Hiatus

Yup. TR has been fun, but I've been working on it for years and it needs a chance to breath. It's one of those stories I've always wanted to tell, but I'm not sure if I've quite got my head around it as much as I'd hoped.

Anything I do related to it will still go up here on the blog. Otherwise, I have other new projects I'll be working on, so I'm certainly not going off the grid. I have work with a publisher coming down the line that you'll see my name on- I don't want to say too much yet, as no contracts have been signed. I also have a new webcomic I just finished the first rough draft of called Satellite Boneyard, which is going through edits and website preparation.

My portfolio website, http://minisaurusrex.net, is also up and running. If you're looking for news on those projects, you can check the sketchblog (www.minisaurus.blogspot.com) or the deviantart site (http://minisaurus.deviantart.com/).

Cover!

This is what the cover looks like. I'm kicking out new pages, so those'll be up soon.

Website!

Sorry, guys, I had to put off posting for a little bit longer. I'm in the process of making a TR website, and it's long and convoluted. I'm not very good with web stuff. I'll post the cover tomorrow. -Z

Updates!

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry folks, I haven't stopped working, I just stopped posting.

The first book is out! Forty pages of solid artwork and ridiculous fights. I'll be posting the cover and other information. Work now begins on the second book. It's late so I'll be updating more in the morning. Toodle-oo!

More inks!

Here are a few more recent inks.

More inks

Here are a few more inks to tease you. There's a couple of places I'd like to change on page 10 when they enter the crossroads hallway, but it's nothing backbreaking. I'm pretty proud of these. (Also, the first page is missing tails on the word balloons. I actually have a version with the tails on, I don't know how that one snuck past me.)

The story is heating up, people! I've almost got dreamweaver figured out too, and when I do I'll start making sure the website is nice and pretty. -Z

Inks

Here's a few more of those first pages again. This should give you an idea of what the inks will look like.

More pages!

Here's a few more pages from later on in the story. There's a gap between the last few and these, so don't try to make sense out of them.

Also, I'm working on the design for the TR website. It's slow going because it's the first one I've ever done, but hopefully it'll look good.

Watercolor!

Since I've been working on lo-fi for awhile due to wiping my computer, I did this as I waited. With some help from Jarret (http://www.lunarboyland.com/) that will hopefully be solved tonight. And then you'll see a lot more work. I'll watercolor the second page too- it's already partially done.

Computer stuff

For those that didn't know, I've been having computer problems going on a year now.

I wasn't able to access the net through my personal computer and everything I updated had to be done through the school lab, which is part of why updates were so scarce.

This has been fixed.

My computer can now access the internet freely, which means faster updates and more work more easily done. I just have to iron out the kinks. In order to get it fixed I had to wipe the hard drive, which means I no longer have photoshop or even word installed. I'm also missing some pivotal parts of my personal scanner which I'm working on replacing, and the cd's I don't have are all back in Chicago. All the important images and documents are backed up on an external hard drive so no information has been lost, but it'll be a week or two before I'm back to producing at the same speed as I just was. In the meantime I'm going to work on doing some quick fixes to the first few pages, since I have the time, and I'll work ahead on thumbnailing, lettering and other low-fi things I can do to move TR ahead.

I've settled on a size- 9x7 inches. Don't go anywhere, we're just experiencing technical difficulties. -Z

More pages!

I can't describe how good it feels to actually sit down and DRAW this. Writing is great, it's the most important part of the whole process and it deserves the time I gave it- but damn if it doesn't feel good to do something physical.

Here are more pages. Some of these will change slightly before inks- I feel like the backgrounds are kind of uninteresting here. I've done some research and I know what I'm going to do to change it.

Pages one and two are inked- I really like how they look just as landscapes, so if I can find the time I might watercolor them for fun. If so, those will make their way on here.

In a perfect world I'd be able to watercolor the whole book. If I only had the time.

Oh yeah

Back in business, baby!

Here are the first four pages of pencils. You've probably noticed that things have changed one last time. I rewrote the beginning- when I first wrote it it sounded great, but after finishing the book I realized that it was badly paced and unclear. The new one is much simpler.

I'm waiting on a verdict as to whether or not I should use pens or brushes for this, so if you have an opinion shout out.

Script

Hey guys! So the script is progressing nicely and should be done a few weeks after Christmas. Once that's finished I'll get right to work on drawing. I'm hoping to have the whole book drawn by summer.

Above are spot-blacked thumbnails for the first few pages and designs for the BullDogs, monsters that will be appearing in the first book.

I know updates are scarce these days. I don't want to update pointless information so months end up going by. But I've come up with a solution. If you guys want to be told when there's an update, send your e-mail addresses to Renard at foxflower16@gmail.com. He'll send out a mass e-mail everytime something important happens to let you guys know. Peace!

Research!

Hey guys! So work continues on the script, but I figured you might want to take a look at some of the work I've been doing designing the Ondine Foundation, the resurrected city that the first story takes place in. During the first book it's being used as a museum, much like a publicly owned castle in Europe. The Ondines are meant to have a godlike mystique, so it's only fitting that they have some religious influence in their architectural choices. Here we have drawings of a Russian church, a Tibetan temple, and a Hindu temple facade. As I work on the designs I'll use other sources to build this ancient civilization.

Hard at work!

Again, no images for the moment. But I can tell you guys a little bit about what I'm thinking.

While I'm sticking to my guns about the story itself, I've been starting to give some thought to the look of TR. For this I've started thinking about what comics and video games have always grabbed me in terms of design. I arrived, eventually, at three video games: Final Fantasy IX, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Jak games from Naughty Dog. If I put these three together, I get a detail oriented look with a lot of old masonry, rusty metal, ancient temples and a steam punk edge. I've started looking at a lot of old Cambodian temples from the Khmer civilization and referencing and sketching them- I'll scan some of the sketches next week, and you guys can follow as I begin putting together some cityscapes.

More coming!

Through page 45. I've got some designs to show you guys but right now I don't have a working scanner, so bear with me. Further updates as warranted!

Script!

So, given that I'm working on the script it's hard to hand you guys direct updates without giving away the story. You should know I'm about 35 pages in.

Renards birthday party was today, but he's requested that nobody share any pictures- I can't imagine why. Everyone else had a lot of fun. Whatever he wants, I'm sure that the pictures will find their way out eventually.

Back in business!

Hey everyone! Summers over and Troublemakers is officially back on full production!

While the second prequel chapter was supposed to be finished by now, I've made some modifications to the long term story that unfortunately render it obsolete. I think the changes to the story are for the best as they simplify things significantly- but it means I have to go back to the drawing board on a few things for the last time. This isn't the first time this has happened, I know. A lot of the past few months have been spent taking the raw material I've got and editing it down to something clean and manageable- this has been a valuable learning process for me, but it means that sometimes I have to double back on myself. I've already gained a lot in the course of this project and I'm excited to put it into action, so don't go anywhere.

I'm in the process of writing the script for the first full length graphic novel, which is going pretty fast at the moment. As designs, thumbnails and such pop up, I'll relay them to you. The official update day will return to Sunday.

While the second prequel chapter doesn't have any affect on the story, I'm still very proud of my work on it- so I'll continue to work on it and put it up when finished. Stay with me! -Zach

Happy Sunday!

Okay, folks. Time for yet another slight change to the nature of the update schedule.

I'm not going to update on a weekly basis for the rest of the summer. Instead I'm going to update on the day when there is something to update.

Those of you who've been following this diligently deserve an explanation, so here it is. The truth is that summer provides me with much less production time than the school year. During the school year I spend a lot more time in front of a desk than during the summer- not because I go out a lot (I don't) or because I work a lot (I do) but because my work time is spent in a house with three other people who all need a desk or an internet connection that we all share. Rest assured that I do get work done- I chill in coffee shops and take pages to work with me- but there simply isn't as much time to devote to TR as I have during the rest of the year. And I'm not going to update the story on a page by page basis, because it's not that kind of story.

This is part of why last week passed by without update- there have been other factors as well, but this is an issue that cannot be changed between now and the end of the summer.

If you're wondering how far the next mini has gotten, it's two thirds done. It'll be out by the end of the summer- for me, that's September 31'st, so let's plan on the release date being September 20'th for now- I want to allow time so that I can make some nice extras for the mini and organize it on lulu.com.

Check ya later, folks.

The LIBRARY

This will all be appearing in the back of the next mini. Enjoy!

The Index City LIBRARY is known and feared throughout the world of literary catalogouing. Known for it’s stubborn staff, it’s rigid rules, and it’s support of corporal punishment, the LIBRARY is quite literally a prison for books. It is the responsibility of the Librarian Agents not only to ensure that books are returned on time, but in many cases never loaned out, lest the tomes wear out from exposure. Many of the books in the LIBRARY are extremely rare, ranging from the magical (such as the Telecomnicon) to the scientific (Supernatural Physics as described by Metaphyscial Math.) Most are either the last of their kind or the only copy ever printed.

There is absolutely no speaking in the library during library hours, on pain of expulsion, fine, or in extreme cases death. Sometimes all three.

All Librarian Agents are required to have their own coffee mug in the employee lunch room, be capable of 200 words per minute on a word processing program, have experience in information organization, and must have mastered a form of physical combat. Fugitive tracking skills and a can-do attitude are also a plus.


Librarian Profile-

HEATHER- Head Librarian Agent.

Number of Cats- 37.

Number of friends- 0.

Heather has worked for the Library since she was 16. The organization first noticed her usefulness when she sent a classmate to the hospital for keeping an overdue book for more than a week. She is widely known as one of the greatest of all catalouging minds in our time, and is also commented on for her strict discipline. She learned her style of fighting, which she has not named, from watching her cats fight over milk.

Heather sleeps upside down with her legs crooked around a long iron pole, with her arms folded over her chest. She says it helps her back.

Secretely an avid reader of the Edmund Eriathfaers line of romance novels.



Librarian Profile-

HORWITZ- Librarian Desk Agent

In charge of vhs/dvd section and also handles the books on tape.

Cannot read.

Horwitz was an awkward kid who grew into an awkward adult and then grew into an awkward late-middle aged man. His self esteem survives through a constant delight in small evils, which include levying large, invented fines against late library books and randomly shutting down a borrowers card every day for kicks. Horwitz hates Heather, but is forced to do what she says because his mother always told him to be nice to girls.

He fights with a gigantic, old school circular stamp. Since stamps are not used as frequently today and are often shaped differently, people often ask him just what the hell that huge thing he’s swinging around is.

Horwitz responds to anything embarrassing by hiding in the bathroom and listening to the Edmund Eriathfaers romance novels on tape until he thinks everyone is gone. Would never admit to his addiction in public.



Librarian Profile-

HALSTEAD- Librarian Volunteer

Covertly authors several romance novels under the pen name Edmund Eriathfaers.

The last name is an anagram for faerie trash.

Halstead is only fifteen years old, but is widely considered a prodigy amongst Librarians. He mastered the Dewey Decimal System at age five, and had in fact suggested several ways to improve it by age 7. There are high expectations for him as an archivist.

However, his secret passion has left him crippled with self loathing. Mortally afraid that anyone will find out that he is the creator of the widely acclaimed but much maligned Edmund Eriathfaers line of bodice rippers, he lives his life in a state of constant social paranoia. His computer has enough encryptions on it to rival the LIBRARY itself, and he writes his manuscripts in code, claiming to be writing to his dear old grandmother.

He mastered the art of paper battle by playing with old, thrown away scribblings for his novels. Because of this, he never leaves anyone he fights alive, in case they read the notes he killed them with.