So I got a little caught up working on this tonight, I’m still kinda debating if the orange overtone is working for this piece. So there might be a slight change depending on how I feel tomorrow. We’ll just see, in the meantime here’s the hard time in progress work on chapter 24’s cover.
So a simple spoiler for the new bio picture and the fact that… he’s got a new hoodie. So yes, on previous covers that featured Zack, he was sporting a blue hoodie. However while I was coloring this and put down the old color scheme, I felt Zack looked pretty dull and monochrome, didn’t really stand out at all. So he got a hoodie makeover.
Storywise I feel this is kinda fitting for the character. Zack’s overall story arch is that he is a complete wimp, who has always needed his sister to bail him out, so he strives to better himself and become a stronger individual. So the red hoodie can symbolize his ascent to a stronger more independent character, or at the very least, show that’s he’s gone from a minor character in the background to stronger character in the future. Anyway, wanted to give an update on that.
Probably to date one of the toughest covers I’ve worked on. I actually had the image of this cover for a while but I didn’t know it would be so difficult. I initially went back and forth on what the final pose would be. Initially I was going to have Kalwa doing the overhead Naginata move in which the weapon is raise overhead. However this made it difficult to position with the logo and I though it was kinda boring.
So ultimately I thought it would be better to have the weapon coming at the viewer, but of course this led to some MAJOR perspective challenges. I must’ve redrawn this image of Kalwa at least six or seven times before finally settling on the look. I was using my Classified Lady Jaye figure just to get some reference. Also at a certain point I just threw caution to the wind and just started drawing madly to try to convey the motion.
Also a fun little note one this is the fact that those lines in the background are not actually motion lines, but rather planks from the floor and ceiling, so they act as a double device here playing in both the background and effects.
I’ll actually start working on the script for chapter 24 next week, oh and as a little bonus, down below is an image of me working on the perspective at my desk.
Just a little update on the bio pictures for the site update, all of them now inked and ready for color. I’m trying to juggle a few projects at a time right now especially since I’ve hit a few snags on some other work, including the next cover image. Since I’m working a full time job, I try to take care of the heavy lifting on days off and do bits of the work on regular nights. I’ll be working on color for these and hopefully get moving on serious site updates later this week.
I’m preparing for a bit of a site overhaul, part of which involves updating the biography section of the website. Especially now that Zack has officially joined the main cast, we need a revamp. However, I’m also looking to get some new artwork up of the characters, more of a midshot kinda look. So here’s some sketch previews of whats coming up for our three protagonists.
So this is coming just a tad early. Chapter 23 didn’t really show off the residents of the Sato fortress all that much. , however we will be showing them off a bit more in the next chapter. There were however quite a couple of scenes with the thugs at the beginning. So right now I’d like to show you all some of the production work because I had a particular idea of how I wanted these two groups to look.
A little bit of an ironic thing is despite wanting to make this story take place in Feudal Japan, I actually didn’t really understand what Feudal Japan was, mostly because I didn’t what feudalism was (oops). Upon researching the topic, this is what shaped my idea of how these two groups would look.
During the Feudal era, Japan was ruled by some powerful rulers who clashed for complete and total control as they raised entire empires. The only way to survive in this brutal age was either to fall under the protection of these empires or have enough power to survive on your own. This was something I tried to reflect in the two groups.
As shown below, the thugs have rather tattered clothing, along with a lot of scars, some of which looking rather deformed. While the Sato residents are mostly clean, this is mainly to reflect on the fact that the Sato residents is in fact a (mini) empire. They have an established fortress and enough defenses to stand strong together and be safe from the outside world. While the thugs are of outsiders who simply travel and pillage. This is also reflected in the fact that they all have tremendous scars and deformities, which they essentially wear as a symbol of pride to show their strength and power through surviving battle after battle. It also is meant to show that they lack humanity and come off mostly as monsters. A future update will also show you some more faces and give you a better reflection of their scars.
So yes, chapter 23 has concluded and currently I’m a bit occupied over on the Green Raptor website finishing up the Amber one shot. So it will be just a little longer till I start working on the official script for chapter 24. But in the meantime I’m here to show you all some behind the scenes sketches and some production stories that go on behind the Kalwa scenes.
We’ll start off with Hideyoshi and Karou Sato (yes I’m saying their names in the western tongue right now). Hideyoshi’s design was kinda decided from the beginning as I wanted a simple stoic and strong looking samurai. I wanted him to have a mustache as it would suggest wisdom and nobility in addition to his strength. In fact his selected name Hideyoshi actually translates to “strong one” in Japan. Mostly when drawing him I was actually thinking of Sango’s father from Inuyasha, except with cleaner hair.
The x shaped scare on Hideyoshi’s face was actually an accident. In reality he was meant to have only a single slash scar, however when it came time to draw him in the comic, I mistook the cheek bone as a second mark and didn’t realize my mistake until about five pages of drawing him (as you can see by the sketch below). So hopefully Ruroni Kenshin fans don’t accuse me of stealing.
Karou’s design was a bit more tricky, as I didn’t really have a specific design in mind for her. I wanted her to look like a well mannered woman who would politely greet guests, but also wanted her to appear fun and witty as she has her own methods of survival which will be seen later in this story arch. My first drawings of her I felt looked too plain, and at the same time I felt she looked a little too old for Hideyoshi. I think I had been looking at Hinata from Naruto when designing her bangs in the final design. The real tricky thing about drawing Karou is that her long hair has to wave in and out in a certain way as it can result in her looking notably different and off model (see second sketch).
One little fact I’d like to bring up is that there is an unused kimono design for Karou. Initially she was supposed have flowers on her kimono, sorta like an older version of her daughter’s kimono. However I missed the sketch at the time I drew her and completely forgot about the design. I’ll probably bring this design in chapter 24 as a clothing change, so be sure to look for than in chapter 24. Anyway, that’s what we got for this entry, more to come.
Giving a big shout out to say that this blog has officially reached 15 followers. So I would like to just give a nice little shout out to all of you wanted to thank you all for following and how much I appreciate all your support.
Running this comic and site can be quite the task despite it also being a passion! Constant hours each night and the process of learning to run a WordPress site. It also brings me such joy to see that people are enjoying my work and all the hard hours put into it. So once again a shout out to all the followers out there.
We are officially there everyone, we are done now with chapter 23 of Kalwa and the Japanese arch is now in full swing. It’s time now for a brief break as the next chapter gets prepped. But in the meantime, get ready for some behind the scenes work in the coming days. As usual, click the thumbnail below and see the end of this chapter, and go one step forward because we have a special finale pinup awaiting.
An adventurous manga series about a teenage girl and her time traveling cell phone 