Argh I have another massive headache. Last update, I was sorry for a number of things so I thought I'd cover all the bases with a universal apology. Mostly it's because I'm sorry for being so terribly off schedule, which if I am sure you are paying attention to my notes it is because of lack of motivation, not taking longer to do the art. Those who wanna complain about the art and the supposed “change” (to which I can only ask what comic have you been reading for the last few years? The art's the only bloody thing that's really changed, it's always been “cute” styled! You confuse me.) I'm certain the base of this complaint stems from the fact it's been taking me longer to update, therefore it is assumed I am taking too long on each page…wrongo. In fact, I drew this page last night. I could have drawn it a few nights ago but there's some other things going on I have to take care of, not just crippling apathy.Also like I mentioned, I barely leave the house anymore and all the drawing space here is awfull and even now with the air slightly cooled it is STILL stuffy and hot in my room where my drawing table and lights are. Maybe I'm too picky with conditions too, I hate having to draw with nothing to drink while I'm at it, because it makes me terribly thirsty (especially while sitting under all those lamps)but I refuse to drink just water…I guess I just like flavor is all.
Quick comic related stuff! I changed Zerlocke's font, because quite frankly, I've never really cared for Felix Titling or any font that doesn't have lowercase. I find it's a terrible bother to read and to fit all his text in while remaining legible. The T and Y look too similar to me at a small size. My beef with popular comic fonts that have no lowercase letters is when a character is speaking and names are in the speech, you can't tell half the time unless it's a popular and established character. And since a lot of superheroes/villains are named after objects it becomes even more confusing. At any rate, I find it feeling like the characters are shouting at all times. If anyone dislikes the change though do feel free to let me know. I'm likely changing Niko's font too, because Courier is a pain in the neck.
Oh, and I keep forgetting to give you the answers to the character's outfits! Mannick is wearing a suitcoat (and boots) modeled after the one Peter Gabriel wears in the music video “Big Time” (Peter is one of my favorite musicians and his videos rocked ^_^ yay stopmotion animation!) And a lot of you were correct about Q's outfit, it was indeed inspired by Castlevania, Symphony of the Night. It's a current addiction of mine actually ^_^ oh, and remember to check out Night SchoolI should really remind myself to plug that more often.
And now that I've gone through the comments . . .
About the drinks, I'd recommend Bolthouse Farms drinks. They're yummy and full of vitamins and things, so they'd be something to drink that had an interesting taste and are good for your energy. Alternately, take a lot of ice, some milk, and some chocolate syrup and stick them in a blender. X3 It's like a milkshake only perfectly cold and not so thick.
As for the heat, during the day I'd put a fan in the window facing out, so that the hot air gets blown out of your room, and then at night, turn the fan around so it brings the cold air in (that's what's worked for me). And if you have a basement you can draw in, do so! They're so much colder than every other part of the house.
Good luck with your drawing space!
Headache? Maybe it's caffeine-related. When I drink the stuff it gives me headaches pretty reliably (although that was not always the case). Caffeine also contributes to decreased seratonin levels in the brain.
Your rant reminds me a bit of O the Abnormal (over at the Commissioned comic) - he's picky about his workspace and must have it just right, with all the tools at hand. And a drink. And woe be unto anyone who touches his drawing instruments while he's away! But that's another subject.
Hmm, I'm trying to think of a way to encourage you to drink more water, but all I keep coming up with is various water torture techniques. But I doubt that you're very likely to want to self administer them. Besides which, I was trying to think of more positive encouragements. ... Maybe I should post links to pictures of deserts. With skeletons in them!
I didn't notice the font change, but I did notice the grevious lack of a donation button. How am I supposed to give you all my money without a donation button? Or other moneymaking schemes - e.g. a cult. :D
With regards to today's comic, I like how the underground lair is looking lately - some nice colors that look like woodtones, and a golden effect from the candlelighting. It goes well with the red and gives it a rich, warm atmosphere (in my opinion). Assuming it actually does have wood in it. Otherwise, it reminds me of the old, dank, red-painted concrete basement I used to live in. With the low-hanging sewer pipe that I would hit my head on occasionally (then there was the time it leaked on my chair). But hey, I don't have to live there anymore, so I don't mind :)
Amy don't feel bad some of the complainer's should shut up. we know your a good artist and you should get out some take a walk or something I think you need to clear your head. ^_^ and some of these guys need some damn patience.
Wow, I *just* understood that what Rosey ment with that comment! Oh, and Zerlocke worked ALL DAY and that, too! How the heck are they gonna pull this off now? :( xD
Ack, sorry! I meant T's and Y's (grr, how on earth did I make that mistake?!)
And if anyone can't see where I fixed the problems, you probably have AOL (since I can't see where I made edits either T_T)
Hey thanks everyone ^_^ just dropping in to answer a few comments:
TheTim and NLI: Yes yes, I know, it did look off but I fixed it. If it looks better I'll tell you why, I was very aware of the problem but I absolutely hate having to edit my linework in photoshop. it wasn't his face, it was his messy hair. It jutted forward previously, making a sort of pompador look, I'll say. This made the back of his head seem flatter in comparison, hence, viola, an uneven perspective. His face however looks the way I've always drawn it...there's been times where it was worse than that believe me.
Hopefully it looks better because it was not easy to edit.
NlI's other crits: Well, the SFX worked best for what I had in mind, what might you suggest? Or is it the fonts...I admit I got new ones and was eager to test them.
4th panel: I take it you are not familiar with my effects in magic scenes? I always put a lot of excess light. Essentially it is just all smoke and light. The purple light on Menu is obviously from the little glowing light balls, and there was a flash of light (the SPUFF noise, emulating a flashbulb like on those old cameras)
5th: Alas, that panel had to be cropped. Rosey is sitting on something (a box in fact) but the bottom of that panel had to be removed because it was tooo long and I didn't want to shrink the image. I tried to fix that a little but it is impossible at this stage. What also didn't help was the fact that I drew her head right over where his wing is, and shrinking her would have meant having to redraw his wing with a mouse or copy/paste the other wing.
I have no idea what problem you have with Zer's face there though, I am rarely happy with how his face looks and was actually satisfied with how that turned out. I can understand qualms with his neck but the face I see nothing wrong with, please do elaborate.
Thank you for your critique, I really do appreciate the opinions and I do try to be a good sport and fix things up as suggested.
This is what becomes of art when you try to draw it while laying down, you should have seen the last panel before! (very, very skewed)
Milky: Yeah, I do feel a little off with the new font since I'm so used to it, but I wanted to factor in readabilty and hopefully I'll make less mistakes regarding L's and T's.
NLI with good suggestions: thanks for the suggestions! My problem however is being very broke so all my options are whatever mom buys, and though I do like milk it isn't exactly a good sitting companion for the hours I'm working on comics. At least warm soda or juice doesn't nearly gag you later or smell funny.
As for a fan, well I've got a box fan, an oscillating stand fan and a ceiling fan, and my window is wide open but it is still unbeleivably hot in that room. My sister's room is set up the same way and she rarely has fans on but it is always cool in there! Boo!
Lol. At least if he's crazy he won't be embarrassed? XP
I like his new font better :) And the background for the last panel's cool with the candles and stuff.
How do you color so well that fast?! (@_@) That's always amazed me.
I don't blame you for the apathy. I get like that... and just abandon things without explanation. You're doing wonderfully, considering. No drop in quality and you still update.
Hooray for the pantsless, moon-madened, human Menu.
I really enjoy seeing menu as a human.
Don't worry about the update schedule. You're nobody's slave. I'd tell you to get out of the house and enjoy life more but than I'd be a hypocrite. I only leave to go to work.
I was actually quite attatched to the old font. TT^TT Even though he stopped talking all gentlemanly, it still gave me an idea of his voice. Change it if you like, but I liked the old one.
Much love Amelius, don't worry about not updating so much, we understand. Your life and happiness come first! But we're always here if you need us... I still check CTV homepage from time to time, so if you need to chat, PM me on there :) hope to talk to you soon.
P.S. The arwork if fabulous, and the text change doesn't bother me at all. Whatever you think is best for the comic is best in my book :)
I see these sytles:
-Horrible
-Cute (yours)
-Hero
I am not picky. And I am sure most of us have lives, so we understand that you have not been updating even if it is easy for you to make a page by now.
its ok about the late updates, you do this for fun and not for money so all the people that complain that your life is getting in the way of the comic need to learn to be less selfcentered and just wait and be patient, its not like if your off schedual... scedual...CURSED SPELLING... >_> *ahem* anyway its not like if your off by a couple of days that your going to disappear off the face of the earth and stop drawing all together it just means your doing something else, so in short keep up the good job, care less about people that complain about miniscual things (they'll always be something to complain about if you look hard enough) and have fun
Hehe, half the fun is checking everyday and stumbling upon an update! ^_^
I don't mind waiting, it gives me a reason to do stuff, like maybe draw.
Keep yourself hydrated and have fun, summer is almost over!
Taozi Mao at 12:58AM, Aug. 12, 2006
And now that I've gone through the comments . . . About the drinks, I'd recommend Bolthouse Farms drinks. They're yummy and full of vitamins and things, so they'd be something to drink that had an interesting taste and are good for your energy. Alternately, take a lot of ice, some milk, and some chocolate syrup and stick them in a blender. X3 It's like a milkshake only perfectly cold and not so thick. As for the heat, during the day I'd put a fan in the window facing out, so that the hot air gets blown out of your room, and then at night, turn the fan around so it brings the cold air in (that's what's worked for me). And if you have a basement you can draw in, do so! They're so much colder than every other part of the house. Good luck with your drawing space!
Taozi Mao at 12:44AM, Aug. 12, 2006
I love Peter Gabriel!! I've never met anyone else who's heard of him! =^________^= *glee* Heh. Menu and his pants . . . Charbycomic = love. =^^=
Emma_Xross at 11:03PM, Aug. 11, 2006
We Love you Amy-chan!
Wireball at 7:09PM, Aug. 11, 2006
Headache? Maybe it's caffeine-related. When I drink the stuff it gives me headaches pretty reliably (although that was not always the case). Caffeine also contributes to decreased seratonin levels in the brain. Your rant reminds me a bit of O the Abnormal (over at the Commissioned comic) - he's picky about his workspace and must have it just right, with all the tools at hand. And a drink. And woe be unto anyone who touches his drawing instruments while he's away! But that's another subject. Hmm, I'm trying to think of a way to encourage you to drink more water, but all I keep coming up with is various water torture techniques. But I doubt that you're very likely to want to self administer them. Besides which, I was trying to think of more positive encouragements. ... Maybe I should post links to pictures of deserts. With skeletons in them! I didn't notice the font change, but I did notice the grevious lack of a donation button. How am I supposed to give you all my money without a donation button? Or other moneymaking schemes - e.g. a cult. :D With regards to today's comic, I like how the underground lair is looking lately - some nice colors that look like woodtones, and a golden effect from the candlelighting. It goes well with the red and gives it a rich, warm atmosphere (in my opinion). Assuming it actually does have wood in it. Otherwise, it reminds me of the old, dank, red-painted concrete basement I used to live in. With the low-hanging sewer pipe that I would hit my head on occasionally (then there was the time it leaked on my chair). But hey, I don't have to live there anymore, so I don't mind :)
Charby at 6:22PM, Aug. 11, 2006
Amy don't feel bad some of the complainer's should shut up. we know your a good artist and you should get out some take a walk or something I think you need to clear your head. ^_^ and some of these guys need some damn patience.
Arya at 5:23PM, Aug. 11, 2006
Wow, I *just* understood that what Rosey ment with that comment! Oh, and Zerlocke worked ALL DAY and that, too! How the heck are they gonna pull this off now? :( xD
Amelius at 11:57AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Ack, sorry! I meant T's and Y's (grr, how on earth did I make that mistake?!) And if anyone can't see where I fixed the problems, you probably have AOL (since I can't see where I made edits either T_T)
Amelius at 11:53AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Hey thanks everyone ^_^ just dropping in to answer a few comments: TheTim and NLI: Yes yes, I know, it did look off but I fixed it. If it looks better I'll tell you why, I was very aware of the problem but I absolutely hate having to edit my linework in photoshop. it wasn't his face, it was his messy hair. It jutted forward previously, making a sort of pompador look, I'll say. This made the back of his head seem flatter in comparison, hence, viola, an uneven perspective. His face however looks the way I've always drawn it...there's been times where it was worse than that believe me. Hopefully it looks better because it was not easy to edit. NlI's other crits: Well, the SFX worked best for what I had in mind, what might you suggest? Or is it the fonts...I admit I got new ones and was eager to test them. 4th panel: I take it you are not familiar with my effects in magic scenes? I always put a lot of excess light. Essentially it is just all smoke and light. The purple light on Menu is obviously from the little glowing light balls, and there was a flash of light (the SPUFF noise, emulating a flashbulb like on those old cameras) 5th: Alas, that panel had to be cropped. Rosey is sitting on something (a box in fact) but the bottom of that panel had to be removed because it was tooo long and I didn't want to shrink the image. I tried to fix that a little but it is impossible at this stage. What also didn't help was the fact that I drew her head right over where his wing is, and shrinking her would have meant having to redraw his wing with a mouse or copy/paste the other wing. I have no idea what problem you have with Zer's face there though, I am rarely happy with how his face looks and was actually satisfied with how that turned out. I can understand qualms with his neck but the face I see nothing wrong with, please do elaborate. Thank you for your critique, I really do appreciate the opinions and I do try to be a good sport and fix things up as suggested. This is what becomes of art when you try to draw it while laying down, you should have seen the last panel before! (very, very skewed) Milky: Yeah, I do feel a little off with the new font since I'm so used to it, but I wanted to factor in readabilty and hopefully I'll make less mistakes regarding L's and T's. NLI with good suggestions: thanks for the suggestions! My problem however is being very broke so all my options are whatever mom buys, and though I do like milk it isn't exactly a good sitting companion for the hours I'm working on comics. At least warm soda or juice doesn't nearly gag you later or smell funny. As for a fan, well I've got a box fan, an oscillating stand fan and a ceiling fan, and my window is wide open but it is still unbeleivably hot in that room. My sister's room is set up the same way and she rarely has fans on but it is always cool in there! Boo!
X Daggers at 10:32AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Lol. At least if he's crazy he won't be embarrassed? XP I like his new font better :) And the background for the last panel's cool with the candles and stuff. How do you color so well that fast?! (@_@) That's always amazed me. I don't blame you for the apathy. I get like that... and just abandon things without explanation. You're doing wonderfully, considering. No drop in quality and you still update.
randomisedthing at 5:58AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Hooray for the pantsless, moon-madened, human Menu. I really enjoy seeing menu as a human. Don't worry about the update schedule. You're nobody's slave. I'd tell you to get out of the house and enjoy life more but than I'd be a hypocrite. I only leave to go to work.
Raziel_X007223 at 5:19AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Defanged by The Vampire... Great comic...Looking forward to the actual party. Raziel X
Ayrisesiran at 4:02AM, Aug. 11, 2006
But he's so cute!!! Yay for the insane Puppy!
Evil Emperor Nick at 1:56AM, Aug. 11, 2006
Well....at least he never pulled a 'Hector' and tried to smell Clair.
kiwi bird at 1:11AM, Aug. 11, 2006
oops. Zerlocke goofed.
Milky at 12:53AM, Aug. 11, 2006
I was actually quite attatched to the old font. TT^TT Even though he stopped talking all gentlemanly, it still gave me an idea of his voice. Change it if you like, but I liked the old one.
Red Slayer at 11:14PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Might have some comment later but here's a 5 just for you.
Hexavier at 10:13PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Much love Amelius, don't worry about not updating so much, we understand. Your life and happiness come first! But we're always here if you need us... I still check CTV homepage from time to time, so if you need to chat, PM me on there :) hope to talk to you soon. P.S. The arwork if fabulous, and the text change doesn't bother me at all. Whatever you think is best for the comic is best in my book :)
delunaeus at 10:13PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Hahaha, yay Human Menu XD
Arya at 9:39PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Yay! Menu's human again!!! :D I don't mind, I like this new font as well as the previous ^_^ Haha, better get some pants on, Menu! xD
deathshaman at 8:42PM, Aug. 10, 2006
I see these sytles: -Horrible -Cute (yours) -Hero I am not picky. And I am sure most of us have lives, so we understand that you have not been updating even if it is easy for you to make a page by now.
Observer at 8:41PM, Aug. 10, 2006
knew i forgot something-->
Observer at 8:40PM, Aug. 10, 2006
its ok about the late updates, you do this for fun and not for money so all the people that complain that your life is getting in the way of the comic need to learn to be less selfcentered and just wait and be patient, its not like if your off schedual... scedual...CURSED SPELLING... >_> *ahem* anyway its not like if your off by a couple of days that your going to disappear off the face of the earth and stop drawing all together it just means your doing something else, so in short keep up the good job, care less about people that complain about miniscual things (they'll always be something to complain about if you look hard enough) and have fun
Raccoo at 8:06PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Hehe, half the fun is checking everyday and stumbling upon an update! ^_^ I don't mind waiting, it gives me a reason to do stuff, like maybe draw. Keep yourself hydrated and have fun, summer is almost over!
Morgaine at 8:06PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Poor Menu, without pants and without fur :p Take all the time you need, your pages are worth waiting for :)
Neilak20 at 7:43PM, Aug. 10, 2006
Party Down!