Rainbow Connection

Just like Kermit told us.

Orcs in jocks

It seems that some of my costume design choices have confused a couple of readers, especially the mixing of modern bits and pieces, especially with the Ix.   Now, apart from the fact that I think Orc boys in undies are much cuter than Orc boys in loincloths, there is some method here.  

I really like the One Piece Manga and  I especially like the way Oda san mixes modern streetwear with the pirate stuff, it gives the whole setting a great feeling of familiarity and displacement at the same time.  Some I'm trying something similar, to break out of the traditional fantasy rut a bit.  

Also, Tolkien & co were allways pissing and moaning about the advanced technology of the dark ones, well along with medicine and proper sanitation, wouldn't comfortable underwear be a major breakthrough for a medieval society?

The Boys on the way to the gym

I'm taking a little break to recharge before I start plotting out chapter 4, which is going to be a doozy, 24 pages, lots of exposition and background but hopefully not dull and too talky.  I also get to introduce Raul who has been   on my mind for a while now.

So, in the meantime, something which I liked in my sketchbook and have finished up here.

Writing Porn is Hard

Just in, more on my redesign of Raul the missionary, our new friend for chapter 4.

One thing that has surprised me about working on Crooked Sabre is how difficult the writing has been. I'm not complaining mind you, it has been interesting and challenging and has meant that I've really had to think about porn as a medium. I recommend the process if you are at all interested in thinking about what porn is, where it has coming from and where its going.

I wanted to move beyond wondering if the plumbing would ever get done or whether the pizza would get eaten before it went cold. I wanted to write about sex in a way that was, well realistic is not the word (especially with orcs and elves!) but I guess … natural … might be closer? Character-driven is a term bandied about a lot, but I think it applies here as well.

Crooked Sabre Chapter 3 - The Generals

Raul, Take 2

I had originally designed Raul as a generic blond twink. The Men of Weare were formulaic fantasy bigot humans and I went for the easy aryan look for them, but this faces a couple of problems. First its kind of trite and second it means I have a blond haired white boy as a major character in a series about racial diversity.

So I was thinking, what if I changed his look a bit? I just fiddled with the colour values, just to see. I still might make him blond, maybe he can bleach his hair later.

Jungle Boy Venus

"He answered to the name Venus.  It seemed that the name of the planet on which he was marooned was the only word of English that he knew.   How he got to that faraway jungle, I shall probably never know.  He took to our devices and gadgets with great relish but I never did convince him of the merits of a pair of breeches."

From Professor Mancheeks' Alamanac of the Astonishing.

Raoul

Well, I have done both censored  and uncenosred versions of the new character design for Raoul, the missionary who comes into chapter 4, in a big way.  Actually chapter 4 looks like growing into a 'full length' 22 page story if I'm going to be able to include all the background stuff as well as the sex. 

As you will see Raoul is of noble birth, but was brought up as a monk because his physical imperfection (relatively speaking) makes him an outcast in Weare society.   He's been brought up with all the moral repression, and locked into a 'purity shield' but as you will see he isn't really cut out for a life of celibacy.

He's going to develop a relationship with Sabre which will put some interesting spins on the Nax/Sabre relationship and lets me explore what jealousy, intimacy, etc mean for the Ix.

Playing with digital paint

I'm pretty new to the whole digital painting thing.  Well, to painting full stop.  Last time I tried to paint was with nasty cheap arse paints at school and kind of convinced myself was that I couldn't paint.  I'm prepared to give it another go, but -ggrrrrrrr- not got much patience.

UPDATE:
I've been reading a book on Yaoi and apparently the colour green is synonymous with homosexuality in Japan!  LOL.

Barns and windmills

OK, this might not be the single most exciting image I've ever posted here, but hear me out.  Google sketchup is the best tool for artists with perspective retardation like me.  I'm slow enough with the comics as it is, this is going to really help with some backgrounds.

To twink or not to twink

I've been keeping up with Victor's Men of Color Blog for a long time now and I'm fully aware of the racial biases of the porn industry, which means it is with some wariness that I'm working on introducing a character who, if you had to use a label, would be a whitebread twink.

In chapter 4 'The Missionary' I'm introducing Raoul, a naive young missionary who is going to be quite challenged by the Ix lifestyle and world view.  It's going to be a full 22 pages and its going to include a bit of backstory as the Ix nation is explained to poor perplexed Raoul.  Oh yeah, and there's an orgy in the Stately Pleasure Dome so don't worry that will be all talk, you can look at the pictures.

So when designing Raoul I wanted someone young (not too young, I live in Australia and have to be so damn careful, he'll have to have a drivers license!!!!) kind of naive but also able to turn around all the racist moral bullshit that he has been taught.

I hope you can forgive me, I've also indulged in a bit of melodrama and he's the twin brother of the scheming crown prince of Weare who has been shunted off to the monastery to get him out of the way.  Yeah, yeah, it's an oldie...

Anyway because the Men of Weare represent Tolkien's Aryan ideals I made him blond, also a nod to those kind of lanky young guys who are just growing into their bodies and have a puppy dog sweetness. (Shannon Boh, take a bow).   So there is a process to all this, but at the end of the day I'm back in twink territory.  And I've already had an elf boy in part 2.  I don't have much time to draw this and I don't want to waste my time doing more of the same.

One thing that has occurred to me in the process of writing is that I don't have any disabled characters.  Not wanting to go down any creepy fetish alleys, but disabled folks are left out of everything, especially porn, so why not?

I'll have to have a think about this and figure out what exactly could be the cause (polio maybe?) and whether this would be a turnoff for people.  I don't want to be PC or anything, but I'd like this series to explore some different body shapes and sizes.

It could also be a good way to talk about the fantasy body fascism issue again.  So, do I do it to poor Raoul?

Who ever said writing porn was easy?

I shouldn't complain, but I've been agonising over revisions to the third Crooked Sabre chapter, The Generals.   When I started this caper I thought great, lots of sex minimal amounts of talking.  Instead within 3 chapters I have a great big talk fest.

I can't quite bear to write the 'I'm here to clean your pool" kind of dialogue.  I know my stuff isn't brilliant, but I hope it has some sense of realism, and says something about the relationship between the characters.   It may sound pretentious, but I seriously think porn is hotter if I believe that there is some kind of real spark happening.  Girly, I know.

I have to hold back the urge to keep jamming exposition in, about the world, history etc.  Yeah, I know, not very sexy pillow talk.  I'm laying out the dialogue over the next few days and then I can get onto the more fun task of pencilling.