Page 10! And today is 10-10-10… haha.
Comics are, to me, the greatest art form because there are so many elements to master. A person who creates a full comic must at the very least; be a great planner, a great storyteller, have an eye for layout, know how to pencil, ink and color in a way that tells their own story, and of course, they have to know how to write. Becoming more than simply “proficient” at all of these components can easily take a lifetime to learn.
If you’re in a hurry though, throwing in the phrase “donkey’s butthole” will also get you pretty far.
BTW, in case you are going: I will be at APE next weekend :B You can find me at the booth called Shingworks (table 631)!
Thanks for reading!
Donkey’s butthole lol… uh so they left the horse outside, unattended…?
I love how Soli is just like “yeah okay” with Alamand being Alamand. XD Although from her personality so far, I’m guessing she’s pretty good at taking things in stride?
(Also, their body language is great, in this page and the previous ones. With their mouths covered I would think it’d be harder to convey their emotions, but you do a great job!)
I won’t lie, I snickered at how “butthole” was cut off.
I like both Soli and Alamand so far! :D
“Soli. Please tell me you are not questioning my expertise.”
I love Alamand <3
He’s like one of those small annoying dogs XD
Oddly enough there are papers on the temperatures of a Donkey’s Rectum. It is surprisingly cool in the range of 34.7 to 38.7°C. Who knew?
Individual and Diurnal Variations in Rectal Temperature, Respiration, and Heart Rate of Pack Donkeys during the Early Rainy Season
Joseph O. Ayo, DVM, MSc, PhD, Tavershima Dzenda, DVM, MSc, Friday O. Zakari, DVM
What does it say about me that I recognize that? -.-
Say. WHAT?
…………………
I think you broke the author.
I love it when a plan comes together. ;)
Maaaaaybe I’m crazy but 40ºC doesn’t really seem very cool to me D: Actually 40ºC is about 6-9º more than the average summer heat (in a hot summer) here in south Ontario ;A;
You’re absolutely right. That’s hot!
Maybe he means a donkey with a fever?
I love how utterly scrawny Alamand is. And wow, all those tens. Amazing! Like quadruple lucky! I like to think Soli’s a bit concerned about Alamand and wants him to stay outside but I could be terribly wrong. Either way I’m glad he’s there bugging her. XD
Alamand is a seasoned professional.
He has a BA in underaged sidekickology!
Wouldn’t a BS be more appropriate?
;)
Not an ass’s asshole?
Please. Alamand is more sophisticated than that.
So tell me who is smarter Alamand or Soli?
I’m sure Alamand likes to THINK he’s smarter.
Well, he DOES teach her how to spell “different”!
Never question Alamand’s expertise.
And yeah, I should pay more attention to stuff like bubble layouts myself so I can get epicness like this.
I KNOW HOW YOU DO BUBBLES. I sketched the layouts of a bunch of pages from Ch 2 to study it… You arrange them in circles and arcs. :D
I’m not creepy at all.
Haha, well you should keep in mind
- how will your eye bounce around the page
- is every element still readable even with bubbles
- will the panel still be readable and interesting even with text on it
- can I tell who is talking and in what order
as well as avoiding things like word balloon tails that lead into elbows or whatever. Soli’s second bubble on panel 3 was leading into her butt in the sketches… thankfully I caught it in time XD
Actually, it might be appropriate for Alamand’s word balloons to lead from that region…
Somehow that reminds me of Jim Carrey manipulating his butt cheeks to depict them as if they are speaking.
This is fab fab fabulous! Your angles are just absolutely astonishing.
LOVE the layout of this page. It’s not the most interesting page visually, but you did a great job with the balloons and the way your eye travels the page. A+++++ very nice!
This is great! Though…the perspective in panel 1 seems off. It doesn’t look like Alamand is standing on a table (I only know he is because of the previous page.) I think it’s because Soli actually looks bigger than him, and she’s sitting on the *ground*. She should actually appear a lot smaller than him, or he should be a lot bigger.
Yeah, that was a tough one! It was as close as I could get, I redrew it several times… in cases like these I wait until the end of the chapter, then go back and try to patch it up (hopefully by then I’ll have levelled up or something)
I have reread this comic from start to finish at least 3 times this weekend (and I wasn’t home all day Saturday auauaghaugh time crunch) just to study how you panel and do bubbles o_o Then I reread the 4 pages of comic I’ve already done for this little short … -thing- I’m doing for Mal’keer and it’s like “FFFF I COULD HAVE DONE THIS LIKE THAT AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTERRRRRRRR” and then instead of fixing it I throw things at walls in rage.
HOLY RUN-ON SENTENCES, BATMAN
There’s a little monkey in all of us <3
Not a monkey, a donkey. With a hot butthole.
I think I once heard the expression “il fait noir comme dans le trou du cul d’un âne” in French. (“it’s as dark as in a donkey’s butthole”). But hot ? No, never before.
Even when saying incredibly crude, crass, horrible things, the French somehow always seem to make it sound incredibly mystical, romantic, proper and dainty.
Only if you’re not French, I guess…
Being French myself, I also believe stuff is crude, crass and horrible, and I don’t think there’s anything mystical and romantic. XD French just sounds like blubbering.
DO I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE RACIST AGAINST MY OWN COUNTRY? D:
I dunno, are you going to be as funny about it as Uncle Ruckus?
You can be saying anything in french, it still sounds vaguely as though you’ve got a particularly damp porridge in your mouth while you speak.
You do a fantastic job with expressions. I love your comic! <3
“I’m hotter than a donkey’s butt-hole” ; my new seduction motto.
Dr. Alamand is here for your enlightenment. Now shake his hand. He’s waiting.
Gah, I HATE critiquing artists so much more advanced than me, but yeah, panel 1 looks like they’re on the same plane. Still gorgeous, and conveys Al’s lankiness very well!
I don’t know that a master artist (comics or not) has to master *color*, quite, but lighting. Black and white or monochrome works can demand an equal amount of training, and depend as much on knowing the way light breaks as color.
Mostly, I miss Alamand’s Teef. Come back, Teef!
Haha, don’t feel bad to crit “advanced” artists, everyone flubs it now and then! Also you don’t have to be a director to be able to critique a film blah blah
Never question Alamand. Never. NEVER. NEVER!
He’s the batman like that.
I absolutely love the way you represented whispering in the previous pages. The coloring in this comic is awesome and I love the facial expressions that are so expressive even with half of their faces covered.
Gorgeous page. Maybe you could imply the table is on a higher plane by offsetting the shadow cast by Alamand’s legs from the table to the floor. Yeah, I know the shadow’d be more diffuse on the floor in a real room, but to hell with reality if it makes the perspective work. Or you could try the same thing by a square of light cast by the window.
And no one noticed that the table number adds up to 10. So that makes five tens for yesterday. Coincidence? I think not. Love the humour, even if it was a little assinine. :>P Yes, I spelled that wrong on purpose.
ALAMAND IS A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.
I could see him being all “TOTALLY TRY THIS AT HOME. IT’S AWESOME. 8D”
Guess he’s not home? THINK AGAIN D:
Ugh, you’re tell’n me. The art of Comics takes a lifetime to master – if not longer. I envy those who got a good head start.
“A person who creates a full comic must at the very least; be a great planner, a great storyteller, have an eye for layout, know how to pencil, ink and color in a way that tells their own story, and of course, they have to know how to write.”
^ This is exactly how I view you and your comics. ♥
I will never stop reading the Meek. (Well, maybe once it’s finished. But even then I will reread it multiple times.)
Same. <3 D Helmer.
Btw, is she single?
Soli? You’ll have to wait to see about that.
I wasn’t talking about Soli. To be continued.
Don’t go there, okay? Only warning.
I sincerely apologize for any offense. It was not intended.
I got my signed & sketched book today – love it. (Also first snow fell today (here in Finland), that makes two amazing things in one day!)
I would like to mention, though, that the print quality was not as good as I hoped it to be: pages are a bit see-through even in darker areas, and colors were not very bright except in the cover, e.g. in the night scene it was a bit hard to distinguish Angora from the background. But that depends a lot of the reading light.
Overall I’m still trying to get used to seeing all the panels so big, full of details… Plus now it’s easier to (trace and) learn from it! :D
Yes, I noticed that as well… we are switching printers for Chapter 2 because of that issue :)
Have you considered reprinting chapter one with your new printers “if” or more specifically, when your prints for chapter one run out? If you do, notice would be wonderful as I have been wanting to buy chapter one at some point and knowing there could be a chance for a superior print is reason enough for me to hold off (because your work really does deserve to be on high quality paper). Though I can understand how disclaiming this may present itself as potential hinderance to sales. There are many factors I don’t know however so it can’t hurt to ask. <3
That’s up to my publisher XD Hopefully one day, though!
Hahah alamand’s ” srs bsns ” face BI
He knows these things Soli. QUESTION THE ALMIGHTY ALAMAND AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
Is it confirmed that Alamand is male? I think it would be nicer if he’s really a tomboy. I like the dynamic of a girl’s gang.
Everytime I read the middle panel, I hear Alamand with a heavy New York accent.
Oh dear.
I actually think of a Sacramento accent when I read Alamand’s text, but you can probably thank Steven Palmer of Kaplan-PMBR for that.
I’m thinking like, the Godfather accent. Which makes no sense.
APE OMG OMG!! I wish the APE website were organized so that I could search by artist. You will be there, Spike, Dylan Meconis, Shaenon Garrity, … but I don’t know about other artists I might want to meet and buy things from.
Anyway, I am super excited that you’ll be there, and will stop by.
Awesome :B I think Chapter 2 may be available too…
Chapter 2? Really?! Will it be available in the shop soon now? Yessss!
I finally remembered who Soli makes me think of!!! She kinda looks like Julie Andrews! Who agrees with me on this one?
“The HILLLSSS ARE ALIVEEEEEEEEE with the sound of MUUUUSICCCCCC~”
Um. Maybe a bit, I don’t know.
“Soli. Are you questioning my EXPERTISE??” Ahahah!! I love Alamand!!! XD
I think this is one of my favorite panels ever! I love them ALL, but, well, this one just says SO much!!
is it me, or does the fact that the XXX date is on a sunday feel a bit ironic
1. GENDERS OF SOLI AND ALAMAND. I AM CONFUSED.
2. This comic is awesome.
3. I miss Angora. :[
1. Soli is a lady, Alamand is a boy, same as it says in the cast page/ wiki articles/ comic XD I promise I am not fooling anybody.
2. Thank you
3. She’ll be back soon 83
1. Duh.
2. It is super awesome.
3. Yay! More Pinter too?
1. Haha, I think some people think I might be tricking them
2. Thanks
3. You know it :)
I don’t think you’re tricking me, I’m just particularly bad at picking out genders if it’s not immediately obvious. This happens in real life too.
…I get in trouble a lot. ^^’
Looking back over the panels so far, there’s only one panel I’ve seen that gives Soli an even remotely feminine figure (The panel on page 3 where she throws the book in the fire). Beyond that, it looks like she’s a guy (the facial structure looks rather masculine) with a mullet pulled back into a ponytail. I’m hoping it’s just an effect of the duster hanging loosely, but she doesn’t seem to have any sort of a feminine figure to identify her as a lady to readers. Having not read the cast of characters, I was guessing they were both guys, or that Alamand was a tomboy. I had no idea Soli was a girl until I read these comments.
Other than that, the comic is awesome, and I don’t plan on letting that little issue get in the way of my enjoyment. Keep up the good work!
A lot of women look fairly masculine. Besides, it seems she has herself “under wraps”.
The thought occurs that this might turn into a genderswapped version of True Grit. Which, admittedly, would be awesome.
Some women just don’t have huge, bulbous curves. I know in the comic world its extremely rare for females to appear who haven’t been turned into curvaceous hour glasses, but Soli’s frame is not that unusual. Her gender being obscured DOES seem to be intentional, but I guarantee you that you could find women who look like Soli just about anywhere.
Most common super power. Check out TVTropes if you don’t know what it is. ^^
And I would say that Soli seems to be purposefully blurring gender appearance. Possibly as a gender statement, and possibly just to avoid being treated as a girl. However, I would like to say that the women in the Meek don’t seem to all have the most common super power, which is pretty awesome in itself.
So I’ve read every single post but I have never commented…Bad fan.
So here’s my comment to make up for my lack of good fan-ness. You’re super awesome and your art is incredible! Your art and your storyline don’t depend on eachother to make the comic look good and that is awesome xD Anyways I can’t wait for more!! Keep up the outstanding work!
I can’t remember if I’ve ever posted here…if not, Hello!
I’m sure a million people have already said this, but I am IN AWE at how well you convey emotion with less than half of each character’s face showing. I used to work in animation production hiring storyboard artists and others…and if most of them had HALF your talent, I could have retired by now. :-P
Haha, thank you! That is very kind of you to say. Thanks for reading :)
I like how Soli looks kinda like a man, and Alamand looks a bit like a girl. :)
I like that too. /insert creeper face
I have no Meek update. Having no Meek update makes me sad. Why do I have no Meek update?
Had a big deadline last Friday, and APE over the weekend XD I’m trying to get back on track this week.
I’ve been lurking up until now but I have to say; I love Alamand’s face in the second panel. And his name. And these characters basically.
But my favourite pages so far are the ones with the salamander ^^
Wow, I couldn’t agree more. I never viewed the making of comics like that. :]
How large do you make your pages when drawing them out?
I’ve been pretty lurkey until now, but I’ve been following The Meek since it only had about five pages. Someone linked me from DA and I was hooked. I love the fluidity of your lines and the colors you choose. I can’t wait to see everything develop…I can see there is SO MUCH MORE behind everything so far.
Thank you for all your amazing work so far.
Alamand looks more alike a girl in the last panel than Soli has looked the whole time we’ve seen her. So much so, I had to check the meekipedia to confirm their genders. Twice.
eagerly awaiting tomorrows update!
WAHHH! THE GENDER CONFUSION! @___@
much agreed with changeling
seriously, you’re gonna have to find some way to strip these two down to their underwear to completely convince me ‘___’
WAHHH! THE GENDER CONFUSION! @___@ much agreed with changeling seriously, you’re gonna have to find some way to strip these two down to their underwear to completely convince me ‘___’
I’m surprised no-one has made the obvious pun with ‘donkey; and ‘butthole’…