Modern Moonlight (page 2)
Fitz on March 19, 2008
I'm late with the update - AGAIN! My bad. Most of the past week I was busy slacking and being sick for a couple of days, so I only started working on the page on Saturday. Still, I though I'd make it by Wednesday. At 2 am on Tuesday night, I was still up and groaning like a zombie “Muuust… updaaate…” - but at the time I could barely see anything, not to mention thinking straight! So I gave up and went to sleep.
But here it is, finally :) Did anyone miss it so much you cried at night? ;)
This page was a bit difficult to do. Had some trouble correlating the text and the imagery, and I finally gave up trying to do that with the first panel, feeding you some eye candy instead ;) The NYPL has really nice furniture, especially the table. And the chairs were a pain to do. I actually used CAD software from work - but had to color them myself, anyway. The book, on the other hand was so much fun. It's supposed to be a Gutenberg's Bible. I even got the Gutenberg font. Not that you can see, because it's too small - but it's there ;) And another thing you can't see is that it's not an actual Biblical text :) It's the lyrics from the songs Modern Moonlight and Necessary Evil that I talked about last time. And I actually used two-point perspective on the monitor! Yay! Go me! I felt kinda dumb always avoiding perspective - but I found it so much easier to do on photoshop than on paper. Btw, I wonder if you got what that panel refers to :)
Also, you might have noticed I soft-shaded Mick instead of cel-shading. I'm not sure yet if I'll switch to that method from now on, but I had to try :) It looks ok, I guess. The intense light makes it a little weird, but oh well :)
That's all for today! See you in less than two weeks, hopefully!
Nepath at 8:14AM, April 23, 2008
bloody hell!! I keep missing slacking with my favourites at the moment!! Apologies... Great page as always. I like the hand hovering over the ultra bright standby button. Very cool
D0m at 4:21AM, April 3, 2008
Excellent plays on light with this page, Fitzy.
Fitz at 12:06AM, April 2, 2008
Tantz: Does the internet really need ads? :) Everyone knows it! It's like coffee - hate it all you want, but once you try it, you can't live without it ;) Nibbi: Thanks :) I'm having fun "shedding some light" onto these dark pages ;) Trevor: Hope you're better now :) My "sickness" lasten for a day and a half, so I guess you should be ok by now? Mike: And I'm late with replies! Damn, I keep forgetting about it! Also... "Sir"? Have I been knighted while I wasn't looking? ;)
pinkertonpark at 8:11AM, March 25, 2008
I am WAAY late to the party. Beautiful page, Fitz. Everything is dead on. Good stuff, sir.
trevoramueller at 9:48PM, March 23, 2008
Dude, I totally caught your cold over the weekend.... :P
nibbi at 8:51AM, March 23, 2008
Beautiful page. Love the lighting effects going on there.
Tantz_Aerine at 6:12AM, March 21, 2008
Now that could easily serve as an ad about 'Why the Internet Is Good For You' XD Very interesting dialogue coupled with the visuals. Good job!
Fitz at 3:47AM, March 21, 2008
Vickie: Yeah now there are three mice ;) Who knows, maybe the cast will expand? And while I do prefer face to face contact with my friends, I'm happy the internet is there - it helps me be in touch with people I can't see in person for whatever reason. And communication is so much faster than by snail mail. LBA: You mean a "the" before "Matrix"? I actually thought about it and it seemed to me it's ok both ways, I think they didn't always use the definite pronoun before the name in the movies. And I can't disagree more about romance ;) All my serious relationships and a lot of friendships started online before moving on to real life. GhostRunner: My point exactly! If you all hate internet so much, what are you doing here, posting/reading online comics? :P Let's face it: if werent for the internet, we wouldn't even be having this conversation - not to mention ever showing out comics to anyone outside a small circle of friends living within a few blocks away. So remember, kids: don't bite the hand that feeds ;) RoyceMarie: I have actually written sort of detective stories, not Philip Marlowe style though. More like Silence of the Lambs. But who knows? I really enjoyed writing the noir narrative in the previous episode - and while another episode like that is not likely, I'd certainly like to try applying the same style to a work of prose. Loud_G: I'm scared by how this comic is progressing ;) Because by this point it's pretty much photorealistic - so I'm asking myself: what's next? ;) As for my favorite panels, I'd have to say the 2nd row, both panels were so much fun to do and look the most realistic, I think. Abt: That's true :) But more often than not, they actually are! I know Erica is. Besides, that sort of "pranks" is the most widespread in places where peope come to flirt. Here, on DD, what would be the point, right? As for real rejection against online illusion... I think switching from e-mails to instant messaging changes a lot between two people. In e-mails, it's waaay easier to create some sort of an ideal self, in frequent IM communication the ugly eventually comes out. My communication with Erica got more "real" through IM's. I know it's still not the same as face to face communication, but even through that impersonal medium, we don't try to pretend things - even though it allows us. As for the hidden references... The monitor and the line "It's the 21st century" are both allusions to 20th Century Fox. I made the monitor look like the logo. Same angle, similar shape - complete with beams of light in the background. And the mouse doesn't allude to sperm cells, you sick, sick man! (Although it does look like one, actually...) It refers to Ryan prefering contact with "real people"... or should I say "real mice". And a computer mouse is not a real mouse. And that's it :) Midge: One thing you're forgetting is I'm a human being, not a ray-tracing, phong-shading engine ;) Also, at that point he's no longer holding his hand on the button. Though I did think about having him maneuver (sp?) the mouse in that panel - but in the end, I was too lazy to do that :) Trevor: I always pictured the comic as sort of stills from a cartoon, so the cel-shading never really bugged me that much, even as the backgrounds grew more and more photorealistic. But I found soft-shading characters easier and faster to do than cel-shading while working on the splash pages for two previous episodes - so I decided to try it with regular pages. And I like it :) As for backgrounds, I developed my own style that isn't backgrounds in the strict sense of that word. They're just... hm... close-ups of a given fragment of the environment. I still can't draw a crowded street or a building to save my life. So, for the time being, I'm just refining my skills in my comfort zone. But I will draw more complex environments, eventually! Oh and don't worry, I only caught a cold that lasted two days. I don't get sick very easily and I recover before I know it, most of the time :) Amy: Hmm they have rather realistic looking bodies and clothes :) Except their hands are large - because otherwise they'd look weird against their big cartoony heads. I actually modelled their silhouettes after myself. Except I have a more muscular shoulders :) And I could bottle and sell my blood, sweat and tears :) And sell audio-tapes of my frustrated grumbling ;) Dawn: I found both my now-ex's online, too :) And as you can tell, we're no longer together ;) LOL! BUT I met Erica online, too - and that's the best thing that ever happened to me - so there :) Bocaj: The mouse is not shameless :) Just get your mind out of the gutter, young man, and read my response to Abt ;) And I'm glad you like the dialogue - I went over it so many times I couldn't tell if it's funny at all. But that's the problem: even the best joke stops being funny after hearing it 3 times. Jeff: Aww thanks :) I'm so happy to have such faithful readers :) I just feel a bit guilty I can't deliver the story I'm telling a bit faster. But the great thing is, they still show up as soon as it updates :) Vickie should get a medal - she usually comments within minutes from the update :) JMT: You forgot the apostrophe ;)
jmt at 8:14PM, March 20, 2008
THE FUTURES AT HAND!
Coyotejeff at 11:12AM, March 20, 2008
Aww, never be to upset about a late strip, unless your being paid to be on time. Each strip you do is a gem, well worth any wait.
Bocaj at 10:33AM, March 20, 2008
THE DIALOG IS HILARIOUS. The computer mouse was a bit shameless... I like the soft shade. I say you should use both. Variety is a salt I say!!
dgriff13 at 9:59AM, March 20, 2008
hey now, I found my guy online! And we're still alive, er, together!
antcomics at 9:10AM, March 20, 2008
I think my favorite thing about this is how the mice look cartoony, but the backgrounds look very realistic. Yet, you make this work! Fitz, if people could bottle that talent of yours and sell it, I tellya...
trevoramueller at 7:55AM, March 20, 2008
I like the soft shading on the characters, as it makes them look like they belong in the world they inhabit. Otherwise, they stick out too much - appear "other worldly," if you will. I like when they look like they belong in the world you've created for them. The details in your pages are great, and I'm most impressed with what you seem to be strong in and I always feel I lack - BACKGROUNDS. Your textures and detailing of the backgrounds (the thumb print on the Bible, etc) are all amazing, and I would never think to do any of that. Well done! Another amazing page, and well worth the wait. I hope you feel better and have recovered from your illness. Later, my friend.
TheMidge28 at 6:59AM, March 20, 2008
lovely as always. one idea I had was it would have been cool to see the glow of the light from the start button blocked by the hand upon the mousey
Abt_Nihil at 6:10AM, March 20, 2008
Chicks talk to guys like you? The bad thing about it is, you can't be sure that they ARE chicks :-) And in response to Vickie: Being rejected by a real person can be a more satisfying experience than being pampered by a mirage. At least the sting of rejection actually stings. I like the soft shading on Mick, mostly BECAUSE of the fact that there's a bright light. I think it's going well together. And as always I have no idea about hidden references here. Only about not-so-hidden allusions, like the links between the book titles and the dialogue... or the hand on the button and the dialogue... but that's about it. The mouse in the last panel looks suspiciously like a sperm cell, but that's probably just my sick imagination... being primed by ghostrunner's mention of porn! :-) I also like the sepia look; your color palettes are always a treat!
Loud_G at 6:05AM, March 20, 2008
Fitz, once again you wow us. I love how this comic is progressing. My favorites are the 3 panels in the third row. The ones with all the beautiful lighting. Excellent!
roycemarie at 12:36AM, March 20, 2008
Ymmy! A new start for your confused and wonderful mice. Do you ever think of writing Philip Marlow type dectective stories? Really like your art and stroies. Thanks!
ghostrunner at 12:33AM, March 20, 2008
i dunno why people put down the internet so much. hold on i need to check my porn... er email box
lba at 10:31PM, March 19, 2008
I think you might have forgotten a word in panel 6. Unless I'm being dumb. The internet is such an impersonal place. Not at all the kind of thing for romance.
usedbooks at 10:23PM, March 19, 2008
Cool mouse -- um, mice? Lol. The internet is so much less personal than handwritten notes, which can be a good thing... It is "safer." Takes the fear out of communication and the sting out of rejection.