Last week, you probably noticed that I had posted the blog in a different format. My laptop is doing a weird thing where it constantly backspaces if I leave the cursor in a text field. It doesn’t start up immediately, either, so I can’t tell if it’s a simple stuck key. I had hoped that keeping it off and letting it reboot would help with a software issue, and that didn’t pan out. So, I am once again writing and posting this directly from my phone, where I can’t do the usual formatting. Anyway, the picture posted this week is a quick sketch I did for a character’s outfit. Something about it looks like a platonically ideal pose.
I’m in the third chapter of my zine project. It’s going better and smoother after the difficulties of the second chapter. One thing I’m learning is that it doesn’t seem like planning all five issues at once and drawing them in a chunk was the best idea. Like, I’m happy with what I have and will finish this out, don’t get me wrong. I’m just looking back at the fast-paced clip of the first chapter, and how passionate I felt finally starting in on this beloved project, and that energy is just not holding throughout the project. That speed may well have been in part because I had spent so long in planning, I was like a racehorse finally let off the starting block. I guess I also shouldn’t worry so much about being so, so fast all the time, as long as I work at a reasonable pace. I’m doing this alongside a full time job, after all. But you know, maybe I should give myself a break from one chapter by planning the next. Could help next time I do a multi-chapter series. It certainly would help when I look back at my thumbnails with complete confusion as to what I was saying because I had forgotten.
Speaking of next projects, I have some ideas there. I am thinking of giving some of my other practice zines the Bet Your Sweet Bottom treatment. The next one to redo would be You’re a Snack. That one will be more than a reprisal with greater skill, too. I think that one has to be more explicit that it currently is. Like, I’m not going to be doing a lot of adult or explicit stuff generally. At least right now, I have these ambitions for action-adventure stories, which will be much bigger and grander projects in length. I’m not looking to be known primarily for erotic material. But you know, I’m not going to not follow through on an idea I have. You’re a Snack should have some nudity, and looking back through it, it seems awkward without. The other big reprisal would be Do You Really Care. That’s going to involve the most change. Not only would I want to essentially combine the two 8 page stories into one book, but in doing so, I want to streamline the story so it feels more cohesive and complete. I am open to doing another take on Rosemary and Alex, but I’m less sure if only because I don’t know what I would add to the new version. It would be longer, but what to use the pages for? After all, I don’t want to sell something I put online for free, but with better art; I have to grow the book into something more. I’d have to reread it a few times to find the opportunity. That can wait till I’m done with the others. I am also open to making any or all of these as long as twenty pages. More space, more opportunity, more book for the reader, etc.
I have two action-adventure stories in mind for the future, too. I’ve discussed my martial arts one in passing a few times. The characters will be based on the characters in my Dragon Ball ‘Redux’ fanfiction (which you can read for free here), as I’m very familiar with them and how they work in a fighting story. I have a lot more concrete details over the kind of world that is, and a lot of narrative structure still to figure out. I need all the characters to grow and learn new things each story, such that they all develop their own unique styles, before they move on to the next step. I’ve realized that’s a lot harder to plan out in individual storylines than I had first assumed, at least if those storylines were going to be as contained as I envisioned. They could go on separate adventures on the same step, or maybe they don’t all continue as one group the whole time. There are big moments that require a certain level of investment and personal stakes, which either require extra time or getting really good at hooking people in a short space. Both would be ideal.
The other idea I have involves that picture I posted a while back of Medusa holding a sword. I have a lot of ideas and thoughts, but not many concrete stories yet. I don’t have all the characters I want, or a strong vision of the world. I want it to end up like One Piece in spirit, you know, a fun adventure romp with a serious backbone. The characters are all going to resemble women from mythology and folklore and bear their names, but not actually be them. Like, the main character was born with snake hair, and so was named after the famous Medusa, a real person in this world from a long time ago. I want the imagery, and yet not tie myself down to an exact thing, you know? Maybe I’m getting in the weeds with that setup, but that’s what I need to create the separation. It also helps because Medusa is heavily inspired by movies, and it’s hard for me to imagine a world where the literal Medusa watches movies.
In this current project, I want to practice a coloring style that, if successful, I’d like to carry forward. One thing I really like about manga is the black and white industry standard, and there’s something really impressive about books that are or are mostly just those colors. It looks neat and it would be a lot easier on me, who can’t do colors good and can’t afford to hire coloring help. I’ve also noticed how muddy it can look to use too many shades of grey, and how hard it is to define a narrow range of greys to use. So I have a vision. Basically, the whole world would just be black and white, except for people’s skin. It’s important to me to include people of color in my work, and to make that visible and apparent. Manga worlds, with their typically homogeneous casts, don’t have to contend with the realities of American streets. So black and brown people have to be a color, or else what’s the point, but the rest of the world can be two-toned. I think I can make it work, and this is certainly a big enough project to cut my teeth on it.
I have a couple other story worlds I’ve been working on for a long time that I’d love to nail down. Other story ideas here and there I’ve collected over time. I have a lot for the future, really. I still have very little idea what my actual future looks like, though. When I think about all the things I want to make, I can’t help but worry what that means for me as a career. It would be great if I could support myself on my art, yet that feels like such a distant possibility. I am, as always, ignorant and unmoored. As I start to push forward with this as a career, I’m really looking forward to gaining experience and making connections, so that I can actually see what’s possible.
Life in the Gutters 