A "Journal" Entry?

Stepping back from everything and taking a moment to see what is going on, I have to say how truly excited I am about this project. I don't expect to get rich, I don't expect to make a living (at least not yet), all I really hope for is a loyal fan base that continues to grow as we do.

So for all of you supporting me on this adventure, especially those of you who have to sit and listen to me talk about it when I'm not actually working on it =P. I want to extend a very heart felt Thank You (so heart felt there is some capital letters in it). I honestly may have given up on the who endeavor had it not been for people backing me up. I am by no means a success there are only a few people outside my own personal network that are aware of the project, however, bit by bit people are coming in. I certainly hope they stick around.

Chapter 1 has sub-par illustration and I am aware of that, my fallback for it was that I was working hard on learning to create the manga, using new software, and researching a means of publishing and promoting myself. It has been a long and arduous journey so far, but I believe there is a lot more road to travel down, and I for one am extremely excited.

Chapter 2 I want to give a promise of greatly improved art, better readability, and an overall more enjoyable experience. Then sometime around chapter 4 or 5 we can all sit back and laugh at the difference between the start and current issues.

There is a ton of story yet to come, and I can guarantee that whoever you are you will be able to connect to the characters on a personal level. They are not going to be carbon copies of everything else out there. As far as the story itself goes, it is going to be a mixture of some things you have seen a few times, seen a lot, and hopefully not seen at all. I am doing as much research as possible to ensure I am offering you a unique story with great characters, and an awesome adventure.

So please, spread the word, Chapter 1 will be available in less than a month, and Chapter 2 will be coming shortly after. If you are not sure how to get the word out or not sure where to send people I will post some links over on the right side of this page, The Frozen Prophets has a Facebook fanpage, is on Twitter, here, and my own personal facebook page, along with Deviantart.com.


And once again, a very HUGE THANK YOU for all my supporters!

The Frozen Prophets Print from Zazzle.com

The Frozen Prophets Print from Zazzle.com

So ya

I need to find something interesting to post about soon. Other than what I'm doing. And if you are wondering what I am doing. I am typing this post listening to music. I'm pretty bored and I'm giving my mind and hand a break from drawing for the rest of the night.

I have however been doing some extensive research on self-publishing and self promotion for comics/manga and all that. I am thinking of kind of rolling everything I have bookmarked and read and found into a huge snowball and putting it up as a tutorial/how-to guide thing. That way there would be yet one more place to find all the same information out there. :)

I am also thinking of doing to how-to's on how the actual making of a comic/manga is done. I'm talking about the hard to find information out there. I guess I better get busy huh? I would be talking about all the stuff that I couldn't find and kind of had to find out on my own sort of thing.

If anyone has any ideas or anything they would like to see that is somewhat related to all of this (what I'm doing) feel free to let me know. (all 20 of you =P ) Well, ok I'm gonna go troll some forums and see if I can find something new on the internet.

Chapter 1 complete

I have (as the title states) completed chapter of the ongoing series The Frozen Prophets. I have decided on self publishing as my means of printing. I will be selling copies at various websites I will post links as soon as I get my own copy to ensure its quality. It will be released in monthly installments for the time being. My work schedule will not allow for more.

I am excited to get started on chapter two, and already have about a fourth of it sketched out and ready for ink. I am going to take the holiday weekend to get as far ahead as I can since I will be returning to work on Monday.  This is an exciting moment for me, to see something that I made put in print. I only hope that others will enjoy what I am creating.

Pages 14, 15, and 16 are up.

You can see them ---> CLICK HERE TO READ MY MANGA  <-----

I will not be posting very many more of my pages up on my blog unless I think they are just awesome, so if you want to stay updated with the story, feel free to check it out (bookmark the site or something).

I think I will be putting up some tutorials and videos soon (some of my own, and some of my favorites), for whenever I get the audience that wants to create their own, or simply wants to know how it's done.

Ok, Enjoy.

Yen Press -- Manga Talent Search

With the lack of TokyoPop's "Rising Stars of Manga," Yen Press, an online serialized magazine is hosting what they call a talent search. Although to me it sounds more like a casting call for open auditions. They say there will be no "winners" however one, some, or none may be chosen for a publishing deal.

Information can be found on there website Here

The deadline is set for January 3rd, 2011. I am pretty excited about this. I need to dish out about 18 more pages and I'll be ready to go. I just finished up on all the touch-ups for everything I have had done so far.

The tough part is going to be that they want a 32 page submission. Well, getting 32 pages will not be hard. What will be hard is closing my story up within those 32 pages so it has a decent ending, but not actually ending the series. I think I have it figured out. Last night I re-worked my plot and created a nice detailed time-line. I think I know right where to end it, and if all goes well, it will leave them wanting more, because it'll end on a huge cliffhanger, but still give a sense of closure.

 


Oh yes, here is page 13.

And remember, if you want to read the full manga thus far, simply click HERE <-----

I really really like this one.

Really startin to like the digital ink

It makes me a little sad faced to put away the pens and ink for a bit, but I tell you what, I am REALLY liking the end results by doing everything (except the pencils) digitally.

At least I am starting to get some good use out of my Wacom tablet, poor thing was turning into more of a coaster than a drawing utensil. I just finished page 13, and I feel as though I am starting to grasp the concept of toning. It's hard not to overdo it because when I sketch I like to add a lot of detail. But I am getting used to not going overboard like I felt I was doing in earlier pages.

Simplified art is hard for me? haha well I guess, I'll learn...or give up...but probably learn.

Page 12 is up on smackjeeves

I have added page 12 to my smackjeeves site. http://thefrozenprophets.smackjeeves.com/ (you can see it here).

I have decided to digitally ink the rest of Chapter 1 simply because it is quicker and easier. Right now I want to get the last 8 pages finished up. They are all sketched out and ready to go, hopefully I will be adding 1 to 2 pages per day until the chapter is complete.

Chapter 2 is roughed out and Chapter 3 is about half done. After I get the first 5 chapters done, I will be offering a 5 chapter volume book on my blog here. I hope you all enjoy what you see so far.

Oh, and also, I have decided to quit being so lazy and take my shading a little more serious, it is more time consuming, but I hope to have the art a little more defined (facial expressions, detail, character stiffness).

This is my first actual attempt at a manga/comic so it isn't going to be the greatest, but I am noticing a small improvement with each page, and I will continue working to better the end result. Have a good one.

So taking a break today and messing around

I took a little break today from the story and decided to mess around coloring in photoshop. I started out with a sketch that I was very unhappy with, scanned it in, digitally inked it, and then colored, I am pretty pleased with the end result.

First is the pencil, then the ink, underneath is the colored finished product.

Here is the finished product. I don't think it looks to shabby.

Here's the pictures.

Went from this...to this...

This is the page after inking... if you notice all the little spots, I accidently blew on my pen nib while holding it over my paper...I felt like an idiot, shortly before that a huge blob of ink dropped next to his moth as well. But I recovered and saved it :P

And here is the finished product. Chundee is casting a spell, getting ready to initiate the fight with Malvicious. I'm pretty excited to get the next 9 pages finished, it's gonna be nothin but action and some character discovery the rest of the chapter.

So here is my latest page, it's one of my favorites so far, now I'm excited to get the action started, the fight is underway!

Don't forget to check the full comic out so far at  http://thefrozenprophets.smackjeeves.com/ Please become a fan!  Hope you all enjoy.

If you want to read the manga

I have placed all of my finished pages onto a webcomic hosting site, it will be updated as I finish up the first chapter, I am guessing with my schedule 1 to 2 pages per week. Click the link below to view everything I have done so far.


http://thefrozenprophets.smackjeeves.com/

How to do this...

So I am starting to debate with myself whether to self publish only, or maybe I should try this out as a "web-cominc" first to see how it's recieved. I'm thinking I will offer the first chapter online here on my blog for people to see, and if they want more, I will set it so you can purchase a copy of whichever chapter you want.

Yes...I think that is the road I will go down... Any advice, info, comments, personal experiences, are welcome.

Pages 3, 4, and 5

The first couple pages

Page 1 Chapter 1

Page 2 Chapter 1

Greetings

Hello everyone,

I am creating a blog to share my progress on the creation of my manga titled "The Frozen Prophets"

It started out as a book I started writing about three years ago, when I decided I wanted people to actually see what I was writing about. I struggled with what type of sequential art I wanted to go with, either the traditional westernized comic book, or perhaps a graphic novel. However, I have been a fan of anime and manga for quite some time, and something about the freedom it allows a creator, I settled on that.

I am currently close to finishing my first chapter of 20 pages, and have the next two chapters story-boarded and ready for penciling.

I have no hopes of becoming rich by creating this manga, I would be happy as long as one person that I don't know enjoyed it and wanted to see more. So, hopefully you guys will enjoy what I have to offer and I will be back soon with some updates.