Detail of Episode 01 Cover

Interesting to see the process of how this thing evolved from a shitty sketch to something with mood.

Bianca's Shock

After being asked a rude/inappropriate question...Lately I've been writing/ drawing at the same time.

Mef and Enzo

I was thinking about where the bad guys would hang out, and it just came to me...titty bar of course. Where else?

Adriana

Adriana, a cocktail waitress that works at the club the Benedetti's own. She's embarrassed of Sly, and won't admit to seeing him outside the club.

Ace

Ace is Sly's partner in crime. They steal cars together and trade them for dope. Ace is hard AF, def not to be trifled with.

Fixing up an old drawing with anatomy issues

OLD

 NEW

Sometimes I get so excited about a drawing that I forget to do the construction...This was the case here, though I came back to it a few months later to fix it up.

A Rough Draft

Still testing out a workflow for this thing. Here's a page of roughs..

Daly

Daly, the character with the dreads, is the best buddy character we meet in Episode 0. He is supposed to be Afro-Latino. Sly and Daly bond over being the only minorities in their tiny rural town in Colorado. They also share the fact that they are both from broken families.
Below them is a sketch of Sly as a teenager sporting a pompadour which was probably cool back then..
And below that is a picture of Anca's hair after she does an under shave in episode 1. I guess you could say I like giving each of my characters a unique hairstyle that speaks to their personality.

Designing a Look for the Webcomic

Drawing on influences like Shohei Harumoto, (pictured below) a manga artist who has a popular motorcycle drama in Japan called "Kirin", I'm searching for the right look for my web comic. It has to be both efficient - not take too much time to produce, but still evoke a very particular "noir" mood. However, I also want to stay away from just plain black and white, since that seems to be a turn off for American audiences, which is primarily who this GN is targeted at. That being said, I think limited color might be a cool compromise between the two.
Below are two images I created with the look in mind, using screens and colors, but I think I got carried away with the detail, which is so easy to do, and now I need to create a pared down "production" version.

Added Mountains

The story takes place in NJ which has Bear Mountain, the Catskills and the Appalachian trail as backdrop. The mountains are symbolic of hard times and struggle so its really important that images of mountains be woven into the story. In other words--this image wasn't complete without those bad boys looming menacingly in the background.

Dev Sketches

Sly low and high angles, Anca's trainwreck Mom, and Sly in his 20s holding baby Anca.

 

1000 Yard Stare

Cat man...

Flatting in Manga Studio 5

Welp, no one's winning any awards for this image, but it marks an important step in my journey of making my own graphic novel, and that is learning all the tools available to me, and how the pros are pulling this sh*t off. I realized the look I'm going for is a flat, cel shaded anime look (no surprises there...) Special thanks to my badass friend Jules Rivera the indie comic book diva for jumping on Google hangouts with me yesterday and giving me a quick tutorial on how to use ref layers in manga studio to quickly flat an image (check her out - julesrivera.com). Tutorials on youtube are awesome but there's nothing like having a live person there to show you the ropes and field any questions. Jules's is currently in the process of setting up her own patreon right now so stay tuned for that. All good things!

Below is Bianca pictured in the sexist environment of her father's Auto repair shop where she works as the secretary and service advisor. Anca secretly dreams of working on cars with the guys, but doesn't dare speak up about it because that would most certainly cause a righteous shit storm. It's a major point of contention between Anca and her father Santino, who is very conservative and doesn't believe women belong in the garage. Every day Anca waits for everyone to go home and then gears up and works on friends and neighbors cars through the night and into the wee hours of the morning. Read- GALS, if you were born to do something, don't let anyone or anything get in your way!

Below are a few process images-

Starts as a rough sketch stained with whatever I ate for lunch that day..

Inked in manga studio

Flatted in Photoshop, before I knew about manga studio

Added BG

Flatted in Manga Studio, WIN! So much easier than PS

Finally, add deets, shadows, highlights and lighting

Screens! And other tests

Testing out some new SCREEN brushes that can make your work look like a comic! Thanks Mari!

 

People have been asking about Sly's race. Sly is mixed race, half Italian half Japanese, and for a very specific reason. His race informs his backstory. As a kid growing up in a predominantly white setting, Sly was tormented endlessly for being a half breed, a mutt and a misfit. As an adult his race is also a source of adversity, as many of the antagonists use Sly's race as an excuse to question his loyalty. Either way his race serves as constant reminder of his social status as an outcast.

Updated IS Cover for CTN

Things are moving forward, albeit slowly, and I've been getting a lot of great feedback lately for IS! This is an updated cover for an episode that is completely written called "Right Round" where my two main characters get into a CRAZY wreck on account of *someone's* ego. Gee, I wonder who?

Mock up posted below..Yuji gets credit for the idea! Yuji was looking at the original cover and said "He should be walking away from a wreck!" YEAH!!

The original (BORING-ass) cover. A big thank you to Jules who pointed out how sucky my logo design was, in addition to telling me how pretentious my title is. LOVE YOU JULES! How lucky I am to have made a friend who isn't afraid to share her honest opinion with me. I know that will prove invaluable later when it comes time to edit the story.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Folks, get ready for some dark ass, twisted ass, truly f*cked up shit. I seriously wonder as I'm writing this comic how I got so incredibly f*cked up. So yeah, this comic is really dark and DEF NOT FOR KIDS. Target audience is 15 and up. Then again when I was 15 I was already watching f*cked up violent shit so, um yeah. I guess that answers my question from before, LOL. When all else fails, blame the TV or Marilyn Manson right?

Anyhow, here is an excerpt from the comic I'm writing. I realized I'm really inefficient at this sh*t! My workflow is ALL OVER THE PLACE! Right now I'm using paper to draw, manga studio for ink and layout, photoshop to color and composite, comic life to typeset. Its a goddamn mess and completely inefficient. All I know is, this piece took forever (partially because I've been sick for 2 weeks) but also because I don't actually know what the f*ck I'm doing when it comes to making comics. I seriously need to get on the damn youtube and watch some tutorials on the technical details of making comic books so I can streamline my workflow and finish this comic before I'm 72 and crippled with arthritis.

Some of you might be wondering, "WTF is this lurid project anyway?" Comics are truly punishing work, and there's no money in it whatsoever, so why does anyone do it? Makes no sense, right? Unless, a) you just love it (which I do, it's very rewarding to see your vision come to life) and b) you have some nugget of truth you'd like to share with the world.

 In my case, I realized writing this comic has actually been strangely therapeutic for me, forcing me to confront some ugly demons from my past and try to crystallize my experiences into a story that people can be entertained by AND learn from. So learn from MY MISTAKES everyone, so you don't have to make them yourself. It sounds corny, but if I can save even just one person from the grief that I went through, or if my work can reach out and touch someone who's struggling, then the book will have served its purpose and I'll have accomplished what I set out to do.

Sex, Drugs, and Violence

This comic has it all. Below are some character sketches and story moments I've been working on. I'm happy to report that the story has evolved from something painfully cheesy and cliche to something I wouldn't be totally embarrassed to have my name on. While I grind out the story, I am also creating tons of development sketches, notes and diagrams like you see below to help map everything out. Each character has their own backstory and unique set of values. The theme for episode one is, what does it mean to be a man? Ironic that I would pen such a tale, but its actually a lesson for young people male and female alike, as well as anyone who's ever lost their way.