Thought I'd Finally post Some pages...

Hey all! These are some preview pages I put on my deviantart I thought I might share with you all on here.
First off, we have the chapter 1 cover


Then, the first two prologue pages:




Sorry about the watermarks, but I'm really anal about people stealing these. (Though, honestly, who would want to?) But I swear that these are my works taken from my deviantart. They have my name on them! SEE?!
Hope you all enjoy! I'm steadily finishing more pages, and I have up through Ch1 ScIII done! YAY! Better some progress than no progress, even if the progress is slow...
~6H

HOLY CRAP! Some of the First Final Pages!!!

Currently Working on: Chapter 1 Sc3 Inks, Ch. 1 Sc IV/Ch. 2 Sc II pencils
Artist's Status: Empowered

You can go to my deviantart (located here:) to see a preview of some of the final pages and what it will look like when done! There are three story pages up so far and the cover of Chapter 1. It's very excited! I even used REAL comic font for once, so I'm feeling really cool.

I have a nice stack of finished pages, but I'm still in Chapter 1. And there really isn't enough time to work on it this wekk because of two huge papers I have due...hmmm...

Hopefully, when things begin to settle, I'll be able to do more at one time. I'm almost done with this term! And then it's off to Rome for a nice two week study abroad trip, and then home, where I plan to do nothing but pencil and ink like mad. Hopefully....HOPEFULLY this will come true.

Until then, enjoy the preview!
~6H

Rolling Along! But I Forgot to Update the Blog...

Currently: Penciling Chapter 1 Sc IV, CH. 2 Sc II
Inking:Ch 1 Sc 3
Painting: Ch1 Sc I and II
Artist's Status: Embaressed

Embaressed cause I haven't update this in FOREVER! So here's an update, all you people who don't even read my blog!!! HERE IT IS!!!!!

We're starting to pump out the final pages. Everything else is done. Except for the thumbnails for chapter II Sc III, a scene I, not lying, bullshitted on the spot. I am sooooo not a professional....Whoops.
~6H

It's been awhile! But the Project continues full speed Ahead!

THUMBNAILS:Done
SCRIPT: DONE
FINAL PAGES STARTED!
Currently drawing: Chapter 1 Sc II

HUZZAH!
That how I feel when I think that I have the whole story of "Akari" done in some form, that I know every that's going to happen. However, at the same time I'm quite far behind, so I'm worried. I was able to pencil 15 pages in about 4 days, which wasn't too bad considering that the paper came in late. (Even though they made me pay 15 dollars for shipping! FIFTEEN!!!)
Then my advsior wanted a typed up copy of the script. That took from monday till today with much non stop typing, except that Tuesday night I got sick so yesterday I couldn't work on it very much. I was able to finish typing it this morning, at least, but no pages have been worked on this week and I jsut don't feel with it enough. Also, the inking takes FOREVER, and I'm being totally anal about everything. But oh well.

Back to taking cold meds! AWAY!
~6H

A New Direction

"Akari Saito and Sana Arai...two women may be linked by fate..."

This is the new theme of Akari. I'm going to bring Sana in and make her more prominant, whilst cutting out some things like the smugglers in Chapter 1, and some other things that actually happened OFF screen! I have a new strategy for doing this now. I'm going to take scenes from the script that I absolutely think are important and thumbnail them out with stick figures and scribbles, to get an idea of how long each one is. Then I will arrange them in a way that makes the most sense. At the end, we'll see if I need to do storyboards at all or if I can jump straight to final pages.

The new theme doesn't really change the overall theme of the story, but I hope it will make it much more cohesive. It's still about the 5th Division of the Inaka police trying to hunt down the serial killer Ghost. What's changing are the roles of Akari and Sana.

Sana Arai, who is murdered in the beginning, is Takaharu's old girlfriend. At first, Junko tries to keep her death a secret from him, but he finds out anyway. Akari is his partner, and his new assignment, as he is supposed to watch over her as well. However, his failures in the past still haunt him...

Please look forward to how Sana and Akari will be connected in the story!

DISASTER! DISASTER!!!

Currently Storyboarding:Chapter 1, Scene VI
Artist's Status: PANIC

Okay, so it's been awhile. A long while. I apoligize....but now there is a disaster and the whole futre of this project has been thrown into Jeopardy once more. ANDNOBEFOREYOUASKIDIDNOTFINISHTHESCRIPT!!!!

I'm storyboarding chapter one and everything is going great till I do a page count...I'm currently on page 70. 70...in Chapter one...granted, the first 8 pages are prolouge, so chapter one is really only sixty some pages at the moment. But still, this is about twice the length that I had origianlly thought. Chapter one is not the longest part of the script either. So what I had originally thought to be a 150-200 page graphic novel is now completly out of control. The thing is, that it doesn't FEEL long when reading it. One of my friends said that the pacing was fast enough to not make it feel long. This is terrible...

Looks like I gotta totally scrap chapter one and figure out something else...I got an idea, which invovles getting rid of the smugglers in chapter one and merging in parts of chapter two...but it's very complicated...ack.

The Race to The Finish! Does it All Take off from Here?!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 6 Scene 1
Artist Status: Dazed

I finished chapter 5! Now there's only two chapters left, and I'm excited because they are action packed a full of awesome! It's pretty much like a race to the finish from here on out, because I have a more solid idea of what needs to happen in these chapters. It was the middle part up to Chapter 5 Scene 6 that was iffy. Now it should be smooth sailing....should being the operative word in that scentence.

To gather some interest, I decided to include a little preview from part of the script to entertain you. It's from Chapter 2 Scene 5. The 5th Division has just finished investigating a crime scene in the office of Soujiro Gintoki. His android, Eimi, has (for seemingly no reason) jumped out of his fifth floor office to her death. The group is in the elevator, heading out of the building.

Takaharu: Cares about his andoid, is devestated over her "death" and then wants to sell the parts to get his money back. A real sweetheart for sure.
Yukina: An android throws herself out a window. Someone's got a secret.
Junko: We still need to talk to the wife. There could be a breakthrough.
Takaharu: It'd be easier to conceal abuse in the home.
Junko: Kagehito, you'll come with me to get the remains. Katsuaki and Yukina--find this Hoda he spoke of. Takaharu, Akari--go question the wife.
--The elevator opens to the lobby, they get out--
Junko:Meet back at the station. --She and Kagehito start to walk away--
Takaharu: Eh, Kagehito!
--Kagehito turns as Takaharu throws him something--
Takaharu: Thought this might be of interest to you. --It's a used condom in an evidence bag--
Kagehito: (smiling) What a nice gift...

Hope you enjoyed!

Stuck in Every Way

Cureently Scripting: Chapter 5, Scene 3/4
Artist's Status: Meh

Should there be a foruth murder victim?

When should Captian Suzuki storm the 5th Division's office?

When will Yukina get her big moment?

When should I reveal Junko's past?

Can I learn to draw guns?

Can Mark Webber get his lead back i nthe driver's championship?

These are the questions I've been asking myself lately. I'm very stuck at this point because I'm past the middle of the cript (for the love of God, I am in chapter 5) and I need to start tying things together. So I have to make alot of descions, some I knew I would have to make and others I didn't expect to have to make at all. I'm so confused.

I also think I need to go back and take out some scenes, add in some others, and change the oens taht are left. There are some things I'm very happy with in the script, but I feel that the pacing sometiems gets off. Sometimes, things go very fast, and at other times I feel they are slow. They don't really drag, so that's good, but I'd like a more even pacing so a reader isn't feeling whiplash, you know? If it's too hard to follow, then people will give up.

My other fear is that there is too much going on and it doesn't hold the reader's interest. I don't want to explain too much and spell everything out, but at the same tiem I don't want it to be too ambiguous. I really want it to be that the readers feels that things are very ambiguous and cloudy, but that they inatly feel they udnerstand everything, as if they have always been a part of this world, or that this world is possible. Does that make sense?

I've been fooling around with these new templates, but I still kind of want to come up with my own background or sidebar that features some nifty art. That, and I'd like to go back to the blue/orange color scheme. Maybe I will....

I really need to learn how to code...

Also, i want to post pictures, but since I'm home for the summer, I have no access to photo editing software. All I would really need to do is resize the pictures on the computer so they show up nicely on your screen, but I have no photoshop...all I have is the stuff that comes with windows, and that is usually pretty usless. Grrrr I hate having to go back and forth between school and home, being limitied to what equipment I can bring with me. I have photoshop 6 on my desktop, but that is packed up in pieces in a basement in Illinois, so I'm stuck there....

I'll figure out something. I really need to start posting some stuff on the blog.

The plotholes fill!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 5 Scene 2
Status: Going Nuts

Well, I am home for the summer which means lots of time to work on Akari, ideally. IDEALLY. If I get off my lazy bum and do some work. But it's hard to be motivated sometimes when I'm feling down. AT home, I don't really have anyone to talk to, and I never have any exciting plans to go anywhere. Most of my high school firends (and there weren't many of them) don't talk to me anymore, which is the natural part of going to college, so it's not like I'm that upset about it. But is does make it kind of lonely and boring, just sitting in my house all the time and surfing the internet...well, I've been doing more sleeping than anything elsse really.

I don't even have a summer job though. So I feel totally worthless about that.

But I have had a rough year at school, so damnit, I devesre to sleep a little bit, right? Right?

I have been working on the script though! I got some good work done yesterday while I was watching Law & Order, which is always a good show. And usually inspires me to write or draw, for some reason. I was just kind of going along like always, when suddenly, everything fell in to place. See, I had this gaping plothole between chapter 5 and the happenings that lead to the ending, and I had no idea how to fill it. Then, with just two lines of dialouge and a deflected bullet, it all made sense and then BAM! plothoel filled. I love these moments. Hopefully from here on out, the script will go alot smoother and then I can get it done and go to the storyboards. But I still need a bunch more in my production sketches. Most of them are really rough, so I feel I should do some more refined ones so I can have clear pictures of everyone and everything. Also, I haven't been doing as many background sketches as I should. I just really hate backgrounds! It's bad of me, and I know I have to do it, but I just don't want to! I'll get down to it eventually. I want to try and do backgrounds in as many panels as possible, so it looks refined and professional. It'd be pretty boring if it was all just white space in the background. However, I also have trouble drawing buildings and tables and other background objects...ARGH it never ends.

And stairs. I always want to put stairs in the background, but I can't draw them! I do this to myself, I swear. Urgh...

Is it a Post for the Sake of a Post? Or Has Something Important Happened? Well, Someone Gets Shot!

Curretnly Scripting: Chapter 5, Scene 1 (it's kinda long)
Storyboards: ON HOLD
Artist's Status: Discontent

QUITE DISCONTENT! With this layout! I wish I understood better the language of HTML. But if I couldn't learn French in four years, then there's no chance of HTML happening. I used to know some basics, but you can't FTP anything on this site, so I'm at a lost of how to upload my images...I guess I have to get one of them image hosting sites? Hmmm...

In other news, someone gets shot in Chapter 5. You'll have to wait to find out who though!!! *evil laugh*

I'm really starting to fall in love with my characters though. I was showing some of my production sketches to the painting teacher here who's standing in for the REAL painting professor. Real painting prof is a jerkface. This one is lovely. She sad Akari was "beautiful!" WOW! And she loves my page layouts! I feel so awesome from that.

I'm gonna do some artwork soon. Like, offical Akari artwork, so that I can show you guys what the characters look like. And also, so that I can get some images in the blog layout. Seroiusly, how the hell am I supposed to edit this thing! I AM SO INADEQAUTE! RAWR!!!!!!

And that is all.
~6H

We're rolling with the Script again!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 5, Scene I
Storyboards: Chapter 1, Scene 2
Status: Unaccomplished, though I should be

Good news! Chapter 4 is finished with a bang! It's shorter than chapter 3, granted. A LOT shorter. Chapter 3 is going to need some help, that's for sure. But today wasa big step. I feel that the plot is about to take another huge step forward, and my characters are developing nicely.

EXCEPT YUKINA. I was making some character notes for my thesis director, and I realized that Yukina has so far done nothing extremely influential. It's not that she's useless...she just doesn't seem to have a big impact. She has a big part at the end and nearly dies but...oops, I'm giving away the plot now...

Also, another character may be entirely superfluous. And I like him...he's awesome, but he's not a main character and just adds a lot more complication to the plot rather than driving home any important plot points of moving the story along, besides for being the gang's doctor and fixing their parts when they break. Is it odd to call a cybernetics technician a doctor? Hmmm....

Still really cold here. Hope that it's warming up soon. Maybe I'll be able to kick it into high gear and finish this script. But then I have to change around a few scenes in order to get things to run a little smoother. I might even split chapter 3 in two part or something...but 8 chapters doesn't sound as nice as 7. Ah....I'll figure it out.
~6H

Somehow, Work is Getting Done. Honest!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 4, Scene 3
Storyboards: Chapter 1 Scene 2
Status: Relaxed

First of all, I like Romanian pop music too much. Way too much. Remember that internet fad, the Numa-numa song? It's actually "Dragostea din Tei" by Moldovian/Romanian pop group O-ZONE. Now I'm really into a group called Akcent. I've gotten two of their albums already and I just love it. Oh Romanian...your music is so good.

In other news, after a few decisions that had to be made, I am going home for the summer. Hopefully, this will be condusive to honor thesis work. Though I probably won't be able to do many color illustrations, because bringing my water colors home will be a pain. Hmmm...but I'm almost finished with the chaper 1 scene 2 storyboards. Yay! It's not looking too bad so far either! Now if only I could find my thesis director...she's an associate dean of students at my school in addition to being a professor, so she gets really busy. But I have to fill out this learning agreement for the thesis by Week 10 and we're going on Week 7! AH!

Just as I predicted, once I started work on the storyboards, work on the script stopped. Whoops. I'll at least try and finish chapter 4 soon!

Also, I'm working on my proposal for an art show at school next year, which will feature works from Akari and will highlight the creative process. I'm so excited for it! I'm alredy deciding what food to serve!

May is a fantatic month. Not only is it warm out and there are lilacs, but there is (at least this month), The Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, Monaco next weekend, and the Eurovision Song Contest after that! It doesn't get any better than this... ^_^
~6H

Busy Busy Busy...in the cold!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 4 Scene 3
Storyboards: Prologue
Production Sketches: Getting there

Betweeen going on bandtour, classes, make up work, looking for and job aND apartment hunting, life is just so busy! But it's not overwhelemingly so yet, which owrries me. I should be drasticaly overwhelemed. But I'm not...? Interesting.
It has been really cold here lately though. I'm freezing all the time. (except when I'm drunk like last night on my livestream...what?)

I've trying to draw the characters over and over again in the production sketches so that they'll look consistant. Kagehito is the hardest for me to draw, because he has long hair AND glasses. (It's odd because he's not the type of person who would have a ponytail, but he does). Getting Akari to look consistant has also been a challenge. Maybe they're both so difficult because they usually have very blank expressions.

Well, I'm off to dry my hair and go to class. Maybe later or tomorrow I'll post a short profile of Akari, our main character.

All the best!
~6H

The Place: Inaka City

Currently Scripting: Chapter 4 Scene 3
Storyboards: Prologue
Production Sketches: I have them
Status: Awesome

First off, my roommate helped me find the BEST SITE EVER that has tons of Eurovision related ALBUMS. YAY!!!! They also have LOTS OF AKCENT, this techno/pop band that I first heard on my trip in Greece with their awesome song "That's My Name." Go listen to it. I dare you.

Did you listen to it yet?

As promised, I will now decribe the setting and place that Akari takes place in.

Inaka City 2023
Inaka is a fictional city in Japan that, in it's design, is actually a blending of sevearl cities--Tokyo, Chicago, New York, and anything else I decide to through in there. It was the terrorist attack in 2013 in Inaka that rushed in the CYBER era, and as a result Inaka is a hub of Cybernetic technology, being the home of one of Japan's largest cybernetic desingers and manufacturers, Terra Tech.
Inaka is a small city of about 40,000 people, though a significant amount of the population was lost in the terrorist attack--about 11,000 were killed in the attack. The city has never recovered from this.
The Inaka City Police Department is run by the Police General, who oversees the different divisions. He is very much like a real general. There are 6 Divisions that cover different districts of the city, with the 1st Division being centered in the Police Headquarters near the center of Downtown.
Inaka University is a sprawling campus also in downtown. They are best known for their Science Department. Other places of interest are the free clinic in East Side, near the 5th Division, the Inaka Hospital, and the old Train Station, center of the terrorist attack.

That's all for now!
~6H

Now We're Making Progress...After A Month of No Progress...

Currently Scripting: Chapter 4 Scene 3
Storyboarding: Prolouge
Production Sketches: Started
Status: Slight Panic with a side of HELL YEAH!

Hey everyone. Long time no see. Eh heh heh...

Well, remember when I said I wanted to have the script finished by Spring break? See how I'm only in Chapter 4 still? ( In my defense, Scene 1 is very long and action packed!) Well, a lot of things began to happen, and then my Grandpa passed so I lost motivation to work. But now I have it back. Why?

Because, against what I originally promsied myself, that I would NOT start the storyboards until the scrpit was finished because I knew that I'd only want to work on the story boards once I started them and would ignore the script until I ran out of script to board...I did it anyway. I wanted to have some storyboards to show my potential (and now OFFICIAL Almost) thesis director! I feel severly awesome right now because I have a thesis director, and it's only one of the greatest intelectuals on our campus! I am so thrilled. She does more of the academic side of graphic novels, but her insight is too valuble to pass up. And she's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool!!!!!! I am outrageously excited.

Did you also know it's Formula One season? Just a side note, since I am a tifosi (Ferrari fan) and an F1 nut. Tee hee...

And now to reveal the names of the six main characters. Their profiles will be coming soon for you enjoyment, so you'll actually know what I'm talking about.

Akari Saito
Takaharu Shidomi
Junko Arada
Yukina Tachibana
Katsuaki Yamada
Kagehito Yamada

Next time, I'll talk about the setting of the story, Inaka City. Farewell for now!
~6H

Chapter 3 is Really long...REALLY

Currently Scripting: Chapter 4 Scene I
Status: Stressed

So I was comparing the lengths of chapters 1, 2 and 3 yesterday and I just realized that Chapter three is almost the same length as chapters 1 and 2 combined...

I'm really bad at dividing up the story...but I think I'm going to cut the second half of scene VIII, because I'm not sure that I like it. Meh, I don't know...I guess I'll wait until storyboards to figure all this shit out.

But now, to writing papers! AWAY!!
~6H

Now We're making progress!

Currently Scripting: Chapter 3 Scene VII
Status: Not as dead as before, but still fairly dead

I finally got a chance to work on some more of the script! Joy! Since it is the end of Winter term, things are getting super hectic. Luckily, I have been getting things done nad was able to pull myself together after having two breakdowns and being a complete wreck. (One of my breakdowns occured at dinner one night, and conisted of me yelling out the names of dead Formula One drivers, i.e. "Jochen Rindt! He's DEAD! Dead these forty years!!!!!" It was quite upsetting...)

So I suppose I should start talking about the plot a little bit. Today will be a general overview of the six main characters and a bit of the setting. Setting first though, so you don't get lost.

Akari takes place in the fictional Japanese city of Inaka, somewhere in the near future. (2017 was the original date, but that was back when I writing the story in 2004, so maybe it will be a little later...?) The CYBER era is still trying to gain it's footing, as cybernetic technology is somewhat new and imperfect. The CYBER era gets it's start when a terrorist attack ten years prior to the start of the story kills 11,000 people in the city and injures countless others. Also, the outbreak of Muscle Degenaratory Disease (MDD) has a hand in it as well, as so far the only cure of MDD is amputation.

The story follows the members of the Inaka City Police 5th Division--Akari Saito, Takaharu Shidomi, Yukina Tachibana, Kagehito Yamata, Katsuaki Yamata, and Junko "The Chief" Arada. They are all CYBERs (meaning they have some sort of cybernetic body part), and primarily investigate crimes invovling CYBERs and androids, since those two classes are looked down upon by "purists." However, a serial killer soon starts killing CYBERs and androids in an unusual and dangerous way--by hacking into their heads and making them kill themselves in anguish over their memories. He is only known as "Ghost." It's up to the 5th Division to solve a case that no one else wants in order to protect the CYBERs of the city, while trying to figure out what the meaning of being human is.

Soon, I'd like to do a character profile for each of the six main cast members, but I'd like to have illustrations of them first so that you can all see what they look like. It will give you a better idea of the story, I think...

Oh yeah, and I have to present my thesis project next week for a bunch of first and second year students. Shoot me in the face! I already have two concerts, a 20 page paper, a 10 page paper, two smaller papers, and several reading assignments to do on top of that! And a printmaking project! ARGH! It doesn't help that my crappy English professor is compeltely unsympathetic and won't help me with my papers. She always says "you need to interpret and go deeper!" WHAT DOES SHE THINK I'M DOING?!

That's enough venting for one blog post...

And so it Begins...in the middle?

Currently scripting: Chapter 3 Scene V
Status: Semi-dead

Being part of the college scholars program at my college, we're required to write an honor's thesis, some sort of project that reflects your interests and fits in with what you're studying. I'm a major in art and English...research projects aren't exactly my thing. So my project is doing what will hopefully someday become my career...

I'm going to write a graphic novel.

Bitchin, huh?

One problem--I've never finished a story I've started. And I only have a year. And I'm starting from nothing.

Well, not really "nothing" per say. The story I am writing is called Akari and it's been in the making since about 2004. The original script was lost when I have to reformat my computer at the time, but the basic story is pretty much the same--a near future sci-fi police drama, in a similar vein as Ghost in the Shell. Actually, think of it as more of a prequel, because every futuristic society has to start somewhere, right? This is how I came up with Akari. I say I'm starting from the middle because I've actually been working on this project since this past fall (hence why my script is in the middle of chapter 3), but just as every story starts somewhere, so must every blog. Besides, this is just like me--I think "oh, I should do that!" or come up with a good idea later that what would've been logical.

This blog will chronicle the whole project--from the script and production drawings to the final inking and formatting into a book. I hope you'll stick around for the ride!
Forza Ferrari!
~6H