Comic Report #127.2 - It's So Close (Patreon)

Hello again! Welcome to July, the final home stretch until my extra work obligations are off my plate. It's been a hot week and I've been grinding out a few more things but SGDQ has been on so I've had good background noise playing while I've been working. The good news: I've wrapped up the last real thing I need to do for Kitsune Tails so all the Want To Haves are all drawn, and I'm mostly doing playtesting, level decoration and drawing some fun extras. My workload is easing up but I'm not entirely out of it until the game ships, and that's just three more weeks away! The light at the end is visible. However! I've been making more progress on the next page. It's over the most tedious hurdle, so I expect I should be able to post this finished version of this page before Kitsune Tails drops. And then, I think, I'll be able to breathe for a week.

I've been trying a new inking pen on the past few pages to kinda save me a step and speed up the art process, and I think I'm acclimating well to handling it. Previously I'd do thin lines and then go over with a thicker pen to emphasize silhouettes, but I'm using a pen now that has a broader range from thin to thick so I can kinda get what I need with one pass. It doesn't sound like too much but this page is a great example of how it can be a time saver- there ended up being a lot of figures on this page, so not needing to go through and meticulously weight the outlines ended up being a huge relief. Either way, that part's done so it's all just downhill from here.

The last panel on this page is one I'm really looking forward to painting because I think the lighting is gonna come out looking really cool, if it pans out how I see it in my head. I'm imagining, since the candles on the table are the main light source here, there's going to be a lot of low light pointing upwards at this ring of characters, with their shadows cast up on the ceiling. There are other candles behind Randy and Lou, so I can probably build some dynamic backlighting into the shot as well.

I don't expect that I can have this whole thing done this week, but I think the week after I can probably put the un-lettered final art up here. I appreciate your support through a pretty difficult month, and I'm excited to get to draw the scenes coming up next. For now I'm gonna get back to it, so until next week: stay cool out there!