New promo test part 1

If you have not already seen on our Facebook and Twitter pages the logo has had a little make-over.
Links below if you haven't.

https://www.facebook.com/covenantofarca1/

https://twitter.com/covenantofarca1

If you do check them out you may have also seen the promo I have done for the brand ( link below) Well now that there is a new logo I thought it was time to produce a new promo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dLRwZ84k0g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doXhlJ0nD7s


The promo is not finished but I though I'd share an out-take of what I have so far.

There are some obvious glitches with this animation and that is why it's an outtake once the full video is done I will be first posting on my pateron I am setting up then on youtube.

Why are my female character's face so square?

It has been pointed out that when I design my characters especially the females, their jaw line is too square. So this section I will talk about why that is the case and how & if there are ways to improve this.

Evidence

Here is a section of characters faces I have designed from past and current projects, so you can see how I currently draw them. This will give this section context.
As you can see from the three examples all of them have quite angular jaw lines. The first design is too angular and looks more masculine compared to the others as even though their jaw line isn’t rounded they are still quite feminine in appearance.

Why?

Why do my female characters have such jaw lines?  Well that is because of the reference models I use. When I am designing characters I research different faces, so when it come to the drawing I can create a wide variety of designs. The one constant is the images I reference they all have a square or oval shaped face.
These are some of the woman I reference to illustrate my point.
As you can see all these women have strong square like jaw-lines. I tend you use these images as stating points and that is why my characters have jaw-lines more angular than expected.
Another reason I use theses face types is that I find them, the easiest to draw from the 6 basic face types.
 

Improvements

Now that I have explained why my characters look the way they do, I will now address the improvements needed to them.
The most obvious is that even though the references have square-eques jaw-lines they are not as pronounced as I have drawn them. When I do my redesigns I will take a lighter approach to the jaw and give them a slight rounder edge.
Other ways I could improve is if I look at other face types, this will broaden my capabilities of drawing female faces.
There are 6 face types and I think that every time I design a female character one of the face types will be of the other face shapes. The six face shapes are as follows:

Oval: Forehead may be slightly wider than the chin, and the length of the face is about one and a half times the width.

Round: Prominent, rounded cheeks with equal width and length of the face.

Square: Prominent jaw and square chin, with forehead and jawline roughly the same width.

Oblong: Often confused for the oval face, though an oblong face will have a longer shape that is not as wide as oval — often with a narrow chin.

Heart: Wider forehead and cheekbones with a narrow jawline and chin.

Diamond: Narrow forehead and jawline with cheekbones at the widest point of the face.

I hope this has addressed any critique my designs have faced and with the points I have made I will make my improvements.

Black Voyage's cipher & spell book research

Black Voyage and my other projects involve reference to secret codes and text, and to make that seem real and authentic I do alot of research into these matters and for Black Voyage I will properly introduce an ancient book that was key in Transplant.

First I am going to talk about the codes and cipher that inspired parts of Black Voyage.

Templar cipher

The templar cipher is a variation of the pigpen cipher which exchanges letters for symbols which are fragments of a grid. This cipher's origin is unknown but records go back to at least the 18th century. This works wonderfully for the continuity of my story as it is set in the middle of the 18th century.

The templar cipher intrigued me not because of it's history but because of the way it is written. I can encode objects in my comic but only a select few will know it's there as other will see it as a weird pattern. I already used this cipher in the first part of Black Voyage on a poster and will use it again in the main issue.

The Templar cipher consists of variants of the Maltese cross. This is a eight pointed cross that form four "v" shaped elements. (example below)

Voynich manuscript

The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex that is written by hand and in an unknown writing system. The book has been carbon-dated to the 15th century and has 240 known pages as some are missing.  The text has been studied by professional and amateur cryptographers, yet the text has still not been deciphered.

This text intrigued me the most as it was created before the events of Black Voyage. This means that it is plausible that Sophia would have it in the 18th century. The fact that it has not been deciphered also is the main reason I chose this book to be in my comic as these code can be interpreted how I want them to be. This gives me a opportunity to add weight and plausibility to it's power that I will give it in Black Voyage.

These are the codes and texts I will be using in Black Voyage. I hope this gave some understanding as to what these are and why I am using them in Black Voyage.    

The script - Changes and editor decisions

WARNING This article may have elements that may upset some

The script for Black Voyage #1 is now complete, I produced three drafts of the script to get to the version I will use to create the comic.

Version 1

The first version of the script told a very linear story that lacked a lot of detail and connection between the characters. This was noticeable in the opening scenes as there are some character introductions but it was pointed out that the dialogue was very dry and didn't establish any character dynamics.

It was also pointed out that because some elements are real events, it parts that were vague on detail should include some historical detail to make them believable.

These were points I took on board and used when writing the second draft.

Version 2

With the second draft I reworked John & Marys interactions with Elizabeth so it was more obvious that they were old friends but also a reason to be in the gardens at the time. This allowed the first half to flow smoothly with a steady pace.

The next thing I worked on was the aftermath of the incident (which will be discussed at the end)
To show why the character behaves the way she does for the remainder of the comic I needed to show a characters true colors without feeling insensitive. I took inspiration from Joe Hill's The Fireman when constructing this scene. I think I got the character's emotions and interactions just right as it wasn't undermining or over the top.

The next parts I updated were a death scene to add context to what had happened in the story and with the conclusion I changed how parts happen to justify the actions taken and the importance of objects in the story.

Version 3 Final version

After reading the script it was pointed out to me that the story was too linear which took some of the impact of the story out. So with this version I did a complete redo.

I reworked my narrative so elements would now be shown as flashbacks and in a distorted order that was still readable. This idea was inspired by films from directors like Quentin tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan.

This improved the story massively as it allowed me to cut down on filler pages and focus on the important elements of the story. It did also give me the opportunity to connect the ending more to the overall story and not feel jarring.

The second version and third also gave me the opening to research on ancient texts and books that could be included in the comic, this gave some scenes context and kept them in the realm of believability.

THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING THE NEXT SECTION COULD BE DISTRESSING FOR READERS    

The Incident

This section will talk about how I came to the decision to include this event in my comic.

The event I am talking about is that Elizabeth is sexually assaulted in the comic, this will result in her developing the mental condition Ego-syntonic meaning she feels no remorse for the actions she takes after this incident.

I chose to included an sexual assault because I wanted to have a reason for Elizabeth to develop this condition and for the actions she takes later in the comic. I wanted the incident to have a significant impact of Elizabeth and her mind. That's why I didn't pick to physically assault her as there would be scaring and visible evidence but I wanted there to be no physical evidence so when the aftermath happens it comes as a shock to the people around her and possibly to the reader as well.

I thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Mary Rossetti - Before the redesigns

This is the full design for Mary Rossetti. Mary is the wife of John and best friend of Elizabeth, they met each other at a gala and have been friends since. She is a shy person who rarely steps out of the shadow of John. This attitude allows Johns other side to be free and live without consequences, resulting in the events of Black Voyage.

I did two designs for Mary, this is the first design.

I didn't chose this design as the final design because even though I liked the dress, it didn't seem regal enough to complement John clothing. I like the simplicity of this dress design as it leaves itself open for the colorist to add the details, patterns and colors. The facial designs do not work here as she looks too old compared to John and for the times. I do like the hair which I will keep when I design her looking younger.

          

Here is the second and inked design I did for Mary. I liked this design more as this dress, felt more upper class. I stuck with making the design simple as like the previous design I think it looks better and give the colorist more to play with. I reworked the hair a little so it wasn't so tall to give the appearance of a widow. I also gave her a rounder face which did de-age her, which gave a age matching that of Johns which i'm happier with. This design also is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette and that era which helps give the character historical believability. 

This is the final colored version of Mary and like John is may be the only version as the final comic may be in B&W. I chose the blue for the dress as it seems an appropriate color for the time. This dress this color also give off the vibe of a jane austen novel, this is the vibe I want as this is the type of character I want the audience to see Mary as before the event. I gave her white hair as common for the upper class women to wear white wigs. 

Edit - I may have stated this is the  final design however is it heavily out of proportion as her shoulders are too broad and her chin is too pronounced. I will be conducting new designs that will address these issues. The color scheme will hopefully stay the same as I still believe the color scheme works.

I think this is a strong character design, that I look forward to drawing more of in the final comic.

To read the story so far you can pick up a copy here: https://sellfy.com/p/tUY8/

For more news on Black Voyage follow me on Twitter and Facebook

https://twitter.com/covenantofarca1

https://www.facebook.com/Covenant-of-Arcana-1676184302657368/timeline

    

John Rossetti- before the redesigns

I chose the design on the left as I felt this design made John seem more upper class, which John is. This design also had more details and features to play with, which I found more interesting to draw when it came to the inking (Below)

 

When it came to inking, that's when I added the face. I went for a young face as I want John to look in his mid 20s and I think this face captures that. The left side of the design however, is off as the shoulder is too high giving the left side more space to work with. As a result, the left arm seems alot bigger than the right.  The colored version takes your eyes off shoulder however. (Below)

This is the colored version however it is not the final version. The gold design on the jacket there is an empty space, that is because there is a design that goes there that will not be revealed until you read the comic. I went with this color scheme as I felt they worked well together and gave John a regal feel. There is one problem with this design and that is John head. On here it looks too small for his body. That may be for one of two reasons, either the head is out of proportion with the body or his Jacket is too big making his body seem larger than it is and his head looks smaller than it is. 

This version of John may appear in the comic he may not as I might stick with the first issue and do the comic in B&W. This will be a decision I officially  make once I have inked all the pages. This is because I will then know how much time I have until it goes to print. If I have enough time I will color, if not I will leave it B&W. 

This will help with the symmetry of the story as well if the coloring process stays the same.  

Check out our Twitter page to see a WIP video of me coloring John 

https://twitter.com/covenantofarca1

You can also pick up a copy of Black Voyage #0 from our website.

covenantofarcana.wixsite.com/covenantcomics

  

   After reexamining this design, I found that it was wildly out of proportion. So even though I said I like this design, I am going to do a redesign that will be in proportion and I will be keeping the color scheme for the new design as I still like the colors used.

New character designs

After the events of issue 0 of Black Voyage there is a need for new characters. Here will be the final inks of the designs along with some pencil and alternate designs. With this post I am not going into detail about the designs that will come in later posts I will dedicate to each character.

          
The first design are of Elizabeth as this issue will delve into her origin and she will be wearing a different outfit from the one she wears in issue 0

 

Here is the design for a new character John Rossetti below is the design for his wife Mary Rossetti these two characters are key to the motives of Elizabeth.

 

That's it for this post but I will have follow up posts individually analysing the designs and characters.

Black Voyage progress

Here is a update on what is happening with Black Voyage. I have completed the overview and script for the next and final part of this saga. I am very happy with how this will play out however I am sending the script off to an editor just to make sure it's the best version it can be.

While that is being reviewed I will continue with my character designs as I have added more character's since the first issue. These include John and Mary Rossetti and a new look Elizabeth (Below)

I am also in the process of producing my page layouts using my current script. I am doing them now so that if I have to make changes I have a better idea of how they will look making it easier to move the narrative accordingly. It will also cut time of crating the final artwork if they are no changes to be made.

That is the progress of Black Voyage so far.

To keep this progress going you can donate to us here:
http://covenantofarcana.wixsite.com/covenantcomics/donate