sigune | Entries tagged with comics

I'm working my way back in the direction of the comic... Morgana and Morgause are already looking forward to new pages, it seems ;).

I try to stay away from New Year's resolutions because they never amount to anything and that's just depressing, but this year I'd really like to establish a routine for working on my comic. Already I'm off on a bad start, but - let's just ignore that for a moment and not stay on the ground after stumbling over the first block.

If you were waiting for LJ updates to know when new pages are up, I should tell you that I did carry on for 9 more pages than were ever mentioned here... My last post ran until page 86, but I've made it to page 95 before everything went to hell in a handbasket. So, if you wanted to catch up: it's the birth of Arthur and its aftermath...

The Darkest Hour p. 87
The Darkest Hour p. 88
The Darkest Hour p. 89
The Darkest Hour p. 90
The Darkest Hour p. 91
The Darkest Hour p. 92
The Darkest Hour p. 93
The Darkest Hour p. 94
The Darkest Hour p. 95

Morgause and Morgana are serving as ambassadors for the next part, as it will spend a bit more time on these young ladies and their as yet undiscovered powers.

Current Mood: frustrated

I have only just recently realised - I'm officially 40+ now, so it was about time - that I challenge myself constantly. I didn't really understand that before, but I push myself all the time. I'm a creature of habit and I'm not at all adventurous. But when it comes to skills, I always want to grow and get better. On the one hand, it means I put myself under pressure (which sometimes crosses over into stress, self-doubt and performance anxiety), but on the other hand, I get bored when things are too easy. It's my own modest version of "My mind rebels at stagnation" ;).

I tend to push myself for Hoggywarty. A Hoggywarty piece is always a gift for someone, and nobody wants to gift someone with a dud. It's also become, with

snapecase, my Snapey Outing of the Year, so I have to make it count. I've also noticed that making fan things I feel freer somehow than when making, say, my Gawain comic. Fandom is less 'for real', if you like. It's playful because the thing you are making does not entirely belong to you. I dare to be more silly and more creative in fan art, I think. I take more risks. As a result, my Hoggywarty pieces are often things I am genuinely proud of (though I am invariably very worried that their recipient won't like them).

This year, because I was in an existential crisis, my first thought was to go easy on myself and do a pretty portrait or something. Or two portraits with a narrative link, because I didn't want to look like a slacker. But soon enough I realised that I didn't really want to go easy. I wanted to make a silly comic that would make people laugh after the awful year we've had. Of course, the trouble is that I'm notoriously slow, and comics, however simple they may look, are not easy to make. For one thing, you need a story, and then you need to figure out how to tell it, and how to render it. Fortunately, and idea presented itself in October. (Just the one! I don't seem to have head space for more than one idea at any given time?!)

( Opening The Gift )

The Next Step?

Around this time last year, I mentioned a Secret Snape Project for 2020. Well, it didn't materialise for plenty of good reasons, most of which have to do with 2020 being what it was.

Here is what I'd planned to do: I wanted to make a sort of Snape Zine, bundling my Snape comics and some extra material. I feel less annoyed by not having made the zine in 2020 now that I've made another comic to add to it.

So, the zine would contain:

Vengeance is Bitter (2004-2007)

Great Balls of Snow (2016)

Flight Plan (2018)

The Gift (2020)

I don't know how much interest there would be in such a bundle, but I'll put some feelers out. If someone has any experience with producing actual books and selling and shipping them to people, and would be inclined to offer counsel or help, the undersigned, having no business sense, would be most grateful to hear from you :).

Sooo... This year, I didn't take a break from the comic during the summer months. I kept on posting, but I didn't get round to posting it here as well. I have the coronavirus to thank for the possibility to draw a page every week. The fact that I didn't have to commute, but could work from home, really changed my comic-making life. That said, it still wasn't easy, and more than once I have finished a page at 2 a.m. on a Thursday, my posting day.

I'm well on my way to expanding TDH by some 10 pages... Page 86 used to be page 80. That means the entire story is likely to come in at around 140 pages. New pages have been added because I felt some of the transitions were too abrupt, or because the draft pages had too much crammed into them. I've also made some alterations here and there because I felt that in my original draft, I hadn't expressed some of the ideas as well as I could have. I'm thinking of putting up a comparison on my Gawaincomic blog later on, even if it's just for myself.

...Coming to think of it, with some 50 pages still to go, if I keep managing a page a week, TDH should be all done around this time next year.

The Darkest Hour p. 72
The Darkest Hour p. 73
The Darkest Hour p. 74
The Darkest Hour p. 75
The Darkest Hour p. 76
The Darkest Hour p. 77
The Darkest Hour p. 78
The Darkest Hour p. 79
The Darkest Hour p. 80
The Darkest Hour p. 81
The Darkest Hour p. 82
The Darkest Hour p. 83
The Darkest Hour p. 84
The Darkest Hour p. 85
The Darkest Hour p. 86

Current Mood: tired

I've been religiously making teaser pictures for every new page with the intention of posting them here, but I'm not exactly doing a great job of it. I apologise for my lack of replies, too - especially because your comments mean a lot to me. People close to me sometimes tell me to ease down on the self-imposed deadlines for things like the comic, which doesn't make any money and isn't exactly a huge hit. But though it brings its own frustrations, making this comic is something of a consolation as compared to my often thankless job. (Never become a professional writer, kids: everyone thinks they write better than you.)

I'm getting to a point where it's beginning to look as if the early pages were inked by someone else. This bugs me very much, but, um, I can't really afford to start all over again. I mean, I really would like to get to Gawain some day and, you know, maybe do some Green Knight and Loathly Lady and stuff. And I'm positively *aching* for the Castle of Wonder, that Ygraine Payoff in, oh, 2000 pages or so.

...Yeah. Well, if I can keep up this 'a page a week' rhythm, I may not go on Summer hiatus this year. If I manage it, Arthur could be born in September...

The Darkest Hour p. 65
The Darkest Hour p. 66
The Darkest Hour p. 67
The Darkest Hour p. 68
The Darkest Hour p. 69
The Darkest Hour p. 70
The Darkest Hour p. 71

Well by gum, I dropped the ball for a while there...

Truth is, ever since my return to work after my holiday, things have been incredibly busy. And there were my

hoggywartyxmas and

snapecase deadlines, too... Yes, I kind of forgot about posting new pages here. So now you get 4 in one go :P.

The Darkest Hour p. 45

The Darkest Hour p. 46

The Darkest Hour p. 47

The Darkest Hour p. 48

I don't think I ever mentioned it here, but I have a Ko-fi page, in case people want to support the comic by buying me a coffee (I consume loads of those)... There is a gallery with my complete set of Inktober 2019 images, which I can't help mentioning because I'm still proud of finally having completed an entire Inktober ;-).

Guess which part of this pages I loved drawing, and which part I pretty much hated :p...

The Darkest Hour p. 44

Morgause and Morgana find their mother worried and distracted on page 43...

Morgause and Morgana tugging at their mother's arms

The Darkest Hour p. 43

Ick! Ack! I forgot to post a link to page 42 last week! Here it is, then...

Morgause is getting a little fed up with her little sister's antics. Siblings...

Little Morgause and little Morgana argueing

The Darkest Hour p. 42

The Darkest Hour p. 41 is live! This week: the risks that come with fairy children...

Morgana on top of a tower, flapping her arms as if to fly

The Darkest Hour p. 41

In other news, I'm doing Inktober over on Instagram (ms_sigune) and Twitter (Gawaincomic). I'm using my holidays to draw as much comic as possible... And I need to get a move on, because I have signed up for

hoggywartyxmas and

snapecase too!

Not to mention that it's Socktober so I'm knitting socks, and the gift season is getting nearer so I have some gift knitting to get done :p.

Current Mood: chipper

Page 39 is live! Stuff is happening at Dun Tagyll while Uther and Gorlois fight each other...

The Darkest Hour p. 39

Page 38 is live! Uther Pendragon and Gorlois of Cornwall come to a violent clash over Ygraine...

Uther Pendragon wields a sword on horseback

The Darkest Hour p. 38

The Darkest Hour cover

Designed three years ago, finally inked and coloured (...well...): my Darkest Hour cover.

I'm going to have to cut The Darkest Hour in 4 in order to fit it in these 'informal' comics. Oh my goodness — I was so happy to have one good cover, now I'll have to figure out four! :D

Hello! I have been a bit quiet because of stuff, but also because I am nearing the end of my fourth year of evening art school, and I am working hard to finish my project. That project is 30 pages of redrawn Gawain comic - that is to say: it’s the first 30 pages of The Darkest Hour, the story of Ygraine and Uther (full length: about 130 pages).

The idea has always been to publish the comic as a webcomic on its own site - that is still what I intend to do. But for my end-of-year project, I’m going to have a few copies of the first part printed. In order to have an idea of how many copies I’d need, thought I’d ask around who would like to own one.

The minimum number of copies is 25. I generally assume that not a lot of people are interested in my stuff, but suppose there are 30 all over the world and I have only 25 copies, well, I’d feel a bit bad about that. So - please let me know if you would like a copy (here, or send me an e-mail to gawaincomic at gmail).

You would get: a 36 page booklet with 30 pages of comic and a few sketch pages. The comic is drawn in black, white and grey. A6 (postcard-sized and cute!) or A5 (…bigger?) - I haven’t decided yet; soft cover. It’s a really informal little affair, no ISBN-number or anything.

I’d ask of you: the print cost + shipping. The printing would cost a maximum of 4€ per comic (£3.5 or $4.5). Shipping will depend on where you are, but will certainly cost more than the comic itself :/.

Interested? Please let me know!

Hello! I have been a bit quiet because of stuff, but also because I am nearing the end of my fourth year of evening art school, and I am working hard to finish my project. That project is 30 pages of redrawn Gawain comic - that is to say: it’s the first 30 pages of The Darkest Hour, the story of Ygraine and Uther (full length: about 130 pages).

Interested? Please let me know!

Happy birthday, Severus Snape!

Because all my plans for birthday drawings have gone awry, on the occasion of Snape's birthday I'm going to dig up what used to be an old favourite and share my comic-making process. Does anyone remember "How Not To Draw Comics"? I did these entries where I documented the making of my first ever complete comic in 18 pages - which was, would you believe it, a Snape comic. I worked on it for years, mostly because I drew a page whenever I felt particularly inspired - which, seeing as we are talking about me, Little Miss No Idea, wasn't very often. My way of working was incredibly chaotic.

Ten years or so later, nothing much has changed.

The reveals for

hoggywartyxmas are up, so I can now officially admit to having created Great Balls of Snow. (Being me, I'd actually put my NAME on the title card. I was so very tired at that point I didn't even realise I'd sent a SIGNED entry to an anonymous fest! D'oh!) I have to say, I had a ball working on this thing. It wore me out completely, but boy, was it ever so much fun. However, I felt very bad about it, because I missed two deadlines and was afraid

therealsnape would start to think I was a total flake or something. No. I'm just chaotic and slow. (Not when I'm doing my job! Seriously. But when I'm making comics and stuff... Ack.)

Anyway -

Below the cut: lots and lots of images! Lots and lots of sketchy Snape! Developing ideas! Rubbish! If you're interested, and you haven't read the comic yet, I'd say, read it first. It's complete in 41 panels (not pages - just panels), here at Hoggywarty or on Tumblr if you like. And then come back for the Making-Of :).

( How Not To Draw Comics - Great Balls of Snow )

Well, that was the story of that comic. It eventually got done and TRS accepted it. And all was well ;).

Current Mood: artistic
Crossposts: http://sigune.livejournal.com/199930.html

This is all a bit rushed, I'm sorry. I'm just glad I managed to post a new page at all this week...And if all goes well, next week we'll have a peek in the dungeons, to check out that half-naked chained-up bloke we met a few weeks ago.

***

Arthur and his men are in Venta, where the Sword of Kings has remained stuck in a stone for ages. And you know what? Arthur actually manages to pull it out! Now let's have a look inside the old High King's palace...

photo bamps_144s_zpscd3db6f5.jpg

Concrit is still and always welcome :).

THE STORY SO FAR:
( Part I: The Darkest Hour )
( Part II: Sunrise )

Current Mood: rushed
Current Location: the Sleeper's Den
Crossposts: http://sigune.livejournal.com/181550.html

I don't know about other places in the world, but today is poetry day in Belgium, and so to honour that, I would like to share a piece of Arthurian poetry. It is a fragment from Alfred Tennyson's Passing of Arthur, and if I am entirely honest, it always makes me cry because it is so beautiful and sad. In fact, now that I think of it, tales of Arthur's end are responsible for about 90 % of the times fiction moves me to tears...

This episode takes place shortly after Gawain's death. King Arthur has received a message to warn him that while Gawain and he were in France to fight Lancelot, Mordred has seized the throne. Arthur hurries back to Britain, intending to battle Mordred at Camlann. On the eve of battle, the King is visited by Gawain's ghost, who tells him that the next day he will die.

***

That story which the bold Sir Bedivere,
First made and latest left of all the knights,
Told, when the man was no more than a voice
In the white winter of his age, to those
With whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds.

For on their march to westward, Bedivere,
Who slowly paced among the slumbering host,
Heard in his tent the moanings of the King:

"I found Him in the shining of the stars,
I mark'd Him in the flowering of His fields,
But in His ways with men I find Him not.
I waged His wars, and now I pass and die.
O me! for why is all around us here
As if some lesser god had made the world,
But had not force to shape it as he would,
Till the High God behold it from beyond,
And enter it, and make it beautiful?
Or else as if the world were wholly fair,
But that these eyes of men are dense and dim,
And have not power to see it as it is:
Perchance, because we see not to the close;—
For I, being simple, thought to work His will,
And have but stricken with the sword in vain;
And all whereon I lean'd in wife and friend
Is traitor to my peace, and all my realm
Reels back into the beast, and is no more.
My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death:
Nay—God my Christ—I pass but shall not die."

- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
from Idylls of the King

***

*sniff*

-Well, back to the comic...

THE STORY SO FAR:

Part I: The Darkest Hour

One woman and two men. This is where our story starts.

The Darkest Hour
1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, 22-24, 25-27, 28-31, 32-35, 36-40, 41-44, 45-47, 48-50, 51-53, 54-57, 58-60, 61-64, 65-66, 67-69, 70-73, 74-75, 76-81, 82-84, 85-87, 88-90, 91-92, 93-97, 98-101, 102-103, 104-108, 109-111, 112-114, 115-119

The Sword of Kings
1-4, 5-11

Part II: Sunrise

Family history catches up with a little red-haired boy.

Brothers and Sisters
1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, 22-24, 25-27, 28-30,31-33, 34-36, 37-39, 40-42, 43-45, 46-48, 49-51, 52-54, 55-57, 58-60, 61-63, 64-66, 67-69, 70-72, 73-75, 76-78, 79-81, 81, 82

( What Went Before - contains lots of spoilers! )

We caught King Lot in a haystack. Now we find his family inside the house. Gawain is telling his brothers an old, old story...

( Page 83 )

I realise it is a bit difficult with this one-page-at-a-time thing, but concrit is as welcome as it used to be :).

More next Thursday!

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Location: the Sleeper's Den

Dear reader (-after all this time I don't dare use a plural anymore) of the Gawain Project,

Guess what: as of tomorrow, I am going to start posting new comic pages again. So if you are still interested, you are very welcome to tune in :).

Because my job has changed, my comics routine has changed too; in fact it has simply disappeared. Therefore I have had to establish a new one, because clearly, without some form of routine I don't get anything done. I am going to try the following:

Since I can no longer draw comics on the train, I have to do it during the weekend. Because I have to draw during the weekend, I can't get my posts ready on Saturdays the way I used to. Instead, I will be posting on Thursday evenings. The rate will be one page per week. If it turns out that I can post more at once, I will do so, but at the moment I feel it is better to post regularly than to post a lot in one go.

So:

Tomorrow, Thursday 17 January, I will kick off with page 81 of Brothers and Sisters.
(I posted a page 81 before, but it got scrapped. Sorry!)

Thunderclouds gather!

Mystical powers are revealed!

Too many people sleep in the same bed!

And Special Guest appearance: Lucifer!

...And yes, I will recapitulate, because I don't expect anyone to remember where I left off :p.

I hope to see you again tomorrow! ♥

Photobucket

Current Mood: worried
Current Location: the Sleeper's Den

Current Mood: worried
Current Location: the Sleeper's Den

"'Yield?' asked Agravain. He was panting.
I felt sick. I had no choice. If I didn't yield, he would only hit me more, and call me names, and laugh at me.
'I yield.'"
- Gillian Bradshaw, Hawk of May (1981)

Gawain Project banner

I'm really sorry about this week's last page. It's atrocious. I don't know why I ever thought it might be a good idea to introduce two new characters with a herd of cows. -_-

Ah well.

What went before
Morgana has been hoping that Conchobarre, a former fianna and now a nun in Morgana's convent, would be willing to take charge of Gawain's combat training. But Conchobarre refuses to do anything that might benefit to King Lot. As a young woman, she was pushed aside to make room for her younger brother, and the fact that Lot has removed his eldest child, a daughter, hits close to home. What now?

Sunrise Chapter 1: Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters 1-3, Brothers and Sisters 4-6, Brothers and Sisters 7-9, Brothers and Sisters 10-12, Brothers and Sisters 13-15, Brothers and Sisters 16-18, Brothers and Sisters 19-21, Brothers and Sisters 22-24, Brothers and Sisters 25-27, Brothers and Sisters 28-30,Brothers and Sisters 31-33, Brothers and Sisters 34-36, Brothers and Sisters 37-39, Brothers and Sisters 40-42, Brothers and Sisters 43-45, Brothers and Sisters 46-48, Brothers and Sisters 49-51, Brothers and Sisters 52-54, Brothers and Sisters 55-57, Brothers and Sisters 58-60, Brothers and Sisters 61-63, Brothers and Sisters 64-66, Brothers and Sisters 67-69, Brothers and Sisters 70-72, Brothers and Sisters 73-75, Brothers and Sisters 76-78

( In which Gawain does not get a teacher, and someone else arrives on the scene... )

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: the Sleeper's Den

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Gawain - an Arthurian Romance (webcomic)

March 2022

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The Sleeper's Den

Stern Mistress of Tenderness

Entries tagged with comics

Stay Tuned!

Behind the Scenes of 'The Gift'

The Next Step?

Gawain: the Darkest Hour pp. 72-86

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 65-71

Gawain: The Darkest Hour pp. 45-48

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 44

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 43

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 42

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 41

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 39

Gawain: The Darkest Hour p. 38

The Darkest Hour - cover

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January 9 - Happy Birthday Severus! + How Not To Make Snape Comics

Gawain Project: Brothers & Sisters, p. 144

Gawain Project: Brothers & Sisters, p. 83

Tomorrow: Comic!