Page 152 is Up & Flora @ WAM is Coming

I have finished page 152 of my web comic Zheph Skyre. I do not know what it is about these past few pages, but I have gotten them done in time without a problem. Perhaps it is the fact that these pages have less details in them than other pages. I just hope I can keep this pace until I come to pages with much more details. By then I should have a computer tablet, and then perhaps the pages will come out sooner.

Zheph seems to be warming up to Jahovac, but it does not appear to be going the other way around. Zheph realizes Jacques is using Jahovac to get through to Zheph, specifically his blue prints. What sort of blue prints? We shall find out. Jacques and Jahovac seem to expect Zheph to help them with killing the dragon, but after the ordeal Zheph has gone through, I doubt anyone would want to face such a creature. Zheph is focused on getting the dragon the treasure. Jahovac is angered by that. Will Jahovac convince Zheph to help fight the dragon, or will Zheph fulfill the dragon's demands?

Flora is about to start at the Worcester Art Museum. Professional florists have already begun to bring in flowers and arrange them in very interesting ways. As usual, tomorrow the museum will be open until 8:00, but there will be a very expensive party beginning at 5:30. On Friday and Saturday the museum will be open until 8:00 as well, but on Sunday Flora will end at 5:00.

Page 144 and 145 of Zheph Skyre are Complete!

 Here's page 144 and 145 of my web comic Zheph Skyre! I am glad to say that I have only one last page of Chapter Four to complete despite not having a working drawing tablet. Chapter Five will begin after next week!

Vanessa seems happy that Zheph is alive, but from the looks of it, he is in no condition to fight anymore. If the devastating attacks of the dragon didn't break him physically, it appears that being swallowed whole broke him mentally...

The dragon recognizes that Zheph is very capable and wants to make use of him, considering that the humans here in the city as well as his own orc lackeys have proven to be very incapable. Whatever could this "Lost Treasure" be and how is Zheph supposed to find it in time?

On this page, the dragon finishes relaying his instructions to Zheph before flying off with the three princesses. Zheph seems to faint from exhaustion and someone familiar starts dragging Zheph away. Where is he dragging him to?

Zheph Skyre Page 143 is Finished!

Here's page 143 of Zheph Skyre in full color! I am very close to finishing this chapter and the Kickstarter crowd-funding project is ending in about three weeks! If I get the tablet, these pages will come out much quicker and in better quality!

Here we see Zheph using his grappling hook to get out of the dragon's stomach. How could this happen? My explanation is that the hook didn't have anything to penetrate into, and since the dragon's throat is coated in saliva, the hook just slipped with the curve of the dragon's throat until it finally exited the dragon's mouth. I had an alternate idea for this scene, but this is more interesting and funny compared to my previous idea.

If it seems that Vanessa appears powerless in this situation, I want to point out that Zheph is just about as powerless. He may have gotten out of the dragon's stomach, but in what condition is he to continue fighting?

Page 142 of Zheph Skyre is Finished

Here's page 142 of Zheph Skyre! This had taken more time than it should have to complete. I know, but as I have stated before, I do not have a working drawing tablet which is why I am still running my Kickstarter crowd-funding project.

Zheph has been flung into the air by the dragon. Zheph figures his only chance to survive this ridiculous height is to use his grappling hook. Unfortunately the dragon just opens his mouth right under Zheph's falling path and catches him in his mouth.

I love how the solar glare came out as we see the silhouette of the dragon. I think it helps give the gravity of the situation.

There are only four pages left I have to finish coloring before I begin chapter 5, but I just wanted to assure you, I have been working on chapter 5 by hand for a while now, so new pages should be available soon!

Kickstarter Project Restarted & Page 141 Finished!

I had to restart my Kickstarter Project yet again. I was 39% from reaching my goal, but unfortunately the people who had told me they would pledge were not able to at the time. This time I am going to have the project up for 60 days. If it does not work this time, than I will switch to Indiegogo.

I also uploaded the finished version of page 141 of Zheph Skyre. I apologize if it has been taking a while for me to finish up these pages, but I am currently working on multiple projects.

On this page, the dragon gets angry at Zheph, but Zheph tries to maintain his courage nonetheless. The dragon finds this amusing, and he let's Zheph go... that is he throws Zheph soaring into the air high above the city!

Page 140 of Zheph Skyre is Complete and 5 Minute Video of Connecticon 2014 is up!

I have uploaded a five minute video about Connecticon 2014. It is also posted on the main page of my web comic. It includes clips of people in cosplay, famous  people in panels, the Artists' Colony, the vendors, the masquerade, the food available at the convention, and some other things. There will be more videos available soon.

Here's page 140 of Zheph Skyre. I still have a few other pages left of chapter four to complete.

On this page the dragon seems content at first with playing with Zheph as it appears he is helpless. Vanessa tries to hurt the dragon, but normal blades do not appear to be capable of puncturing his thick skin. Somehow though, Zheph's really hot blade manages to pierce the dragon's claw. Most likely the combination of Zheph's blade being made from a tough metal and the fact that his blades heat up to ridiculous temperatures must make it possible for his blade to burn through the dragon's flesh. Maybe there's more to it though...

This attack of Zheph's appears to only have angered the dragon. This dragon throws Zheph aside, sending him skidding on the ground. Zheph's day just gets worse and worse...

There are currently 10 days left of my Kickstarter crowd sourcing project, so please remember to donate soon if you are planning to donate. Currently, the funds are at $270, and I know of a few people who are going to donate, but the project must get to the goal of $800 before the deadline. Just letting everyone know.

Page 139 is Completely Finished!

I have finished coloring page 139 of Zheph Skyre! I am still very far behind with a few of the latest pages of my web comic, but I am plugging away at it! The Kickstarter project is taking up a lot of time too and that only has 11 days left.

Zheph's ass appears to be handed to him by this dragon. His retractable shields have broken apart from the impact of the dragon's tail, but it just barely saves him as he crashes into a stone wall. Zheph still appears determined to rescue Vanessa, but the dragon doesn't appear to be done with him yet.

I originally was going to have only six panels on this page, but I decided to split the panel right before the last one because I wanted to show Zheph is still pushing himself forward despite the fact that things look grim.

Another hard part was trying to decide what sound effects should go where as there is a lot going on.

Page 138 is Finished, but Page 142 is still in the Works

Because I have a bunch of pages that still require color and the fact that I have this Kickstarter crowd funding project, page 142 is still being worked on. However page 138 is done!

On page 138, Zheph manages to miraculously shield himself from the dragon's burning breath, and then a freezing breath attack. However, the stinger tail may prove to be a different matter...

I am a bit annoyed at having to draw the background. I am hoping that after my Kickstarter crowd funding project, there will be someone willing to assist me with those details.

Page 137 is Finally in Color!

I finally finished page 137 of Zheph Skyre. Page 140 is still being worked on and I am trying to finish up the Kickstarter video, so things might be a little slow for a while.

Here we see Vanessa getting captured by the dragon. She might be very skilled with swords, but it appears this dragon isn't that threatened by the capabilities of normal humans. Zheph charges after her, which goes against his nature, but considering the situation now is the time to get angry. It looks like anger isn't going to help against this dragon though...

Page 135 of Zheph Skyre

Here's page 135 of my web comic Zheph Skyre in full color. It had taken a while to finish coloring it due to many events this summer. I'm hoping to get caught up in my work as soon as possible.

Zheph threw an explosive grenade. As he has stated before, he doesn't want to kill, so he usually doesn't resort to using this particular grenade. Vanessa seems shocked at this. Though she seems confused when Zheph gets nervous while holding her arm. She doesn't seem to get Zheph's real feelings for her.

On top of everything, the dragon finally finds them! Perhaps the grenade wasn't the best way of dealing with the orcs, but it is too late now!

As you can see, the dragon's speech bubbles are different from everyone else's. I wanted to give the feeling that his voice is much different from humans and even orcs. There's just something about dragons that separate them from other species. I originally had a "Chiller" font for the dragon's speech bubbles, but the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced it was not that legible, so I decided to change it.

I didn't originally have the humorous panels with Zheph getting nervous at grabbing Vanessa's arm, but I felt that it would help lighten the mood right before the catastrophe that is bound to occur soon. It also leaves things unfinished between the two...

Page 129 of Zheph Skyre is Finished!

I finally finished coloring in page 129 of Zheph Skyre! It was taking a while because of my very busy schedule. Hopefully I can still get pages 130 and 131 colored in before I post 132!

On this page, Zheph realizes he has no other options and is forced to kill orcs. Vanessa seems to sympathize with him, but doesn't show nearly as much emotional pain as he does as she strikes an orc down herself. Clearly she has trained herself to fight, but what occurred for Vanessa that makes her less bitter about killing?

Meanwhile the orcs everywhere are starting to run into problems. After they have ransacked the wealthy sector of Corthon, they have found a ton of resistance from the humans. I wanted to show that even if an invading force manages to break into a fortified area that they will still face resistance. People will band together whenever necessary in order to survive. The orcs are also not receiving any assistance from the dragon, which may tell you how well this partnership is...

I decided to keep the background red because everyone is now fighting and I think gray would just make things look dull. I also didn't bother putting sound effects in the panel with the collage of fighting because it is way too busy as it is.

This weekend is the pre-release of "Journey into Nyx" for Magic the Gathering. I enjoyed "Born of the Gods" so I look forward to this.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I finally saw this movie! I waited until it cost only $5.50 at West Boylston Cinemas, and I am very happy I didn't wait any longer to watch it.

(This image is from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170358/)

This movie had quite a few added differences from the book. Legolas and the female elf were not in the book, the forest was more of a dark place as in very little light, the sequence of the dwarfs traveling downriver in barrels was less action packed than the movie made it out to be, it was never explained where Gandalf went while the dwarfs needed a powerful wizard at their side, the Arcenstone did not have such effects on the dwarf king, and the fight against the dragon Smaug was not in the book. I didn't mind a few of these changes though, as this was a movie and fantasy movies require action sequences to capture audience's attention. The longer sequence with Smaug was very interesting. Not only was this dragon well animated and designed, but the voice and character were absolutely splendid! This dragon was egotistical, frightening, and playful with his prey.

Also, this movie left off a little before I thought it would. I thought the movie was going to end with Smaug being slain, and the third movie was going to focus on the five army war. Apparently they wanted to give Smaug more screen time and I welcome it. I look forward to the last movie. Say what you might about the Lord of the Rings compared to the Hobbit, in this book there is more sense of loss as some of the dwarfs the story follows and the reader gets used to traveling with die. In the Lord of the Rings, out of the nine characters of the Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir is the only one who dies. Indeed Gandalf had perished against the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dum, but technically he comes back as Gandalf the White. Also, quite a few of the side characters we are introduced to in the Lord of the Rings managed to survive as well. For an epic war that almost ended Middle Earth, quite a few characters we got used to managed to survive while many people around them die.

Two Headed Dragon

I drew this sketch drawing for my friend Frank Pozzi, who is also an artist. He wanted me to transfer this image to a canvas so that he can paint it with oil paints from there. I will actually make an entirely new drawing for him, as there were certain details in the image he wanted that I can not fit in here. He might make a few of his own artistic liberties with the finished drawing, and I do not mind. I will try to see if he can give me a digital copy of his painting when he is done. From there, I might edit it in my own way, but I will still give him credit and if I make any money from prints, I will give him half.

Page 123 of Zheph Skyre is Complete

Page 123 of Zheph Skyre is complete, but page 124 is still in gray scale. I have some inking left to do, but I uploaded it in the meantime.

Here on page 123 we get to see the majority of the main cast again. As you can see, they are all completely horrified at the appearance of a dragon and a legion of orcs. Vanessa seems to be providing information about these mythical creatures since she has read up about them and Zheph did not believe in them at all. I felt that Zheph would still manage to put in a wisecrack even though the situation is grim.

Page 124 will be finished as soon as I can manage.

Page 122 of Zheph Skyre Finished, Page 123 is in Black and White

I uploaded page 123 of Zheph Skyre, but it is still in black and white. I did upload the finished version of page 122.

Here on page 122, we see the dragon angrily tearing down one of the giant bronze tokens on the city wall. This rampage doesn't just endanger the lives of a few humans in the city, but also the lives of some of the invading army it come with. It seems the general knows that the dragon doesn't care about him and his forces and is angered b this.

Page 121 Complete, 120 Touched Up

 I finished page 121 and touched up a few details on page 120 of my web comic Zheph Skyre.

There were some areas that still didn't have color and I thought the the translation text needed to be more legible. Also, there was a design flaw that I have been seeing in the armor of these characters and it had been driving me crazy to keep it. I finally managed to figure out a way around it after seeing a man wear real armor at the Worcester Art Museum.

On this page the invading creatures are slaughtering and capturing civilians as they search for something important. They appear fearful as the dragon lets out another roar. What could they be looking for?

Page 119, 120, & Unfinished 121 of Zheph Skyre

I have uploaded page 121 of Zheph Skyre, but it is not in color nor does it have words. I will have it updated by Tuesday, but I doubt that I will get the next page next week due to the upcoming convention Arisia.

Here's page 119, here you can see the dragon burst through the door of Heartrogard. As if the broken chunks from the door weren't devastating enough to the people of the city, now an army approaches from the outside. I was trying to create a similar scenario to certain horrific past events like the Boston Marathon bombing or September 11th. It must hard for those who have been through such terrifying events and I have not been through such events myself, but it is mortifying just to watch such events unfold in the world.

Here you see the dragon's army firing arrows and invading the city. I decided to have these creatures speak in another language, but at least think in English. I have the actual translation in another font down below in the panels like in a movie.

Page 117 & 118 Zheph Skyre Complete

Here are pages 117 and 118 of Zheph Skyre complete. Or at least for now. I might go back into them and improve them at some point.

Here is page 117 of Zheph Skyre. On this page we see the dragon eating a person. I decided to go with a red background to symbolize the carnage that has begun and will continue. I think it gives the

Here is page 118 of Zheph Skyre. The dragon is on the attack and blows ice over the door of the city, but why is it doing that? It appears the dragon is flying headfirst into the door.

Page 116 Finished and Page 117 of Zheph Skyre on the Way

Page 117 of Zheph Skyre is in black and white right now with no text, but hopefully it should not too long to finish.

Meanwhile, page 116 of Zheph Skyre is done! Man there was a ton of detail on this page!

I wanted to show a variety of unknown characters that live in Corthon, and I wanted to show that their reactions to the dragon's roar. If the dragon's breath looks a little weird, there is an explanation why I made it like that way.

Page 115 of Zheph nSkyre Complete!

 I finished page 115 of my web comic Zheph Skyre. I had to fill in more color, add the action lines, and put in the text of the dragons roar.

Here you can see the original sketch. I wanted to work extra hard on this page because this is my preference for drawing. I decided to scan it, print it enlarged, and then ink it on an extra large sheet of paper.

Here is the finished piece. I made a few changes to the original sketch. I decided to make the armored limbs more detailed, and I had to fix the perspective of the tail. Overall, I'm very pleased with the end results.