Gary on a Gourd!

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Brief Knights Hiatus

Now that I've recently finished the latest episode, I'm putting the comic on a brief hiatus and focusing on another project I've been splitting my time with: A Knights of Nine to Five book!

I've been working on the book for quite a while now at varying degrees of intensity, and I'm finally to the point where it's getting close to being finished. I've already received the first prototype - it looks AWESOME - and have been showing it to friends and family for feedback.

I'm currently working on the extra artwork that will be included in the final version of the book. The sketches look great and I'm in the beginning stages of inking. Once they're finished, I'll be sending away for a second prototype. I hope to have everything finished before the first of the year.

The book, with original front and back covers, will contain the first twenty three episodes that entail our first day spent with Gary, from start to finish. It will also contain eleven pieces of original artwork exclusive to the book that help to fill in gaps between some of the episodes. There's also another addition to the book...but you'll have to wait and see what that is when it comes out. : )

Thanks for all your support over these years, and I can't wait to share the final result of this exciting project with you!

-Trevor

Episode 030

Many thanks to those taking the time to check out the new episode! :)

--T

QAADR Bird's Eye Sketch

Here's the sketch I inked over for the bird's eye view of the QAADR offices.

After following the sketch for the building itself, I realized the building needed to be much larger to account for the amount of people employed and some of the interior shots I'd used early on. I also modified it to allow for a better view of the interior.

This is a good example of a detailed panel I never would have been able to pull off to my satisfaction using the method I employed before I switched to digital inking.

Episode 029

I had to split this episode up into two parts - the scaling wasn't correct after I tried to put the smaller panels with the larger panel. This way is actually better since it allows both parts to display at a larger size.

Thanks for your patience and thanks for checking out the new episode! : )

Part one:

Part Two:

Episode 028

Thanks for checking out the new episode, friends! : )

Episode 027

Thanks for taking the time to check out the new episode! : )

Everything is a bit small... I hope no one strains their eyes : (

Episode 026

Hi everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to check out the new episode. It was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoy it! : )

- T

Episode 025 - Original Sketch Arrangement and Panel Commentary

I spent a lot of time with the details of Episode 025, so I thought I'd go back and detail (heh) some of the process. I've included the original sketches arranged in the same format as a finished episode, and plan to include details on each individual panel, should it warrant comment. :)


Currently, I've included the first and second panel with commentary and will add the rest over time, so be sure to check back periodically. (You can also subscribe to the RSS feed on the sidebar to the right!).

This episode had a lot of neat areas that I'm excited to share with you! :)

Hope you enjoy!

Trevor

---

Original Sketch Arrangement (click to enlarge):


Panel Commentary (click each separately to enlarge):

Panel One

Panel Two

Panel Three

Panel Four

Panel Five

Knights of Nine to Five Turns Two!!!

Can you believe it? Two years ago today, I posted the first episode of Knights of Nine to Five! Thanks to everyone for all your excellent support along the way! Enjoy the cake! : )

Recommended Sites

Here are some sites I recommend if you're interested in learning about or making webcomics:

webcomics.com - A webcomics news/how-to website started by Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Kris Straub, and Brad Guigar - four webcartoonists that I've been learning A LOT from since starting Knights of Nine to Five. Besides some helpful posts, this site is home to the excellent Webcomics Weekly Podcast, recorded by Scott, Dave, Kris, and Brad. This podcast has helped me out a ton. Pretty much every aspect from every stage of independent webcomic development is covered, and the guys are pretty entertaining to listen to. Back when I was getting started and trying to find out more about webcomics, I stumbled upon this podcast and have since learned an incredible amount of information.

seqalab.com - Home of a podcast produced by the students, faculty, and alumni of the sequential art department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The format (for the newer ones, at least) is basically a bunch of sequntial art (comic) students sitting around and talking about comics news, comics they like, and their own personal projects. I've been listening to a bunch of these for the past month, and they're pretty entertaining. Like the Webcomics Weekly podcast, I usually listen to this one in the background while I ink on the computer.

Is It Funny Today? - A rating site for webcomics created by two college students that I recently found out about. Basically, you're shown a list of comics that you can click, read, and vote "yes" or "no" on whether it was funny. The webcomics are then ranked in a numbered list based on user ratings. It's a great way to find some webcomics you might like if you're new to the scene, or a great way to support the strips you already like. It's still being developed, but I think it's pretty neat and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Episode 025

Episode 025 is finally here! Thanks for all your patience, everyone! I hope you enjoy it! : ) Let me know what you think, if you get a chance. : ) I'll post some sketches of this episode later in the week.

Also, be sure to check out the detailed panel at the bottom of this post...


The detail of the following panel didn't show up too well in the full comic, so click on the image below if you'd like to see it in more detail:

Episode 024

Episode 024 is complete! But, sadly, it comes with instructions. : (

But first of all, thanks for checking out the new episode! Did you have a good New Year? I hope so. Mine was spent mainly in front of the computer. Go to the bottom of this post for details on that... : )

Ok, back to the episode... I had to split it up into two parts because my blog service was displaying the whole thing too small, and some key elements were too hard to see. (Some of you may remember that I've had this problem a few times before). So, unfortunately, you'll have to click twice as much to view the episode. Sorry! One of my goals this year is to get an actual website up and running, so problems like this won't occur.

Part One:



Part Two:


And here's the whole thing in the form I originally planned for it, except that it's too small to catch some key details:


Now I'll let you in on a little secret...something that makes this episode of Knights very noteworthy...

This episode was digitally inked entirely on my computer!

This new method allowed me to quickly correct mistakes and make changes with ease. Things that would have taken hours before now take only a few minutes.

Awesome, right?

However, the learning curve for this new method is quite steep, so I spent a large amount of time in front of the computer over the past two weeks working on this episode, making mistakes and slowly learning the ropes. So, while I didn't really see a savings in time for this episode, I'm confident that future episodes will begin to come out at a faster rate. Exciting. : )

Good luck in the New Year, everyone!

Trevor