New episode is still on the table getting the treatment. I’ve been somewhat preoccupied with a comprehensive evaluation of what the hell I’m doing with all my online activities. So I’m in the middle of a total revamp and overhaul of bloodredcomics.com. If you like chainmail chicks then keep an eye on it.

Meanwhile I’ll try to have a new episode of Zyn Dweomer up very soon. Many questions to be answered. Why did the goblins slay all the slarls? And how? Will Naola be able to finish this gig and still fulfill Bojo’s demands before that tramp Deeti? What is Hurke’s special game and why doesn’t his mom want him doing it?

With episode #22 I switched from working at 8.5″ x 6.5″ to 8.5″ x 3.25″. Basically, from a standard comic page in landscape to a half comic page in landscape. I did this switch more-or-less to help me finish strips a little more quickly. The baby was soon to be born and I needed to do something to reduce my work time as much as possible. Also, I liked the idea of a strip format.

Well, I’m working on #37 and I’m close to making the decision to go back to a larger page size. The main reason I want to do this is because of the flexibility that a larger format offers. With strips I have all kinds of room to go horizontal but I’m very limited vertically. I like doing the occasional cityscape and having that extra space really comes in handy.

We’ll see how this pans out. I might go ahead and come to a comfortable pause in the story before making the switch back. Technically, the beginning of the smaller strips was the start of chapter two. So once I hit a natural point to begin chapter three I will probably make that change again.

Don’t let anyone tell you size doesn’t matter. It does matter. But so does shape.

Now back to the drawing board before the wee tykes wake up.

I am enjoying the hell out of doing this comic. And that makes me happy because I was worried I’d burn out. So far, no such bad luck. Main problem now is I can’t seem to work on it enough to crank out more strips. I’m doing one per week, but I’d prefer to be doing two or three.

I keep telling myself this will change later. Still have an infant to care for, full time job, four year old, and this wicked sinus infection going on. I guess I should just be thankful I can draw comics at all!

Still experimenting with this technique. The idea is to eliminate as many lines as possible. This is a real departure for me since 99% of my work is really focused on the character of the lines and brush strokes.

Take Zyn Dweomer for example. I use a 30 pt round brush for inking on a 400dpi 8.5 x 3.25 canvas. A 30 pt brush means I get a lot of line width variation - which is exactly what I like. In my older art I used PITT brush pens and drew on small paper sizes so I was getting a very similar effect.

But here I’m trying to concentrate of reduction of forms, simplicity, design, and color. I’m drawing these pretty big, usually with a hard pencil tool at 10 pt or less with as little line variation as possible (since the lines will disappear). I’m doing this mainly to explore a new comic idea, but also to test myself. To challenge myself.

Trollbabe art by James V. West

A few years ago I contributed art to Ron Edwards’ role-playing game Trollbabe. The game was originally only sold as a PDF download (still available) but in July it will be available in print sporting all new cover art and significantly re-written by one of the most creative and capable hands in RPG design.

I highly recommend you get this book even if you don’t play. Ron makes good stuff.

Trollbabe art by James V. West

Working digitally has been an easy transition for me. I wasn’t sure how it would work out. I’ve been doing art for years and I’ve always been pretty old school about it. But I swear…the freedom that digital tools gives me is just incredible. I love being able to draw with wild abandon and undo things on the fly. I love the way I don’t have to worry about messing stuff up.

Of course, this could lead to lazy art I suppose. But my style and preference is to be somewhat free and loose so digital really works for me. I’m not a perfectionist about my art. I know when I’m enjoying doing it and that’s when I know it’s right.

More episodes coming soon! I feel a roll coming on…

The story I’m telling here requires a great deal of effort from me. I go from macro to micro, character to character, scene to scene across a rich setting. I need a lot of time and space to do this. But I’m a guy with a wife, kids, and a full time job. I don’t have hours a day to sit around drawing these things.

Yet, these things are as vital to me as water and blood. Some people have an intimate relationship with God…I have my comics.

So for me the struggle is to find a way to create more pages, more episodes, more art…in less time. Zyn Dweomer requires a lot of face time to come across properly. I’m over 30 strips in and barely scratching the surface of what’s going on. If that. So I have struggled to find ways to make the pages faster.

I could crank them out as sketches, perhaps doing it like YAFGC. But that’s not right for this comic. I want to maintain the level of quality I’ve already established. I started doing the strips in half page format because it allowed me to finish them more quickly, which ought to allow me to post more frequently. Obviously the birth of my daughter slowed that down, but in a good way.

One thing is for certain. The time you spend on a page does not equal the “quality” of that page. Some artists I’ve admired over the years have made what I think is a mistake in thinking. Tim Vigil once criticized other artists for cranking out a couple pages a day instead of spending a couple days on a page. His meaning was that you ought to labor over each and every line and make the pages as lush as possible. Richard Corben once said that the artwork was far more important than the story. Well, maybe for the comics he makes that is true. I buy his work for his art, not his stories.

But I think these guys are getting it wrong on a fundamental level. The visuals, the writing, everything that goes into making a comic is a package deal. It is not accurate to say that one is more important than another. Also, it is not accurate to assume that more time spent on a page will make that page better. Or, perhaps more to the point, it won’t necessarily make the comic better. What makes a comic better is doing it right from top to bottom. And in some cases that means simpler art or simpler stories – not more lush or more complex.

I’ve trimmed my work time down on Zyn Dweomer by quite a bit per episode with a few Photoshop tricks and simple practice. This is my first time drawing a comic 100% digitally, so that took some learning. But I love it. I love the way the comic looks and feels, and I’m excited to keep exploring the world in which it exists.

The process of improving the comic and improving my experience of creating it continues to develop. I’m very happy about it.

New episode on the drawing table.

While mowing the grass (it grows!) I was thinking of magic. The wizards of Zyn Dweomer are rather like scientists, or hoodoo men at least. They use old spells and certain understood principles of the natural (or supernatural) world to create very specific magical affects. But what of clerics?

Yes, this comic is inspired by classic RPG fantasy, so the priestly sort of spellcaster needs a role to play. And it has one. Coming up in future strips you’ll see how Rygora, high priestess of H’zzi, uses faith power to cast some wicked mojo.

Meanwhile, dinner and conversation.

All is well in Westworld. The new baby is doing fantastic. Sleep is coming more frequently, which is a damn good thing. I have to have good sleep and a routine to get my mojo in order. Right now the old mojo is scattered all over the place.

Updates soon.

I forgot how taxing it is caring for a newborn. Add to that the toddler who is having issues with the whole thing and its a recipe for great family time but terrible art time.

Working on the new episode slowly, in bits. Looking forward to picking up the pace again.