Chapter 7 - Side Show

[Tealya]

And chapter 7 begins. ;D

Sorry for the really long break. I need the time to get lots done.

Anyway, this week was just covers. I hope you like them, though. I put a lot into them.

The Part Two cover has all of the main characters, including the two that have not been introduced yet. The blond is an elf, by the way. That makes Luta and Leanna the only humans in the main cast. The dogs also got quite a bit of a face lift from the last time we saw them. They actually look a little more intimidating now.
They will be back in this part. So, yes, there's your preview for the entirety of part two.

The chapter 7 cover shows our poor winning kitty all locked up. Poor little kitty. I feel so bad for him. Don't worry. He wont be locked up in that horrible rusty cage for too long. Rust is a pain to do. There are actually 8 or 9 colors right in that rust to make it look like rust and I'm still not entirely satisfied with it. It's still missing something and I'm just not sure what. The rest of it, however, I really like. I really like the empty stare from Rui. He looks even more miserable than I was first going for. Over all, I think it turned out to be a good chapter cover.

The first page of chapter 7 starts next week with the usual little tidbit from Luta and the best opening scene so far. ;D

[jelarin]

I really like how detailed your newer drawings are. You made the hair shiny and textured, and the general shape of things is better, less akward, each drawing is good by itself and it tells a story, Your ability to convey emotion and action in your comics is great. Keep working, I enjoy reading these.

[Tealya]

Thank you so much Jelarin. I've been working on my art so much and it's always good to hear that people besides me can see the differences.

Gah! I'm way behind on my page commentary. Time to catch up. I'm going to do them all together here.

So, the chapter opens with Bryoak losing everyone's shoes. Yes, everyone's shoes. He gambled them away. Bad Bryoak! No more gambling for you! I'm not sure if Bry is a generally a bad gambler or not. Honestly, this is the first time it has come up in all of my scripting and character interviews. This time, however, he was absolutely a very bad gambler. I feel bad for Rika, though. He is used to not having anything and hangs on to every little thing he ever gets. Now he has lost his shoes. Poor kid.

So, after losing their shoes, the gang moves on. Luta is not going to let Bryoak hear the end of this any time soon. She holds grudges. Leanna tries to sneak off again, but Luta will have none of it this time. She is not in the mood. Ah, it feels good to draw angry Luta again. She is just not Luta unless she is a little angry. I don't think she is going to take it out on Leanna and the cats, though. Luta is generally good at keeping her anger properly directed at the person who angered her in the first place.

Bryoak and Rika then head off to find a job. While walking on, Rika spots some boys running off. They're off to get into trouble, no doubt. So, in the end, it's not Leanna who wanders off this time. Rika decides he must join in what ever trouble those boys are getting into and slips away while Bryoak is distracted. Bad Rika. You know you like Bryoak. He feeds you regularly.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how easily Bryoak takes orders from Luta. He has usually been the person in charge and like Luta, he is quite stubborn. Maybe that love potion is still addling his brain. ;D You didn't think I forgot about that, did you? It will continue to affect him through this chapter too.

Of all of this weeks updates, today's last panel has to be one of my favorite. Rika running away turned out nicely. His right hand came out perfect. I'm terrible at hands, as I'm sure many have noticed, so when I get a hand done right, I'm always very pleased with it. I am also quite happy with the feet shot on Tuesday Oct. 14th's update. They looked nice. Oh, and sorry about the accidental png save. I'll get that replaced with a jpeg version this weekend. When I do squffies, I end up saving a number of items as png images so they can be properly layered in the program. I forgot to switch it back to jpeg when I saved for the web. I'll be careful not to do that again.

So, next week, we will meet the boys and find out what they are up to. See you next Thursday.

[Tealya]

10/28 to 11/6

I got behind again. I've just been so busy with all of the election stuff. That's what happens when you volunteer to register voters and phone bank.

Anyway, on to my commentary. First, last week's updates. We have met the boys, but just what are they trying to steal? That's something we'll just have to wait and see. The boys are not exactly good thieves, though. Good thing Rika is an expert. ;D

I really like the shots of Rika in the second panel on the 28th update and 30th update. He just looks so innocent and relaxed. You would never think he is a horrific trouble maker. When I originally designed Rika, I wanted him to look cute and innocent while at the same time making him an over the top problem child. I think these two panels make him look exactly the way that I wanted him to.

On the other hand, what I really don't like in these pages are the 3rd panel on the 28th and the last panel on the 30th. They did not come out how I envisioned them at all. On the 28th, I wanted to do Rika's perspective, looking down on them but I just couldn't get it to look right at all. I settled on that shot. For the 30th, I really just made the boys too small. The older blond boy's hand really bothers me too. It looks really bad and nothing I did could make it look any better. It was the perspective I wanted, but it did not turn out how I wanted.

On to the 4th and 6th. Here, we return to Bryoak, who has found a job and is now going to find Rika. If you are wondering why he didn't look for Rika first, it's because it would be hard for Rika not to be found. He's really one of the only three horned, spotted wood elves in the area, if not the only. All Bry would have to do is give a description of Rika and he would be found pretty fast. Spots are a recessive trait, so even though most of the spotted wood elves are from the eastern side of Lath where they are, spotted wood elves are few in number.

As for the art, have I ever mentioned that I dislike drawing towns? I really hate drawing buildings. I'm not good at them at all. Too many straight lines. I'm terrible at straight lines, even with a ruler. As such, my town buildings always suck. I'm so glad the next chapter will not be in a town.

Otherwise, I do like these two pages, though. I love how Rika was so quick to abandon Bryoak before and now come running back to him when he's in trouble, crashing into everything along the way. So, how did those guys get covered in trash? No idea, so I'll leave that up to your imagination. They do look pretty gross, though.

Next week: Where are Luta, Leanna, and the kitties during all of this?