Radiance2020

Hey everyone. Been a few months since I posted an update journal (not since Web of Flies actually got under way even). Now seemed like a pretty good time to let everyone know what's going on.

First and foremost, I need to give a big thank you to everyone who has been showing me some support. A couple days ago, I posted a picture entitled "Sometimes You're Not Ok."

I described the events that had inspired it, namely having a little episode of my own two weeks ago. I just need to say thank you to those who sent me some well wishes and insured me that I don't need to be killing myself over things like deadlines I've imposed on myself. I really didn't expect to be getting that kind of feedback on it, and it really helps to know that there are people out there on DA that are supportive of what I enjoy doing.

Now the thing that needs to be addressed: Web of Flies. I believe that one of the things that led to my downward spiral was feeling burnt out on the comic. I have tried pushing that feeling off, telling myself that I'm not far enough in yet to be feeling burnt out. But honestly that was probably part of it. And I'm sure there's a lot of factors that led into that as well, ranging from getting my hopes up too high on how quickly it gained a following, to not being prepared enough before starting, to feeling like I couldn't work on a million other ideas I had because I imposed deadlines on myself that I needed to meet. So going forward, I'm going to take it a little easier on myself, take my time, and let myself do what I feel inspired to do.

As for chapter 3, I'm still working on that. It's going to end up being 20 pages long, and I plan to at least be done with the first 10 pages by the end of August. That being said, my wife and I are in the process of buying a house (another stressor). Closing for that also happens to coincide with the end of August. We are not planning to move in right away, but there will still be a lot of things that need to get done, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on things for the next couple months.

So then the question becomes, what do I do once chapter 2 is done and chapter 3 isn't finished? Do I just start uploading what I have? Or do I wait until I have chapter 3 finished? Right now I don't really know the answer. The only thing I will say for certain is that I am going to finish chapter 3 at some point. I just don't know when right now, and I'm going to try to accept that it's a little out of my control at the moment. In the mean time though, I am planning on making some more Maddie stuff cuz I have no shortage of ideas (another stressor).

In other news, I started a Ko-fi page!

I'm not really doing much with it right now, just having it serve as a tip jar to try and get a little extra cash (house doesn't pay for itself). Beginning tips start at just $2, but apparently you can donate any amount you want over that. As I said in the initial post, no one needs to feel obligated to leave a tip, especially if they're not in the financial position to. At some point when I have time, I'll try promoting it more. Maybe actually making a full fledged brand that I can market myself with. Whatever the cool internet kids are doing these days.

Lastly, if you haven't checked out my web comic "Web of Flies" yet...you're probably wondering what I've been rambling about this whole time. But if you haven't and would like to, I have the first chapter posted here on DA. You can find the rest of it over on Tapas. If you have been reading it, please consider subscribing. It's pretty cliché on the internet at this point, but the more likes and subscribes it gets, the more chance it has to be seen by more people. But more than that it would just be a nice little boost for me.

Ok that's enough plugging for me. I hope everyone out there is staying safe, healthy, and happy.

I finally did it! Honestly with how busy and stressful this past week was with work and everything, I wasn't really sure I'd be able to get chapter 1 up today. Fortunately, with the support of my equally stressed out fiancée, it all managed to come together last night. Such a range of emotions going on right now. Nervousness, excitement, anxiousness, a little bit of fear and worry. It's just crazy that I've actually put something out there for the world to see. Obviously not the whole world is going to see it. I'm keeping my expectations realistic. Will it be an overnight success? Of course not. What I'm really hoping for is a) that I can keep pace and not have any long gaps between what should be weekly uploads and b) for at least a handful of people to read and enjoy it.

Now, about the plan going forward. I will be uploading chapter 1 fully here, either all today or throughout the week. Then next Sunday April 11, page 1 of chapter 2 will drop over on Tapas https://tapas.io/series/Web-of-Flies/info. An additional page will be published every Sunday morning. With 23 pages in chapter 2, that gives me until the middle of September to have chapter 3 ready to go. That sounds like a long time, but considering how long it took to get this far I'm going to need to be very diligent!

Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to take a gander at my first comic series. Here's hoping it's just the start!

Hey guys. It's been quite a bit of time since I posted anything on here, and trust me it's been on my mind. The past couple months have been hectic at work, lots of long and stressful days that have cut down on my productivity. Then any time I've had to do some art I've spent almost all of that time working on comic pages. Hopefully I'll have an actual artwork to post up here in the next week or so.

But don't worry! There is good news. Chapter 2 is (barring any last second adjustments) done! Yep, that's 2 chapters ready to go! Now the only thing left to do are to make 2-3 cover pages, and Web of Flies will begin to be shown to the masses! The goal is the first weekend of April. That gives me 2 1/2 weeks to make the cover pages and do any final final touches.

I'm not going to lie. Being this close to uploading is making me a little nervous. I know that once I post the first page, there's no going back. I'm in it for the long haul, all the way to the end. Honestly, I don't know that I've ever really finished a major project like this 100%, and this is by far going to be the biggest project I've ever done. In the end, I just hope I'm able to make something that I can be proud of. Of course, if it's moderately successful that would be ok too XD.

First - first, Happy New Year everyone! I hope everybody had a great, non-stressful holiday season. We managed to make it through 2020 so that's something to have at least a mini internal celebration about. Here's hoping that 2021 is a little kinder to everyone!

Second-first, update on the comic. I am thiiiiiiis close to having chapter 1 done. I just need to make 2 more assets (another pic of Maddie and her ex-boyfriend, and a video game menu), then add some final touches and it'll be on to coloring chapter 2! Chapter 2 hopefully (hopefully) won't take quite as long to color now that I have gotten a feel for how I want to do it and can hopefully (hopefully) do it more efficiently. Part of me had a small amount of hope that I would be able to finish chapter 1 by the end of December, then get at least most of chapter 2 done by the end of January. Of course, that didn't happen. Holidays, people in town, and now I'm in a bit of a non-drawing groove (which hasn't stopped the influx of ideas (so many ideas)). So at this point maybe another week or 2 for chapter 1, then we'll see if we can get chapter 2 done by the end of February. If I can start uploading the comic by my birthday in March, then I'll be happy. Who knew making a comic by yourself was such a long process?

Third-first, I am going to attempt to do more streaming on Twitch. I'm not sure what kind of schedule I can make for myself that I'd actually be able to stick to, but if I could at least stream once a week that would be great. A couple weekends ago, I streamed some art in the morning, then played "Papers, Please" in the afternoon for a couple hours. I'd like to do that kind of thing some more, it's just finding the time and getting my lazy butt to do it. For anyone interested, twitch.tv/bonemanz

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have another update soon declaring chapter 1 being finished. Everyone stay safe, and stay the hell away from each other!

Yes! For the first time since starting this little project, I have actually made my deadline! That deadline was to have the first 2 chapters of the series inked by the end of September. I just narrowly managed to sneak it through Wednesday night after an awful day at work during a crazy busy work week, but I did it!

However, this is not the time to start taking it easy. You see, when I made this little concept piece,

I had stated that the comic would be in black and white and/or some kind of greyscale. Unfortunately, immediately after posting it I went completely against that decision and made up my mind to do full color. The obvious drawback to this is that color is going to make the process take longer. That being said, I just have the feeling that images and backgrounds and details and such just won't come out as well if they're not in color. So this is the path I have chosen.

I'm not going to give myself a deadline on getting the first 2 chapters colored and fully completed until I get a few pages done first. Then hopefully I'll have a realistic idea as to how long it should take. Optimistically I'd like to say everything will be ready to go by the end of October, but I'm not going to hold myself to that (especially when I have at least 1 Halloween pic to do).

For anybody that may be interested, once I get in a good rhythm of coloring these pages, I'll try to start streaming some on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/bonemanz