of the Shadowlord webcomic. I'm still getting the hang of using my "dirt texture formula" and my "tree texture formula." I expect future panels to go more quickly than this one. It's still not finished, but I have added all the appropriate colors. I added the dirt texture, but it still needs to be tweaked. I have not added texture to the trees yet, or shading to anything. Although I must say I've done a heck of a job on coloring the squirrel on this page. Too bad he'll be a tiny little thing on the page once it's finished. Also today, I got an email from writer Jason Negen. It was a draft of a short story I asked him to write for Shadowlord. It should be about the fourth webcomic. That's quite a while off yet:) But I must admit that I laughed out loud as I read it. It's just the kind of humor I wanted Negen to show, which is very different from what I would write. I'll have to think about who will get to draw this humorous short.

JANUARY 13, 2008
Page two panel 4 of the Shadowlord webcomic was drawn in about four separate parts. It contains a background layer and foreground layer of trees, as well as a middle layer of Shadowlord (the focus of the panel). And there's a squirrel that was drawn separately. I assembled all four layers today. I also had to cut and repaste one of the trees from the foreground layer to fit better with the background. I also put flat colors on all the trees and Shadowlord's body. I also emailed back and forth with the artist for the new Falter webcomic. I got to see some pencils for the first two pages today.

JANUARY 12, 2008
Scan, scan, scan. Didn't I just scan a bunch of stuff a month or two ago? Oh well, new project... new scans. I scanned in the art for the new Shadowlord project tonight. Some of the older art still had some pencils undereath that had to be erased first. And some art had blue line pencils which had to be dropped out by adjusting the contrast levels during scanning. Some panels had more than one sheet of art due to the way they were drawn (with backgrounds on a separate sheet for some). I finished all the scanning for this webcomic now, and I should be able to move forward to the next step tomorrow.

JANUARY 11, 2008
Thankfully, the printer emailed me today and said my replacement font "worked like a charm" and the book was now prepped and ready for press. I normally do not want a proof copy before printing, but I'm getting one this time due to the trouble with the font I chose. For today's work, I scanned in the original Shadowlord pages two through four. I used the original 2001 layouts to create identical layouts for the new webcomic. Not that the original layouts were so great, but I'd like to incorporate that part of the old stuff with the new stuff. I just used the old panel shapes to create fresh black boarders with white backgrounds. Now I'll be able to select an area in one of the boxes, and drop the in the new art.

JANUARY 10, 2008
Over the last couple of days, I've been emailing back and forth with the print company for "Fall in the Bamboo Grove." Two of the fonts I had included in the lettering were coming up as corrupt. I was able to salvage one font by emailing a link on the net where it was free to download. This didn't fix the second font. After sending two alternate site links, I realized (as did the print shop) that this font was not going to work. So tonight, I decided how to fix the problem. I had only a few choices. One soluction would be to make the speech balloons part of the image so it wouldn't matter what font I used. But this would be way more work than I wanted, and there could be problems from scaling the size of the image (since the images are larger than the size of a page). Instead, I spent time studying my other fonts until I found one that was close enough to the original. Then I had to go in and replace all the old font with the new font. That wasn't so hard, but there were thirty-something balloons that needed this treatment. Some of them needed the font to be resized, but some did not. Once I finished, I had to FTP the files to the printer and I emailed them a zipped copy as well. I hope this one works so they can move forward!

JANUARY 9, 2008
Finished! Well, with the pencils and inks anyway. I drew Shadowlord in the last panel of the five page webcomic. In this panel, he's kneeling to look at himself in a puddle. I had drawn the background and foreground trees separately on another night. Tonight was just the naked figure of Shadowlord. I drew the pose once, and was only happy with the waist and legs. I drew another pose with a very different upper body pose. So I cut the lower body off of one drawing, and taped it onto the other drawing. And voila! I'm done drawing the first Shadowlord webcomic!

JANUARY 8, 2008
I finally got a handle on that panel from yesterday. I drew and inked Shadowlord's lower half and added two detailed trees in the background. I also noticed his shoulder/arm was a little too thick so I covered part of it with white ink and redrew it. I'm really happy with how it turned out! Especially after trying fruitlessly so many times yesterday. That leaves only one panel that needs new art before I can begin digital work on this five page webcomic.

JANUARY 7, 2008
Frustration!! I've been avoiding panel 1 from page five of this Shadowlord project. But now it's the only panel left that needs a complete overhaul. In the panel, Shadowlord is looking down at his hands as he makes a simple pointing gesture. I drew (and subsequently threw away) four or five completely crappy versions of this panel. Finally, I got out my digital camera to take a photo reference picture. Once I had the photo to draw from, the figure began to look better. I concentrated on capturing the arms and hands in this new panel, so that's what I inked. At the end of the day, it may look like I've only drawn a torso-and-up sketch with scarcely any ink on it, but the four or five torn up sheets of paper in my recycling bin say there was progress made tonight. Although I may still redraw the head and hair again tomorrow.

JANUARY 6, 2008
Today's work was a challenging panel of the new Shadowlord webcomic. It was panel 2 from page five. The panel is a reaction shot of Shadowlord realizing there's something very different about his skin. I really liked the old 2001 art because of the wild way his hair whips around in this panel. The hands in the old version, however, were awful. Also, there was a large exclamation point over his head in the old one! In today's 2008 version, the hands are better and there is no floating punctuation. I also toned down the way his hair is moving here, while still keeping a sense of movement (as if he's just done a double take). I was able to pencil and ink the whole panel, although I didn't add any background. I plan to drop in a section of my ready-made treescape for the background here. The principle art is almost done for these first five pages.

JANUARY 5, 2008
I've been thinking a lot about the long term direction of Shadowlord lately. Today I wrote a breakdown of Shadowlord's story, season by season, for his first year in the woods. This helped me balance specific events over the course of that first year so not everything happens at once. I intend to use the changing seasons (and changing colors) of the woods to show the passage of time. This was a good time to establish a time line, because I needed to write down a couple of story points that I thought of in the last day or two. I didn't have much story taking place in winter, so looking at everything else in chronological order helped me realize what SHOULD be happening during that time. I wrote new winter-specific story points accordingly.

JANUARY 4, 2008
Good progress today! Although I decided to use the original 2001 art for Shadowlord Page four panel 1, I drew new arms and hands. In this panel, Shadowlord is reacting to a pain in his head. His arms and hands raise near his head in anguish. The original 2001 hands look horrid. The new hands I drew aren't spectacular, but they still look a lot better than the old ones! Also, I penciled and inked a close up panel of Shadowlord just before he wakes up on the ground. I also drew eyes that are slightly open and wide open. With some digital work, this panel will replace page two panels 1, 2 & 3 where his eyes start to open. That just leaves two or three more panels to pencil & ink. I can't wait to get these first five pages cleaned up and colored!

JANUARY 3, 2008
I finished panel 4 from page two of the Shadowlord webcomic. I added more trees to the background part, including leaves on the ground and clustered near the trunks. I added a bed of leaves beneath Shadowlord. I also drew a squirrel that will be digitally placed on one of the trees as if he's scurrying away (since this squirrel also appears on page one). Finally, I erased all the pencil after inking (I used regular pencil on this page rather than the blue line pencil I sometimes use).

JANUARY 2, 2008
I tackled most of Shadowlord page two panel 4. It's a wide shot of Shadowlord sitting up for the first time after waking up in the woods. I'm using a different pose / body language in this version (as opposed to the original 2001 drawing). I didn't quite finish the panel, but that's because I drew it in three separate parts: Shadowlord, background trees and foreground trees. I inked most of what I drew today, but I still need to add more detailing and trees.

JANUARY 1, 2008
Happy New Year!! Today makes SIX MONTHS in a row of this daily blog and I haven't missed a single day of comic work yet. Today I renewed my focus on the Shadowlord webcomic project by penciling and inking panel 5 from page two. By my count, there are at most nine panels left to draw on this project (and a couple of the old 2001 panels may not be redrawn at all). Oh, and I saw sketches of the first FALTER webcomic today. It's looking good already! I'm looking forward to posting these new webcomics soon!

This website as well as all characters and comics listed therein, copyright 2008 Jay W. Davis / One Shot Productions.