It took me a while, but as promised here is a post about some of the behind the scenes work that goes into my comics! Before I go any further into this post, I guess I should write about the stage I'm at with my web comic. The nature of the web format allows the comic to have multiple, branching plots. If it were published in print, the plot would have to unfold in a linear manner. However, with the web format, one page can link to multiple pages, allowing the plot to progress in multiple directions and allowing the me to create and the reader to explore various sub-stories and sub-plots. The problem I'm having right now is trying to create a story that would go along with that plot structure. I've gone back multiple times and re-worked the concept for my story. I'm still not 100% sure in which direction it will progress.

       I wrote a short story and then modeled the comic after it. In a lot of my previous comics, I've had some sense of how I would like the plot to turn out but I never had a set story in mind and I created the plot as I went a long. As a result, the story quickly got out of hand. Although I like having an established plot in this case, I found that it doesn't allow me to be as spontaneous. I'm trying to find a balance now between having a coherent plot and making room for spontaneous moments. 

        I also do a lot of sketches of various characters and scenery beforehand in order to get a sense of the world I'm creating. Although I've started working on the comic, I'm still not 100% sure about the world that it portrays. I guess I would like it to resemble our world for the most part, but I would also like to include a variety of surreal, odd moments. When drawing, I usually tend to have a pretty surreal style and I would really like to make room for that in my comic.

         This is just a study of some of the characters. Marlena is at the bottom left, her room-mate, Helga, is at the top left and her friend Velia is to the right. 

       

Below are a couple of sketches of characters who I thought could inhabit this world. At this point, I'm not really sure whether I'm going to integrate them into the plot. 

   

It's been a crazy semester so far and I've been trying to find room to work on my comic. Luckily, my school is having a short break now, so that should give me some room to work on it. I'll hopefully be able to post a new page in the next few days. In the meantime, check out my comic at www.pizamarcomics.com!