AROTD Re-Do Preview
Steely Gaze on April 16, 2011
Hey, if Drunk Duck is posting a preview of the re-do site, why not post a preview of the re-do AROTD?
Alright, this is CK here, with an update on the comic situation–for anyone still alive, paying attention, and possibly interested. ^///^;
Firstly, anyone remember THIS page? HERE!
This is it re-drawn and re-scripted.
Now, I'm not saying this is the FINAL draft for this page, but it's a pretty good indicator of what one can expect when AROTD makes its fateful return…and just what ABOUT that return? Here are the details as I know them:
Steely Gaze is working on the re-write for the original pages. Re-scripting, re-imagining…Those original pages with the 4-panel layout have been changed considerably. Things happen in a different order, the gang is introduced in a more “complete” manner, and overall, I think the story flows better.
This page may indicate that I have grown as an artist–at least, I HOPE so, when compared to the oooooold pages!!! ^_^'
The change in story will (hopefully) show that Steely Gaze has grown as a writer. A lot of growing has been going on. XD
This is not a dead comic, and not a dead idea…BUT Steely Gaze has informed me he likely will NOT post AROTD pages here on DD. He intends, when we have a nice buffer of several issues, (like, over a 100 pages, I'm guessing) on buying a domain and setting up our own website for A Roll of the Dice.
I'm not sure if I'll be posting AROTD pages on Deviant Art or not, yet…I suppose that will remain to be seen. (I'm 3Fangs, for anyone out there still not knowing.) XD
Steely Gaze hasn't been active here or on dA; life just got too busy. So, apologies to anyone wishing to reach him…
I can't give a date for the return of AROTD, because I can't make promises I can't keep. I'm still too busy to get much drawing done. Just wanted to say that the story's not dead…And show off THIS page, since people have seen it over on dA.
I can tell you one thing!
Steely Gaze has finished writing (or, RE-writing) the script for the first issue! 22 pages long. And I'll be doing the art for it. And I myself have written over a hundred pages (it's actually just 4 issues plus the current one I'm working on writing) for the eventual spin-off from AROTD which will be titled “Unmasqued.” Showcasing some background characters who've actually BECOME characters. (In fact, a surprising number of literal background characters have become real characters…must be some sort of pandemic going around.)
Anyways…guess that's all.
Have a good one, people. Peace out.
Chameleon Kid at 1:42AM, June 10, 2011
Thank you, Flup! And I'm glad to hear from you! I think one of the biggest things I've managed to improve--pretty much in this year alone--has been lighting. I've really practiced on adding shadows and highlights, because that was always part of AROTD that I was never pleased with. (And in the original pages, something Steely and I never even bothered with.) I finally feel like I have some sort of idea about what I'm doing (and what I WANT to do) and I can progress with more confidence. So far work has been slow on the comic front--I still end up with too few drawing days--but Steely has done marvelous work on the new scripts. I'm really impressed with his progression as a story-teller; everything seems to flow much better now. And, even though he always puts himself down when it comes to humor attempts, he managed to make me laugh at some of the pages planned. I think the re-boot of AROTD is gonna be everything I hope for. Thanks for checking out the preview. ^_^ Now, on to comicking! ^o^
Flup at 2:32AM, June 8, 2011
!!! This looks amazing! There's so much more movement in this layout and the blue night/yellow house lights colouring looks fantastic. I'm really glad you're working on AROTD!
Chameleon Kid at 5:45PM, April 18, 2011
Kimhura: Thank you! I was pretty pleased with this page--it started out as a random doodle on some spare panels just for a bit of AROTD practice, and it turned into a full-blown re-do. (I drew Andrew first, working my way backward. X3) I miss DOING comics...D= We REALLY want to make this a year of comic happenings. Steely has gotten into scripting again and I think it's gonna stick; for awhile he was in something of a funk over AROTD because he wasn't sure how to continue with it--I was almost afraid he was gonna give up on it, but I managed to help spark his interest again by writing Unmasqued scripts and drawing random pics of both our characters. Now scripting for him has been going pretty smoothly. =D Yaaaay! I'm glad you brought up the clock! XDD In the line art Steely mocked it, saying it looked like a wallet--I ASSURED him it was gonna look awesome in color, but he still seemed to think it was a silly clock design (it's based on OURS and I figured it fit a dude as ordinary and boring as Jared). I made the numbers using a GIMP brush that made straight strokes, doing two vertical lines, stacked, to make 1s and the sides of the other numbers. (But the brush ONLY made vertical lines, so I had to rotate the lines to close/finish the 0 and 8.) Then I just rotated the whole thing so it was angled right on the clock face. Then I had to do a glowy effect: and for THAT I merely copied the number layer, put it BELOW the original layer, and used "Gaussian Blur" set for something like 20 or so, which made it look like the numbers were glowing. (But I felt that wasn't glowy enough, so I created an extra layer above BOTH of those ones and did a small radial gradient in the middle of the numbers and then just lowered the opacity of that whole layer.) I also went with green, rather than the traditional red (like our clock) because I thought red looked like such an EVIL color. Green is much more soothing. It's not like a monster waiting to devour me in the night. it's more like...happy, guardian fairy lights. ^,^ ...But I digress. Thank you very much for taking the time to check it out! I'm kinda hoping Steely might let me post pages here before we get our own website set up. (Since I foresee that's gonna take some time. I'd hate to be sitting on finished pages, unable to show them off for weeks.) :{ Antcomics: Yes, it certainly DOES feel good!! I've struggled on and off with frustrations and bouncy moods, up and down, and I discovered my mood brightened considerably after finishing this page. I actually think a LACK of drawing has been pretty bad for me. I didn't do a whole lot of that last year and it seems like everything's just slipped since then. I'm hoping to find my groove again make this year ROCK. I felt the same way when calling a hiatus on all my comic work--it's like a part of you dies...I mean, there's a definite reason we've all started comics, it's something that makes us HAPPY. And I don't think I realized just how much of an impact comicking has had on me since I started. I honestly don't think I've been as happy since halting all work on drawing comics...I think it's time to make a comeback for REAL. Thank you so much for taking the time here--I hope this can be the start of a New Beginning for AROTD. :3
antcomics at 8:32AM, April 18, 2011
Yay, glad to see it making a comeback. I missed Jared and the Gang. It feels good to get back to your comics, eh? I felt like I had abandoned my children when I stopped on the Ants and the Compz. Glad to see you back, and I will make sure and bookmark that new page when you get it going.
antcomics at 8:32AM, April 18, 2011
Yay, glad to see it making a comeback. I missed Jared and the Gang. It feels good to get back to your comics, eh? I felt like I had abandoned my children when I stopped on the Ants and the Compz. Glad to see you back, and I will make sure and bookmark that new page when you get it going.
Kimhura at 5:10PM, April 17, 2011
AHHHHHHHH. This looks so great! Hurry up and get back to regular updates. I miss you guys and your awesome comics. D; Also, how did you do the numbers on the digital clock? They look pretty freakin' realistic. xD And I love how Jared's expression changes in the last panels there. This is looking good. :]
Chameleon Kid at 2:09AM, April 17, 2011
Hey, maybe Steely will at least let me replace all the old pages here with fresh ones...? ^///^