The Wannabe Pirates

[NancyGormezano]

Starting today, I'm going to be running a tutorial of sorts for how-to make a 3D webcomic (which is really just how *I* make a 3D webcomic.) It's going to be in comic strip form, so that I can still have a gag a day, but I do plan on covering most of the things I do in actually creating the comic, so that might be of interest to some folks...

 

Sounds like a wonderful idea! Kill 2 parrots with 1 comic schtick!

[largento]

Exactly, Nancy!

 

Although I should say that I do not condone the killing of parrots for any other reason. :-)

[largento]

Here's something different!

 

I talked with Rob Tracy on the phone last week and he had an idea I really glommed onto: doing a Wannabe Pirates coloring book! After a whooole lot of work and a lot of checking around for printing, I sent the files off today! There's a Webcomics Expo coming up next weekend in Dallas and I'm going to attend and have them for sale.

 

Here's a tiny peek at some of the pages!

 

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished book!

 

It's a pretty cool thought to think that there will be little kids coloring Wannabe Pirates pages! :-)

 

On a tangent... when I was working on the page with Doc Bokor's Voodoo Mask, I suddenly remembered the inspiration for it. I can't imagine it's obvious to anybody but me, but I was thinking of Dr. Venture from The Venture Brothers when I first designed the mask. :-)

[TheSpleen]

That's wonderful!

[KenH]

Excellent idea! How did you render it?

[largento]

Thanks Gene & Ken!

 

I wanted to set it up so that it told part of the story (then the last page is the hard sell to get them to go to the website and read the complete story), so I picked out relevant panels and brought them into Illustrator, gave them 50% opacity and "inked" over them using the pen tool as if the panels were pencils. To give it the look of Coloring Books I remembered from my youth, I made the backgrounds look like they were inked with a pen and the characters like they were inked with a brush. It really makes the characters stand out and it did help simplify the process. Drawing all of those lines on the ship was hard enough without having to try to imitate brush strokes. :-)

 

No toon render or anything like that. Everything you see is vector art.

[jimd]

Thanks Gene & Ken!

 

I wanted to set it up so that it told part of the story (then the last page is the hard sell to get them to go to the website and read the complete story), so I picked out relevant panels and brought them into Illustrator, gave them 50% opacity and "inked" over them using the pen tool as if the panels were pencils. To give it the look of Coloring Books I remembered from my youth, I made the backgrounds look like they were inked with a pen and the characters like they were inked with a brush. It really makes the characters stand out and it did help simplify the process. Drawing all of those lines on the ship was hard enough without having to try to imitate brush strokes. :-)

 

No toon render or anything like that. Everything you see is vector art.

 

That's great work ! and it will make an excellent coloring book

[KenH]

In fact, if you put them online, I'll buy one for my niece and nephew. They're 4 and 5 so probably about the right age.

[largento]

Thanks, Jim!

 

Ken, for all your help with modeling characters for the next story, I will happily mail you a couple for your niece and nephew. Email me with your address!

 

Also, I don't want to jinx it by saying too much, but let's just say in the very near future, you may be able to buy the graphic novels for your mobile devices (iPhone/iPad/Android, etc.)! I'm very excited about this!

[John Bigboote]

Looking Great, Largento.

 

Another idea... digital coloring book... Flash programmed...

[largento]

Thanks, Matt! That would be cool! I've considered taking a couple of pages and submitting them to some of these online coloring book places. There are tons of sites that have coloring book pages you can download and print for your kids ...most of them violating copyrights... but I thought it would be a good way to plant a bit of advertising.

 

I've got a few things going right now and am hoping they will all add up to a bigger audience and awareness for the Wannabe Pirates.

[Gerry]

Mark that coloring book art is terrific and the idea is inspired. Good luck with it!

[largento]

Thanks, Gerry!

[largento]

I think I've made mention here that I've been turning "The Wannabe Pirates and the Curse of Greyhawk Island" into a graphic novel, reformatting the pages to comic book proportions. It's been a fun challenge and I must say I prefer the way it looks as a graphic novel to the uniform panels of the comic strip.

 

Today I ran into challenge:

 

Part 158 of the story was this 1-panel gag:

 

 

To get it to work on the comic page, I had to split it into two panels like this:

 

 

The only problem is that although you can see they are running in opposite directions, it's not clear that they are about to intersect. So, this time out I was forced to create a new page. It was fun, though and it helped me bridge a problem with the next strip which introduced these big robot suits as a throwaway gag in the last panel. It was very satisfying to be able to show the collision I had always assumed happened. :-)

 

[mtpeak2]

Looks great Mark, though I think the floor could use a softer reflection. Try adding roughness to the floor.

 

The coloring book sounds like a good idea.

[KenH]

I like the glass like reflection of the spaceship. It's funny though....if you look in the middle of the first image, you'll see Mr Sneeze's reflection in the wall and he's upside down!

[mtpeak2]

I also noticed, it seems they're running with the same arm/leg side foward. Shouldn't the arms be the opposite of the legs? It just looks odd.

[largento]

Thanks, guys! Yeah, it's been too long to remember, but I must've thought they looked right at the time. :-) They should definitely be the other way. I used the same reflection style on all of the spaceship sets, so I would be looking at an impossible amount of re-rendering to change it. I've actually got a deadline now, as I've promised to have all of the pages completed by tomorrow.

 

It's going to be wild having the whole thing finished. A 206 page graphic novel ain't nothin' to sneeze at. :-)

[TheSpleen]

Thanks, guys! Yeah, it's been too long to remember, but I must've thought they looked right at the time. :-) They should definitely be the other way. I used the same reflection style on all of the spaceship sets, so I would be looking at an impossible amount of re-rendering to change it. I've actually got a deadline now, as I've promised to have all of the pages completed by tomorrow.

 

It's going to be wild having the whole thing finished. A 206 page graphic novel ain't nothin' to sneeze at. :-)

 

always makes me smile.

[largento]

Thanks, Gene!

 

I'm not ready to make a formal announcement yet, but I'll informally say that I just signed a deal to have the "Greyhawk and the Starbucklers of the Caribbean" and "The Wannabe Pirates and the Curse of Greyhawk Island" built as iPhone/iPod apps! I am really excited about the prospect and hope it will be a way for a bunch of kids to discover The Wannabe Pirates!

 

If only I was gainfully employed, I could buy a new iPhone & an iPad and right it off on my taxes. :-)

[Rodney]

I'm not ready to make a formal announcement yet, but I'll informally say that I just signed a deal to have the "Greyhawk and the Starbucklers of the Caribbean" and "The Wannabe Pirates and the Curse of Greyhawk Island" built as iPhone/iPod apps! I am really excited about the prospect and hope it will be a way for a bunch of kids to discover The Wannabe Pirates!

 

 

Great news Mark!

 

I'll have to start saving my pennies for when your characters make the transition to action figures.

[MJL]

Don't forget, Mark, tenacity is the unsung virtue.

[fae_alba]

Here's something different!

 

I talked with Rob Tracy on the phone last week and he had an idea I really glommed onto: doing a Wannabe Pirates coloring book! After a whooole lot of work and a lot of checking around for printing, I sent the files off today! There's a Webcomics Expo coming up next weekend in Dallas and I'm going to attend and have them for sale.

 

I could never stay within the lines on those things!

[largento]

Truer words were never spoken, Myron!

 

I just got back from picking up the coloring books! They look great and a few friends chipped in to increase the order to by 50 books! Bless them, since that lowers my per book cost!

 

I'll post a picture soon. They came out great!

[largento]

 

And here they are!

 

I'm very happy with how they came out. Can't wait to see little kids coloring them!

[HomeSlice]

Oh yeah, those are nice Mark. By the time you get around to that animated series, you're going to have a lot of the merch already all set up

[MJL]

Available from the website, I presume, and how many doubloons will it take to get one?

[largento]

Thanks, Homes!

 

I'm working on the pricing now, Myron. I've got to figure out how much they'll cost to mail and balance everything with how much PayPal takes out. They cost more than expected to print. Best guess right now would be $5 including shipping. A bit steep for a coloring book, but they are a very limited edition. :-)

[Paul Forwood]

Mark, I just wanted to say how pleased I am that you are finally finding a way to make The Wannabes pay! You have done a sterling job throughout and I wish you every success with the new opportunities.

[itsjustme]

Cool coloring books, Mark! Where did you get them printed?

[largento]

Thanks, Paul, David!

 

I used a local printer. I was checking around and a friend of mine knew of a printer that could give me a reasonable price on a short press run. The big printer I used to work at wouldn't even consider doing the job.

[itsjustme]

Thanks, Paul, David!

 

I used a local printer. I was checking around and a friend of mine knew of a printer that could give me a reasonable price on a short press run. The big printer I used to work at wouldn't even consider doing the job.

 

Seeing your coloring book made me think about whether it would be possible to set up a dedicated page online to color similar images. I found CanvasPaint and it appears capable...just something for me to let ferment in my head for a while and I thought I'd share.

[largento]

I did come across a website that was set up to do that. At least that was my impression (I didn't stick around long.)

 

A thought I had was to take a couple of pages, put copyright notices on them and submit them to some of these places that offer free coloring book pages to download. A kind of advertisement for free. What I found was mostly a wild west of copyright infringement. Obviously, that's not a huge concern in that I'm giving it away, but it seems like those are the kind of sites that could be packed with malware and that kind of stuff and I'd hate to have somebody email me that they got a virus because they downloaded my coloring book page.

[Rodney]

That coloring book is too cool Mark! I want one!

(Actually.. more than one. One to color and a few to give away to really cool people as gifts.)

[largento]

Thanks, Rodney! Instructions are now up on the website if you want to order the Coloring Book!

[largento]

 

Working on covers for the iPhone/iPad app version of The Wannabe Pirates and the Curse of Greyhawk Island

[TheSpleen]

I like the top 2

[Rodney]

Thanks, Rodney! Instructions are now up on the website if you want to order the Coloring Book!

 

Thanks Mark!

 

Nice covers.

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

I had fun doing them. I've never done anything that went for multiple issues like this, so it was cool to get to play with changing the colors of the logo and picking out elements from each section rather than doing just one general, all-encompassing image.

 

Here's a random thing I found interesting. For these apps, I have to create application icons for the various devices. It's wild, but the icons for the iPhone 4 are bigger than the ones for the iPad. It's because the iPhone 4 has a much higher resolution display.

[robcat2075]

Do you have a small-size button I could put in the links on the side of my blog? Something 220x50 pixels would fit.

[largento]

I don't, Robert, but I will very shortly. :-)

[largento]

Robert, here's the graphic ...and thanks for the link!

 

[largento]

Just making a note that the new story will be starting on Monday!

 

Sword of the Rightwise King has been pushed back until the next story, although this new one will set up elements for it.

 

The new story's called: "The Wannabe Pirates and the Amulet of the Apes."

[Rodney]

Just making a note that the new story will be starting on Monday!

 

Sword of the Rightwise King has been pushed back until the next story, although this new one will set up elements for it.

 

The new story's called: "The Wannabe Pirates and the Amulet of the Apes."[/quote]

 

Interesting!

 

Way to keep us on our toes and guessing.

 

 

Note: I haven't plunked down my change into your tip jar yet but I will.

I'm overextended on my 'fun money' right now.

[robcat2075]

Robert, here's the graphic ...and thanks for the link!

 

 

It's up!

[largento]

Thanks, Robert!

 

Rodney, there'll still be a window to get coloring books for a little while. There's a pirate festival here in October that I'm hoping to get them into and I'm expecting to sell out of them there.

[Rodney]

Rodney, there'll still be a window to get coloring books for a little while. There's a pirate festival here in October that I'm hoping to get them into and I'm expecting to sell out of them there.

 

I'll donate to the tip jar regardless of whether or not it gets me a coloring book. If you can find and please new fans with your coloring books please do that! Hopefully you'll sell out and need to launch a few more print runs.

 

Coloring books or not... I'm a fan.

Hopefully I'll snag one.

[largento]

Thanks, Rodney!

 

I'm cranking away on strips trying to get ahead of the game for once. As worn out as I was by the end of the last story, I'm really having fun being back into it again.

[ptiversen]

I just ordered your coloring book. Keep up the great work.

[largento]

Thanks, Tony! Much appreciated!