Hey all,

in some final shifts away from the pen name, I set up a new livejournal. I'll now be found at:

http://ksek.livejournal.com

I'll probably just be posting when there's comic updates after the site goes live again (since I'll have the comic newsposts for ramblings and such), but I may still throw some extra art and stuff up over there once in a while.

As they say, see you guys on the flip side.

Oh dear lord, I just got a Twitter account.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind my dear friends to shoot me if I ever sign up for myspace. Thanks in advance ;)

One side of the bookmark promo I'm getting printed for Synchronism: (with a few minor adjustments still to be made)



I would also like to point out that using myself (and pictures of myself) as figure drawing reference is going to come back and bite me in the arse when every single character ends up with scoliosis.

No wait, we'll just say the gravity of Leetstown is warped in some way that makes people grow at an angle. That'll work, right? :)

You know, I don't really mind drawing hands that much. I avoid it sometimes, but when I actually try, it's not that hard.

But you know what drives me crazy?

Feet.

Need to write a comic where everyone has a logical reason for wearing big black bubbly shoes.

I've been watching a lot of old Daria episodes lately while drawing. I think it's showing in said drawings... moreso than it used to, even.

One of the downsides of plotting the whole story out in advance is having the plot all settled, and then realizing that some things don't really need to be in the story... or need to be further developed in order to be needed in the story. Fortunately, tonight's revelation isn't causing any major re-writes. I just need to figure things out so I can insert the appropriate flashback scenes.

Current sub-project: designing Synchronism bookmarks to tote along with me to SPX next month (I don't have a table or anything, but I want to have something handy for any conversations that may strike up).

Days when story ideas seem to be exploding inside my head are pretty awesome.

It'd be more awesome if they actually had to do with Synchronism, instead all being about time travel.

Nothing major in the way of progress, but there's a new holding page up at http://www.thinksynch.com !

Note to self: Stop plotting out future comic stories before you've got the current one online.

Character art preview time!
(well, practice character art, really. changes are still quite possible, especially on Travis)

Anyhow, here's an updated look of both Travis and Karma:

Revised Synchronism outline, draft #2 : complete.

Tomorrow, script writing shall begin!

Oh, by the way... I'm dropping the pen name. 

Synchronism... by Katie Sekelsky. 

Now 70% harder to spell!

(edit:  this will also mean a new livejournal address at some point, if I decide to continue updating via lj once I get things started up again.  but i'll make another post if/when that happens)

Goal:  Synchronism up and running within two months.

It's now been 6 years since I started my first webcomic.  Pretty crazy, right?

Anyhow, working on Synch regularly now.  Like seriously working on it.  I'm not just making livejournal posts, writing down one note in Text Edit, and then deciding that I've made enough progress for the night.  I can't exactly say that I've made huge progress just yet, but I'm headed in the right direction. 

Frustration: Everytime I turn out something I like in a style even slightly different from what I was doing before it, my first thought is always that it doesn't look like my own work. But I always get paranoid that I'm subconsciously ripping off someone else's style. So far, I don't think I actually have, even after showing things around to people. I guess I'm just ripping off myself?


Now: Sketch time!

Greetings from the Fresh Cup coffeehouse, inspiration for the Weave, where I'm currently being arty as hell, sitting here with my laptop and chai (but not quite so arty as to be wearing a beret or black turtleneck, as a certain someone reading this would be pointing out ;) ).

So why the post?

Oh yeah, I'm starting the official revised script of Synch :) (already have it outlined out, so the scripting will hopefully be a breeze)

Uh huh, of course I have to go and feel like working on Synchronism right now. I've got 10 other things I need to do within the next week and a half (after which my motivation will probably be drained)...

*This random announcement has been brought to you by a Reva who has not given up on Synch yet. I swear!*

The current status of things:

I finished the full plot outline/summary of everything that's going to happen in Synch towards the end of the summer. I've begun going back and making a page-by-page script of that.

I've been drawing more recently, namely because of my Illustration class this semester. I've also discovered that I really enjoy drawing with dip pens. I've been using some vintage Esterbrook pen tips that I found at an antique store in Jacobus, PA. When I get back to inking Synchronism, this is likely what I'll be using for my main linework (though for cross-hatching the backgrounds, I'll probably stick with my trusty old Microns).

Now, where the negative starts to come in. I'm currently towards the middle of my second-to-last semester at college. For me, this means a lot of major projects that I need to do to graduate need to be mostly finished this semester. I don't want to give an exact prediction for when I'll be able to start doing comics again, but being having any free time to do it this semester is going to prove difficult. To contrast that, however, next semester is going to be mostly easy classes that I've been putting off for the last 4 years of school, so I'm hoping that will mean a lot of comic time for me.

Random Observation:

The new character in Home on the Strange looks strangely familiar, namely from the mirror. Although the character has already told a boring story about her kids and claimed ownership of Desperate Housewives on DVD... perhaps she is my long lost cartoon evil twin; or bizarro-reva.

Any Boing Boing readers around here? If so, you may enjoy this: Boing Boing Post Generator

Okay... I'll get back to comic writing now :(

okay, the whole Cyprus story is out. It's possible I may use the same story as part of a sequel or something someday, though, so not talking about it yet.

Possibly stepping Lark up as a primary narrator. Though, is it possible to have a narrator narrating events they didn't witness?

Finished up all my detailed character descriptions before the end of the school year, and am now working on writing out the outline, which will eventually flesh out into a script. My current main issue is trying to decide what "twists" and "secrets" to give away right from the start or middle (to the audience, not to the characters), and which to leave to be revealed until the end. A mix of both is likely, but deciding what to hold back on is a bit difficult.