Shadsie
Sage of Tales
Another attempt at an idea I've played around with before. I think I've discovered the art style I want for it. This is an original comic, monochrome foreground (in pencil) with backgrounds of various colors. As of starting this post, I've done the first two pages and they're in the "red" chapter.
I've tried writing this thing up as a short story and it kind of wanted to be a comic - or at least, I wanted to play around with the visual elements and see if I could make it some kind of highly unusual comic/webcomic for my site. (Tip: Don't ever get web-hosting from GoDaddy unless you can stand advertising in your face as you search for wherever they hid the FTP this time everytime you want to update your page or store files. GAAAAH!)
Bricklayer is about a fortified city where people have a tradition of stripping the bones of their dead and using them to build an inner wall as a memorial. They don't have a lot of space for burial and some eccentric family long ago started this as an art project that successive generations saw fit to continue. The wall serves as a memento mori for the entire town and is a beloved way to honor their fallen. The people who take up the sacred duty of preparing remains for the wall, however, are a marginalized group. (Few volunteer for the job - they are forced into the position due to poverty / family status). In addition to being looked down upon by their own people, visiting outsiders tend to see the entire city as a quaint, pitiable, superstitious lot. One young journalist sets out to really try to understand the Bricklayers on their own terms, which is where our story begins.
Links to comic pages will take you to where they are stored on my current domain / webspace. While not brutal or violent in the traditional manner, there is some disturbing imagery in regards to "this story deals with dead things."
Page 1: http://www.senordwall.com/BricklayerPage1small.jpg
Page 2: http://www.senordwall.com/BricklayerPage2small.jpg
Laid up in Corel - which I hate. Well, not hate, but I don't like it nearly as much as I do Photoshop. (Unfortunately, my computer with Photoshop on it is unstable and I'm trying to force myself to like Corel again). This may account for why there's so many artifacts in the jpg - either that or I need to try saving a larger file (I thought it would be too enormous at 150 dpi and went with the piddly 72 dpi you see). I may upload my large files to my Deviant Art space.
- The winged skeleton-cat has some significance, which will probably be explained on page 3 or 4.
- If you are seeing things in the clouds, congrats. A friend of mine recently started discovering "hidden messages" in the stylized clouds I've been drawing/painting on several of my pieces, seeing letters and stuff that I never intended. I'm now trying to put some *actual* hidden messages in clouds. Of course, I showed him the ones pictured here and he couldn't read them! (People will find things where you do not intend and will not get the messages you actually create... such is an artist's life, I suppose).
Will update upon completing new pages if anyone is interested and this thread doesn't wither and die. My various ideas for this comic are pretty much of a psychological / philosophical / spiritual ramble and I plan to keep it as a sci-fi/fantasy-ish feeling thing that is realistic enough to actually happen (the premise is based on real things such as the Paris Catacombs and this weird bone-church in Europe).
I've tried writing this thing up as a short story and it kind of wanted to be a comic - or at least, I wanted to play around with the visual elements and see if I could make it some kind of highly unusual comic/webcomic for my site. (Tip: Don't ever get web-hosting from GoDaddy unless you can stand advertising in your face as you search for wherever they hid the FTP this time everytime you want to update your page or store files. GAAAAH!)
Bricklayer is about a fortified city where people have a tradition of stripping the bones of their dead and using them to build an inner wall as a memorial. They don't have a lot of space for burial and some eccentric family long ago started this as an art project that successive generations saw fit to continue. The wall serves as a memento mori for the entire town and is a beloved way to honor their fallen. The people who take up the sacred duty of preparing remains for the wall, however, are a marginalized group. (Few volunteer for the job - they are forced into the position due to poverty / family status). In addition to being looked down upon by their own people, visiting outsiders tend to see the entire city as a quaint, pitiable, superstitious lot. One young journalist sets out to really try to understand the Bricklayers on their own terms, which is where our story begins.
Links to comic pages will take you to where they are stored on my current domain / webspace. While not brutal or violent in the traditional manner, there is some disturbing imagery in regards to "this story deals with dead things."
Page 1: http://www.senordwall.com/BricklayerPage1small.jpg
Page 2: http://www.senordwall.com/BricklayerPage2small.jpg
Laid up in Corel - which I hate. Well, not hate, but I don't like it nearly as much as I do Photoshop. (Unfortunately, my computer with Photoshop on it is unstable and I'm trying to force myself to like Corel again). This may account for why there's so many artifacts in the jpg - either that or I need to try saving a larger file (I thought it would be too enormous at 150 dpi and went with the piddly 72 dpi you see). I may upload my large files to my Deviant Art space.
- The winged skeleton-cat has some significance, which will probably be explained on page 3 or 4.
- If you are seeing things in the clouds, congrats. A friend of mine recently started discovering "hidden messages" in the stylized clouds I've been drawing/painting on several of my pieces, seeing letters and stuff that I never intended. I'm now trying to put some *actual* hidden messages in clouds. Of course, I showed him the ones pictured here and he couldn't read them! (People will find things where you do not intend and will not get the messages you actually create... such is an artist's life, I suppose).
Will update upon completing new pages if anyone is interested and this thread doesn't wither and die. My various ideas for this comic are pretty much of a psychological / philosophical / spiritual ramble and I plan to keep it as a sci-fi/fantasy-ish feeling thing that is realistic enough to actually happen (the premise is based on real things such as the Paris Catacombs and this weird bone-church in Europe).
