FWG NEW & IMPROVED

Some months ago, my writers guild president made an announcement that our Furry Writers Guild website would be going through a major overhaul. We would be combing through to update or revise our personal bio pages, databases would be extended and upgraded, and more info-driven web pages added. 

Here is my updated #Furry #Writers Guild profile is LIVE -

http://furrywritersguild.com/writers/carmen-k-welsh-jr/ 

Clean-up Vs Draft

First clean-up vs original draft ---

This particular episode is almost complete in its touching up. 

Fixed the text boxes to make them more organized on the page, improved on the PA speaker, tidied up Yanina, fixed Peter to be thicker, and fixed up his tie, collar, and sweater vest.

Most important update, Ms. Forsyte is no longer a sketchy blob but now looks definitive. And that phone actually reaches her cat ears*! If you follow me on Twitter, you know this is one of my pet peeves when it comes to headphones, earpieces, and other accessories not reaching the animal characters' ears!

Original draft:

Gave Quatermain back her high forehead (XD) and fixed her chin. Made Peter's headshape more consistent in the 3 panels he appears in. A lot of dialogue and expository text boxes needed rearranging and cleaning up. Also, remembering Peter was a linebacker in college, so his torso is squarish with his waist being about the same width as his chest. I also fixed up Yanina’s hair a bit and gave her a body in the third panel (lower left). My favorite but hardest part was the fourth and last panel. Yanina’s hair tends to look frazzled when she's experiencing sudden emotions. Also, I like how Peter's profile turned out. It was driving me nuts in the earlier draft. Also, fixed those clothing wrinkles!

Original draft:

Ok, I have to admit I found this scene fun when I drafted it. I had in mind to fix Yanina’s profile and highlight Peter’s whimsical nature. I fixed details like his hair texture, more detail to his sweater vest, Yanina’s dog ears by enlarging them, making her black heart earrings more defined, show her long sweater, but most fun of all was showing Quartermain's growing confusion and later shock at what's happening in front of her! I thought it would be funny if, after a giant question mark ❓️ appeared over her, then she would be peeking over with the one exclamation point❗️, and then add another exclamation (‼️) the more shocked she becomes, lol! Also, frazzled Quartermain's hair, have movement lines, Peter doing a little dance instead of shrugging when Yanina threatens to tell his aunt how he's embarrassing her at work.

Original draft:

Now when I put this comic together on FireAlpaca, I'll stick this in-between the panel with the kiss on Yanina’s forehead and the panel with Yanina freaking out and Quartermain doubly (double exclamations!!) shocked. I also fixed Peter's hairline, his goatee, and Yanina’s nose bridge and chin. Also, when someone holds a person's chin, they tend to squish and the chin being held looks almost like a double chin, lol. I rewrote the text and used the heart template to show Peter's affectionate tone. Will need to enlarge Yanina’s ears and make Peter's hand a little larger. Fixed dialogue to be easier to follow and added another response from Yanina (as well as her blushing) to emphasize her confusion.

Original draft:

So there you have it! I knew this post was going to take me a long time! I will still be posting on Insta but I wanted a platform to explain at the least, this particular scene and where my creativity led me.

Bye for now, Dear Readers!

So Much Is Happening...

Looks like my furry K-pop art will be merging with my Pride Month art. Too much has happened this month and I couldn't keep up my own prompts. This is why I also stopped doing official art prompts.

'Summer to Winter' will soon debut

I came to the decision to self-publish this webcomic. As to getting the story digitally ready for an online/mobile format as well as coloring/shading/effects.

In the meantime it will debut on my Tumblr blog, I have some self-publishing platforms to also submit to. 

I have at least 3 episodes in the running for FIRST EPISODE. While I'm debating, my readers can see some of the new edited  pages. 

Here's a complete scene: 

Page 1 - "Peter's & Ronan's Pub scene" 

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4 END

The Eyes (and Brows) Have It: Attention To Details

Working on eyes, like hands, has always been fun for me, though it is a bone of contention for other artists. Most of us know that once you don't get the character's eyes just right, it can irrevocably change their face.

Here is a close-up of Ronan's eyes...

This comic will start out as a black-and-white, so it'll be easier for me to digitally fix it. 

Here is Ronan further out. I'm also shaping out his eyebrows, but now the eye to the viewer's left needs more attention.

As we zoom-out more, we see more of the character and get to see who he is. 

Ronan has jowls and keeps a sparse beard. Also, with seeing nearly his whole face, I can see as his artist that I'll have to shave off a little more of his viewer's right eyebrow and tweak more of his viewer's left eye pupil and bottom eye line.

Now that we are fully zoomed out, you, the viewer, may not notice what needs changing, but from the previous images, you get how obsessed we artists get with just the smallest of details. 

I will be enacting the changes I mentioned, and when I do, I will be posting these on my Insta, both Befores and Afters. 

Giving myself my own art challenges for 2023

This May, will be drawing and posting my fake furry K-pop idols, groups, and bands! Look for them! And then, in June, Pride Month artwork! 

This Artist-Writer Rants About Photo References

Now that I'm making my way around Paint and FireAlpaca, went through my folder for more completed comic episodes to scan, I'm back to looking for more background settings and can I tell ya: Pinterest p1sses me off! 

It's a wonderful platform to use when creating vision boards and aesthetic collages, but when it comes to backgrounds, I need an idea where in the world a place is. 

For instance, Peter is from Old Money Black Wealth. These families also fled the South during the period between 1919-1960s, early 70s in what we now know as the Great Black Migration.

Since I'm recreating a world based in the real world, I need wealthy housing in the Northeast, and not in the Southeast, though, according to my story, the different branches live in different states. However, SUMMER TO WINTER takes place in the Northeastern states, so I need luxury houses in NY, PA, NJ, and perhaps MA. And then I can take a little from this photo and a little from that photo of mansions to piece together homes for Peter Dunlop's family members. 

This is why I'm preferring using real estate listings as references. I see where the houses are located! I also get to know the architectural styles so my OCs can speak about their residences as though they are real people actually living there!