8.23.02 Yay, chapter
1 is finished. I'm really happy about the two closeup inserts
in panel 1. I'm also glad that I actually did the background
in panel 3. Unfortunately the details in the eyes disappeared.
Some of the lineart in panel 1 was done with my awesome brushpen.
I think those the are most realistic boobs I've drawn for a
long, long time. Hehehehe.
8.16.02 Finally figured out the problem of the crooked
line. It turned out the problem was because of the scanner and
not my incompetency. Now I'll have to scan each page in 2 parts
instead of as a whole.
Who knows how long I spent on the second to the last panel.
Doesn't Jon look so cute in the last panel? I think that's the
best b/w close up I've done so far. I also came to the conclusion
that I hate drawing hands.
8.9.02 Woohoo! When I submitted Down to OnlineComics.net,
it was chosen to be a "Good Read." I guess the editor
of the site thought my comics was "generally a notch above
[other comics], and well-worth checking out."
Ugh, I'm having the problem of drawing hands too small. Grrrr.
The problem of drawing too big of a head still there too. I
did more details in the eyes again, but too bad nothing can
be see at screen resolution.
8.1.02 Thursday update instead of a Friday update because
my friend's coming today... Ugh, the background for the last
panel took the longest time to draw. The positioning of the
characters weren't correct so it took a lot of effort to make
that panel look ok. Also, I noticed that the shrinking of the
image has taken away a lot of details in the eyes. Oh well.
I also added to new images. One
is just a practice CG. It's boring. The other one is a request
from Amel. She wanted me to blow up panel 2 of page 27 and color
it. She called it fan service panel. heh.
7.26.02 Another page that didn't
take too long to draw. This page is really crowded but then
again, I don't want to spread it out to two pages and spill
into the next scene. I keep my pacing by ending an action by
the end of a page. I actually didn't draft this page a year
ago because I was very hesitant about drawing a fire engine
(fire engine reference
pic was found by Yanwen). Plus, I wasn't sure how to pace
this part.
7.19.02 Wow, this page actually didn't take days to finish.
I actually finished this on 7.13 but I decided to wait a week
to link this. I think the gestures and expressions of the finished
page look much better than the draft,
especially the last panel. This page was referred to as the
fan service page by the girls, but I don't think so considering
Jon doesn't look very good in this page. Heh.
7.12.02 Being a firm believer that a page of text does
not count as a real 'page,' I added 2 pages instead of the usual
1 for this update. I have to thank BrionF
of Flipside for the idea for page 23. Surprisingly, in page
24 the beaker panels took the longest time to draw.
6.26.02 Page 22 is just weird, but I bet you didn't expect
that one, did you? I was tempted to add another page before
that to set this page up, but I was unmotivated. Besides, more
depresso pages coming up soon anyway. This page is partially
inspired by the cheesy safety video everyone in chem lab class
should have seen (put together by NSF, I think) and personal
experience. I actually had to use the Kjeldahl for anal (analytical)
chem back at Cornell. I had no problem with the setup and the
protocol, but many of my classmates had accidents because they
didn't mix the acid and the base well (thank goodness no one
got hurt). The perspective in panel 4 is messed up, but almost
all the 'action' poses turned out better than expected.
6.16.02 Page 21 is done. Starting with page 20, I'm experimenting
with detailed background with no shading or hatching of any
sort. It might force me to rely on perspective for 3D and details
for filling in spaces. Also, as suggested by Wid, this style
might make the characters appear 3D while pushing back the background.
I also changed my way of coloring Jon's hair. Now I use brush
pen with nib pen for touch ups.
Introduced a new character, Dillen Claire. He looks better here
than the original design. Plus, he's more buff. I can't have
too many skinny boys in my story, can I? Dillen's shirt was
inspired by one of my friends. His personality was inspired
by one of my bf's friends and Amel's RPG character Linden Eclaire.
Finally, some of my friends said that after seeing my comics
has motivate them to draw again. I'm so touched. :D
6.8.02 Page "2a" is added (consider it as a
splash page). That drawing is probably the most depressing thing
I've ever drawn. Then again, when I started the drawing, I was
in a pretty bad/depressing/anxious mood. I'm too gutless to
color it in marker but in the end I think the cg turned out
well. Also, I've been having lots of problems drawing full body
recently (head too big), so I practice drawing Jon and also
designed some clothes for him.
6.7.02 A brief introduction is
added.
6.6.02 After a half year hiatus, Down is back (and better?).
I spent the most time on the first panel. That background was
hard to draw. I'm really proud of the fire extinguisher and
Jon's jeans. This is another page with big changes in the layout
(before and after).
I think in the last panel, Jon's head is a bit too big. Also,
an awesome gift from
Amel.
12.20.01 No time for comics, but here are an oekaki
and a b/w drawing of Jon.
12.01.01 Page 19 is done, more or less. I could have
some internal dialogue and stuff, but I'm too busy with other
stuff to think of something good for now. First time drawing
a car in my comics. It's such an ugly car and I should have
done speed lines.
Wow, It's been a month since the last update. I doubt I'll be
able to do more update for a month or two because I'm writing
my thesis. Gotta graduate, right?
10.23.01 Page 18 is kind of finished. I should do some
marker shading on it considering that I spent time looking for
the right ink that won't be smudged by Prisma. I'm using sumi
ink now. I feel sick so I'll stop writing now.
10.12.01 - I got my brand new computer on Thursday. Yay!
I finally finished page 17 after weeks of inactivity. I had
a huge problem of making the page look interesting. I settled
with what I have now, but I still have to find more interesting
perspectives and angles.
10.5.01 - Jon makes a cameo appearance
in a CHA CHA (Club Haus Adventures) special.
Down will be updated next week. I got pass writer's block on
page 17.
9.25.01 - I had fun drawing Jon's
pajama pants in page 15. Plaid is fun to draw. :) I really liked
how the cross hatching on the blanket turned out. The head shots
at the bottom row were suggested by Yanwen when I showed her
my draft.
Page 16 took quite some time to draw because I decided to redo
the layout. Check out the original draft
to see the difference.
9.17.01 - Page 14, a.k.a. fan service page, is added.
I really, really like how the first panel turned out. I think
it's my favorite panel in the story so far. Needless to say,
I put the most time in that panel than anything else on that
page. Amel gave me the idea of doing a bird's eye view.
I also did a quick one page 'story.' I dedicate page 14 and
this one pager to Amel, Fiesan, and Yanwen because they've supported
me and my stories (plus, they're Jon's #1 fan).
9.16.01 - Laurie driving Jon crazy. I think people are
definitely less patient and less 'nice' when they're with family.
I know I am.
The bottom left hand panel took forever to draw. The background...
gar.
9.13.01 - Not much to say. Page 12 is done, sort of.
I couldn't draw the appropriate background for the page.
Image 12 is added. Feel free to fill in the blanks and send
it to me. If I pick it as my favorite, you might receive a little
drawing.
9.7.01- No update this weekend. I'm going to visit some
friends in Ann Arbor.
I'm doing more and more background which also means that the
amount of time to finish each page is getting longer. At least
the page looks decent. I'm also less afraid to change panels
from the penciled version to the final inked version.
before: fail11.jpg; after: faildr.jpg
9.5.01- I'm on a roll, a jelly roll! Yay, I'm on page
10. I guess I'm about a third done with chapter 1. A certain
somebody said the drawing (smile.jpg) is too girly because of
the pink, but I think it goes well with the blue. Heh.
9.2.01 - Woohoo! Page 9 is done. Plus 3 more quick sketches
of Jon, Laurie, and Alice (images 8, 9, and 10). My favorite
panel in page 9 is the second to the last panel. Prisma markers
are so much fun.
Have you ever notice that small changes in gestures can change
the picture dramatically? For example, in my draft Jon looks
like he's going to slap Alice, but with a little twist of the
wrist, Jon does look like he's looking at his watch.
before: p9last.jpg; after: p9last2.jpg
8.30.01 - I spent the most time on panel one of page
8. I was trying 2 point perspective. I think it turned out well.
I also like how the last panel looked.
It seems like Alice and Amel's
character Eveline (from her new story Adam and Eve) have similar
personality and physical appearance. Both are hyper (energetic),
short, and look like 12 year olds even though both are 20-something.
Eep! Amel inks faster than I.
8.24.01 - Page 7 is added. I actually drafted 20 pages
of Chapter 1 already. I have a feeling that it's going to be
around 30 pages. A couple of sketches.
First one (lalala.jpg) is just a really quick doodle I made.
The brothers are too close together. It looks like they're holding
hands. Second one is a CG sketch. I did a pencil drawing of
the brothers and I decided to do a really quick coloring job
because I was waiting for a friend and I was bored. Jon looks
happy and Laurie looks a bit pissed off. heh.
Wah! I got an awesome gift from Fiesan. Jon is so sad looking
but still cute. Heh. She's awesome and I really like all the
gifts she's given me. :D She's definitely improved a lot in
her CG and composition since I first met her.8.14.01
- Page 6 is added. More hatching/marker goodness. Ooooh, another
character added. This time, it's a girl! A doodle (image 5)
also added.
8.12.01 - Page 5 is done. First
time drawing rain. Gray markers came in very handy for this
page. Isn't Jon, completely drenched with rain, looking so pathetic?
I think I'll make Jon's hair another character. Hehehe.
Image 4 is the CG titled Cake. I'm liking the soft CG look and
the cake is so yummy looking. Now I want a piece of strawberry
short cake.
Oh, be sure to check out the picture of Jon by Yanwen. I like
the title of the book: Math Sucks. She draws my characters
better than I do.
8.6.01 - I think book shelves can tell a lot about the
owner... or not. 2 nifty CGs of the perfect brother from Yanwen.
:) I always like her gifts. :D
8.2.01 - I really like the cover
of Chapter 1. I already have an idea for the cover of Chapter
2. :) Basically, on this cover I paired up two very different
people--Jon and his perfect brother. I guess in this story
one of the themes I want to explore is duality, haha, or not.
7.31.01 - Introduced another
person. A whole story about Jon moping around is just not
fun. Heh. Laurie is too perfect... or is he? I might change
his name later. It's too girly. Well, I guess Laurie could
be short for Lawrence.... Then again, I do have a guy character
named Ashley. I tried to do a more 'spot light' effect on
the brother. Not sure if it worked. Page 3 is added.
7.26.01 - Image 3 added (request
from my friends to draw the character in a tank top).
7.25.01 - Page 2 is online. Markers make things much
easier (and less time consuming) though the greys made it
hard for me to add text. The title was a suggestion from Waiji.
7.24.01 - Page 1 is added. It
took me no time in inking tonight. Must be because of the
lack of hatching. I think I killed Waiji's brushpens with
my excess amount of black. Ugh, I thought one shouldn't capitalize
prepositions and such in titles, but it looks funny.... I
guess Down but Not Out (I called it Failed but it's too angsty
sounding) is now open.
7.21.01 - I started this story
on 7.12.01. I have 11 pages drafted already when I was resting
at home. :)
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