Another Saturday, another SoL page. Unfortunately it's the last colored page I have on offer for a while. Since these OCTs are taking so much time, I need to switch to black and white pages for a while. The alternative is putting SoL on hiatus, and I really don't want to do that. Will SoL come back as a colored comic after it's all over? I'm still thinking about that. I'm experimenting to see if there are faster ways to color. If I find a good method, then maybe. If not, well then at least you'll be able to get much more plot progression instead. Still a good trade-off, if you ask me.

Some of you may remember that I was holding a contest on DeviantART. The aim was to design armor for my character Mogranos. The deadline for that contest expired yesterday. I got a good number of entries, so I'm happy with how that turned out. Expect the results in one or two weeks, at which time I'll also post the entries here on the website.

And here's the part many of you have been waiting for: there's a new contest coming up! It's bigger, better, less restrictive, and open to everyone (not just DeviantART members). More details will follow as soon as I'm done judging the Mogranos contest entries.

More news? Yep, more news! As you all know PCBC OS, the second OCT I entered has officially kicked off with round 1. I've posted the first few pages on my DeviantART page. If you're interested in seeing what I have so far, start reading here.

And now for some pretty pictures...

You know, things are going pretty well this week! I'm starting to rebuild SoL's buffer (even though SOME of you sneaky little kiddies know I've been cheating a little to do so). I've also completely scripted the remaining chapter. In Word. Means I have it written down somewhere, and don't just have some vague ideas drifting around in my head. Why is that so special? Well, I've never done that before, not in all the years I've been working on SoL so far. I always knew that it was something I SHOULD be doing, but I never actually did it...

But during the Black Tourney OCT I did force myself to write down my plot, and I found that it:

A. Improved my storytelling (flow, consistency, character development, etc.)

B. Allowed me to sketch more pages before getting stuck, and do it a lot faster.

C. Plan out my paneling.

So yeah, I finally listened to my own advice. (I've been telling people for YEARS to NOT do comics the way I do SoL, hah!) I'm telling you, it eliminates a lot of stress right away. And I also have the remaining chapter sketched out now, so what more could you want? For the first time I'm able to say: "Chapter so-and-so ends on page ..." (Chapter 5 ends on page 244, by the way, making it my longest chapter so far. Jay for poor planning!)

Why I've been so stubborn for so long is beyond me. I guess I just didn't think it would help that much.

Anyway, today you guys get a new SoL page, and look! There's even some extra art!

Hey guys, sorry I'm late. But look! I bring comics! Lots and lots of them. This is going to cost me a nice chunk of bandwidth, I just know it...

Again, not much to say this week. Those of you who are following me on DeviantART, know that I am currently making a mad dash for the PSC's deadline, which is tomorrow. I might make it, depending on whether or not I can fight the temptation to enter yet another OCT. XD

Anyway, Happy Easter to you all. I hope you have a great weekend.

- Neko