As our characters approach the Californian border we enter the meat and potatoes of this scene. The next half dozen pages should prove artistically interesting. RIO is definitely one of my favorite creations thus far in SSW. I spent a ridiculous time on the logo, as if I were really commissioned by the government to make it. I’m gonna find every little excuse i can find, to use it.

I think this is a bit of a milestone, page 30! I started this project back in March, and I believe it’s evolved quite nicely over the months. It’s nice to have this many pages done. There is definitely enough for a new reader to decided weather or not they like it. In this page I am introducing another one the entities in the SSW universe: R.I.O. Head on over to the Profiles section for the organization’s profile and logo. You can comment here in reaction to the design of the logo.

My favorite part of writing is dialogue. And my favorite kind of dialogue to write is quick, one or two word exchanges. I believe that if the situation is predefined clearly enough, the characters don’t need to say much to each other, to work through an idea. I am hopelessly fascinated with the English language and love figuring out creative ways to have my characters talk. Also, another key thing to make dialogue-heavy scenes exciting is to have quick cuts back and forth. Just throw an extra hand-full of cells on to the page, to make it more interesting.

So here’s page 28. I like it. This chapter and the next are really gonna set the plot in motion for the rest of the 10-11 chapter of the story.

So based on my script for Chapter 2, i did a rough estimate of how long it would take to finish chapter 2 and with my current pace, it’s not lookin too pretty. Needless to say I’m gonna be employing a few methods to shorten/quicken the story so it can end WITHIN the next presidential term.

Also, I’ve noticed a bit of increased traffic over the past couple months. If you’re new, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom. Let me know what you think of the current page or the overall novel-so-far. We artists live off of feedback. THX!

I have finished writing chapter 2, so it should be smooth sailin’ from here. I don’t really have much to talk about this week. I hope you guys are keeping up with my blog, it’s separate from these “notes.” Its more of a general life blog. So if you’re interested in seeing what else I’m thinking/doing, definitely check it out. I’, really sorry about the incentive thing with the voting. I am still trying to figure it out. For all of you who are voting everyday, thank you. If this voting deal doesn’t work, I’ll think if another way to get that sneak peek delivered, so sit tight. Also make sure to follow me on twitter @ ashowkati for updates about everything from SSW to what exciting flavor of ice cream I happen to be enjoying at the time.

I think Cass is starting to look pretty good. I finally have her the way I want her, and she’s been very consistent so far, in this chapter. I really like her character. One of the challenges in having two main characters in a story is creating that strong “main-character” plot-line for both. Instead of dividing your effort, or writing a stronger plot for one over the other. I think the mystery behind Cassie and her tie-in the the “main story” will be what makes it for her. The events and challenges I put Cass through will make it for her. And of course the fact that they’re together will play into and therefore strengthen their individual plot-lines, and therefore strengthen the whole story.

I plan on making both of them vital to the story. So much so that the story wouldn’t be possible without the both of them in it.

P.S. Check out the ‘profiles’ page for new entries!

My favorite part of doing SSW is figuring out the layout of the cells. I don’t know if you’ve noticed by now, but I have a very film-like visual sense. As this story is intended to be a film, I can’t help but see it play out in my head as such. So you’ve see lots of “film shots” as opposed to “comic book shots.” At least more so since the beginning of Chapter 2. I like using cells that are close to the aspect ratio of a movie, so they play out more like story boards. Of course I know that the advantage comics have to film is the fact that at any moment, comics can choose to break out of that format. I am fully aware of that and plan to use it more and more as the story calls for it. That got me thinking about the flip side, and how interesting it would be to try to break film out of its defined “cell”. That is something I hope to experiment on in the future.

I’m getting more and more excited as I start to incorporate more depth to the story. I think that is the making of any good story. Without depth, you have flat and 2-dimensional. And if I had to pick what type of story-teller I am, I’d pick “character-driven story-teller” as opposed to “plot-driven” or “setting-driven”. Don’t let the generously-defined universe of SSW fool you. It’s important to me to create and develop interesting characters, first and foremost. Then when I place them in a setting or throw them into a plot point, i don’t even have to worry about coming up with what they would do in that situation, because their characteristics, traits and history will define their own paths.

It was a challenge coming up with the color pallet for the desert. I did a lot of research and looked at a lot of reference photos. Unfortunately the Mojave isn’t the most interesting looking desert. There’s a fairly high amount of vegetation with sort-of sets it apart from what you typically expect from a desert. So for mood-sake, I decided to tone down the vegetation a bit, and increase the intensity of the color of the sand. I wanted it to look barren, but not too barren, and not boring. Plus I downed the overall saturation to calm things down some more, that helps tie the characters down into the scene.

Overall I think I’m happy with the results, and that’s important. Because the next 20 or so pages take place in this environment.

Here is the first page of chapter 2: “Across the Mojave”. As you can see i have formatted the the whole site to represent the new chapter. I’m really excited for this chapter because I get to start it with real artistic consistency. This is gonna be a much more visually interesting chapter, so I’m spending the time and establishing scenes and backgrounds. In other words, more to look at than just the characters.

I got through writing out about a third of this chapter. I was originally gonna write out the entire thing before starting it, but I then realized that if I were to do that, i wouldn’t of had time to do a page this week and that wasn’t gonna fly. So I figured i had enough written out to begin it, while I finish writing it this week.

So here’s the title page for chapter 2. As I’ve probably mentioned before, I’ll be doing splash pages like this for every chapter head. I’ve got some great ones in mind for future chapters.

Also through the next few months of chapter 2, i’ll also be writing out the script for the rest of the story to “get it out of the way.” That way I can focus down on the art and promotion. My goal is to eventually publish 2 pages a week, but that will take some practice, also not having to worry about “what this week will be about” should definitely speed things up.

I’d love to hear some thoughts on this process. And also your thoughts on Chapter 1 as an entirety. The pacing didn’t always go my way, as this has been a learning process for me. But the series of events are very much what i intended. So I wanna know what you think of the plot so far.