The Luminaries

Page 23

2009-02-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.projectluminary.com/comic.php?p=25

Stanley is a creature of few words sometimes, but those he says sure do carry their weight. The Snatcher... well the big fellow's going to need more than a few band-aids, now isn't he?

This Weaving ("spell" if you're wondering why I'm suddenly speaking of baskets or hair care) is just underway. It's a really, really powerful thing Stanley just said: "Dun Anh". We'll look into the specifics of it sometime later, but for now just no that where E'tan might manage something like a static shock against the Snatcher's "foot", this would be like hitting him in the face with the mother of all hydrogen bombs.

Stanley plays for keeps.
Want to monitor my laziness and push me to work faster for your enjoyment? Follow and prod me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/Luminaries More followers would be AWESOME! The next site design will have a Twitter module here.
Sorry it took so long for this page! But oh dear isn't it pretty? I think it's pretty. Do you like the new textures? I hope so. I think I'll start using a lot more of them. Well.. now to start on the next one!

For those interested, here's a brief update on myself:
This page would have been done over a week ago (yeah, still takes forever I know) but I'm horribly sick, even right now. This has started as a sinus infection, and now I believe I have an ear infection to further complicate things. I'll be going to the doctor AGAIN tomorrow!

This page was completed because at the beginning of February I took a trip to my old college town of Conway, Arkansas (which is a very nice suburb of the state's capital.) and stayed with my old college roommate and his fiance. There was Indian food, edamame, celebrations, Gears of War 2, and my biggest addiction, I found: Left 4 Dead. Conclusion: I am a frightening Hunter zombie and a crafty Smoker as well. Stealthy I am, and probably all too eager to play the zombie. I needed this break, and it inspired me back to work again, making me dash right through hours upon hours of work on this page when I got back.

Then I got sick. Hope to be well soon.
Thank you all for reading, and here's hoping the next page gets out there faster!

On funks.. not funk, sadly

2009-01-31T08:59:00.001-08:00

I'm still alive, I promise. And no I haven't given up. Never have. Never will. Even if I'm dead, I'll find a way to tell stories in whatever afterlife awaits us.

I hate where I live, ladies and gentlemen. It is that simple. It is a depressing place that has always sapped my creativity. I am on my way back to visit the town I was in when I began this project and hang out through Monday with some of the people who helped make me so creative.

I still remember E'tan, and it is because I feel I am greatly disappointing you all that I perhaps remain so quiet. Rest assured, I remember.

I have been working a job I despise to save money to move. Let us pray it is enough, as I feel I must move soon to escape the pull of the black hole that is Texarkana, TX.

Wish me luck, and in return I will tell you more stories.
Thank you all for being awesome and for the kind words I've received.
Now I'm going to go drive for 3 hours and play many, many video games with wonderful, creative people. I will give you things to read and enjoy as soon as I can. :)

Again, Thank you.
David

Guest art: Day 6. Final day

2008-12-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

And lastly, J wraps things up with his other submission. His character, Larry, meets up with E'tan. Check out more of him at y2clcomic.com

Guest Art: Day 5!

2008-12-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

What's this? A new race introduced by none other than the Elderly Apple Guy, of Elderly Apple.

Guest Art: Day 4!

2008-12-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Now the best movie idea since Labyrinth, submitted by Joe of For The Reels.

Guest Art: Day 3!

2008-12-09T00:01:00.001-08:00

The next winner is one that's a bit racy! J from Y2cl made it!
If you have children who read The Luminaries, THIS CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THEM.

There is nothing visually explicit, nor swearing, etc. VIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. It's funny, trust me.

Guest art: Day 2!

2008-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

And next up we have "Dumb Bum", creator of Minos the Minotaur, and his submission!

Guest art/comic winner!

2008-12-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

And the winner is! Sarah Sawyer, creator of The Gods' Pack

Working, Contest, and Trip!

2008-11-29T00:04:00.000-08:00

First of all, I AM working on the next page and it is going well!

Secondly, the latest contest is ending super soon, so I hope to see entries from everyone who wants to enter by Monday, Tuesday at latest.

Third, I leave on Friday, December 5th for Maryland and will be gone through the 14th. I'll be running entries from the contest through that time period! Yes, that will make it the most updated time frame in the last 8 months or so!

Lastly! Here's something to amuse your visual senses for a bit. Meet another one of the Dark. I call her (yes, it's female for some reason)... "The Hag".

How do I describe the Hag.. hmm... Okay, think of her like this:
Imagine you're looking into some dark recess somewhere. All the shadows on the ceiling and walls suddenly flow down, as if they were liquid. They pool up on the ground there.
Then they stand up and turn to look at you with black on black eyes and a gaping void that is the maw of this creature, running most of the length of its body.
As it moves, it seems to "skip frames", its motion jerky and odd, like the girl from The Ring. It glides/shuffles along.
The Hag is roughly the size of a person, like.. oh say, an old hag that's slumped over. Hence the name.

She creeps me out. Badly.
And that's what you get for now!

UPDATE: Page 22

2008-11-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a new page! What does Stanley have planned? Oh we'll see shortly... and let me tell you, it's pretty epic.

http://www.projectluminary.com/comic.php?p=24

I really liked making this page. Well that's an understatement. I loved it. I did some new things, like the textures. Are those good? Some are barely there.. but would you folks like to see more of those? I think it makes the Snatcher waaaay creepier, and gives some definition to E'tan's outfit. Thoughts? Email me or, if you're of the sort that clicks blog headings, click on the subject line of this and comment some. Whatever suits you. Now, important announcement.

CONTEST/REQUEST
From December 5th to December 14th I will be taking a trip. I probably won't have many opportunities to be around a computer, let alone update anything. However, seeing my girlfriend during this trip will do me a world of good. In celebration of this and the holiday festivities, I am requesting the following from anyone who'd like to participate.

GUEST ART, COMICS, MACARONI ART, WHATEVER.

GUIDELINES: MUST BE RELATED TO THE LUMINARIES AND BE PASSABLE AS SOMEWHERE AROUND A PG RATING. (Though remember, using words like "Jaht" is okay. ;D )
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1st
EMAIL ME YOUR ENTRIES
DETAILS/REWARDS FOLLOW:

(Now if you feel the need to produce a mature-rated work, by all means feel free. I won't be able to post it on the main area here, but I'll find a place to display it. I'd really you rather make a PG work so everyone can admire it though.)

I'll display everyone's entries throughout that period. Also...
I'll send the creator of the "best" piece something! (The panel will likely consist of myself and a few friends that I demand help me) As for WHAT the prize will be... well I don't know yet! (Secret note: I'm working on designing some buttons for starters.) But I like to give, so it'll be something nifty. :)

And it's the holiday season.. so who knows what I'll do! Maybe everyone will get something! Who knows?! I'm craaaaaazy!

Luminaries Update: Filler/bonuses, info on delay

2008-10-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.projectluminary.com/comic.php?p=23
Update (sorta) read below for full details.. and what's to come!

Okay, I've been busy building my portfolio lately and will continue to do that. Learning some really useful stuff from Sarah who makes a freaking AWESOME comic (The Gods' Pack) and has been helping me not hate Illustrator. But here's what you guys and gals wanna know: Where's the comic?!

Delayed as we're rebuilding our comic collective site. This time we're in a lot more power on it and nobody's going to pull the plug on this one. Better name, slick design (that I'm working with Sarah on), and generally better all around. The new site is InkSpot Comics.

http://www.inkspotcomics.com

That's a priority now. It's kind of a business thing, as I see it. So the page has suffered a delay from that and from a poster I've been working on for my old Honors College. Now, you'll see the update is sorta a filler. I'll be doing more of these because you great people deserve SOMETHING while I'm working on this stuff.

I think it'd be a nice present to post a whole page in the Speech soon, as well as a vocabulary list and language explanation so you can all get a hang of how this actually works. Plenty more informative pages about other things (like races, guilds, etc) to do as well. Wish they were comic pages, but those take a TON of time that I'm short on at this moment.

Rest assured, once we've got that web design finished, I'll be launching full-steam into this.. and the next page? I have plans to make it GORGEOUS. Seriously, I plan on it looking better than any I've done before.

Until then, best wishes and keep checking back. I won't leave you high and dry!
David

Pardon our mess

2008-10-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

Notice the top bar is gone. Comic of the Month seems to have been dissolved. However, I'm working closely with most of the former members in rebuilding operations elsewhere. It'll be spiffy.

Also, my apologies there is a delay in the page due to some projects with deadlines as well as the fact that I haven't had a tablet until yesterday. I will post fully about the new tablet, for it is very nice, and the company which it came from... because they are WONDERFUL. (coolgraphicstuff.com)

I will be cleaning a bit here and there and have the Adobe Creative Suite 3 package on the way to me.. so soon editing these pages will be MUCH easier.

PAGE 21 RELEASED!

2008-09-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

AND IT'S ABOUT TIME HUH?!
I know, I'm a terrible person who let life and everything get in the way.. but I never forgot you all! I'm even going to send out emails to anyone who's emailed me letting them know we're back, when I'm home from work tomor... oh.. today. That thing I have to get up for in 4 hours. Oh well. This is more important.

So, since you've waited long enough.. here's page 21!
http://www.projectluminary.com/comic.php?p=22

Still Alive

2008-07-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello nice internet people! I am still here and working. I've been delayed by the aforementioned medical problem, but a few other things. For a few days I was just away from the computer for various reasons. Saturday, however, I attended the wedding of two dear friends. And I managed to not -completely- make a fool of myself at the reception.

I think...

Anyway, Buzzcomix is down until August, I do believe, so I'll just have to put an incentive up at TWC. It'll be a clip from the current page.. probably at 50% resolution. (That's double the size of what you get online)

I encourage everyone to grab the RSS feed above the blog here, and when the new page is finished, you will know. I know it's hard to keep up with comics sometimes, so I try to make it easy for you.

Update

2008-07-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not having the next page ready yet. Moreover for being admittedly behind on it. To put it simply:

I have a hole in my foot.

Had to go to the doctor Wednesday, he did some cutting, etc., etc., etc. You can see where that might cause a problem in the production schedule.

I'm working on it, I assure you.

Updates/Changes/Voting Incentive

2008-07-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

In the past day or so, I've done the following that I hope you all enjoy:

Put content in the Links page. It's prettier now. Go there.

Updated the Extras section

Removed the holder space for the Store and replaced it with a link to the Forum.

GREATLY cleaned up my "Creator" page. Sorry that was such a rambling mess. It's much more concise and easy to navigate now.

UPDATED BOTH VOTE INCENTIVES. Each one gets you a different member of the Dark (the bad monsters) to look at. Neither one will be showing up for awhile. The one at Buzzcomix is about the size of a person, the other is about the size of a child. Both are creepy as hell.

I'm working up some diagrams for some race pages, probably starting with the Sujei, E'tan's race so you folks can figure them out a little better.

So, I encourage everyone to come to the forum and have some fun, and to keep voting and all that jazz. Page is coming along. This is a big sequence, so I'm being very nitpicky with it. Peace be with you.

Page 20

2008-07-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Page 20 is done at last! Happy 4th if you're American and all of that jazz. I'm sorry it took so long, but look at the details! Also, remember that yard work.. turned into two days and on the second I.. kinda busted the water main to my house. Long story.

Hope everyone's still reading, because I have a few announcements:
Update schedule is evolving for the time being. When I am set up in a more structured job and environment, I'll likely be able to go back to once a week. That said, I feel like a jerk promising you good people pages, then being late. So, I'm going to say that strips will take between 1.5-2 weeks to complete, possibly more in special cases like this one. Grab the RSS feed up top, I'll be posting whenever there's an update. BUT! I'm not leaving you without art in those times! Read on!

Secondly: I want to get you lot to voting again. Hardcore. Normally, I've been putting up the storyboard for the next page between the two, so you can sneak a peak. And I still will, but I'll rotate things out faster, every couple of days. Or sooner. The only way to find out is to vote each day at Buzzcomix and TWC.

So, you'll see future storyboards, bonus art, sketches, work-in-progress shots of the current page, and other special things. FOR EXAMPLE: In the coming days, I'm going to put up the current page in a textless, high-resolution format. Double the current size, so you can see more of the details. (note: I make the pages 4 times the size you see here) Plus many more prizes! Help me make those ranking numbers climb, and I'll churn out more stuff!

SITE CHANGES: I need them! I'll be putting up a link to my forum at Comic Of The Month soon, so watch for that. I'll probably tinker with the cast pages over the holiday and give you folks more of that, as well as making some of the other pages not such a wreck. In time, I'll hit an entire redesign again.

If you've read this far, you're awesome. Thanks a bunch for listening and high fives to you. So, have a great weekend and I'll be keeping in touch. Oh, and here's a bonus for the next page for you reading types:

There's going to be a super important character introduced on the next page. It's also from a race of Luminaries you've never seen before. Things are heating up. Now aren't you glad you read these things? Enjoy the comic!

Page 20

2008-06-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight, June 30th, page will be out. Finishing touches right now, but I have to go mow my lawn so I can see the road again. I have a big lawn. After that, you cool cats will get page.

Also: HELLO NEW NICE PEOPLE! :D Man, I got hit by Stumbleupon to top everything off over the weekend, and then I set up ads on Dresden, The Unstuffed, Brat-Halla, and Station V3.

They're all pretty awesome comics, and I'd link right now if I wasn't rushing out the door. Later, cause they deserve it. Peace folks!

Filler!

2008-06-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Coming here from Dresden Codak or The Unstuffed? Awesome! Well, the COMIC is right over here! Or use the menu on the left! Look around, I hope you stay. Special thanks to the folks coming from The Unstuffed, you guys are really lighting up the hits over there. Both comics are, of course, some of my favorites, so I'm happy to get some fellow readers over this way.

Feel free to leave feedback if you like, love, or hate it and me. (Look under the Creator button on the left)

Page 20 will come online: Monday, June 30th

Here's an etching I made earlier in the year of a character who's pretty important pretty soon. What's he do? I can't tell you. Can't even tell you what he is. But I'll tell you this: His name's Stanley.

Update

2008-06-23T10:17:00.001-07:00

Running behind on it for an unexpected reason: Computer trouble.
Not mine, thankfully. Instead, I've been trying to fix the family's computer. I've spent the last two days on it.. and it is an absolute wreck. At this point, I may simply take it to a repair center and let it be their problem.

Page 19 Released

2008-06-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Page 19 is finally out, and I think I speak for everyone when I say it's about time. Sorry for all the hang ups... I guess when you're going back and finally finishing out the first page you ever thought of for your story.. makes it important, huh?

Anyway, enjoy the new page! Need to get you folks some pages about the World up soon... since I'm going to start advertising now that we're around the 20 page mark and into the "dark" section.

Peace out!

Preview

2008-06-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

Good thing first! Here's a preview of page 19 Even better, this panel you'll see when you click (linked it to avoid bots sapping bandwidth by loading it unnecessarily) is DOUBLE the normal comic resolution! Much more detail! (This is half the size it is when I make it. The comic you see online is 1/4th the original's size!)

Bad news is that, obviously, the comic's not ready yet. Look at the panel, it's all still flat colors. This page is special. I like this page. So I'm not putting the whole thing out until it's ready and perfect. That said, you wonderful people deserved something, so I give you this preview. I plan to finish this tomorrow.

Update

2008-06-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

Page 19 will land on Monday, June 16th. I have officially decided. It shall be done. So it is written! (*mumbles to self* In the Book. Of. RAGE! ....anyone else remember the New Adventures of Johnny Quest? Anyone?)

Why have things been lagging behind lately, you may ask? And you have a right to, I suppose. Well! I've been working on a graphic design project, you see. A flash-based website. This one, in time, will be going more fancy-like as well. Something sexy and all that jazz. So doing that has detracted from what would be the free time in which I do the Luminaries. However, putting this back on Monday should get things back on track. Next page is gonna be great! I can't wait. ^^ But I appreciate all of you who do wait! I know I've got about 20 folks or so a day who come here, and I appreciate you a lot. A whole lot. I'll give all you internet peoples a link when that graphics project is done so you can see what I've been up to.

Also: Go see Kung Fu Panda. It's a great movie, but the BEST parts are the 2D animation sequences at the beginning and through the credits. I swear to you, it's more beautiful than Samurai Jack, and that show was breathtaking. It's amazing. Seriously.

Vol 1 Pg 18

2008-06-05T22:40:00.001-07:00

And finally, FINALLY here's page 18. Getting it done this late, Page 19 obviously won't be up on Monday. I'm hoping for a Wednesday release, at this point, then work til we're back on schedule. Then again, I might surprise myself and get it done early. Updating vote incentive too.

Page 19 is actually the first page I ever storyboarded for the Luminaries. Yes, I started over halfway through book one.. cause this is where really interesting things happen. Now, as to why this is so late...

I quit my job. Just yesterday. Though everything was spiffy for awhile, I grew to hate going to work. I wasn't making any money, it was hot, hard work, and it sucked. Also, it wasn't related to art at all, so I was becoming burned out. I won't bore you all with details, but that and a nervous breakdown or two are what pushed me over the edge to quitting and I've been busy with all of that. So that's why the page is so late. I'm getting everything worked out, though, and will be doing a lot of web design work for a couple of places, so it's not all bad.

Anyway, enjoy the new page, sorry it took so long, and I'll keep you posted as the new page works its way up.

Page 18

2008-06-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

New page Monday night.