New Ko-fi Update!

You can read the complete [6 pages] black-and-white October episode on my Ko-fi @ Summer to Winter Ko-fi as a supporter until it's available in full color on Tumblr, ComicFury, and GlobalComix! 

What to expect in my webcomic

I think it's a given that if you've been reading my blog, I have very strong opinions.

I also like being as informed about a variety of topics. 

I don't shy away from being uncomfortable when learning about new things.

I also try not to lay the emotional burden of information on friends and loved ones by trying to teach myself or passively learn from others who have already uploaded blogs, videos, and/or any kind of research.

So... SUMMER TO WINTER is a fluffy Slice of Life/Romance Comedy/School Life webcomic. But it will deal with topics such as racism, colorism, sexism, misogyny, health care, mental health, the state of public and private education in the US, as well as a host of other topics and social/societal issues.

Sexual acts and intimacies will be discussed between partners, spouses, and lovers in healthy ways. I will try to encourage and promote healthy romance (this does not mean CLEAN ROMANCE. There are other writers for that) and downplay and even discourage toxic relationship views.

My characters communicate. They talk a lot. I do, too, and what didn't help was I was a substitute teacher, a speaker at various functions such as Career Days, New Student Orientations, and workshops, as well as I was a former college lab tutor. But as an Introvert, those moments were also hell, no matter how small or large the crowd was.

I was raised by a school teacher and well-read and well-informed parents. Politics will be mentioned. Religion and Faith beliefs, too. My cast of characters are inclusive and varied, so cultural ideas will be mixed in as well as gender diversity. People exist and so they will they exist in my webcomic.

Childbirth, adoption, and fertility will be mentioned. As a chronic health sufferer, chronic conditions, autoimmune disorders, allergies, and disability will be in my story. 

Even though the story is romantic, even though it is comedy, I want to include these because my characters deserve joy and love and affection in whatever form those come in.

Just as I do. And you, dear readers. Even you.

 

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!

'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

Expanded IG post about current draft board - Plus, news from the Twitterverse!

[News from my Twitter account]

I've noticed in my push to add Alternative Text or Alt-Text to my webcomic wip, a small number of my readers have expressed that the platform causes them anxiety and stresses them out. So, since I have plans to submit the webcomic series to other platforms and possible publication, I never closed my Tumblr account. Learned that Tumblr allows one to create numerous/multiple secondary blogs, so I created one for "Summer to Winter". When I begin posting will I drop the link. Also, most folks don't need a Tumblr blog in order to access its content.

[Originally posted on my Insta]

I've been feeling run-down the day after I run errands. I don't know if it stems from my chronic health conditions, but, all I know is, once I run errands on one day, I'm wiped out the next day. Also, we've been dealing with problems in the house, so my draft board has looked like this since last week. As soon as the skin flares calm down, I should be able to get back to work. 

P.S. NO COMMISSIONS. #ChronicHealth #ChronicPain #SkinAllergies #Drafting #Drawing #Cartooning #Comics

Expanded tweet about maximizing work output

I had a severe writing block a few nights ago and just outlined the chapter... Tried several different playlists: K-pop, Urbano Latino, Reggaeton, and Michael Jackson... What finally helped: Anita Baker's 'Just Because'. What helped more: stumbling on an Anita Baker playlist! 

The more I make sketch studies for a difficult chapter, the quicker I get panels completed. I have more to rough draft for this chapt that involves two flashbacks that will converge since the two main characters became a couple. 

I've had to come up with ways to bang out work quicker since getting severely sick last November. 

The Fifth Element is still inspiring!

"Septimus in all pink"(2021)

My OC, Septimus, and Peter's cousin, from SUMMER TO WINTER - full color in all pink with quoted statement in pink.

"Septimus on gay/queer-friendly niche strip club ad"(2021)

One of my romantic-comedy/slice-of-life comic/graphic novel OC's mannerisms are based on Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element! And if you actually believe he played no significant role in that film- somebody actually said this- I'll know you didn't pay attention since you only saw an over-the-top, loudmouth Black man. 

"Septimus as a convention booth babe"(2021)

My character, Septimus, is loud, brash, full of sass, very queer, and isn't afraid to shut down bigots, confront abusers, and though shorter than the average man, can still kick a bully's behind. If you want to see him in full color, head on over to my Instagram @ handdrawnbycarmenjr. 

"Septimus models with model friends"(2021)

Again, take care, dear readers!

Graphic novel is finally being FINALIZED

I began finalizing my graphic novel, SUMMER TO WINTER, last week. If anyone asks, I will give 2018 as the official time I started putting the story together, but off-the-record, it is actually 2001 when I wrote down the idea.

The premise about my protagonist having a crush on her high school teacher came from a rumor when I was in high school. When I did decide to start working on my comic stories around 2001, I was still practicing writing down synopses, loglines, and "pitches" for what I thought would be short comic stories. 

Only a few years back, I was in a creative writing course for the first time and the professor taught us about summarizing our story ideas into a small paragraph and as a single sentence. So I practiced what she taught us and because I was early in my writing professionally. 

SUMMER TO WINTER is a lifetime project. It has gone through many incarnations but I am now pleased by the look it has now, which is why I can start to pin it down to what it must be. 

For those who follow me on Instagram(handdrawnbycarmenjr), you can see the story in its roughest format. Because I've posted the official 2018 pages until now, though it isn't in order, you can roughly follow most of the story. 

[2 rough sketch pages in a public library & a spoken word poet performing & talking to protagonist]

[Finalized page 8in × 11.5in Canson comic/bande dessinée/manga paper - I merged both pages since the original pages are 5.5in x 8.5in]

When You Find the Sweet Spot

 When you find that sweet spot during creating

As some of you may know, I work occasionally on some comic stuff. Not professionally, but my own stories. I've gotten two comic strips published (one became shortlisted in a humor contest) and I've been creating a slow and infrequent stream of comics over time.

For one particular fellowship I applied for, I created a 20-page graphic novel within a month and a half. Let me say I will not do that again! I didn't get the reward, but I learned more about myself as an artist in a more urgent medium. Similar to when I am involved in Inktober, the October event where artists globally participate by creating an ink illustration a day.

Why am I saying all this?
That's because I think I found the style I needed for one particular story. Tentative title is "Summer to Winter" and it's from my main character's poem. She falls in love for the first time and with her high school  homeroom teacher. Before you screech to a halt, don't worry, I don't normalize abusive relationships in my stories. As a writer, I try to depict violence for what it is - something abnormal that can be overcome through solidarity, healthy emotional support systems, and the idea that the vulnerable and the oppressed need protecting as well as dignity and respect.

During graduation, she lets her teacher know how she feels about him before they part ways. They keep in contact during her college years but part ways again before both come back into each other's life through a crisis. Eventually, through trial and error, they become a couple. The story does not end there. There are other secondary and tertiary characters involved in their own romances and who get their own stories told but all eventually revolve around the former student and her former teacher's romance because the other cast members were from her class or her school.

This story started in the early 2000s and because I wanted to be one of the next U.S. manga creator, I purchased actual comic paper from my local comic bookstore. I tried inking with nibs -you know, dipping nib pens into ink bottles?- I even used an ink wash with paintbrushes. Yes, I was INSANE.

It turns out that it took me a month to create ONE PAGE. A MONTH. I would need 200 years of life to complete this story, so I scrapped it!

Years later, I tried a line art style. Black lines, solid blacks balanced with white. That worked for a time. I worked on regular-size art paper. I created more pages, however, the plotting was all wrong. The pacing had slowed, character motives weren't clearly thought out, it looked good and I was happy with the new look but I wouldn't want to submit this anywhere.

I scrapped it once again. I worked on other things. The same journals I used for other stories, I began scripting some of the more complex comic stories. I applied for freelance work. I submitted to contests, fellowships, and grants (I'm going back to applying for writing grants - wish me luck!). I also worked on other stories and submitted to publications.

And then I opened an Instagram account so I could show partials, unfinished sketches, draft pieces and progressions that I didn't want on my DeviantArt account. That's when I noticed the feedback I received from followers, friends, and colleagues. Another artist friend suggested using markers. I used to use them as a kid but now there were even more sophisticated types and different brands. They can make a piece resemble ink work, ink wash, watercolor, acrylics, and even pastels. Let me try some other formats! Let me experiment and since Instagram isn't commitment, dabble and see the responses.

Former student: This doesn't look like a draft! It looks finished! It looks professional! What markers are these?
Friends: I love your comics! Amazing outcome! Dreamy, steaminess, and romantic.
Colleagues: I know this character is your ideal man. You made this man good looking in just a few strokes. What materials do you use?

Pretty positive and a boost to the confidence I needed to try again. I have also been advised by peers and students as to how to market and I'm doing my research as I go. I also found some illustrator-friendly software while I was researching the software that would makeover my website, so I need to practice that as well.

And as always, thank you for sticking with me. In which ever format this comic story appears, I will let you, my dear readers, know the links and where to view and/or buy it.

A pleasure as always.