some changes ahead ๐ฆ๐ป
Added 2020-01-09 23:55:42 +0000 UTChey everyone ๐
new year, new decade.... and a lot of new things I want to try and want to make better for myself and also for my readers. I apologize in advance but this will have quite some text! I want to talk about some changes I'm currently working on and planning for the comic!!
First thing: I already mentioned a bit ago that I need to find a way to improve my coloring, which will then allow me to do all coloration steps (flats + shading + effects) on my own without problems.
I used a simplified coloration technique for the pages in scene 41 (part 2, in case you missed it)!! The changes are not drastic in look, which is what I wanted. It's basically just a simpler way of how I used to do it.
The style looks a bit softer now, I think! My lines have improved a lot in the past year and I felt the need to balance it out with a simple coloration anyway. And I'm so happy how it turned out to be honest ;; and I will use it for future scenes from now on!
Second thing~ Ghost Lights will switch from horizontal reading (regular comic page layout) to vertical reading (webtoon scroll format) for public updates on tapas and webtoon! That means bigger panels appear on mobile and readers will be able to spot details much better. So instead of seeing one whole page (which can sometimes contain up to 7 panels) on screen... you will see one or two panels on screen. that's a huge difference in size hahah
I know I could've tried this sooner, but I was hesitating for the longest time to do this, because I'm very fond of my layout. My layout indicates things like the time of the day, the mood, their feelings.... The layout interacts a lot with the panels, too, there are overlapping elements like hair and smoke and leaves and flowers everywhere... and so I didn't really know how to manage it until now ;; and to be honest the thought of doing it overwhelmed me a bit.
But something clicked inside my head recently... and with the new year, it's like I can leave some things behind. Doubts and thoughts like "I'm not sure if I can do this" and now I feel ready to try new things.
So my side mission last week was to test everything and I found a way to separate the panels from the layout in a pretty easy way! Ahhh!! Now I can just rearrange each panel. I have to set up a new layout for the panels to "swim" in and have to recreate the mood and I also have to rearrange the overlapping elements a bit, but so far it is not as difficult as I thought and it looks good.
I'm actually very excited about this, because for a long time I was a bit sad that people could not see my panels properly on mobile ;; It's a frustrating thought for me, not just because I put a lot of thoughts into the panels but also because I know it's not the ideal reading experience on mobile. And the realization of this hit hard when people told me they mostly use mobile a few months ago... and I was like "but can they even see everything I put in there?"
It's just a development that happened in the past few years with webcomics in general. I'm so thankful I have an invested reader base and I want to make it as easy as possible for you to read and enjoy the story. And I can rest easy knowing you will be able to see what details I put there. BUT I also want to hold the comic in my hands when I'm done with a volume. So I will draw and finish the comic pages like I always do! regular comic pages I can give into print and also can share with you on patreon <3
In case you don't like vertical scroll format - I will still post the regular comic pages here!! Also, the $5 tier will get bigger versions of the pages now (instead of 800px you'll get 1080px!) and my $10+ patrons will still get the pages in high res versions (2425px)!
I also have a small surprise for those two tiers, because a few days ago was the 3rd anniversary of Ghost Lights ๐ญ๐. I'll post a sketch and drawing collection for $5 + $10 patrons, maybe in two or more parts, containing a lot of unseen sketches and drafts! I have collected a ton of sketches that have never seen the light of day before because most of them are a bit spoiler-y, but I still want to share them with you. It's going to be without context, so I think it's okay to share, but they will show a bit more of the darker direction the story will go, too! And there will be some lovey dovey scenes, storyboard sketches, Robin's human mom, Mother design tests... and so on!
๐
Comments
I usually read on Wt, sometimes Tapas. I started reading from the beginning on graphite when you started posting there to help support you more.
Brissygirl
2020-01-13 04:18:27 +0000 UTC*easily zoom
2020-01-12 04:55:36 +0000 UTCi haven't decided about it yet! i might still post the regular pages for Graphite because they have horizontal scrolling activated and you can easily into the pages there even on mobile. are you reading on Graphite usually? <3
2020-01-12 04:55:15 +0000 UTCWith the changes to the format for Wt and Tapas will they apply to Graphite as well?
Brissygirl
2020-01-12 00:36:23 +0000 UTCNo no, thank you! For all of the crazy effort you put in to this! Never ceases to amaze me just how hard you work. I'm in the process of re-reading and liking every Ghost Lights update on Tapas ๐
Rozanthie
2020-01-10 05:01:55 +0000 UTCyes exactly, you explained it well <3 and I'm happy to hear you like the regular page format! it will still be available for my patrons, i will just not post it on tapas/wt anymore. but i'm also happy that you'd enjoy it in vertical format, too! thank you so much ; ; ๐
2020-01-10 04:56:05 +0000 UTCluckily won't have to do that! i will do the pages normally like i used to, but then afterwards i will take the page and separate the panels from the layout so i can rearrange the panels in a vertical format. this is much easier and less work than other way around! so i can easily print it later <3 so basically i have the scenes in both versions available from now on!
2020-01-10 04:51:49 +0000 UTCFrom what I can tell, Fanta is going to do the pages like normal for print, and then rearrange the panels for vertical scroll when posting. I guess that's why the simpler colouring format is necessary, otherwise that would take forever! I love the original format of the comic because it's beautiful, but the story itself as a work of art too, and whatever is the best way to tell/show it, well that's entirely up to you. I will consume it in whatever format and style it comes. ๐ฅฐ Sounds like 2020 is your year. Go for it! ๐ฅณ
Rozanthie
2020-01-10 00:44:18 +0000 UTCJust curious; switching to a longer format is a great thing for webcomics, but if you go to publish it in physical format would you have to change the orientation around again?
Lychee
2020-01-10 00:31:42 +0000 UTC
