Comic Report #73.1 - Happy New Year (Patreon)

Hello again!  Thank you for your patience with me this week- on Friday I really only had this page inked and I didn't want to crunch out something more substantial on Christmas, so I guess I made up for it by painting really quickly, because this is the textless page before the comic goes up on the main site.

There's been something about these interior shots that have been a lot easier for me to paint.  Either my process has become more efficient or the art style has evolved into something that's more efficient, but with all these little background walls I'm able to hammer out backgrounds- the things that tend to take me the longest- in no time at all.  This page is nice because the big carp mirror painting that hangs next to the crew's booth is mostly out of frame so I don't need to burn any brainpower remembering which way all the fish pointed.  I'm really happy with how the depth-of-field shot in panel 4 came out, it really catches the feel of sitting in the front corner looking back inside the restaurant just how I see it in my mind.  

I'm never really married to drawing in one specific way in this comic, which I guess is why I was able to evolve my art as much as I have over the comic's lifespan. I like to experiment with things and I'll change little details as I go and just not fuss about it, as long as the characters are evolving.  Today I tried something different with Monday's cigarette smoke- I usually draw it curvy and swirly, but I thought about how it'd look if it was really geometric, with thin verticals and thicker horizontals, and I kinda like that look.  I left the smoke out in some panels where it would cover up important face shots, because that's more vital to the comic than the smoke, but it is something minor that I'm experimenting with.

I'm gonna hop back to work and get this page lettered and posted.  Thank you as always for supporting my work throughout this year!  I'll have more to post again on Friday, but for now have a safe and happy New Year!