Read more at http://mystcomic.smackjeeves.com
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
I'm back
Hey guys,
I disappeared for a good long while and I’m sorry about that. The short version of my news is this: The printed version of Vol 1 of Myst graphic novel looks really good. I’m happy with the printing. SPX was great. I sold a bunch of books there. Thank you to anyone who bought one, or just stopped by to say hello! I haven’t set up the online store yet, but that’s on the agenda. I will let you know when I’m closer to that.
I’ve been going nutty not producing any new Myst pages for a while. Day job stuff is letting up a bit, so I’m slowly getting back in the saddle. I’ve finished two pages. I’ll post one today and Tues. I feel guilty because I said I would be back a while ago. That was what I wanted, but things came up, as they do. I’m really bad at knowing my limits sometimes.
I’ve started using a new piece of software: Manga Studio 5 EX. I’m REALLY excited about. I love the inking and painting tools. I’ll be posting some of my experiments with it later. I was attracted to it after hearing the great reviews fromFrenden. Thanks man! And thanks to Fahim at SmithMicro for letting me know about a promotion deal so I could get it cheaper. And thanks Stephen for giving me HIS contact info. I’m really excited. I’ve never fallen in love with a piece of software so fast.
In other news, Cyan is putting out a new game?!?! What WHAT! http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-19786-writing-the-next-age.html. Thanks Zachery for sending me the scoop! And then the Unwritten folks have launched their Kickstarter campaign and it’s doing really well! Way to go, guys. Things are kicking up in the Myst world!
That’s all I got for now. Back to work. Will post a new page in a bit.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Myst Comic Vol 1 Cover!
ERMERGERD I sent the book off to the printer today. I spent a week+ painting the cover. 13 page bonus chapter done. Chapter heading illustrations done. Cyan gave their sign off. I’m exhausted, people. SPX in 17 days!!! >:0
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
BIG MYST UPDATE!
Hey guys,
I have lots of exciting things to tell you today.
First, I've been doing lots of preparation for the Myst Book of Atrus Comic Vol 1. I've just about settled on a local printer whose work I like. I'm planning on ordering 500 books. My goal is to have them in time to sell at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD on September 14-15. After that I'll need to figure out some online ordering system. I also plan to sell them at the CTN Expo in Burbank, California in November.
I've done a rough layout of the whole book. As per request, I'm going to include some illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. There's going to be an introduction, and maybe a "making of" section (I'm still deciding). As for the cover, I've been all over the map in my thinking about it. I finally decided to go all the way and do a color painting that lies across the back and front covers. I did a rough block of a painting plus draft cover copy to get a sense of what it might look like. I think it looks pretty nifty so far :)
I was trying to think of ways to make this book super awesome and I just thought, what's cooler than more pages? So I decided to make 13 EXTRA comic pages that would be EXCLUSIVE to the printed version. So I won't post them online ever, you will see them for the first time when you get the printed copy. What is this content? Readers of the original book will know it as the "prologue", events alluded to in Chapter 5: The scene where Gehn's wife dies and he leaves the newly-born Atrus with Anna. Uber-dramatic stuff! I think it's going to be good. I had a great time thumbnailing it. I have a rough draft complete of the whole thing, now I just need to render the pages. I'll post some sketches in the days to come.
In order to finish all 13 pages (and the cover painting) before the book goes to print at the end of August, I worked out that I'll need to finish three pages a week for the next five weeks. I've been struggling to finish two Chapter 6 pages a week, so this is going to be tough. If it's going to happen, I'll need to take a break from Chapter 6 pages for the next five weeks. Oh no! I know. It's not ideal, but I hope you understand. This is my chance to make this book really awesome and I'd really like to do that. My goal is to continue producing the Myst The Book of Atrus comic and sharing it with you all, which is a big, time-consuming effort. Having a spiffy, printed copy that people can buy would provide me with funds to help keep this venture going. So please buy a book! :) In the meantime, I appreciate your patience while I get the book ready for print.
What other news? Oh! Big news! Tony Fryman, president of Cyan and I finally signed a contract that gives me permission to legally sell the comic. I'm very excited. A lawyer friend of a friend helped me review the document. He's amazing and didn't charge me. I'm very happy with how it all worked out. It's all official now! I can sell the comic and Cyan will receive a percent. It's a dream come true. I can use my creative abilities to express my love for the Myst universe, share it with you all, while potentially making money to support my efforts and give something back to Cyan! It feels like my birthday!
Actually, it was my birthday, yesterday. :) Thanks for everyone who sent me nice messages!! I really appreciate it. You guys are awesome. I had a wonderful day.
I'm pumped trying to get this book ready for September 14th. I'll keep posting to let you know what's happening. Again, I'm sorry I don't have a page for your today. I appreciate your patience. Pages will resume again before you know it. And then hopefully there will be a rad new book waiting for you too!
Heather
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Painting of MARY
A painting of MARY: Virgin Mom (happy belated mother’s day?)
Based on: http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/70018570. I was trying out a new painting technique. I feel like some things I’ve been experimenting with for a while finally came together.
I’ve been inspired by the art of this amazing fellow Sachin Teng: http://sachinteng.tumblr.com/. Also perfect timing to see this post about not going overboard with shading: http://troy-artlog.tumblr.com/post/49562532600/how-to-make-your-art-look-nice.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Partners in Preservation Program Animation
Partners in Preservation Program: https://www.preservedmv.com/
This was a recent freelance project that I worked on with The Duke and the Duck, a local production company. I did the storyboards and a bunch of the artwork. Other talented folks did the animation.
The two guys who hired me were super nice and a pleasure to work with. I want to work with them again. The project is all about preserving old buildings and parks in DC, so naturally living in DC, this was very appealing to me. I'm really proud of how the whole thing turned out.
Enjoy!
And if you happened to be in the DC area or just happened to love old DC buildings, go to the website and vote for your favorite site!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
自己紹介 Self Introduction
I realized that I now have 26 followers here on this blog. I’m so happy and honored that you guys are following me. I’d like to start posting more, though sometimes I find it hard, maybe because I feel like a stranger. So I thought I’d take a post to introduce myself.
My name is Heather Larkin. I am 28 years old and I live in Washington DC. For my day job, I am a freelance animator and illustrator. I’d really like to work as a storyboard artist for TV or feature films. I’m trying to build up my storyboard portfolio and apply for storyboarding jobs.
Right now, I’m working on an online comic called “Myst The Book of Atrus” based on my favorite book EVER. You can read it online here: http://mystcomic.smackjeeves.com/.
Personality wise, I’m a huge nerd. I recently reorganized my bookshelves into categories, so I can tell you exactly what subjects I’m interested in: Central American natural history; Japanese language; medieval Europe social history and Old English; biology and animal behavior; film editing, directing, acting and storyboarding; story writing; art technique and human anatomy.
I also get really excited about office supplies.
Some random backstory: I was born in Queens NY. I went to Princeton University and majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The best outcome of that was that I got to study zebra behavior in Kenya. After I graduated, I entered the JET Programme and lived a year in Japan. I love Japanese.
Ta-da. So now you know a little something about me.
Nice to meet you! よろしくおねがいします。
Nice to meet you! よろしくおねがいします。
Thursday, March 7, 2013
"Tilly" A Storyboard Pitch
This is a pitch I did for a story called "Tilly". It's about a girl really into military stuff who is given a princess doll for Christmas.
My goal was to create some storyboards for my portfolio and practice pitching. I've been working on it in fits and starts since November and most of that was editing the story.
I did the drawings in TVPaint, which has an easy to use timeline. I used Quicktime to record my voice along with the computer screen as I clicked through the drawings.
I liked how it came out. I'm excited to do another one.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
some work-in-progress storyboards I worked on just now. I just found the most useful thing in InDesign. If you hold down option-shift when you place images, you can choose to place the images in a grid format. You can even adjust the number of items in the grid by using the arrow keys! More about it here: http://blog.gilbertconsulting.com/2009/11/automatically-place-multiple-images-in.html. It meant that I could arrange these boards in less than a minute rather than half an hour. It’s kind of a big deal. Like, I cannot describe how excited i am.
via Tumblr http://larkinheather.tumblr.com/post/41736656155/some-work-in-progress-storyboards-i-worked-on-just
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Atrus beats himself up about the volcano fiasco and Anna doesn’t like it.
via Tumblr http://larkinheather.tumblr.com/post/41557532225/atrus-beats-himself-up-about-the-volcano-fiasco
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
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