Ivalice Zine Entry

Ivalice Zine Entry

Example of a zine illustration that spreads across two pages. It depicts a nu mou character from Final Fantasy in an item shop, accompanied by a moogle character eating a kupo nut.

This is the work I did for the (completely free!) Ivalice Zine organized by Ashley Cope, whose work on the webcomic Unsounded has inspired me for years. When I spotted the call for entries I jumped at the chance. It was curated so it was a little nerve-wracking, but I think my pitch of ‘I just want to throw down a nu mou’ worked out. The only additional requirement was that I put a moogle in, too, so of course that was acceptable to me!

Cover art by Ashley Cope. This 100+ page fanzine contains comics, stories, artwork, and more. There’s action, some pinups, and blood so fair warning.
It’s also completely free to download!

I had so much fun making the big splash illustration, I also created this spot graphic intending to be used in the table of contents. It’s based on the Final Fantasy Tactics character, Agrias, who has an ice-sword attack called Stasis Sword. I’ve always really loved her but didn’t quite have the time to render a human character, so this is my little nod to how awesome she is.

Comics Tip

Small Steps to a Career in Publishing
I joined a fan-zine to gain experience in collaboration and publishing. A fandom is a great way to connect with like-minded creators and produce something together. Some zines are curated, others are not. Sometimes they also fall apart, depending on organization and participation. Even so, a complete entry for a fan-zine, whether the zine releases or not, is a fine addition to a portfolio, depending on the job. I mean, don’t submit a comic to a legal firm asking for a graphic designer, you know? Fanfiction and fanart are often acceptable as examples of what creative professionals can do with established properties.

What I learned from working on the Ivalice Zine is that the creators I look up to are people, too, and appreciate help with for-fun projects. I also learned that it’s a blast collaborate with a writer. These graphics based on the Final Fantasy Tactics cursor design were made to mark each ‘chapter’ of a four-part story they wrote. The story focuses on four characters and aligns with earth/spring, fire/summer, air/fall, and water/winter. I really enjoyed helping CorpseBrigadier polish their vision and I hope they liked how it turned out, too! I had so much fun, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for my next opportunity to collaborate with a writer.

Digital lineart of a nu mou in a fantasy shop overstuffed with otherworldly objects. A moogle sits on one of the shelves and eats a kupo nut. The nu mou is like a large upright rabbit-person, and the moogle is a small batlike person with large ears.

In the meantime, if you’re up for a random collaboration with me, here’s some lineart to color.

Care to read more?

In the News Again

In the News Again

In the News, Again: A SAW Nonfiction Comics Anthology Recently I had the pleasure of joining a nonfiction anthology, In the News Again, edited by Emma Jensen and Karlo Antunes. Above is the first page to my small entry. I wanted to do a comparison of attending a...

My Digital Shop: Now Open!

My Digital Shop: Now Open!

My Online Shop is Now LiveTruth be told, I’ve been promising this online shop for years. I think over a decade, now, people have asked for a digital shop and I’ve been unable to supply it. I’ve just not been able to set the shop up. It’s been a combination of perilous...

Amphiox: Launches Today!

Amphiox: Launches Today!

Amphiox: Launches Today!Today, my short story Amphiox launches in free-to-read format! This is the first time I’ve ever self-hosted a webcomic and I’m so happy it’s all come together. My partner Devin coded a website design I had in mind, and it is immaculate. Just...

Want to chat about this?

SAW Graphic Novel Development Month 1/6

SAW Graphic Novel Development Month 1/6

I signed up for a 6-month graphic novel course via Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW). It’s very heavily focused on individual study and progression. As for the graphic, I got sorted into the ‘orange’ group, although it seems like I’m just sort of interacting with whomever. I’m doing a lot of sketchy thumbnail work for the course and…making friends! But mostly working, starting with an exercise to help me visualize my entire graphic novel before going in to the nuts and bolts.

Setting Up Benchmark Scenes
Even though I’d been working on Warlock’d for years prior to this SAW class, I picked up a fun exercise that I will be doing for future projects. The idea is to quickly explore the whole book before writing a single line of dialogue. In my case, I’d already written the script, but every time I tried to fix it, it just spiraled into new ideas. So, to stop it from expanding further, this exercise really helped.

 


Warlock’d in Four Panels

Here I quickly jotted down the spine of the story. They turned into jokes because this much truncation lends itself better to humor than drama. These scenes need to happen for the story to work.

 


Warlock’d in Eight Panels

Here I misunderstood an eight page assignment but I still found this helpful to do anyway. It was sort of like mini-thumbnails for fleshing out the four panels above, giving them more context and thumbnails for the actual pages.

 

 


Warlock’d in Eight
Pages
From the four, then eight, panels, I was able to derive a lot of pages that I’m either excited about reaching, or…excited about changing altogether. Hey, not everything’s a masterpiece. At least I know many months in advance that it needs editing, rather than after I’ve fully drawn the page.

 

Takeaways
This doesn’t have to be done digitally. It could be drawn on napkins with ballpoint pens. The point is to quickly jot ideas down and become more familiar with them, even set up a few to look forward to polishing. Spending too much time and polish on explorations is just like vacuuming my cat…Sure, maybe it looks nice at the end, but did I really have to do that?

Comics Tip

Make Friends, and Support Them
Making comics may seem like a lone effort, but without a community, a comic goes nowhere (and possibly never gets finished). Part of paying into the comics community means supporting other comics creators.

Buy and read the work of your peers. Get to know their interests outside of comics. Beta read scripts for each other. Toss money into a comics Kickstarter or two. Go to some conventions and strike up some conversations with exhibitors in Artist Alley. Show up to a weekly local drawing group. Trade tips and resources. While it’s not a one-for-one trade in most situations, being successful at comics means being part of a larger group of people.

With that in mind, here are three comics friends of mine who kindly volunteered for shout-outs, as well as a link to the Sequential Artists Workshop. Check out their stuff!

Digital lineart of an orange with orange blossoms and orange leaves. It is uncolored so that readers can download it and color it for themselves.
But if you’re not feeling extroverted, help yourself to this CC BY-NC 3.0 licensed free coloring page!

Care to read more?

In the News Again

In the News Again

In the News, Again: A SAW Nonfiction Comics Anthology Recently I had the pleasure of joining a nonfiction anthology, In the News Again, edited by Emma Jensen and Karlo Antunes. Above is the first page to my small entry. I wanted to do a comparison of attending a...

My Digital Shop: Now Open!

My Digital Shop: Now Open!

My Online Shop is Now LiveTruth be told, I’ve been promising this online shop for years. I think over a decade, now, people have asked for a digital shop and I’ve been unable to supply it. I’ve just not been able to set the shop up. It’s been a combination of perilous...

Amphiox: Launches Today!

Amphiox: Launches Today!

Amphiox: Launches Today!Today, my short story Amphiox launches in free-to-read format! This is the first time I’ve ever self-hosted a webcomic and I’m so happy it’s all come together. My partner Devin coded a website design I had in mind, and it is immaculate. Just...

Want to chat about this?