Long John

While work on this short story has been slow going in some ways, it persists in the back of my mind every minute of every day. It’s not a matter of if it will get finished, it’s more a matter of when. With my day job taking up so much time and wanting to keep the fifth chapter of Long John on track, I’ve had to put “Call Me Home” on the back burner for a bit as I prepare to jump headfirst into Long John once school lets out for the summer.

As I piece this story together, I’m learning a lot about drawing comics digitally––becoming much more familiar and comfortable with it along the way. To the point that making comics on the iPad seems less an exercise and more a possibility. This has grown to the point now that I’m inspired to come up with new stories, other stories that I want to tell. As with any person hit with the euphoria of inspiration, it can be hard to not drop everything you’re currently working on to play with the new ideas.

In the process video for this page, I discuss the fun challenge of drawing these pages, though. They are the things that keep me coming back to it because the art here is more about suggestion and implication than detail and accuracy. It’s an even more extreme version of the limits I gave myself with Long John‘s limited color palette; it’s like I’ve imposed a limit on visuals as well––how much story and scene be implied with few lines and shapes of color. Whether it’s a success or not depends on when it gets finished and in the hands or screens of readers.