Nnewts live in a developing civilization that is just learning to harness energy. It’s similar to where we were at when we used steam but considered electricity. I wanted to explore how technology developed with a community, and this is one of the core aspects of Nnewts culture. They’re hunters and warriors, yet family men. They haven’t abandoned magic, but don’t rely on it as a sole source of enlightenment.
The energy bugs in today’s page came as a real surprise to me because I saw them as dancing lights, but our colorist Katherine saw them as dancing colored lights. She sent back the page and my first response was “Ooooooooh!” I’m not sure why I don’t consider color in my creations, it could be from years of training without it. I draw characters and the colors never occur to me. Color is something to be added later.
Below is the pencil sketch of this page so you can see some of my process in illustrating it:
It’s a lucky inker who has a Katherine adding color to life.
And still, I’m loving the eyeballs.
Love it, love it. I like seeing were the story is going.
Do you every feel that the comic medium is to slow to evolve these idea’s?
Too slow? I don’t think so. Comics are a slower medium to create within in general. I tend to have a lot of break downs within any given action to make sure I don’t lose my audience. He went from here, to here. The same connective tissue that takes a day to draw could be written in one sentence of a Nnewts novel.
But in the end, I’m not comparing the sequential art medium to writing… I am comparing it to what I would have done if I didn’t make a comic. That would be nothing. So is a comic slower or less productive than nothing? Hardly! It feels just about right, if I let my story sit comfortably in the skin of this medium.
Compared to other comics, does Nnewts feel slow, fast, or just about right? That’s what I ask myself (and y’all).
I’m glad you like the eyeballs Mike – I didn’t really think about it too much, it just seemed right to make them look extra googly. Also reflecting coloured light sources off them is fun.
“I draw characters and the colors never occur to me. Color is something to be added later.” – that’s a very interesting thought, potentially literal and metaphorical.
oh yeah, the eyeballs and color are terrific!
And the art & story line are engaging; I’m now waiting with bated breath for next week’s installment!!
I know whenever I draw a bunch of one type of creature, I assume they should all be teh same color just because they’re presumably one species.. and I’m lazy so I prefer coloring ‘em all the same and not worrying about continuity (I know I should relax)… but thankfully your colorist is more creative and realized they’d look much better all different colors. Nicely done!
Also interesting concepts going on here, I just LOVE this universe.
The closest I regularly see to this type of thing is the cliche “there used to be an advanced society and we’re basically finding all their old batteries but we have no idea how to make more or recharge them”
The pacing for the comic is completely fine, Doug.
Your comment on medium got me thinking on the subject of story and delivery. I recently read that Clive Barker allows story to dictate the medium he uses. I can see what he means to some extent, but at the same time it seems to me that a person has strengths that lean toward a given discipline (be it comics, written word, animation, etc.), and those stengths impact the story you tell. As someone who has worked in a variety of media, what is your take on that? Do you adjust story to fit medium, or the other way around?
I adjust my story to fit into the medium. In the case of comics, it’s such an easy medium for me to work within because I do everything myself. That means that anything that fails as a game, a movie, a novel or just a weird scrap of paper has a 100% chance of working for me as a graphic novel.
The reason why I love the comic medium is because I’m a cheapskate with limited opportunities in other mediums. That should be on my tombstone.
excellant job. What gave you the original idea?
Have you taken any art classes or is this all your raw talent?
I end up in an art class at least every 5 years or so. I like to brush up, learn new things. I’m really looking forward to getting back into some portrait painting some day.
But I’m a real mutt (and I think my art style shows it)…I’m 99% self taught, but my 1% instruction is really specific and intense. Like I’ll go through a Krazy Kat collection and draw every background from a year’s worth of strips.
I pick up a little trick here a little one there, and add those tools to my arsenal. Most of what I learn is traditional, and I need more digital stuff.
Thanks for the input, Doug.
Lol on the tombstone. That’s actually one of the reasons why I got into writing. I already had a computer, I wanted to tell a story, and away I went; no extra equipment required. In fact, I still do that what with using CreateSpace and all. Still haven’t gotten the hang of marketing though; for some reason it feels…weird.
I love all the insight you give us into what you’re putting into the story. You point out that their society is in transition between magic and science, etc. and I see it. It was there all along, but I didn’t think about it. I feel like your exploration with fiction somehow conveys a truth, or an understanding, or even just the beginning of thinking about what that must be like and how it’s different from (or maybe similar to?) today. And now I will think about it as the story unfolds. This is way better than English class ever was (and that’s supposed to be a compliment, sorry if it’s not…).
Doug, just wanted to say I found out about you being the creator of Neverhood and that game gave me inspiration back in the day that still lasts – so thanks for that! I’ve been a fan for a long time and I just installed the game again and man – one of the most creative experiences I’ve ever had in video games.
I also checked out a few of your videos on YouTube and they really got me drawing when I found myself stuck in my latest page.
I’ll be checking on Nnewts from now on!
Thanks, Rubim! Keep drawing and creating!