Spread 19 here. More text below.
This spread gave me more trouble then all my other spreads combined! I redrew it three times from start to finish and still scrapped 80% of it. The last two panels were thrown in last minute and seem to work better than anything else I tried. As you can see on the left side, I ended up focusing mainly on narration leaving most of the page black. I guess I was trying to show and explain to much back story in the pictures and it really didn't need to be there. I guess some of the killed art can still be put into the art-of book.
This week I finished putting together the Xeric submission and I will say that it looks AMAZING! Seeing reMIND printed nicely on paper is very exciting and it gave me an idea of how big this book might be. I dropped it off at FedEx this morning. Now I just need to wait for 3 months to hear if I get their stamp of approval.
On another note, I finally got a response from ComicSpace (a year after I started emailing them) and they finally gave me access to my account which I immediately deleted and cancelled. FINALLY! I was sick of knowing people could do a search for my name and come across a ComicSpace page that says, "reMIND – coming in 2008!". Back then it was black and white. My plans changed as you can see. If you are confused about my ComicSpace rant then here's the article where I explain myself.
Now back to positive news. reMIND got accepted into Kickstarter.com last week. Apparently Kickstarter is still in beta so you have to get approval before you can post your project there. I've been slowly working on the page trying to figure out what might be good incentives for specific pledges. Wait till you see what my $1000 pledge will get you. Hopefully Bill Gates reads reMINDblog. Thank you to everyone who suggested KickStarter. You guys are great!
Jason's FINALLY list:
- I finally got some links up on my links page. Feel free to use any of 'em to paste all over the internet.
- I finally put up a Twitter link so you can see what I ate for breakfast. (I rarely use it really)
- I finally got a mailing list. A real one.
- I finally started a monthly newsletter for reMIND.
Last Monday, in the comments section, Nathan Wrann suggested I go to comic conventions NOW and start handing out fliers to everyone as well as possibly getting a booth to sell prints even though I don't have my books finished. That seems to be a great piece of advice so I think I'm going to print up postcards and some prints for the Ape Con this year and try to hand them out. I'd like to say I'll be at the Wonder Con too but…I wont. But with all this new thought about spamming innocent convention crowds with my reMIND imagery, one question comes to mind. Does anyone want to rent me some space at the Ape Con this year? I can pay you a few bucks and I promise I wont spill my Soy Vanilla Caffé Mocha Frappuccino on your freshly printed stash.
Oh yeah. One more thing. I decided to start a lottery every month for everyone on my mailing list. Each month I'll have my beautiful wife pick a random number which would correlate with my subscriber count. That lucky person will get some free reMIND junk. (If they want it anyway) I'm kinda broke right now so I might be doing some original art sketches for the first few months. Eventually I'll start printing some T-shirts and stuff so you never know what it might be. I'll announce the first winner at the beginning of each month starting in May so sign up for my mailing list to get in on the action!
I also wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post about 1000 true fans. That is a high calling and I expect to see all of you at every convention buying 3 copies of everything I sell. Joking. But seriously, I thank you for publicly stating that you enjoy my work. It's very encouraging whether you plan on buying anything from me in the future or not!
This weeks voting incentive is a panel from this spread that got the axe. Maybe now you will believe me when I say it wasn't working. Vote Here!
I finally added one of the banner links. And I can definitely see how this spread would be a challenge, but it came out good in the end!
Oh man, I totally forgot to send you something. In fact, I was meaning to tell you to feel free to pull anything from my pages to make your own banners or buttons if you like. I'm not picky with that stuff. Thanks for linking to me though. It's greatly appreciated!
I just wanted to say thanks for letting us get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in your creative process. This kind of stuff always fascinates me, and I'm really enjoying the story so far. I look forward to seeing it develop further.
I agree that going to conventions and distributing fliers is a great way to get your comic's name out there. I've been to Comic Con a few times, and they always have this huge set of tables covered with nothing but stacks of fliers for webcomics and other geek-related things, and I always go through it and pick out a few that look interesting. Then when I get home, I go visit the sites (if they still look interesting after I've actually read what's on the flier), and more often than not something or other from that stack gets added to my watchlist. You may not get rich off of it, but if you pick up a few more fans from every convention that way, that's a start.
Good luck!
Great insight in your comment. I'll be looking for that table to put a giant stack of reMIND posters or something on. Maybe a stack of postcards.
I'm glad that you are finding this blog enjoyable too. I know I do! Thanks for the comment!
seriously beautiful jason!
Thanks buddy!
I'm planning on getting a table at APE this year and I'd be open to renting you some space if I get a full table. They haven't opened registration yet, so I'm not sure if I can swing a full table yet, but if you're interested drop me a line.
Thanks for the offer Mike! I will keep your info handy and give you a shout closer to the con to see what your situation is then. Who knows, maybe I should just walk around handing out fliers and cards as well as leaving them on the free tables. At least I have one other option now.
The progress is great, here, Jason. And I wouldn't worry so much about the heavy blacks – it reads as a negative space and counterpoints the two other panels remarkably well. As for conventions, I have to say I've never been to one, and am apprehensive about the experience, but I'm trying to get some space at NYCC (we'll hear about that soon), just to test the waters. I'll be interested to see how APE turns out – from what I've heard, APE, Small Press Expo and NYCC are pretty happening, as far as the non-ComicCon opportunites go. Drop me a line in the aftermath and we'll compare notes.
One of these days I guess I'll have to go to San Diego, but this year it's highly unlikely I'll be able to afford either the time or the travel. And I say that as though I hate my job (actually, I love it!) but as most cartoonists are, there's a living that has to be made outside the art.
–M
Yeah, the San Diego one is just crazy. I do look forward to getting a booth there mainly so I can have a place to sit. haha. I would love to goto the NYCC sometime. I just had a dream about NY last night. Strange. Anyway, that one is in my sights for 2011 so I'd love to hear what you though of it.
well executed.
Thank you!
Wow, you are really making strides with things. Listening to your progress and struggles gives me a bit of encouragement with my own stuff. Anyhow, really awesome page. I especially like that last panel; your colors and composition are great.
Speaking of which, how do you get your colored art to look like watercolor? I've tried a few attempts in Photoshop over the years, but could never get anything decent without spending too much time on it.
Looking forward to the newsletter, and good luck with the Xeric grant.
Hey Brain, Thanks for stopping by and leaving the comment. I'm glad to hear this has been helpful.
I'll be making some tutorials in the future on how to color this way but I will say right now that the main trick to getting your pages looking watercolored is to paint water colors onto paper and scan it. Then use actual watercolors overlayed over your image. My textures are all gouache paints. I have about 8 scans that I've used for everything here. Don't try to fake it, just use the real thing. Hope that helps.