August 19th, 2010: I'd like to thank everyone who came to see me at Otakuthon this past weekend! It was great meeting you guys and I hope you enjoyed seeing how I work :) And welcome to all the new readers! Be sure to join our facebook group!
This year I once again did the webcomics panel with Sirkowski, of Miss Dynamite, as well as Mark Sprague of Dragon Mango. It was still as disorganized as the last few years, but at least this time we were all more comfortable with the whole thing, and it felt like less of a half-assed panel and more like just a bunch of webcomics fans shooting the shit. It was great hanging out with them again and I hope you guys had fun at the panel. I also ended up doing a second, unplanned webcomics panel with Mark, along with Lar deSouza of Least I Could Do and Looking For Group, later that same day. Another fun hour of discussion, though Mark and I were mostly repeating what we had already said a few hours earlier lol.
I have to admit I'm sad I didn't get to do much at the con, aside from the panels. My table setup was more complicated than usual so, I couldn't exaclty pack up and move whenever I felt like it. By Sunday night, my ass was actually kinda sore. It was totally worth it though, since I got the chance to chat with some fans and fellow artists.
Be sure to check out my buddy Ken's Flickr account. He took a ton of pictures of cosplayers over the weekend. The dude in the Big Daddy outfit was awesome!
Also, I think I won't be able to have a full 6 pages for the next update. I just didn't plan out the past month very well and preparations for Otakuthon ended up cutting more into my comic time than expected. I'm going to do as many as I can before September 6th, but it won't be the full number of pages that I promised. But things should be pretty smooth from here on, and I'll be able to update the comic regularly once again.
Finally, I'm going to try and start updating the site a bit whenever I can, like the fiction section and shamefully outdated cast section, as well as posting some more regular stuff like Renaissance artwork and side projects from my deviantArt page. I think I'll start with the drawing I completed at Otakuthon. If anything, it'll give you a small taste of the action scenes coming up very soon in Chapter 3.
August 4th, 2010: Here is the poster I'll be showing off at Otakuthon. I'll be handing out smaller sized prints, and taking orders for full size (18 x 24) prints as well.
July 31st, 2010: Sorry folks, but I'm going to be delaying the next update to September 6th and doubling the number of pages. The last few weeks at work have really kicked my ass, and preparations for Otakuthon are not going as smoothly as I'd like.
July 5th, 2010: Pages 1-3-38, 39 & 40 are up! Page 1-3-41 will be up later this week, since I wasn't able to finish it in time.
May 30th, 2010: Pages 1-3-35, 36, and 37 are up!
May 10th, 2010: Page 1-3-32, 33, and 34 are up!
May 2nd, 2010: Sorry folks, due to a few personal matters I wasn't able to get enough work done on the comic. The next update is delayed 'til next Monday.
April 5th, 2010: Pages 1-3-28, 29, 30, and 31 are up!
Also, I'd like to let you know I'll be attending Otakuthon once again this year. If you're in Montreal August 13th to 15th, stop by le Palais des Congrès and say "hi". I'll be working on the comic at my table so you can see how it gets done, and I'll also be handing out exclusive art and taking comissions.
(Be sure to check out the Facebook page if you're planning on attending!)
March 1st, 2010: Pages 1-3-24, 25, 26, and 27 are up!
January 18th, 2010: Pages 1-3-18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 are up!
December 31st, 2009: I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and hope you are all having a nice holiday. The next update is coming along nicely and will most definitely be up in time. We'll be getting back to a more regular schedule in the new year.
In addition, I'd also like to announce that I've done away with the spam-filled forums, and instead, put together a Facebook group. So, if you have a Facebook account, go ahead and sign up for the group.
December 7th, 2009: Apologies yet again. November kicked my ass and I wasn't able to get anything done on Renaissance. Things should be back to normal after the holidays. I guarantee a full update and a return to regular updates by mid-January.
October 31st, 2009: Well, this past month wasn't much better than the last. I wasn't able to get any real work done on the comic, so the update is once again delayed. I'm not too sure if November will be much better, but things should shape up for me soon and I'll be able to get back to regular updates come December. In the mean time, I figured I'd at least put up the one page I was able to complete, page 1-3-17, which will act as sort of a preview of what's to come I guess.
October 3rd, 2009: Sorry, folks, but I won't be able to get a proper update done by Monday, so I'm moving it to November and doubling the number of pages.
September 26th, 2009: Just wanted to thank everyone who came to see me at Montreal Comic-Con. Hope you guys enjoy Renaissance :)
I got to meet a lot of nice people and some really great artists. I also had fun talking with Jimmy Suzan, who just published the first volume of Tricomb Dynasty. It's a good read with a unique art style. I recommend you pick it up.
The highlight of the weekend, though, was probably Lou Ferrigno farting on a friend of mine. A moment I'm sure my buddy will cherish to the end of his days.
August 30th, 2009: Pages 1-3-13, 14, 15, & 16 are up. Page 16 took a lot less time than expected, so I finished ahead of schedule.
August 20th, 2009: Quick heads up: In September, I'll be a guest at Montreal Comic-Con. This is actually a more mainstream comic-book convention, not just for Anime & Manga fans. I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet, but if you're in the Montreal area Sept. 19th & 20th, stop by Place Bonaventure and say hi.
August 6th, 2009: Just wanted to thank everyone who came to see me at Otakuthon. It was really cool meeting you guys. Also, a nice welcome to all the new readers. Hope you enjoy the comic :)
Once again, I did the webcomics panel along with Sirkowski. This year we were joined by Félix Lavallée of Flaky Pastry, which made it an all francophone panel. Apologies to those of you who only speak english hehe ^^; In any case, it was cool meeting and talking with the two of them, and thanks to those of you who showed up for it.
For the second time, I didn't actually buy anything, which is odd since I always thought these things were supposed to be pretty rough on one's wallet. I guess I'm just cheap. However, I did commission a slick sketch of Nyoko by Natasmai. Go check out her stuff, she does great work.
We also had a mini-contest where we gave away some shirts. Congrats to the lucky people who won, and to Dr. McNinja, who also got one for saving a life by performing open-heart surgery with his katana.
Even though the con was 3 days this year, I still didn't get to see everything I would've liked. Guess I'll have to manage my time better next year :P
July 27th, 2009: Pages 1-3-11 & 12 are up.
July 17th, 2009:
Just a quick note: This year at Otakuthon I'll be selling this poster, along with some smaller prints:
July 6th, 2009: Pages 1-3-8, 9 & 10 are up.
Also, I've been invited back to Otakuthon this year. So, if you're in the Montreal area from July 31st to August 2nd, stop by the "Palais des Congrès" and say hi :)
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.
