June 3rd, 2009: Pages 1-3-4, 5, 6 & 7 are up. Apologies for the delay, folks. Recent events made it hard for me to focus on the comic as much as I would've liked, and I really wanted to complete the full 4 pages for this update.
May 4th, 2009: Pages 1-3-1, 2, & 3 are up.
March 29th, 2009: Pages 1-2-72, 73, 74, 75, & 76 are up.
And so ends Chapter 2!
March 2nd, 2009: Pages 1-2-69, 70 & 71 are up.
February 2nd, 2009: Pages 1-2-66, 67 & 68 are up.
January 5th, 2009: Pages 1-2-61, 62, 63, 64, & 65 are up. Thanks to everyone who answered the poll.
December 22nd, 2008: Just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays. I'll see you in the new year.
*Clicky*
December 3rd, 2008: While waiting for the next update, I thought I'd let you guys in on a couple of things I've been working on.
First off: A pic of some kind of Commando Mage. While this pic wasn't originally related to Renaissance, I've been fiddling with the idea of including something like this later on in the comic, either as a new character or just some kind of MPTF special unit that might pop up some time in the storyline.
And second: Some concept art for a sort of new character. I say "sort of" because this character has been around since the original "Neotopia" comic, but the storyline never got to her. She's undergone several redesigns since then, but the basic concept has remained the same. She'll be the main magic-user of the comic. It'll still be a while before she shows up though. (If anyone's wondering what a Celtic Elf looks like, she's it)
December 1st, 2008: Pages 1-2-58, 59 & 60 are up!
November 11th, 2008: Turns out I had the day off for Rememberance Day, today, so I spent the afternoon finishing that wallpaper.
There are several different versions, so just check in the extras section and pick whichever one suits your tastes. Also, if none of the available resolutions fit your own, just shoot me an email and I'll make a custom one.
November 10th, 2008: Pages 1-2-54, 55, 56 & 57 are up. I'm working on a wallpaper at the moment to make up for the delay. It should be up by the end of the week. And my eyes are back to normal so no more delays from here on out.
October 12th, 2008: Just wanted to let you guys know that the next update will be delayed by a few weeks. I recently had laser eye surgery and an unfortunate (temporary) side-effect is that my eyes dry up rather easily when working on a computer. They will also be a bit more sensitive to light for a little while. Obviously, this makes working on the comic (which is 100% digital) a real pain in the butt, and I haven't been able to get any real drawing done because of it. While I won't be taking a break from the comic, I'm not sure I'll be able to match the same pace I've had for the past few updates.
I hate doing this right as the new schedule begins, but things should be back to normal for me within a week or two. I should still be able to get the next update out by early November. I'll try to come up with a little something extra to make it up to you guys.
September 29th, 2008: Pages 1-2-49, 50, 51, 52 & 53 are up!
I had lots of fun putting this update together. I really did my best to raise the bar for myself with this action scene and I think it shows. I did a lot of experimentation (trying out a bunch of different camera angles, lots of motion effects, etc.) and it seems to have payed off. There are still some parts I'm not 100% happy with, but I'm still pretty proud of this one.
In the course of drawing these pages, I picked up the first volume of the Black Lagoon manga (which I highly reccommend to any action junky). Not only was it an entertaining read, but it also gave me a good idea of how action scenes should be done and it came in very useful when I needed a little inspiration.
September 7th, 2008: Changed the synopsis in the About section to match the one on the character sheets I gave out at Otakuthon.
August 18th, 2008: Pages 1-2-47 & 48 are up. I decided to make the first update in the new schedule a short one. You guys have already been waiting long enough for an update, I didn't wanna turn it into a full 2 months. These two pages are the start of a big action scene, so we'll be able to see if the new schedule helps with the fluidity of the next couple of scenes.
August 14th, 2008: Temporarily removed Elissa's cast information.
August 4th, 2008: Temporarily removed the MPTF page of the "Fiction" section. I want to rework it a bit.
July 27, 2008: So, Otakuthon has come and gone. This was my first con and I gotta say I had a real blast. Thanks to everyone who came to see me (either at my table or at the panel) and welcome to all the new readers! Hope you guys are enjoying the shirts :P
I got to meet some great people and it was fun meeting and talking with Sirkowski and Mark Sprague. Gisèle Lagacé didn't show so, we had to do the panel without her, but it went well anyway, despite being a bit disorganized hehe. Sirkowski and Sprague also hosted a workshop on how to animate cartoons using Flash, which was pretty cool. Thanks to them, you guys might see some Renaissance animations in the future.
I also had a look at a panel about cyborgs and bioroids in anime. I wasn't able to stay for the whole thing, but it was very interesting and gave me some good ideas for the comic. Unfortnately, the two fellas hosting the panel didn't introduce themselves at the beginning, and their names aren't on the program so I had no clue who I was listening to o.O Which is a shame, 'cus they were clearly smart guys who knew what they were talking about. They actually went into the deeper, philosophical aspects of cyborgs and robots, so it wasn't a "OMG CYBORGZ ROCKZ!" kinda thing. It was actually an intelligent discussion. I also went to see the Masquerade, which is bascially a talent show for cosplayers. That was awesome. Hell, even the stagehand ninjas were entertaining!
So, as I said, it was great. I'm just sad I didn't actually buy anything (except the first issue of Miss Dynamite). I did see a wicked Motoko Kusanagi figurine, but I was too cheap to buy it when I saw it. Then when I went back the next day, someone had grabbed it T_T
I wish I could've seen more, but that just gives me a reason to go back next year.
Now, down to business. As promised, I'll begin work on the next page of Renaissance right away. However, I've decided to change the update schedule. Rather than posting only 1 page per update, I'll be putting up several at a time. However, this means the comic would only update once a month (give or a take a few weeks, depending on how many pages are in a scene). I believe this would give the comic a better sense of continuity, and make action scenes feel more fluid. Pretty much everyone I've spoken to about this is of the same opinion and think it'd help the comic, but if you'd like to voice your opinion, simply post on the forum.
Speaking of feedback, I don't get nearly enough of it. The only way I can make this comic better is by knowing what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong. I'd really like to hear more from you guys so please register on the forum and post some comments, criticisms (keep them constructive), maybe give some suggestions, or even write a review.
A note about the forum: Due to the large number of spambots that register, I have to approve of your registration personally before you can start posting. So please be patient as it can take me a while to get to it. To speed things up, you can send me an email with your username.
So, that's it. I'm dead tired and have work tomorrow so, I'm hitting the hay.
June 23rd, 2008: Page 1-2-46 is up. Apologies for the delay.
OTAKUTHON 2008
I've been invited as a special guest to Otakuthon, an Anime and Manga convention happening in Montreal, this July. I'll be speaking at a webcomics panel alongside three other webcomics artists: Sébastien Fréchette, aka "Sirkowski", of Miss Dynamite; Mark Sprague, of Dragon Mango; and Gisèle Lagacé, of Penny and Aggie and Menage a 3.
In addition to answering questions at the panel, I'll also have a table in the main hall. So if you're in the Montreal area on July 26th and 27th, feel free to stop by.
I've got a lot of things I want to get done for the convention:
- New Web Site, done entirely in Flash
- Various Renaissance related artwork that I'll be selling;
- Renaissance T-Shirts (possibly).
Now the sad news: I'm afraid Renaissance will be going on hiatus for a month. This'll be my first convention so I want to be sure to give myself all the time I need to get all these little projects done and ready for the con. Renaissance will resume after Otakuthon.
