We’re here again, the end of one thing and the start of something new! Thank you guys for being here with me. I’ve said it many times before, but now of all times, it’s best to reiterate. This story would simply not exist if not for your patronage. I am deeply appreciative that you’ve opted to invest in both me as a creator and Oren’s Forge as the outcome!
What’s next?
Immediately next will be an epilogue. It’ll shed some light on what’s coming for Volume Three, which will pick up right where we left the main story. I’ll post the first epilogue page on the 27th.
Next week, I’ll be focusing on KickStarter preparation. The KickStarter will be for funding a printed version of Volume Two (~124 pages, including the epilogue), similar to the first volume/the KickStarter in 2021. I’ll post separately about the KickStarter details soon, as well as the finished cover, bookplate, etc. In brief though, KickStarter will be fairly streamlined like the first with similar tiers, including a discounted ‘Early Bird’ option, a numbered bookplate edition and the top level tier with original art. I’d love to launch around either the end of May or early June, so stay tuned for that!
I have a couple more WIPs from earlier I’ll post this month, too, plus a proper wrap-up with some notes I took over the course of this chapter. In that wrap-up, I’ll also lay out the summer plans and when Volume Three will pick up again.
Thank you all again! I hope you’ll stick around to see what’s coming next!
2024-05-13 21:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Quick work-in-progress post before the end of the month!
2024-04-30 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Ah, I’m sorry— I know last time I said there’d be a page this week but I realized over the weekend, with five Mondays in April, this was the best place to take a week off. There’s a scene break leading into the finale on the next page so it works out well.
In the meanwhile! I’m starting to ramp up preparations for a KickStarter to fund printing of Volume Two. With that in mind, I’ve been working on the cover. I had a couple variation sketches I ruminated on for a few months and this is the design I settled on. (I’ll post the others once I finish the cover, and my reasons for this one.)
Here’s an early WIP!
(Text is a place-holder for blocking purposes.)
Anyhow, new page next week and I’ll have more info later this month about planned KickStarter stuff, for anyone interested in snagging a physical copy down the line!
2024-04-08 21:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Happy April Fool's Day! ;]
Real page out tomorrow.
[Click Here to Start Volume Two: Incursion from the beginning!]
2024-04-01 20:59:43 +0000 UTC
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Something different!
In the course of writing what will become Volume Three, it’s clear to me Ramble will play a role.
His design is super plain from the back and I’d like to differentiate him a bit for the future. (I’ll also go back and change his markings in prior pages, at least those in Vol 2 since Vol 1 is already in print and he doesn’t feature much.)
I figured this was a no-brainer to involve everyone here, though if you actually pick #1, I'm gonna roll a D4 for it and leave it to chance. ;]
Whatcha think on a new design?
And here are the options, not in a GIF:
Ya boy:
2024-03-19 21:59:59 +0000 UTC
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One of the story beats I knew would be in Volume Two (even while I was still finishing the first) was that Hemlock would be the one to kill Seral. The scene was really clear in my mind and didn't need substantive or difficult (to write) dialogue, so I left it largely untouched in my script. For years, it just read:
(I find it obliquely funny, maybe you will too.)
Anyhow, here's some WIPs for 306.
I wanted to show a scene transition from Hemlock and the pups to Red without taking up too much page space, pretty happy with the layout choice I settled on.
Breakdown:
And here's the panel with the pups. You can see how it doesn't really come together or have much impact until the cast shadow of the spear is introduced. If you're ever working on your own art and it isn't coming together and you're frustrated, just remember-- there's always middle stages that either look ugly or like they're missing something. It's good to take a day off and come back with fresh eyes whenever you feel like your drowning in a piece and can't make it come together.
And individual breakdowns:
2024-02-17 21:00:05 +0000 UTC
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New page out next Monday!
[Click Here to Start Volume Two: Incursion from the beginning!]
~~~
I didn’t expect to feel quite the way I did drawing Seral’s death. While I was working on this page, I kept thinking of the spring in 2015 when I was house-sitting for my mom. I was intent to use that time to revive an idea I’d started in 2013, which eventually became Oren’s Forge. I had to redesign the wolves and I can clearly remember sitting in that sunny room, listening to a particular playlist, and figuring out what color pallet each of the (at the time) nameless wolves would have. I’d have never of guessed that Seral would ever get more than a line or two of dialogue, let alone a name (and then even a name change!) I didn’t know what was in store for him then and it’s bittersweet that it’s over. It's a reminder we never know what will become important and we don’t remember half of what we’ve lost.
Out of nostalgia, I listened to the old playlist I had in 2015 while I worked on this page. If there’s a dirge for Seral, it’s ‘Soft, Grey Rain’ by Kid Sam (which, if you wanted to hear it, it’s a hard song to find now, but it’s on bandcamp, track 9, and you can listen for free.) I think it captures the abstract sadness of killing him, mourning that loss of potential, wondering about if it had all been a little different.
Here’s some of the very first Seral’s I ever drew, which I used as reference up until the very end.
Bye, bud.
2024-02-05 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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I had a hard time trying to lay out plans for the upcoming year/months. I’ve been feeling a bit of decision paralysis about a few things, so I’m going to keep it broad strokes for now.
While not the ultimate end of the comic as a whole, we’re nearing the finale of this chapter, which will wrap up early spring. I’d love to see this one get a hard cover run, so once it’s finished, I’ll start a KickStarter to see if we can make it happen!
Until then, for the next few months, my posting schedule will stay the same until this chapter is finished.
I have the broad strokes of the next part of the story, which will focus on the aftermath of what’s about to happen, and will pick up roughly where this one leaves off. However, at some point I will need dedicate time to actually writing.
The last time we were between volumes, I filled the space with Oren and the One-Eyed Wolf. There’s another short comic I have been wanting to do since Oren’s Forge began, all the way back in 2013. It involves the back story of a character we have already met and after this current chapter wraps up, it will be the perfect time for me to tell it. (And to stop anyone from getting their hopes up, it’s not Sprig, I’m sorry.)
So, when we (eventually) get to this point, I may adjust my posting schedule a little. We’ll see— a lot just depends on if the KickStarter is successful and how quickly I’m able to flesh out the next chapter.
On a personal note, the latter half of 2023 was pretty rough. I’ve been dealing with serious depression and running right along the edge of burnout. (I’m fine, I’m getting help, I’m lucky to have a support system available to me.) I only mention it because I find it’s harder for me to engage with people online (and offline) and for that, I’m sorry. I am sitting here, typing this, and struggling to say how much it means that you’re out there, reading this story and making it a small part of yourself. I love your comments, I love knowing that sometimes, just out living your life, maybe you think about the characters or the story unbidden. I love that you wonder what’s going to happen, that you care.
I want to thank you for being here, for however long or short that is. I hope this coming year is both gentle and exciting, full of adventure and pleasant surprises for all of us. Take it easy, friend.
2024-01-30 18:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Quick breakdown of a panel from PG 302!
I think sometimes (especially in the inks) you can really tell Don Bluth's work was my first major style/art inspiration. (That and game manuals-- This will definitely date me, but as a kid I traced the Jaguar boss from the Sega Pitfall manual a million times.)
Here's a partial WIP from a panel back on page 294. (I took a break in the middle of working on this panel and forgot I was taking WIP screenshots, hah.)
2024-01-19 20:00:06 +0000 UTC
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300 pages— wow. Thank you to everyone for being here and making that possible! The later half of this year had its challenges for me but I am forever grateful for the opportunity and the time to work on this story and share it with you guys.
No page next week— with five Monday’s in January, the first seemed like a good one to take off. I will post a road map for next year, though, and touch on my plans for printing this next volume.
I hope you all have a fantastic new year to look forward to! I’ll catch you on the other side!
2023-12-25 22:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Some work-in-progress shots of the third panel on page 297. I was pretty happy how the panel turned out over all and I wanted to share it without the text!
[You may wonder— why bother with a full background when I know text bubbles are going to cover it? It’s pretty straightforward, really— if I wanted to change text (or if it was localized into another language) the bubble size can be flexible without much effort later.]
Here’s the line art/flats and starting to build out the background. After I get down flat colors, I work from the background forward. If you’re trying to build depth, it’s good to remember that the further away something is, the more it fades into to the sky. (I’ve said it before but I think it’s just a great bit of advice.)
I like these ‘one off’ panels where I get to illustrate some other place and color scene. I try to pick something complimentary to the other panels of the surrounding scene. This one, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, so I played with a palette tool until I got somewhere to jump off from. [Anyway, paletton.com is a good site if you want to play with colors schemes.]
2023-12-08 20:00:06 +0000 UTC
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New page out next Monday!
[Click Here to Start Volume Two: Incursion from the beginning!]
Small note about the layout:
I made a deliberate decision to ‘jump the line’ here from the previous page/last panel— I wanted to embody the idea of a snap cut to Swift whipping her head to look at Scree. It also serves to reframe the scene, pivoting from “okay, we dealt with one problem, now I deal with you.” (If anyone was wondering why I did that.)
2023-12-04 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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