Two Thousand And Twelve.

So it's 2012 and with that comes an optimistic look at the year ahead with steely eyed determination to do better than we all did last year. 2011 won't be a hard year to beat as I stumbled a lot more than I gracefully flew over the past twelve months. It's with that in mind that I want to lay some of my personal goals on the table for the new year.

1) Firstly addressing the obvious- Felicity has been put on ice for the last couple of months. I went into a great bit of detail on it just before that. Summarizing; I have to rebuild my confidence on it and approach it with belief that I can 'do it justice'. My issues with Felicity are mainly routed in my frustrations with my own artwork- never quite delivering the results I want on the book. Curiously, these are issues that seem exclusive to Felicity, which I feel may be because I created Felicity alongside re-writing my artistic identity, I have had to rebuild each element to match my current artstyle.

I think it's time to completely rebuild those elements and do it thoroughly. I aim to release another chapter of the story. I can't say it will be in the first half of the year unless my problems are solved quicker than I expect. Who knows though, I might be able to kill my gremlins on this one.

2) Secondly, The Journey- my short story has been put on ice as well. Although this is for entirely different reasons, I completed my goal of a December deadline for Chapter One but I have since come to realisation that there is a far better direction I can take this story. I will be rebuilding it as a higher priority book than my other 'Free-time' stuff. Ultimately, I've managed to create something more special than I initially thought and I don't want it brought down by my lack of experience in areas where it needs to SING.

3) Thirdly, Magpie will be getting a debut Issue late this year as I'm currently scouting for a writer to collaborate with, it's not a high priority for me compared to my other stuff but the demand amongst the folks who have loyally supported my work is certainly high(more so than any of my other work) and I can definitely say I will have one Magpie book completed by years end.

4) Lastly, although most probably the first piece of work I'll produce this year; Scoundrels is a new mini-comic that I've just detailed in the previous post. My contribution will be one of hopefully a few from many artists and will be a piece of a bigger puzzle. While I may only do one book for this in 2012, I'm hoping by years end, there will be a lot of books to read.

That about does it for the Artistic ventures I alone can control, I do of course have some work in between to involve myself with and which I'm sure I'll continue to enjoy. Hopefully some of that stuff can come to the surface this year, will have to see. Fingers crossed!

-Adam

Takes All Sorts

//Currently, Until the first batch of stories are released(expected around April/May) any creators interested in joining, hold tight for now! It's very early days for the project so I want to make sure it makes it off to a good start before any more people put the effort in. Thanks, I'll announce when we're ready for more.//

Scoundrels is a collaborative comics project.

An idea to build something alongside artists/writers and at the same time work some of those story-telling muscles. It also isn't going to break the time-bank.

The idea is to let several to dozens of comic artists and/or writers collaborate to create individual stories set around the same premise and characters- to explain;

Each Artist or Artist and Writer team would be tasked with creating a short six to ten page comic that stars a character or characters of their own creation. This would involve character concept and design, right through to realising them in a story-driven context, whelter that be through colour or black and white.

There are little to no limits on what the artist or writer can do outside of the following requirements;

-All stories are required to end with a pre-estasblished narrative element- which would tie each characters stories together. (That element being that a legendary fable "The Atlas" has been discovered to be truth. How that information reaches a creators character is up to them, but it must reach them by stories end. It's also entirely possible for a writer to skew this information, perhaps have it reach their character through misunderstood words or myth- ultimately driving them to a goal that is different to another characters understanding.)

-All character stories must revolve around or directly involve Pirates, smugglers or otherwise questionable individuals. Whilst it is entirely possible to have a character that combats against pirates, the end-story tying all characters together is very much going to be a pirate-centric element so they would require a reason to want to be involved.

-Set in a world with a Science Fiction/SteamPunk/Retro futuristic vibe. (Attire is very much in the style of 18th Century Pirates with Science Fiction twists.) Aliens are present and accepted as part of a galaxy wide culture, stories can take place on any planet with any number of unique additions to the lore welcome.

The overall idea being that several characters would come together in one place, having all come from individual and unique backgrounds. A later, larger collaborative project involving all characters together would then be an interesting possibility.

Ultimately, this is a chance to allow artists/writers to get involved and muck in to create something together, for purely the end result of having something interesting and fun to read and share.

There will be no 'leader' as I myself just want to simply be one artist out of group that decide to create a character and add a story to the lore. As such there isn't any right or wrong outside of what's been described above. If you want to have a story about a robot who escapes the belly of a beast to rejoin his crew then that's fine, infact, that's badass- why aren't you starting work on that?

Any one interested, drop me a comment here or contact me on twitter. Or go ahead and create a character and let me know when you've got a story together, each story would be featured on the website and credit the creators involved.

-Adam

Elephant Graveyard.

I was doodling Magpie for an upcoming blogpost and when I realized how the expression came out, everything got a bit Lion-Kingy.

-Adam.

Issuo Tree

Was going to type a lot of guff here but no one needs to read that. Here is a bunch of old Issue 3 stuff, it doesn't matter if I show it now. Given I've been working on various incarnations of Issue 3 since like 2008 or something mad- the age of this work varies as does the progression obviously, some are rough some are close to finished.

The very top image here is not from Issue 3 but pre-Issue 1. I just like to compare the end result to my initial ideas.

If you didn't catch the latest about Felicity, Issue 3 is to be a black and white comic now as I can't really justify spending as much time as I want on it. It's also due sometime next year as I've yet to begin working on it. My confidence is knocked severely with Felicity, I miss working on it something fierce but I won't be going back until I feel ready.

-Adam.

Doodle Dump The Third.

-Adam

Shiny.

I've always had an annoying tendency to tweak designs over the years, one aspect of Magpies design that has changed quite a lot is those extended, now intentionally-pointed shoulder pads, starting out as just a desire to bend the rules of my anatomy within my style and ending up a costume edit.

-Adam

One hour with Skyward Sword.

When I meet a new friend who isn't familiar with the Legend Of Zelda I always explain what it is the exact same way. I tell them that Zelda is adventure. They sometimes ask me, so it's like Fable or Elder Scrolls? I twist my lips and move my shoulders alittle; uncomfortable with the comparison, I eventually agree to some extent but elaborate. Adventure, as in, you start off small and you end up big. It's all about that Journey. They usually ask me at this point- what the game part of the game is actually like, not the story. I tell them again. Adventure, the game intertwines itself with the story to create the grand pilgrim of a hero; it blurs the lines, your experiences while in control are as memorable as your experiences watching 'the story'. No games take you on an adventure like Zelda. That's why it's so special, it's not breaking the boundries of gaming, it's not pushing the limits of our expectations. It's taking us by the hand and pointing at the evil around us, giving us a sword and telling us only we can change the fate of the universe, only we have that power. That's Zelda.

That's not to say they're perfect, even as a devoted son of the Triforce, I will make no claims to each Zelda being flawless gems of delight. There is an impression in my mind that tells me, historically, Nintendo have never really tried that hard with presenting their stories in Zelda games but also that it hasn't ever mattered- their sweeping masterstrokes speak for themselves and resinate through what has mostly been poorly animated characters with Gerry Anderson puppet-mouths.

Skyward Sword is a Phoenix Wright OBJECTION to that, showcasing what I cannot express enough, is by far amoungst the best looking Zelda games ever made. The care in the animation is unmatched by any entry in the franchise; everything from ear-rings to individual feathers move and react as the lavishly, lovingly animated characters come to life before our eyes. Not only that but character designs that are memorable and envy-enducingly perfect, locations that ooze with years of presence, life and personality. If Miyazaki made a Zelda game, this is it.

As I previously mentioned, the animation is a personal delight for me, from rolling pots to stretching with a yawn; every part of this world animates in a frenzy of colour, so alive and vivid.

It came to a head for me when Link and Zelda communicated as convincing a romance as I've ever seen in games, and they did so without ever outrightly expressing it. This is huge, I mean huge.

I'm someone who is fascinated with body language and expression, trying to learn and improve my own understanding. I tell stories with pictures and to be able to convey emotions in characters I need to be able to translate the language of the body into my art. Mastering subtle emotions is nothing short of astonishing and certainly something I've yet to come close to. Skyward Sword has done it, not only capturing the tiniest of quirks, winks and smiles but a very real emotion between what is essentially two masses of polygons on your television screen.

In ten to maybe twenty minutes, it could not be any more convincing. When coupled with the most serene scores making an entrance at precisely the right moment, it doesn't just impress to see the two on screen but invokes memories of school days, of seeing someone you liked everyday and never being able to express whatever it was you felt inside. It invokes the true feeling of love, how it makes you feel. It was incredibly powerful to me to see such a display of storytelling. I was blown away. It's so commendable to see on screen emotion be as brave to let us get what we want from it, to not have it arbitrarily forced on us with the confirmation that 'These two love eachother so you should care about that'.

It's no secret that you fly a bird in this game. It might not seem immediately obvious but I'm personally a great admirer of birds, I have bird iconography throughout a lot of my personal artwork and characters. Link not only gets a bird in this game but it's a Crimson one, not only my favourite colour but a word that has grown to have some importance in my life. I realise that won't count as much for many people but that feels like Nintendo have rolled out the red carpet just for me.

An hour into Skyward Sword and it's very fair to say I haven't scratched the surface, maybe even fair to say I've barely played the game but first impressions matter when it comes to Zelda and I'm ready to commit to whatever the game has in store.

It's really the finer details that impress me, details that I'm sure aren't vastly important to many gamers but I came away stunned by the effort and skill on display, there's a huge adventure ahead across the horizon and I'm ready and willing to face whatever evil is ahead. Already, this is Zelda. This is Adventure.

-Adam