PROJECT'S PROGRESS
August 29th, 2019
For this project I've decided to create a comic. At this point I have two ideas to work on.
Creating a comic about my experience with soccer violence. My personal experience didn't end in tragedy; unfortunately, many others are not as lucky.
"After a soccer match, the losing team's fans started a fight with the winning team's fans. The police had to get involved and shots were fired."​
Creating a comic about a "superhero/antihero".
"​Earth's being attacked and it's up to a man and his team to stop it. Little does he know, the enemy is his own race."
​
Working with the idea of violence in soccer
In this sketch, I'm introducing the 2 main characters.
Working with the idea of the superhero
In this sketches, I'm trying to introduce the plot and the characters. I also wrote some notes with alternatives.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
September 4th, 2019
I was trying to develop the two previous ideas as long as possible to see which one will be the better option, but Prof. Hagan suggested I pick one and develop that one instead.
The idea I'm going to choose is the comic about the superhero/antihero.
At this point I have a slight idea of the main plot (which has changed since last time) and some of the characters that will be part of it.
The comic will revolve around the main character; an antihero, and how he/she deals with the weight of his/her newfound abilities.
It will possibly revolve around his/her relationships with friends and sibling. Is it a blessing? or a curse?
One possibility I have in mind is to base some of this relationships of my own experience from back in the day and tweak them a bit to fit the story.
Working with the idea of the antihero
In this sketches, I'm trying to introduce the background of the main character.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
September 9th, 2019
At this point I'm a little stuck. I have the ideas and the scenes in my mind, but when I try to put it in drawings it gets harder. I kind of like that challenge.
Working with the idea of the antihero
In this sketches, I'm introducing the main character's sister.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
September 11th, 2019
I managed to get some more work done. In these sketches I'm starting to introduce the MC's personality.
Working with the idea of the antihero
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
September 16th, 2019
The story revolves around the main character and his sister. They are "different" than the rest. They have to fend for themselves since they were young because they didn't have parents. This is why the main character is indifferent to other people's troubles.Â
There have been some tremors going on for some time but nobody knows why. The MC's sister senses that they might bring trouble to their city. Once they get to school another tremor hit and later an earthquake hit their city.
This earthquake brings with it a visitor, who is looking for the MC for some reason.
During their confrontation, the MC's abilities are unsealed and he manages to get rid of the enemy but at the cost of some of his friendships.
After these events, the MC and his sister decide to look for answers and find out who they truly are.
Storyboard
SHORT ARTIST STATEMENT
September 17th, 2019
My current project is the creation of a graphic novel and I'll be using Affinity Designer to make it. I think of my work as (hopefully) entertaining; at the moment I'm not looking to delve deep into social issues or anything of the sort, although this might change in the future. The genre of my first work will be fiction. I just want to create stories the reader will hopefully enjoy.
ARTIST STATEMENT (SUBJECT TO CONSTANT REVISION)
September 30th, 2019
My first work in the realm of graphic novels creation is fiction but it also deals with differences that set us apart. My work shows how people sometimes react negatively to something different; this wasn’t planned but as I started creating this story, that element was very notorious. This work has some dark elements in it which I’m enjoying exploring, so I consider my artwork to follow this path. I will keep creating stories that have this element in them since I consider this an exciting theme.
My work also focuses on the use of monotone colors like black, shades of gray and some white. This is something I leaned towards to subconsciously and is represented in my previous work. I’m continuing this route for the foreseeable future unless the use of color sparks my interest and is related as well with the work I create.
I don’t think of my work as thought-provoking, even though my work delves to a certain degree in the subject of human relations. I don’t have any plans of having my work deal with social issues or anything of the sort at the moment. This is my first work in this genre and I want the readers to enjoy the stories I created.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
September 30th, 2019
After completing the storyboard, it is time to start laying out the panels and sketching the scenes.
Sketches with panel layouts
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 10th, 2019
The first 6 pages are almost complete, might need to add some details so the panels don't look kind of empty. On pages 7 and 8 the symbol the characters are referring to is still in process. I'm not sure what kind of symbol to use just yet. Also some dialogue boxes are incomplete, for example on the description of the friends. I'm still trying to figure out their personalities. I feel I did everything backwards. I should have started with character designs and personalities but anyway...
Based on the storyboard, I sketched some more pages on pencil and paper, later those will be brought to the software. At the moment I'm focusing on finishing these first 8 pages.
As of right now, I feel the story I have in mind might be too long for the time I can work on it before midterm, but we'll see how it goes.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 11th, 2019
Finished inking the characters in the pages I have completed and I added some details too. I also feel some panels are still unfinished and the last 2 I still need to figure out the symbol on the floor.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 13th, 2019
Finished paneling and inking 3 more pages, although some details are still pending.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 16th, 2019
Finished paneling and inking the last pages of this part of the story. Some minor details are still pending in some paneling that I need to finish but overall, this is the story I'm presenting for midterm critique.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 19th, 2019
I think I finally finished the project for midterm critique. I'm going to be working on character sheets now and if I have enough time I will start working on the cover for this story.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 20th, 2019
Finished one character sheet.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 22th, 2019
I was able to finish the character sheets for the main characters. I will try to create a cover now, if not possible I would like to have some sort of title page instead.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 23th, 2019
I created a simple cover page with the title for midterm and also started working on the actual cover for the story. So far I only have the main character inked.
ARTIST STATEMENT (SUBJECT TO CONSTANT REVISION AND UPDATES)
October 24th, 2019
My first work in the realm of graphic novels creation is fiction. In this story I’m exploring what happens when certain experiences change the perception of ourselves and who we thought we were. My work will explore how an individual will try to find his place in the world and discover his purpose and who he really is. This work has some dark elements in it which I’m enjoying exploring, so I consider my artwork to follow this path. I will keep creating stories that have this element in them since I consider this an exciting theme.
My work also focuses on the use of monotone colors like black, some shades of gray and white. This is something I leaned towards to subconsciously and is represented in my previous work. I’m continuing this route for the foreseeable future unless the use of color sparks my interest and is related as well with the work I create.
I don’t think of my work as thought-provoking, even though my work delves to a certain degree in the subject of human relations. I don’t have any plans of having my work deal with social issues or anything of the sort at the moment. This is my first work in this genre and I want the readers to enjoy the stories I create.
MIDTERM CRITIQUE PRESENTATION
MIDTERM CRITIQUE RESPONSE
October 30th, 2019
One of the points that was mentioned to me by Prof. Yi was that some of the lines were not distinctive enough and it was something I needed to work on. Another point mentioned was the characters weren't different enough. This is something I will definitely get better at the more I practice. Another comment was in one panels the position and the angle of the characters looked a bit off and also the text balloons were a little cluttered.
I will be reworking and redoing as much as possible without it interfering with my progress towards the final.
PLANNING FOR THE FINAL
October 30th, 2019
I plan on continuing with the next part of the story I worked on for midterms. In terms of following the plan from the beginning (the storyboard), various things have changed in terms of story but I'm using that just as a general guideline since the story I have in my head is almost the same but with differences in some scenes. The ending will be still the same.
Hopefully I have enough time to rework on some of the comments I received from Professors during the critique, but if not possible I will definitely apply those comments and recommendations for the final presentation.
I do have some questions as to how I can approach those issues but meeting with Prof. Hagan should help clearing those out.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
October 31th, 2019
I started sketching the next part of the story, but for the opening scene of the next part I'm not sure which one to choose. I created two openings.
The first one is a close up of the MC while he is waking up.
The other one is what the MC is looking at when he is waking up.
Besides that I've sketched some other pages as well, introducing the MC's "mother". More on that when the story moves along.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 4th, 2019
I continued to sketch some more scenes. The only issue I have right now is with the last 2 images. I'm not sure which one to choose. Not sure if the scene deserves the full page treatment or just a regular panel.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 6th, 2019
After sketching the last pages from the previous update I kind of got writer's block. Since I'm introducing a new character I decided to start sketching her and I ended up with:
I also started inking the first few pages of the 2nd part of the story. This time it took me longer because I was trying to find the right lines. I kept experimenting with different thicknesses and I think I found the right combination. Although depending of the scene I might have to keep switching "pens" in the app because if the characters are further away I can't use the same thickness as if they were closer. Hopefully this won't take that long when I start reaching more complicated scenes.
A minor thing I did was to make the cover for this part a little different. I don't have a white outline anymore and in the "part 2" text I changed the color to red. In the previous version it was grey, but since the title is red I thought it would be a good idea to keep it uniform
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 11th, 2019
I continued to ink a couple more pages making some changes along the way. For the panels that take place in the main character's subconscious I'm trying changing the edges of those panels. I also got rid of the waves in those panels.
Something I've been trying to get a grasp on is the setting where the main character is. I envision it as his subconscious and I have some inspirations.
​
The first one is from an anime/manga called Tokyo Ghoul. Ghouls are beings that devour humans to get stronger. The main character forcefully becomes a Ghoul gaining their power but refuses to eat humans. The premise in this scene is the main character is being tortured but once he accepts his new identity through a vision that involves the person that converted him he becomes a complete Ghoul.
​
In this case it is a vision but it portrays something similar to what I'm trying to portray. I think I might have thought of the first image when creating the scene. The water as the floor that could create waves is identical.
The second example is from an anime/manga as well called Naruto. Here the main character has a beast of nine tails sealed within him that is powerful and from time to time allows him to use his powers.
​
This is how this could be described: "When Naruto wants to speak to the Nine-Tails, he enters a subconscious plane that resembles an underground complex, with pipes running along the ceiling and various hallways. The floor is flooded with a shallow layer of water; the Nine-Tails' growing influence over Naruto is sometimes depicted as the water level rising."
​
I would say this is the most similar to my plan. I don't plan on having a monster that supplies the power but the main character posses it already. He hasn't used it because he wasn't aware of having it.
This is the example I had mentioned before. This is from the comic The Immortal Hulk, when Venom is trying to merge with Bruce Banner. There is already 3 personalities within him so they are deciding whether to accept Venom or not as one of them. For this "meeting" in Banner's subconscious, Venom creates this black cube.
After going through these examples I'm starting to brainstorm what kind of setting I'm trying to put my main character in. I did some research in the Deprivation Chambers or Rooms, and it is an interesting concept. Although not what I had in mind for the story it is something I can come back to if by necessary.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS IN CLASS PRESENTATION
November 12th, 2019
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 13th, 2019
I made some changes to 2 pages. In the first one I changed the dialogue and in the second one I completely redid a page.
I was stuck for a little bit trying to get the dialogues right but I managed to sketch some more pages. After this I should only have a few pages left to wrap up this 2nd part of the story.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 18th, 2019
Continued to sketch some more pages. Approaching the end of the story.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 20th, 2019
Finally finished sketching the story. I'm just not sure about the last two panels in the last and second to last pages, if the dialogue is missing something. besides that I'm happy with the rest of the panels.
Now I just need to ink them. I continued to ink from where I left off.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
November 25th, 2019
I'm continuing to ink the story. At the moment I'm focusing on the characters and some important details. I will be adding minor details and environment a little bit later.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
December 2nd, 2019
Some progress.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
December 10th, 2019
Almost done with the story. Just need to ink 2 more pages and add some minor details and some minor editing to some panels and the story will be complete.
PROJECT'S PROGRESS
December 12th, 2019
Finally finished the story. This is the 2nd and last part of the story I started at the beginning of the semester.