Let's see....I started this project many, many years ago (around 1999 or 2000!). It began as something to keep my mind occupied during high school, and I thought it would be fun to try doing a comic, plus it'd challenge my drawing skills (which, at the time, were pretty awful XD I'm sorry to say that this is evident in the early pages!) Of course, I had no idea what I was doing. I'd never attempted to write anything beyond schoolwork, and what's worse, I didn't even READ comics. I think 1999 was the year I got into anime and manga, so the idea came from there, but still...I was clueless.
Undertow kept me messing with Photoshop for years, though I was always too busy with other stuff to maintain a regular update schedule. It got much worse when I went off to animation school; I had precious little time and creative energy to devote to my comic, and my lack of updating earned me an embarrassing amount of pleading fanmail.
The comic was never far from my mind, though, and I couldn't abandon it. The only upside to the absence of updates was that I learned to draw better in the meantime! ^_^; My storytelling got better too, I think, and I read some comics, which taught me a fair amount about the art of making one.
Now, the comic's being done in full color and I can actually draw what I'm trying to draw (most of the time XD). I'm finally happy with it when I look at it...and even better, I've got time for it! My goals for it in the future (aside from getting to the end of it) include merchandise, and possible publication. ^_^
About the Artist
...I get some questions from time to time that I'll try to answer here: I'm 22, I draw the comic pages on computer paper then scan them, and color them in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. I learned to color by dinking around in Photoshop until things made sense, and learned to draw by looking at a lot of anime and manga. My drawing skills were further augmented by classes at the Art Institute of California--Los Angeles, where I graduated from the Animation program (though, disappointingly, painting was necglected at that school).
It's hard to say what my influences have been, as there have been so many. I guess it boils down to reading an obscene number of fantasy epics in book form and having an overactive imagination. Also, I'm an RPG addict, and I think it shows in certain aspects of the comic.
For the record, Saehral's ears were *not* inspired by Lodoss War. Everyone asks me that.
They were inspired by YODA.
Star Wars is my biggest geekdom. I was very close to drawing a sci-fi comic, but I'm not so into drawing spaceships and buildings, so...fantasy XD There's my big secret!!!
I think that about covers it. If you have any further questions, I'm always happy to answer any emails or comments left in my Livejournal or forum.
