6-Commando

[Mr. Average]

I really appreciate the kind words, both here and about Hotel Metropolitan, my other project. It really does help keep my confidence up! Writing online is kind of like shouting into a darkened theater - it could be empty or full, but you don't know unless someone shouts back.

And there's another page on my site! This one I'm REALLY pleased with. It has a very quick-paced and visceral feel, dragging the story back from the technology-driven angle and reminding the reader (and myself!) that it's still a war story. It was pretty much exactly what I wanted out of it. Not that this is by any means the peak of what I hope to accomplish, but it was about where I'd hoped to be.



Check out the site, and thanks again!

--M

[Joost]

Another nice one M.! It suggest some really heavy torturing, but without actually showing it.

Keep 'm coming!

PS. If you keep at it and keep on improving yourself, in the near future I will be one of many readers!

[Mr. Average]

I have to say that the encouragement, both here and by email from various people, has been really great, so thanks to everyone who's been reading!

So, another page is up!

And to top it off, I took the night to update my website, as well. So check me out - you're all welcome!

And if anyone's interested, I'm going away next weekend, so I'll need a placeholder or guest art or whatever. I'm doodling a few things myself, but still. I know that being a neophyte here it's kind of presumptuous to ask veterans to help me fill the gap, but I thought I'd put it out there anyway, just in case.

Anyhow, thanks again!

--M

[Joost]

Website and new page look really good! I like this guest art idea, maybe a nice illustration of major Sarah in action.

[Mr. Average]

I'm particularly pleased with how this week's page turned out (particularly the Russian tank in the inset, based on the real-world BTR-90). I beg your indulgence, as I'm posting the whole thing. I've been wanting to fit in a full bleed page for some time, but didn't know where to put it. But this scene presented itself, so I went for it.


Again, thanks to everyone who's been supporting and encouraging me on this one - the site traffic and comments are both deeply appreciated! And special thanks to Joost, who's kindly offered to do a bit of guest art for next week (I'll be taking a long-deferred vacation). I can't wait to see it!

--M

[Joost]

I like the way you put all 6 commandos in the picture and their target without making it feel cramped, very nice solution! Can't wait to see how they fry the enemy with those canons!

[Mr. Average]

Well, I'm on "vacation" this week, so Joost was kind enough to fill the space on my site for me! He has such a different style, and it was a real thrill to see his take on 6-Commando. Personally, I love it!


I can't thank you enough, Joost! And I'll be back to regular updates next week, if all goes well.

Thanks everyone for the support, and the visits to the site, which have been going up, slowly but surely!

--M

[Joost]

I'm glad you like it M! It was really fun to do!

Keep up the good work! I can't wait for next week's instalment!

[Mr. Average]

Whew! What a couple of days. Not quite a full update this week - just black and white. I'm coloring it and will update again next week with a new page as well. But withal, I think it's promising.



The story is starting to take off, and I appreciate all the visits and traffic. And comments, as well! Direct art-related feedback, with a few notable exceptions (Thanks, Joost, Gunwhale, et al!) has been kind of thin though, and I can definitely use any comment or critique that anyone has to offer. I know a military story like this is not exactly congruous with the Flight genre, but it's going somewhere you probably don't expect, so bear with me and please, keep reading as it goes!

My other story, Hotel Metropolitan, seems to have been more popular on the forums here, and part of me thinks I shouldn't have put it on hold as I did. But I'm kind of committed now, and I think the worse thing would be not to follow through on 6-Commando now that it's so fully underway. Ah, well, as I always say, pros are a tough crowd! And to everyone who has commented and given me words of encouragement, I continue to thank you profusely!

--M

[Jason_Brubaker]

Mr. Average, I'm really loving this new black and white page. I'm curious what it will look like when you add the color. What you are doing with the solid lines feels similar to stuff in ProjectWaldo http://projectwaldo.blogspot.com/. It's a blog that I have been obsessed with over the last few days. I know what you mean about going back and forth on two stories, wondering which one to put first. I'm the same way with my stuff. All I can say is keep going, whatever it is. As long as you are drawing, you are making progress. It's looking really nice.

[Mr. Average]

Wow, thanks for that link, Jason! That dude is doing some pretty sweet stuff! And I appreciate your making the comparison, but good Lord! If I can ever draw as well as that guy, I'll really have done something! I mean, sweet holy crap!

Ahem, well, anyway. Yes. Interestingly, he and I are using almost the same technique, with the flat, empty linework, multifill/flatten and cel-shaded colors and shadow, although with mine I've deliberately simplified a lot of it to make it faster to draw. A quick comparison between the level of detail I've been able to put into 6-Commando versus Hotel Metropolitan shows that out.

I appreciate the encouragement a lot, Jason! And as always, Joost, as well (I'm still loving that guest bit from last week!) Comics are a labor of love, but it's nice to know some people are getting some slight entertainment out of it, as well!

--M

[Joost]

Great page M! This is some effect, I can't wait to see it colored!

[Mr. Average]

Just a little note to draw everyone's attention to the fact that last week's comic (already posted above) is finally complete and in full color. That means that some of the posts about the line drawing are now a little out of context, so for anyone reading this post ex post facto, the story was that I had to post a black-and-white line drawing due to a couple of silly and time-consuming bits of travelling I had to do that threw my whole schedule into a cocked hat. Page 10, by the way, is about half-colored, and I'm pushing to finish it by midweek as well so's to get my schedule for the story back on track.

Joost, Jason, and everyine else, thanks once again for reading! I'm just crunching along here as fast as I can...

--M

[Joost]

Colored page looks really good! I really like the smoke trail the bombshell is making, first a normal blast and then some sound barrier blast (or something like that), really nice!

I'm also verry keen to see a daylight page, since I saw this page in black and white I have the impression that some of the detail gets lost in the "night-time" colors.

keep 'm coming!

[Jason_Brubaker]

I agree with Joost on the colors loosing the details of the line work. Your line work is so impressive that I'd suggest using a color pallet that still shows off the lines. Some ways you can do this is just lightening up the shadow pass a bit. Perhaps instead of just using a black layer with opacity turned down for the shadows (this is what I assume you are doing), you could color the shadows a more nighttime color like the sky color blue. The thing I've been learning lately is that the sky color reflects onto everything. The sky color would be almost everywhere in your picture.

Also you could play with the explosion light more to lighten up the colors. Creating a nice circular explosion color grad the fills most of the page but it under the lines might work.

These are all just critical suggestions. You are doing an amazing job without my advice already. Look forward to seeing more.