This month was a nice break for both my art and academic needs. During this time, I've re-evaluated my goals, and I think it would in my own best interests to take my time and not push to rush things, such that everything falls into place smoothly.
May Summary This month, I was able to take two weeks off work in order to recover from a surgery. I had high hopes that this would allow me to have a lot of time to work on my webcomic, but who knew that recovery proved to be more of a pain than I thought. Unfortunately, one of the two weeks was spent in misery in bed, without much motivation to be productive with my webcomic work.
Ultimately, I was unable to complete the goal to complete chapter 5 in its entirety. By the end of my two week break, I had indeed managed to complete the dreaded linearts for chapter 5. However, as I try to save time by outsourcing the flatting step to my assistant, this is where my progress stopped. Of course, it would be easier if I flatted myself rather than wait an undetermined amount of time for the flats to be returned to me, but given that each page would take me 10-30 minutes, it would still add up to time better spent elsewhere. Instead, I proceeded to my next goal of storyboarding chapter 6. But I didn't stop there. I also storyboarded chapter 7 - which would be the chapter that marks my ultimate debut goal of a 1 year backlog.
In addition to this, I have also made the decision to add an extra chapter between my current chapter 1 and chapter 2. Why? Well at the very beginning, the present chapter 2 was actually meant to be the start of the story. At the time, I felt like it didn't reflect the tone of the story that I was trying to tell, so I created chapter 1. This eventually posed a problem. I suppose it was a combination of factors, but long story short, this was the very first webcomic I ever tried to seriously work on and complete. I was inexperienced in both storytelling, storyboarding, panelling, drawing, colouring, typesetting - the whole package. The process was very slow as I tried to adjust to this tedious workflow ... and given my short attention span, the dangers of taking too long on a certain task eventually leads to disinterest. I didn't want to work on the Khalluha arc anymore. So I cut the original script by half, to save myself the tourment. This gave me the tiniest bit of motivation to move past the finish line, and after that, everything was smooth sailing as I finally got past the first hurdle.
However, this lead to a new problem. The Khalluha arc was unfinished and left on a cliffhanger. I had originally intended this to be left to the reader's imagination, and have the ending implied to throughout the rest of the story ... which I'm sure would work for some audiences, but I think what happened instead, was that it only ended up bringing more unnecessary questions to the readers. So I wrote a list of all the unanswered questions from the arc, and all the other additional information that I think would benefit the readers from knowing early on ... and I wrote the script for what will be the new chapter 2. This works out well for me because it tied a nice knot to the end of the first short arc, and added a lot of additional information vital to the story that was not addressed in the subsequent chapters.
Let's not forget about my illustration goals. Of course, I had completed one last minute. I've been quite blocked on illustrations to draw for my OC's lately. Eventually, I realized that I've yet to complete any illustrations for my chapter covers - which would be quite necessary in order for my to release my chapters. So that's something I will be working on until the release date.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to complete any other illustrations as I'd hoped. There hasn't been much illustration motivation this month. What I did manage to do, though, was finalise my persona design, and complete the base required for a live 2D model!
I still need to complete the shading and start learning rigging for this model - but otherwise, it is coming along quite smoothly! I am quite happy with myself at finally finishing my new persona design. I've been wanting a Fruit Tart personified persona for the longest time, but never got around to finding the perfect design to suit what I have in mind. I think I finally got it! I may talk more about the design after I come close to the completion stages of the model.
Finally, I want to talk about the debut date. In order to do so, I must divulge a little information about my academic profession. The latest date of my intended debut date was 05/11. However, I wanted to release it earlier mid-year in order to keep myself motivated throughout this journey of preparation. Have other people come join me in this journey, and to give myself something to look forward to such that I could cope with my full-time work and study. The time has finally come around to what was going to be my mid-year debut. I had achieved more or less the requirements of doing roughly 1 chapter per month, and I have definitely acquired more than 6 month's worth of backlog - at this point, I am just shy of the 1 year backlog goal. However, I am not as inclined as I once was to releasing it anytime in the next two months. Why?
Firstly, chapters aside, there are some more prep work that I haven't completed - and there are now extra prep work I want to add to that load:
1. The chapter illustrations to go at the beginning of each chapter.
2. The reformatted vertical panels.
3. End card graphic designs and authors notes to be added.
4. Promotional material leading up to the release of the webcomic, including the completion of the persona model for promotional streaming purposes.
I'm sure they sound menial and unnecessary. But the time spent on each of them adds up. Of course, once they are done, the process would just be to remember to upload it every week.
The final, and most predominant reason, is my academic profession. Counting up the months leading up to my exams, releasing it in June-July doesn't really make sense for me. Because my exams are in September and October respectively. Which means that even if I released it in July, there's only at most one month of solace and pride before my mind is taken up by imminent study preparations for judgment day. I'd barely be able to enjoy the release with everyone else. However, releasing it in November makes sense because by this time, my exams and assignments are over. It would not only be a great birthday present for myself, but also a celebration for the end of my exams.
So with all this to consider, it only makes sense that I adhere to the original plan of releasing the webcomic in November. To tell the truth, I have my own hesitancy about releasing it to begin with. Will people like it? Will people care? Will people enjoy it? Will it get noticed? Will it get ignored? Will it be a success? Or will it be a disappointment? For something that I've poured my heart and soul into, it feels vulnerable to share it with the world, and so I am inevitably sensitive to it's potential rejection by the public. But I won't think about that now. I'll keep working hard to make the debut process as smooth as possible.
June Goals
The following month, I aim to complete chapter 5 coloured, the new chapter 2 storyboarded, and ideally chapter 6 linearted as well. In addition to the one illustration this month, I also aim to have the shading for the persona model finished.
That marks the end of my soliloquy for this month. See you in the next update! Ciao!
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