8/1/2013
Hi again journal!
It’s August. Hubby is finishing his new issue for the Indieket, and it’s gonna be the first Komikon event I’ll be missing. I’m a little sad, but I really can’t risk travel, and getting myself too exhausted while I’m pregnant. I actually have a cold right now, so I blame it on the weather. >_< Anyway…
I’m currently working on Chapter 26 of Cresci Prophecies. So far, I’ve learned how to cope with my aching hand joints. Even if I only get to work on the pages a few hours a day, I’m 90% done with my pencils. I normally set around 30 pages for each chapter (as rule of thumb to avoid burn out), and then start inking when I’m done. Volume 4 chapters, however, are an exception. Volume 4 is packed with revelations, and action scenes. When I’m making a comic, I’d like to cut my chapter where I can actually cut the story. Call it my creative pacing/momentum. Since Vol. 4 is the last volume for Arcen, the storyflow is quite continuous…and so should my drawing mode frenzy.
I realized last night that I already did around 31 pages, and should end doing my pencils at page 32. But the part of the story where I’m going to cut it is a critical part of the volume that starts at page 33-40. Now, I usually pick up my drawing pace around middle of production (maximum concentration), and starting the next chapter with the critical part is a no-no for me. I usually rest from doing comics for around a couple of months before doing another chapter...
But I'm also expecting in a few months. I mean real soon… And that means managing my time and energy for everything I do at home before and after the big day. @_@ So the dilemma is to whether to continue until the 40th page (and risk burnout, and bad output), or risk a semi-bad output for the first part of Chapter 27. I’m supposed to ink my pages before I go on a hiatus… And then there’s my joint pains. I guess I’ll just have to try inking the first few pages. And if I can’t keep it up, I’ll try to finish the pencils until page 40…hopefully I won’t be losing steam since those pages need to be drawn really well (for my own sanity…and I know it’s gonna be tough for me to do). I'm excited and terrified at the same time~! @_@
I just really hope things would turn out fine in the next few months, and get through this interesting/crazy period in my comic creating life… @_@~ (Well...okay...Challenge accepted!)
--Joanah T.C., writer and artist for Point Zero
P.S. I think babies like doing round house kicks...
