Author notes

Book 3 Page 10

Scorpion451

on Sept. 4, 2012

For starters: new voting incentive up on TopWebComics!

So this one might look a bit different from the average page to my more observant readers.
Its another one of my little "experimental" pages:
Its the first time I've ever done a page entirely digitally from start to finish.

The reason I'm trying this is kind of complicated.
I've discovered that as I've gotten more and more comfortable with digital media over the past few years, that I have to rely less and less on traditionally created linework to get the "polished roughness" look that is so important in a page of the Greening Wars. I've also discovered that while there is no replacement for the grain and color variations of traditional ink linework… sometimes digital linework can be enough to get the job done, when everything is said and done.

Digital inking also goes much more quickly- I finished this page in about 3 hours. That's as opposed to between 8 and 10 hours for a traditionally inked page, because it cuts out a lot of steps that I have to do when working traditionally (plus if I screw up I don't have to start the inking over). So if I started doing the inking for most pages digitally, I might even be able to start updating more than once per week like I did at the start- but this time without totally burning myself out!

Also, If I did start doing digital inking, that would not mean the end of traditionally inked pages entirely- but this would be reserved for things like splash pages and particularly important or artsy pages and panels, like when black-and-white webcomics use color.

Its kind of a major decision to make:
To stick with the slower but more "authentic" traditional that has had a large role in defining how TGW looks now and will continue to look
regardless of media;
or…
to go to the faster new media that might mean I can do more pages, faster without dropping the quality by any significant amount- and perhaps even raise the quality by effectively giving me more time to work on pages.

In a sentence: Cling to my roots, or step out of the pod bay door?

I could really use some reader input here; it would mean a lot to me to hear what ya'll think 'bout the matter.