Kicking off with a couple of announcements: Comic Gong is THIS WEEKEND! I shall be tabling the very awesome Judex Jones who’s printed the first issue of her web-comic, Captain Kittyhawke.

So if you’re in the Sydney area and fancy a day trip down South, or live in the Illawarra area, come on down and say hi!

I got the banner designed and printed finally, and thanks to some encouraging and very constructive feedback via facebook, I think it has come out fantastic!

I chat a bit about finishing chapter 4 (am working on the final panel as you read this!) and what’s coming up for the rest of the year.

This is probably the penultimate episode, so I’ll be signing off for this run of P2G eps next week.

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And we’re just about wrapped on Chapter 4 production. Some chat about getting it all out; things I’ve learned I have to do better, and the direction for the book. Rushing towards a May 10th deadline so I can get a proof printed in time for may 18th, as well as a stand-alone banner!

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Upcoming appearances: a new one added to the list: SMASH! in August at the Sydney Convention Center, Darling Harbour on August 10. Reminder: I’ll be at Comic Gong at the Corrimal Cultural Center in Wollongong Saturday 18th of May, and at the MCA ZINE FAIR on the 26th of May – both those events have free entry, so come say hi!

Some blathering about deadlines, costs, the future for the next lot of Process to Go episodes, and the websites going Mobile ready… someday soon. :)

Some extra-curricular activities worth boasting about: I did the opening titles and packaging graphics of a new Kapow! affiliated show produced by Ben Shackleford, all about Cosplay:

Props to Josh Spencer for the awesome Ardella portrait used in these titles.

There’s more of these small projects to be announced this month, so stay tuned!

Hopefully the 2nd last episode before Chapter 4 is completed. I am currently at 12 pages completed (over half way) and plenty scheduled on the website before I complete the full chapter.

Some talk about up-and-coming appearances:

• Comic Gong May 18th at the CORRIMAL COMMUNITY CENTER
• MCA Zine Fair May 26th at the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art

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This week: talk of a new format for the books – 5 instead of 3.

Pros:

• Book 1 will be available ALOT sooner
• Two extra chapters of entire story
• Cheaper, lighter, less cost in postage
• Five books at approx. 100 pages each instead of 3 at approx. 140

Thoughts?

Pandeia chapter 4 kicks off at pandeia.com so go subscribe to the feed, website or use a service like Comic Rocket who also have a neat app for iPad and Android for reading webcomics!

Teaching kids how to draw comics at Mosman Library:

On the work front: I’ve begun to do (paid) work which is directly related to comics and illustration. The first big gig I can reveal is this trailer for a title called “Elf-Fin”:

This book is written by Julie Ditrich and illustrated by Jozef Szekeres and is available from Elf-Fin’s official website.

Must leave it there. i got a bit of work to get to if i’m gonna get this chapter/book out!

Pandeia start date announced! 22nd of April for a full 7 week run of 3 updates per week. Print/eBook should be available for pre-order via eStore by 26th of April. I am racing to finish the artwork.

It has taken quite a leap forward in quality, and I intend to work to this new quality and standard.

I feel confident that I will have chapter 4 ready to table at the following events in May:

Saturday 18th of May 2013 at the Corrimal Community center (click poster for facebook event link)

MCA Zine Fair:

Sunday 26th May 2013

Museum of Contemporary art, 140 George St Sydney.

A shoutout to friend of the blog this week:

Lee Posey and his blog, Blender NPR

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Progress is slow… but it’s happening and the level of art being produced is higher than it’s ever been. I redesigned the cover:

Some new art to show the standard is being upheld:

BIG NEWS – Pandeia Issue 1# has been accepted to ComiXology!

Some paperwork is still getting worked out, and as soon as it’s all taken care of, I’ll announce here when it becomes available in their online store. This does not mean i will be taking down the PDFs here, or increasing prices to match the comixology version. I can afford to keep them cheaper here (and actually make a little bit more per unit) and it’s in compliance with ComiXology’s standards and conditions.

Shout-outs this week go to Marshall Calmplex Couture and Stephen Crowley.

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Progress! Chapter 4 backgrounds now complete, and renders are making it into the pages. Here’s a little eye-candy:

Here is a screengrab of the nodal set up (right-click, save it locally and take a look):

Here’s a page in the works:

In total, I’ve been able to complete backgrounds on about 6 pages (non-sequentially) and when I complete the renders for the sand speeder, that’ll be more than half the book. Next week should see production push on towards completion at a pretty fast clip, however I am paying some attention to detail on the characters.

Thanks to some really constructive emails and comments on how to improve it further. This one from Chris Lee off facebook:

“Can I suggest that you take the textures for the background objects and apply some Photoshop/GIMP filters/curves to them to simplify the colour scheme and style to match the cell shaded style of the environment. Reduce the amount of colours used, increase contrast, colourise with a desired hue or apply a “gradient map” so that you can control the colour scheme of the texture. Currently they stand out a bit and I really think this will bring it together well.”

That is the level of criticism I am getting now, and i love it. While I may not be able to take it all on board at this stage, it is something I will be trying for future panels and pages.

Rest of the podcast reminds you of some up-coming dates for local appearances. I’m putting them in the facebook page calendar, but am keen to find out other places I could put them – maybe a calendar right here, or Google+ might be cool…

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Some progress:

Cover art:

It needs some work. I’m thinking of going back and redoing some of the “inkspotting” – this is my first real attempt. Another big difference this issue: I will be working in PHOTOSHOP for the first time. I mentioned I have subscribed to Creative Cloud. It’s good value and I am doing some work this year which warrants this expense, so why not use it for this?

Although the workload this week is hectic, I am finding time to get the inks done in the small hours of the morning. By next week I’ll be ravaged, but it will have been worth it.

A new tabling event now confirmed: The Comic Gong

So i hope to see you at these up-coming events if you can make it! That’s all i have time for tonight. Must get back to some inking…

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This week: a wrap up on a new set piece and vehicle model.

The sand speeder has come out better than I expected. Didn’t seriously think it would be this good.

Once textured and grouped, I’ll be quickly getting the last few pages set up via the outlines I created to render out all the plates for the frames required. Lighting will be important, so I’ll need several of these speeders in the same frame. I’m considering creating a 3D trader pilot as well… but this is all dependent on time.

Another piece which is almost completed is this Sarai interior:

The wall and door are both textured and bump-mapped. The textures are black-and-white linework so the maps give a nice, sharp bump which looks like linework. Lighting will be important in this set. Warm yellows and oranges are indicative of the Cadian traders, while blues and cool colours should indicate technology which has originated from the more technologically advanced Outlands.

Scripts for Issues 5 and 6 are nearly completely outlined. I am enjoying the scenes I’ve set up, although they’re a bit “talky” and one may even feel a bit teenage drama… but a little action/suspense might balance out the talking. The script process should be completed by May, which means while Issue 4 is scheduled for an April release (cover to be completed and revealed shortly) Issue 5 may be seen as soon as May, and Issue 6 may be out by July.

The rest of the year will be taken up with producing the first Trade Paperback, fixing bad panels, spelling mistakes, extra pages, etc, and setting up the Pozible campaign. Which – if you’ve been following – will include some 3D printed models of the Pandeia cast!

First tabling appearance has been confirmed! I will be tabling alongside Karen Beilharz at the MCA Zine Fair on Sunday May 26th from 11am to 4pm. So if you’re floating around Sydney, come on by and say hello! The entry is Free. More details here: http://www.mca.com.au/events/zine-fair-2013/5795/

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Huge workload is almost at an end so work on Pandeia will recommence. Aiming for an April release.

Some talk about the new ComiXology “submit” page, and the process of submitting Pandeia.

 I found the process fairly straight-forward, and it’s overall a positive step to promoting independent comic creators. I go into some detail on the breakdowns of what you’re likely to get out of submitting to coniXology in the podcast.

I shall be running a 2 hour workshop at Mosman Library on April 22nd:

I’ll be taking the kids through discovering their own style, and drawing a 1 panel comic. Two exercises which are really great at laying the foundation to comics art. A bonus to come out of this booking was being invited to do a small exhibition of my art some time in July, so I’m pretty excited about that.

Finally, some talk about Pandeia, and some new models of the Sand Speeder below:

My favourite tool right now is the skin modifier. Making pipes is astonishingly easy!

Thanks for listening!

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