Nahast: Lands of Strife

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Test of Skill

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=293
Nahast: Lands of Strife - Test of Skill ; Thursday, March 11, 2010

Behari shows off just how good she has gotten, and Derrexi is ready to yank the trap's string to discover the culprit.

These past couple of weeks are kind of blending into each other; I've been tremendously busy from both my dayjob and my side projects. The announcement hasn't been made yet, but I can say I'm working on something BIG that Green Ronin's putting out; "The Arms and Armor of India", the D&D 4th Ed. book I co-wrote and contributed illustrations for, is also out for sale as a PDF, and I'm slowly implementing new coloring techniques and brushes. I'm working on a pilot picture, testing them out; a couple are already in this page too :)

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - The Trap Springs

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=292
Nahast: Lands of Strife - The Trap Springs ; Thursday, March 4, 2010

The girls continue their performance and Derrexi waits for Diru Azpikeri's trap to spring.

Ah! Here it is! Now to work on next week's actual update! It's been one of those full moons when my creative vein starts feeling dissatisfied with my work and starts looking for options. I've found a couple of resources and tips and I'm going to start experimenting with them. I'll apply them first on other works before I'm happy with them and confident enough to put them on the comic.

There's more news, but I'll save them for next week when things return to normal.

Monday, March 1, 2010 - To the Music

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=291
Nahast: Lands of Strife - To the Music ; Monday, March 1, 2010

The Hawk Maidens start their performance as part of the Summer Storm Festival.

Urgh... My head hurts. I was supposed to have last Friday off and I was going to work on today's page and also towards building a buffer, but a large batch of documents arrived late and not only my day off was canceled, but I had to do some work over the weekend as well. The bad news is that I was late (again) and still without a buffer, but the good news is that I did manage to have the pencils and inks for the next page, which will go up on Thursday in compensation of last week's missed updates. I still don't have a day off this week, but at least I don't expect one and can plan accordingly.

Monday, February 15, 2010 - The Summer Storm Festival

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=290
Nahast: Lands of Strife - The Summer Storm Festival ; Monday, February 15, 2010

The Hawk Maidens arrive at the main plaza for their participation in the Summer Storm Festival, although Derrexi has some misgivings.

Two main achievements in this page: one is the crowd/panoramic scene... I don't like to tackle this kind of scene because it's a drag, but I had to do it for a proper introduction of the situation... The second is the Hawk Maiden crest, which I designed and did in a matter of minutes, and all the symbolism matched up neatly and at first try. There's a reason for every graphic element, and for the whole, and it will relate neatly to this chapter's climax.

Now, if I had only been able to finish in time...

Monday, February 8, 2010 - Sacrifice Before Defeat

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=289
Nahast: Lands of Strife - Sacrifice Before Defeat ; Monday, February 8, 2010

It's a brief lesson on what the Hawk Maidens are about, but one the girls seem to take to heart.

Fate (or weather) are conspiring against me! The power failures happening around my area have even reached national TV (my nation, mind you ;) ), it's been a frustrating advance for this page, but neither rain, fierce winds or even a 5.6 Richter-scale earthquake could keep me from updating!

The last panel was re-drawn a couple of times. I'm happy how it turned, but it was a challenge to keep both perspective and respect the girls' heights and builds (Eruhien is a scrawny kid, Xiang is a dwarf and Niriko, while taller than the tree of them, is still short). I also resisted the temptation to use the dreaded Lens Flare filter, even if that was the effect I wanted of sunlight reflecting off the blades. Hope it turned out right.

And yes, that is the Hawk Maiden war cry; "For hope, sacrifice, and sacrifice before defeat". It won't be the last time it is heard in this chapter.

Monday, February 1, 2010 - Weapons of the Hawk Maidens

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=288
Nahast: Lands of Strife - Weapons of the Hawk Maidens ; Monday, February 1, 2010

Derrexi addresses the Hawk Maidens on the importance of the arms they are about to bear.

I should really, really start doing the pages earlier in the week. I barely finished the page in time for a timely update, and next page is going to be a little more elaborate than this one. Building a buffer would be convenient too...

My state of health is now more on the inconvenient side than the reason of concern side; still, it can be very distracting. On other projects, I'm also working on a series of illustrations for a RPG book I cowrote and will be published soon as a PDF. It was fun to write and the illustrations are being fun to work on too, but nonetheless are another time-stealer. This is hard on Nahast because the start of a new chapter is not as fun as the middle and the climax and conclusion. Luckily, the introduction of THIS chapter is allowing me to explore more of the characters and the plot, so it balances out.

Monday, January 25, 2010 - Dye Job

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=287
Nahast: Lands of Strife - Dye Job ; Monday, January 25, 2010

Niriko surprises the other girls with a particular decision as they get ready for their first public appearance.

Ugh... Sorry for the lack of update last week; I had a slight medical issue sapping my inspiration, in addition to the page looking altogether daunting on my drawing board (static group scenes are more of a challenge than they appear). To avoid going into TMI territory, I'll just say it's a benign issue but the symptoms are very distracting; all my focus went to my job and afterward I didn't want to do anything requiring mental effort.

About this page, I decided it was about time to show a bit of Niriko's inner demons; she's still a teenager, after all, and she just went through a very harrowing experience. Behari did not escape unscathed from her near-death experience either... but more on that in the future!

Thursday, January 14, 2010 - Preparations

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://nahast.spiderforest.com/archive.php?comic_id=286
Nahast: Lands of Strife - Preparations ; Thursday, January 14, 2010

Xis'veki and Diru Azpikeri begin their plan for Derrexi's downfall. In the present, the Hawk Maidens prepare for something altogether different.

Phew! Bonus update ready!

One of the disadvantages to working from home is that I don't storyboard during lunch breaks, when I have some time to kill at a little cafe. The consequence is... that I don't have the final part of this chapter storyboarded! Well, I have time, it will be a few months' worth of updates to reach that point, and I do know how I want it to go. I'm pretty excited about this chapter. It will have plenty of action hand in hand with character development.