EOS 5: Brotherly Advice

I actually, liked the raw line drawing of this one enough to where I was tempted to leave it like that. It would save me hours of time. What do you think?

I think my shading technique definitely needs some work, but it is getting there. Also, I need to learn when ink shading, adds to or detracts from a drawing. Oh well. This story arc will be finished up in a week. Then I might really switch gears.

EOS 4: Accross the Hall and Under Assult.

Not much to say here.  I am really pleased with panel 4 and I like panel 2 except for Natalie's hands. I've been getting some nice feedback from some people I trust. Thank you. This is still a work in progress for a lot of reasons. I have a handful of story-lines in my head intended to introduce different elements of the cast. When I am done with that, I will hopefully be a little more competent with drawing these things, and I may change a lot of things around on the site.

Let's see how long this hobby lasts. Oh boy, I get to take a day off from drawing this weekend.

EOS 3: Down The Street

Oh, here we meet Natalie! This is the start of a small story arc that should last the next few weeks and result in us meeting the rest of the cast. 

Artistically, I have mixed feelings about this one. I will not make a list of the things I think are good and bad.

EOS 2: What exactly is rocket science?

Here is the latest comic. This one took several days and iterations. I hope you like it. Of course, there are plenty of things that I would completely redo. I think it looks adequate, and it is much better than the last one. If you want to have fun look at the last panel rotated in 90 degree increments.

I learned a bit from drawing it. The first thins is that there is no such thing as a solid color either in real life or in drawing. This is especially true for black and white. Objects of those two colors show contrasting highlights like nobody's business. The second thing is that lettering is not a natural process. The third is that perspective shouldn't be over-thought. Your brain knows what looks right. Forth, it should look good in black and white and awesome in color. Finally, I learned that I really need to focus on developing my character art and facial expressions. They don't need to be complicated. They just need to be more expressive. Simple can be very expressive. Just see www.xkcd.com for proof.

So what is next? I thought I would try a small story arc that introduces and develops some new characters. I also have so random throw-in jokes to do if I feel like them. I will try to have the next strip out next week. I think a three-day development loop would be good for a full time scientist starting out. How do Tuesdays and Fridays sound for comics

Like I said, if you have any more feedback, then please give it. The main point of this blog is to test ideas.

EOS 1: Valentine's Day!

Here is my first post, and just in time for the holiday. It was easier than I thought. Although, as you can see I have a lot to work on both technically and stylistically. Feel free to leave your comments. (I, personally, think panel 2 is the best.) I will hope to get at least one update per week depending on both time and inspiration.

Sarting out.

This site is kind of a dry run and a testbed of ideas of my new comic. This is not the permanent home of Eyes of Solace, but it is easy enough to manage at the moment, and since I fight with technology all day, I kind of do not want to fight with it when I am relaxing.

As for the stories and characters, this comic is going to be highly autobiographical after a fashion.

What it will not be another comic by a twenty-something about drinking, being poor, and sexual escapades. They say to write what you know, so I will write about the jokes, fantasies, dreams, beliefs, and friends that get this half crazy antisocial grad student though the day. By the way, this is not intended to be a comic about grad school. If you want one, then go to www.phdcomics.com This is also, not a comic about being a nerd. There are plenty of those on the web as well.

A list of characters is coming this weekend. They are based on some of the best people from my life. As for updates, they will happen when I feel like doing them, so no promises. Finally, the comics themselves. Hopefully they will be funny and endearing. Since I believe that hitting the ground running is the only way to get something started, I will be working on the artwork as I go. Finger crossed here people. I took my last art class in high-school.

I suppose I should address my policy on intellectual property. EDIT: see legal page for creative commons license.

Andrew