In Progress

I'm still working on the prep for episode #1 of The Kinkleys.

Part of the delay is that learning how to make a 3D environment that looks like a drawing is very different from the kind of 3D I've worked on in the past, so there's a real learning curve here. I was not happy with many aspects of the Club Boing Boing models, especially the main floor and stage, because they just looked too obviously 3D to me. However, I feel a lot better about the models I've made for the opening scene in The Kinkleys. Here's a little work-in-progress shot.

I know this environment is not at all exciting but that's very intentional. You'll see why when I finish this first page.

Getting the models done is tedious but it will make a huge difference when I start putting the pages together. Backdrops have always been the most tedious part of my drawings. So if I can make decent 3D environments that look good in my comics (like many manga and manhwa use), I should be able to churn out the actual pages much faster than ever before. Which is good because I have about 150 pages worth of script already written and I have ideas for more.

The other thing that has delayed me is that I've been worried about getting the character designs exactly right. I care a lot about these characters and I want to draw them for a long time so I felt a lot of pressure to get it right. But I think I'm just going to have to accept that how I draw the characters at the beginning of episode #1 might not be the same as how I draw them in episode #2 or #3. I have to accept that they will evolve as I get to know their faces and physicality better and that's only going to happen after I have drawn them a lot.

I guess it's a bit of that whole "Perfect is the enemy of good."

Similarly, I keep going back and tweaking the script for episode #1 just a little bit more. To be fair, all of the tweaks actually have made it better. The more time I have to think about it, the more I spot little gaps or holes in the writing. But there could be no end to that so I need to just go ahead and accept that this is good enough.

And I do genuinely think it's very good. Seriously, I am in love with these characters and I hope you'll love them too.

I expect to have the first page done very soon.