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I can’t believe we’re hitting page 150 next week! Honestly, it’s surreal to be headed into the third act. 

I thought I’d share some more about how the story came to be, plus some side-by-sides of the original 2013 version and the one you’ve been reading!


I started working on Oren’s Forge late in 2013 out of sheer desperation. I was going through a very difficult and ugly end to a long relationship and the career I’d spent the last eight years building. 

My normal work routine was gone and I was driving myself (literally) crazy with nothing to focus on. The story for Oren’s Forge was rattling around in my head already and seemed like something to do. At the time, the story was pretty straightforward and felt “manageable” at 60 pages or so. (The original ending was a lot different than where we're going.)

I poured all my manic and negative energy into the first draft of Oren’s Forge, sketching out 40+ pages and fully finishing 17 in a matter of weeks. It developed a dark, desperate theme early on, a lot of what was going on inside me. Only a handful of people ever saw those pages because honestly, I was just doing it to stay sane and out of trouble, and the art was...well, not my highest caliber. (This was also before I got a Cintiq, which upped my digital art game a ton.)

Life kept getting rockier and I ultimately burned out— not just with the comic, but everything. There was about a year I simply couldn’t draw or write (or get out of bed). I was depressed, bitter and aimless for most of 2014. My instinct then was to disappear.

Three things changed: my partner, who I love more than anything, helped me recenter my life both with compassion and by not putting up with my self pity bullshit. Second, I got renewed access to bipolar medication and much needed anti-depressants through the ACA (this, quite frankly, saved my life—support Universal Health Care). Lastly, I got a new aforementioned Cintiq tablet. 

I took inventory of what I wanted from life. Comics and writing were the still only things that screamed THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING.

In early 2015, I made a list of various projects I had left unfinished or on standby. Some, like Nordguard or the Dog’s Days of Summer sequel I had written were a little too painful to tackle (and riddled with minefields). There was a short-lived noir comic I knocked out a handful of pages for with a 40 page story, but it had first-act problems and overall wasn’t sparking much creative inspiration.

It was ultra-grim with a lot of crooked cops and people getting boiled alive.

Plus this thing was set in a fictional 1940's NYC and like... why did I decide to do that to myself.


Then, after not having looked at it for nearly a year, I found the Oren’s Forge draft while going through old Scrivner files. I pulled up the comic pages I had finished and thought: these layouts aren’t bad… this story is interesting… I can update the art now that I have the tools…

That’s how I picked it up again in 2015. This is when it went from a 60-page “easy” project to something that inspired me creatively and brought me back to art and writing. This was a new world I wanted to explore and develop, free from obligation or long shadows from the past. It was creatively refreshing with dark themes where I could vent, all while chasing an elusive “happy” ending.

I’ve shared a couple of the original pages before, over the years, but not many. Here’s all 17 of the finished pages from 2013, side-by-side with the 2015 versions.

(Here you can see a major change as the story developed-- wolves were no longer "tool users". They never had to evolve the need to think "outside the box"-- they have teeth, claws and fur that gets the job of surviving done.)

Here is where the layouts started to deviate from the original 2013 version. In the original, Quanaq fell to his death almost immediately. I thought the rock would land with more emotional punch if he had chance to explain himself and add some exposition.

(I vividly remember how mind-numbingly tedious it was drawing all the rain splatters in that first panel.)

The story deviated and expanded a fair bit after this point, though some scenes stayed in and almost unchanged (like the wolf chase). I also took individual panels I liked from the first draft and reworked them into new layouts.

Eventually I reached the point in the 2013 material where I had only done rough layouts, so it became easy to pick and choose the panels I liked, then re-work them into new pages.

(Originally, I was going to have Blackfoot the wolf pee on the tree before they ran off. I wish I'd kept it in, honestly-- I think it was the perfect blend of real-wolf behavior and Blackfoot just being an asshole.)



I still struggle with intense burnout. Some days (a lot of days) I just don’t want to draw. I do, though (most days), because wrestling burnout is second nature now.  I won't lie-- it's exhausting. The story is what keeps me going and the fact that you guys are reading it. I really want you to see the end, to have closure, to know these characters... just as much as I want to know what story comes next after this tale is done.

Thank you for reading Oren’s Forge, sharing it, and supporting it where you can! 

To my Patreons, thank you from the bottom of my heart— the emotional journey and catharsis of making the comic aside— I simply could not afford to have put this story to paper without you. I wouldn’t have been able to make page 70, let alone page 150. 

Stay safe everyone!

Comments

Omi and Lucas

Wow I didn't realize we've been following Rask's journey since 2015! I'm sorry those years were so hard, and I'm glad you found people and tools to get you through it. It's always been a joy to follow your work.

Petrov Neutrino

Thank you very much for sharing. Please stay safe. It is difficult, but worthwhile.

Anonymous

Thanks so much for such an in-depth behind the scenes. I appreciate the comic even more knowing the passion that's gone into it. Can't wait to see where the story goes!

John Doe Studios

I’m just glad to be here for the ride!

Marcwolf

So glad you overcame your dark spot - you work has always been an inspiration to me with your unique blend of realism and character expressions.

Anonymous

What a read. Thank you so much for sharing your feelings and the process here, I can relate to it a lot.

Anonymous

I haven't been around Iong (around four months or so) enough to accurately judge but it seems to me you have built a great community. Honestly, I find it amazing what people can accomplish when they pursue their passion. I am very excited to see where this story goes and any others that follow.

Maximus Coyotox

Honestly, I love the idea of Blackfoot peeing on the tree. Kinda his way of giving Rask the finger lol.

Anonymous

You have really huge talent for drawing and storywriting there. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, both comic and your feelings about it. I'm happy for you that you found some light in your life and it got a bit better. I hope that it got much better by now. I hope that you will find more things in your life that you can find interesting and enjoyable, so you'll not find yourself totally burned out of everything. Maybe some simple but absorbing hobby or something like that to keep your mind busy when everything else will seem to be pointless.

Anonymous

I think this is probably the most in-depth exposition you've done of yourself as the person behind the art so far. Sorry to hear about your rough patches, but considering I noticed your disappearance back in the day, I figured something like that must have happened. Kudos to you for "keeping it out of the press" as it were. The advance in skill between 2013 and 2015 is immensely impressive and you've still come a long way since then even, so I would say your fighting burnout is definitely bearing fruit and I would hope you continue to do so, for your own sake, as well as my more selfish reason of wanting to see more of your beautiful art and storytelling :3

Brad (nrimbxw)

Sorry you've gone through such hard times in 2013 &amp; 2014. But dark days give us perspective and appreciation for the good days. Oren's Forge is one of my favorite comics. I enjoy getting to know each of the characters and look forward to seeing where the story goes.

Anonymous

It makes me incredibly happy to hear that you managed to deal with all the nasty feelings and artblocks (I can definitely relate) and that you still continued creating because gosh your style is something else &lt;3

Reseen Dalls

It's great to see how you managed to get over so much hardships. And you love your comic so much! Hope you stay strong and keep on.

Cpat

I don't expected to the origin of Oren’s Forge was so dark! I have a lot of empathy for you, and I hope your situation will improve. Concerning the old comic himself, I see the improvement of your technique. But I really like the old style of the characters, more wild, more rough (however, I don't know if that would have been appropriate for the whole comic).

Tegaki

I have to say, there's something to the mood in the old drawings too! (I think it's the gloomier color scheme! grays make everything seem grimmer!, also I love raindrops! ^^), not anything against the redraws they're amazing! I 100% approve of the more "animal" / cartoon furry main characters / marten design! 💕. The new version has a bigger contrast between cutesy characters &amp; colorful pages vs. the darker story! 💕💕 keep up the comic! I'm invested in the story now :p, so I'd rather see rough sketches of the complete comic / story than ending halfway with really high quality art! (I know it might sound a bit... uh... pessimistic?, but I say it out of love for the story!. Eg. if you're ever in a tough spot / burnout &amp; consider dropping the comic then it's soooo nice (from a readers perspective) to get a pdf dump of rough sketches &amp; even just a textual storydump / screenplay script of the remaining story). This happened to the Zistopia comic, and although it's sad that it got dropped, I feel 100x better getting the official 'closure' of the story as well. and I'm almost not even bothered by the lack of drawings / comic pages... ^^. I know you probably have the entire story roughed out / key parts, but if you don't and it's just in your head, then I'm scared D: I'm so glad you worry / think about the readers need for closure 💕💕 (that's the signs of a _true_ artist! &gt;:D )

Anonymous

IT's so bittersweet to see that unfinished Noir comic, i'd have loved something like that so much. I wanted to thank you for sticking with this and bringing this story to life for us all to enjoy. I can't express how much I enjoy seeing this story being finished. I can never fully explain why the first 70 pages touched me so much, but I had suffered a bit of depression when I saw the comic had apparently been abandoned without any explanation. Every update is a treasure, sometimes there is pure joy in seeing the characters catch a break, sometimes there is dread or heartbreak, but each update is a gift and I always want to say thank you each time. If it wouldn't spoil the current story-line, would you mind sharing what you had in mind for the ending of the 'short' version of the story (60 pages?).

teagangavet

Who knows, maybe I'll pick up the noir story again someday! Once this current storyline of Oren's Forge is wrapped up, I'll probably write something up about the original story. There's a couple elements that might be spoilers by omission.

Anonymous

I didn't expect to read something like this today, and I only wish I was in a place where I could better absorb it. As someone who only draws fetish work because 'it makes money,' and who is currently in the worst creative slump of his life... it was interesting to read this. I can only hope that life is treating you more kindly than during your year-long slump. I love Oren's Forge, and to this day it's one of my favorite comics. I have so much respect for comic artists, as I know how much time and blood sweat and tears go into the pages. I know this reply is pretty scattered and I don't really have much of a point... but I just wanted to thank you for sharing. It helps to see that others have gotten through the awful, numbing slump of not being able to/wanting to create. I only hope my own inspiration returns to me in time as well.