|
About the Comic Infrequently Asked Questions
My biography is here.
If I haven't yet declared the characters' names or posted their biographies, it's for a reason. Mind you, I have every intention of posting bios when they become appropriate--that is, when enough backstory has been established to properly summarize. It simply ends up being a difficult task actually sitting down and composing new work, at the end of the day. I actually don't get asked this anymore, because most people reading this already know the characters from previous incarnations [this is the third].
SGP is a thoroughly arbitrary collection of ideas that sometimes fit together to form a narrative tale. The goal of the comic in its current incarnation is to properly chronicle these ideas into a roughly biographically-correct visual journal. There is no goal beyond this: no merchandise will be made [officially--there's always the possibility of piracy, however unproductive it would be to do] and no donations will be accepted, as taking monetary offerings from others would put a reader-oriented slant on the comic, which is not the purpose of the comic. Its existence is its own justification, and I prefer to focus on what I feel is appropriate rather than pandering needlessly to others who have no idea what I have planned, particularly to the detriment of the comic. I have composed a further writing on the subject as to why I don't accept money, if that interests you. The only project ideas that might change my mind would be to illustrate a children's book or work on a similarly contracted effort, but it would have to be completely unrelated to SGP itself.
My novels and other creations totally unrelated to the main comic [except distantly] follow their own rules. I started seriously writing my novels with the intent purely to record those stories at last, without having to wait for my unreliably slow art skills to catch up, but Lulu has been becoming a bigger presence for self-publishing, and I've been toying with the idea of at least publishing the books for myself. The thing is, once they're posted to Lulu, it's free to publish online, so if I publish at all, I might as well do it for public sale as well. The primary thing is that the main comic is totally free. Anything I make for it would either be all digital or freebies. Anything else is on a case-by-case basis.
Short answer: Whenever I get around to it. I've set a goal for myself to post at least one page a month, even if it's not complete, but I have an irritating time getting even that much done. If you hadn't noticed, site news [hosted on LiveJournal] is accessible from the SGP Presents logo in the navigation bar, no registration necessary. Click here if you don't see a navigation bar.
I just have no opinion either way about catering to a faceless audience, particularly one that doesn't contribute to my immediate well-being ['paying me'], so I tend to work as I feel able. Why rush to get something done that I don't feel like doing if, in the end, it's primarily for my own benefit? No, I seriously don't want to take money as a bribe to work faster--trust me, it's not worth it, and I prefer to work for myself than for others. I equate it to being a doctor at a cocktail party, uncomfortable with being asked to give on-the-spot diagnoses for whatever random ills people may have. On top of that, it's like being a part-time doctor, or an intern, as I don't like to draw on a regular basis. Primarily, I just don't have the experience or energy to justify art as more of a career kind of thing. It's more that I sort of learned how to draw and can do it if I want or HAVE to do it, but it's not something I want to be doing constantly, 24-7, especially not for a job. The little details would bore you, but basically I don't want to make it not fun for me anymore by wearing out the novelty of it. Really, the comic is a kind of a visual journal for me, so updates are going to be as often as I can manage, which should be proportionately difficult to how hard they belabour me at work.
Yes, I've been asked this before. The answer is still no for the same reason I wouldn't have someone else write my journal. Despite the fact I often hate drawing the comic, I prefer to retain the bond I have with it in being its sole creator. [I also feel that other people I might have work on the comic are better suited to their own works.]
I don't adhere to ESRB- or MPAA-style ratings because the comic functions as a journal. Regardless, I tend to keep things clean to avoid certain consequences of being known for language, violence, nudity, etc., but if I really feel like doing something, I'll do it. As of this writing, I believe there is only cartoon nudity [the "Bugs Bunny" kind], one use of profanity, and a lot of pent-up frustration. Genre-wise, I'll cover a lot of topics, so I can't really categorize the comic as any one in specific.
In its initial incarnation, SGP was a fairly arbitrarily chosen name that sounded good, the initials standing for "Scatterstar Galactia Productions" as a thinly-veiled pun on Battlestar Galactica [which I had actually not seen or read at the time]. This was mostly because the idea of owning a 'company' was [and is] enticing, though for various reasons the full name has been swept aside. I keep the name primarily out of habit, but also because I bought the domain name relatively cheaply for until 2010 so I might as well use it. I have no intention of reviving the previous work on SGP, because none of it synchs with the 'rebooted' chronology. Most of it will be properly revisited, however, but in a more organized manner. Regardless, someone will likely have the old work, if that happens to interest you. Coincidentally, I will note, SGP is the country code for Singapore. I didn't know that when I picked the name.
This is a standard question in the creative business. The standard answer, and mine as well, is "Everywhere." Naturally, more ideas are junk than gems, and unfortunately I haven't had a terrible number of gems, or I'd be the next J.K. Rowling. However, the comic will chronicle exactly where certain specific ideas originated, even if it may be a bit vague--I haven't been terribly interested in making the comic geared toward a universal audience since I long ago realized I couldn't.
Pretty much everyone I encounter influences me. However, my favourite artist is Range Murata, my favourite storyteller [comic artist] is Stan Sakai, my favourite artistic team is Tavicat, and my favourite writer was Douglas Adams. An anecdote: I had the misfortune of creating an accidental tribute to Adams in Anthrocon's 2001 convention book, in that I submitted it, then he passed on... I consider it a misfortune in that it's horrendously mediocre for what I would've made had I know it would've been a tribute. Regardless, I developed my own style from copying others first, then eventually figuring out for myself how I liked to illustrate the best. Occasionally I dabble in other styles to see if I can emulate them, but I really prefer my own methods better, as emulating inevitably turns up flaws I don't like, and it means I don't have to keep looking at someone else's stuff as reference all the time if I do my own thing. I recommend drawing predominantly from life, however, as what you do out of habit will shape what your style will become. After all, it's much easier to go to an exaggerated, simplified style after working so much in realism than to try to do realism after cutting corners from the outset.
Primarily I'm returning to a standard mechanical ["clicky"] pencil, but I have the occasional ink work from a very budget-friendly, very ergonomically-unfriendly Pentel Hybrid Gel pen, mostly due to its overall ink consistency and low amount of bleeding. Some of my lettering uses a thicker marker pen, though it's inconsistent because I've had to change brands a number of times [Sharpies are not good for lettering except for very large letters]. The first comics also utilize Prismacolor pencils with a Turpenoid [turpentine] wash to smooth out the color, but it only adds more time than necessary to the final piece, especially when I don't always end up liking what turns out. To 'ink' [some final pages are pencil-only], I tape the initial sketch to an Artograph LightTracer light box, then copy over my sketch lines onto a clean sheet of paper. This allows me to start over painlessly if I happen to make too many mistakes in lettering [as a rule, I letter first when using ink]. I use pretty much only a standard inkjet paper, as bristol or other higher quality papers are quite a bit excessive for the comic as I'm producing it now, in addition to inkjet paper allowing me to ink separately from the sketch. I don't recommend using what I use unless you are looking for something quick and cheap, as my own artistic habits are very poor and only contribute to the amount of delay between updates and the pain in my joints. That I've gotten where I am is testament to the stubbornness of succeeding despite the tools, not due to them, and not a path I recommend to anyone seriously pursuing a career in art.
For the comic, primarily Adobe Photoshop 6.0 [after being forced to upgrade from 5.5 after a system rework] and regular old Windows Notepad to write very basic HTML. The image gallery is open source Gallery code. I really have no need for more than that at the moment. "Tate" [TAH-tay] is the Japanese word for vertical, or portrait, in photographic terms. "Yoko" [YOH-koh] is the, er... opposite?--horizontal or landscape. The yoko setting is optimized so the entire comic should be viewable in a normal 4:3 monitor at 1024x768, while the tate setting is optimized so the entire comic should be viewable in a 3:4 monitor, or a monitor capable of rotating 90°, at 768x1024. The most popular usage of these terms involve overhead shooting games, in particular, that are optimized for a taller, rather than wider, monitor [or television]. Many of these games are formatted to play in either tate or yoko format, though tate is preferable due to utilizing the full screen. In fact, more monitors are being equipped with rotational capabilities as the functionality becomes more popular. I debated what I would add to a links page for a very long time before finally deciding what to do. I didn't want to do strictly a list of web comics I read, in part because some comics that I would recommend I don't read or vice versa [for instance, I think a comic is very good but it has concluded or taken an indeterminately long hiatus]. I also didn't want to just add links to all my friends, because some don't have webpages, have not finished them, have moved without notice, or simply aren't that interesting in a universal sense. Instead, I've made a list of webpages I could genuinely recommend to [nearly] anyone, covering several topics.
...well, in this case, I felt that if you could get past the sex, violence, and art style, there's actually a really good story in there. Trust me that it has a fairly diverse readership, rather than pandering to a niche audience, which is more of what I'm using as a basis for linking.
Absolutely not, as I have trouble meeting my own deadlines, much less someone else's. The last commission I took ended up taking well over a year to NOT finish, to the disappointment of my contractor, and I don't want to repeat that disappointment. I also have too many ideas of my own to even consider adding more to the queue, and it's a bit rude to take on more projects when I haven't even finished the first ones yet.
To be honest, I dislike the idea that anything I do is as clip art, unless I make it that way. Certainly I like to think I have control over my characters' existences, if you mean for role-playing fan stories and avatars and the like. Same thing goes for the occasional fan pictures I've done that're floating around online--I'd rather they stay at least where they are without further involvement in something I may or may not endorse. However, I can't physically stop you from doing it, and very likely wouldn't realize it if you did, but in any event I'm not in this to be famous, so I'm not going to give "permission with due credit" or anything like that.
I have been asked this. I do have songs... just not many, and none on the site [yet]. My response is basically the same as the above, regardless. In general, I really prefer that other people at least try to do things themselves before resorting to using others' work as clip art or what have you. I've made that mistake before, but I've learned from it and am now paying for that laziness, with interest.
Am I mean? Well, probably, since we do end up being what others perceive us as being, according to our actions. Certainly I'm heavy on the pessimistic side, just due to my experiences. I'm also really not very sociably-inclined... "doesn't play well with others" or whatever. If you put me in a crowd, I will inevitably do something stupid by some means and feel very embarrassed about it for the rest of the day. I just find it more awkward than fun talking to people I've never met before, particularly online, which is why you'll never see me in chatrooms or on ICQ or any of that. It's more fun to me to please myself and maybe the handful of good friends I have than to have a huge audience of millions that I'll never meet in person.
Mentioned on a website, probably. I believe I've only seen a Bishop Knights something or other Julie Miyamoto who isn't me, although a couple of others I've seen have some of my screen names [one of which I know to have deliberately stolen it from me rather than invent it independently]. Chatroom or chat program, no. I don't chat anymore, due to the heavy amount of time it eats up.
Certainly! Drop me a line and I'll add it to the iFAQ if it seems relevant. |
