News Posts

New Year, New Plans

Holidays 2011 ~ Chains and Ronou

…and happy new year, all! Another year’s passed! In no time, Millennium will be almost a decade old!

It’s been awfully quiet here these last couple of years. Not without reason, especially this year. I actually had to get through quite a bit of crud! Lots and lots of unstable ground, cropping up right after I’ve dealt with past difficulties! But I honestly do believe I’m better for it now.

I’ve got some more things to take care of (priorities have become pressingly more important since a few months ago). After that, updates! And a format change! The format change is what I’m really excited about; it’s new ground. I boxed myself in with the way I do comics. It’s actually kind of stubborn as well as unnecessary. I want to have fun again!

Speaking of that, I actually made many more changes to the upcoming parts — things that make way more sense than some of the stuff I stuck to for so long. I thought about it for most of this year. I don’t want to write things out of some feeling of obligation (well, I have to write THIS so they know THIS and THAT), because none of us will enjoy it. It just has to flow! Trying new things started this chain reaction of other-thinking. Lucky for us!

It was hard working on the next scene because I didn’t want to. It was same for the prologue of my other comic. Why do I keep doing that? No idea! But that problem should be pretty much done with. :D

Page 18 original Page 19 sketch Page 20 sketch Page 21 thumbnail Page 22 thumbnail Page 23 thumbnail
These WERE the upcoming pages. Why was the next scene hard to work on? Because it was almost completely unnecessary. Millennium’s a bulky story, but at least the “extra” scenes in later parts are things I’m actually looking forward to drawing. Getting to the point is imperative right now.

Anyway, I feel safe in saying you’ve got a good deal to look forward to because I’ve already begun working on stuff. So hang with me, and thanks for sticking with!

2012 will be a year of reconnecting with comics. I love comics these days. They excite me. I submitted to Aftershock earlier this year, which is a beautiful book with impact. I’ve still got to wrap up a short story I did originally for an anthology, as well as guest pages for Union of Heroes. I’ve gotta do what’s priority, as always — job-hunting in the quiet times was keeping me as busy as if I had a job, and portfolio’s pretty important — but I’m going back to the time where my comics were retreats and pleasures. And it’s reason to be excited.

Much love to you this coming year!

December 31, 2011 | No Comments

Millennium’s Eighth Birthday

…Was yesterday, the 3rd!

I had been meaning to update news here for the longest time. Things have been difficult around here; over a slow process, I’ve overcome a lot of roadblocks impeding productivity and growth (I really had to acknowledge them), and just as soon, they were replaced by other, much bigger roadblocks of a different nature. Had to make some tough decisions; still making some. A lot have to do with work (or lack of) and my priorities as far as life is concerned. Managing time like this is difficult, to say the least, but it’s tempering me for the future, as I see it.

This is starting to sound like a “hiatus” announcement. Well, it’s not! Online since 2003, can’t stop now! Though, until further notice, you can consider Millennium in Development Mode. Among the things I’ve acknowledged is my general will against doing art, despite my desire to. That makes it hard to make new pages of either of my comics right now. But in the last couple months, I’ve discovered ways of actually structuring and motivating myself in spite of external factors. Though the external factors are important, too. (And apparently once you turn 25, your body goes to poo!)

Millennium’s more than script and page. There’s a lot more in-between, I’m realizing. The next step’s finally come, and I’m glad you’re here reading this. You’re probably ready to see things; ‘specially those of you who voted “2004″ in the current poll. :D I’ll make a habit of posting concept art here more regularly to get you revved up and keep this space occupied.

I’m really going to be working on making my comics the things I want to make. Not those extra things that’re taking up so much time, but those things I love doing in the midst of everything else. I’m getting the juices flowing again; I’m feeling them. It’s good, it’s nice!

Ronou

Which brings me to this: redesigns. Ronou’s taken one more redesign that will see its way into the comic as soon as I have time to edit the current pages. This is the last time I’ll majorly redesign her. Probably.

What’s funny to me about Ronou is that, when I think about how “he” was before, Ronou was really an ambiguous kind of character (with a name that, in this world, is unisex). I love Ronou to death, and “his” personality remains — because with this redesign I literally changed but 1% of the script. This new incarnation of her makes the comic a lot more interesting for me, and even makes a few things make more sense, which is good. The characters were boring at the start, either purposefully or because of my very limited skill back in the day. They’re finding themselves by now.

Ronou

And I’m glad.

November 3, 2011 | No Comments

Still Alive

Been a while since my last post, huh? One could say I’ve been doing too many things!

See, some things have been going on, and life’s not exactly going as planned. The last few years I’ve battled general fatigue, bad hardware, and a lack of discipline with regards to working from home, but right now I’m countering things that are mostly out of my control. Wish me luck, and I’ll continue to do my best!

The tides keep turning. Up until recently, I was drawing for Mysteries of the Arcana. As of yet some of my pages there are still incomplete (without shading), but I am finishing them and a few other projects (freelance and otherwise) alongside working on my comics. Meanwhile, I learned some things about my capacity for drawing comics and got a much better drawing tablet to make the whole drawing experience less painful. Yay!

Right now I have big priorities, which is why some of my plans for comics haven’t moved forward as quickly as I’d hoped. But my vision is clearing, so I think things should come together in the next couple of months.

Meanwhile, take a look. The next page, 00-18, is actually about 70% done, but there’s one panel I’ve been doting on and trying to redraw to make sure it conveys a strong spot in the page, and at the beginning of the story. Here are some rough peeks:

Panel Panel Panel

It’s just something I’d like to get right! I believe in this panel! If only I could beam my brain images into the computer!

By the way, there are some interesting things here I think, and also I changed the poll!

July 19, 2011 | No Comments

For Goodness’ Sake

I’ve been busy lately! I’m so busy at this particular moment in time that I’m not even sure how to form words anymore.

With the few braincells I’ve got left, I’d like to tell you right now that I’m currently selling two pieces of art for charity. Check the details in their respective spots, and spread the word, if you would:

Untitled -for Japan- by ~senshuu on deviant ART

Who Is Responsible for This by ~senshuu on deviant ART

Also, unless ANOTHER big shake-up happens, you should expect page updates next month! YAY!

April 29, 2011 | No Comments

Flag of Gran (Other Stuff, Too)

Gran Flag

This is the flag of Gran, the largest city in Seldra and the main focus of Arc 5. Though Gran isn’t really very near to the coast, it’s said that this symbol was born of the people’s admiration of the celestial bodies rising over the ocean.

I’ve been working on completing Millennium’s script once and for all — particularly, general tweaks (especially regarding Ronou’s gender-change), editing some major scenes, revising a few parts that haven’t been touched since 2005, and finally writing in some major scenes. Gran is an important point in the story, and it’s sometimes overwhelming for me to think of — almost an entire arc taking place in a crowded and bustling city. But, I love the place; the more time I spend on it, the more I realize I’d like to visit it. When Arc 5 comes around sometime in the future, I hope others feel the same.

This is normally the kind of thing I’d post at the LJ community, but it’s a good idea to pipe up here, I think, and I’m considering dropping LJ communities altogether, as they don’t seem to be worth maintaining anymore. What do you think?

By the way, I’ve updated all the sections of the Development Art Page (except Spirits, sadly, which I must work on) with a bunch of stuff that I apparently never added there. I did post most of those things to the LJ community back nearer to the time I drew them, but I had always intended to add them on this website as well. Now that that’s done, please take a look at some of what’s in store for the comic. A lot of it is simply-drawn so far, but it went far in making me think and plan out the world of this comic and how everything relates to one another!

I’ve been awfully quiet lately. It’s due in part to some general life instability; while I have been working on the comic (check my own Tumblr to keep up with stuff like that!), things that might make money are always going to take precedent right now. Unfortunately, I need that now more than ever, and have been putting an earnest effort to improve myself and seek jobs. Trying to live off of freelance right now is very hard. I kind of don’t want to, at least, not yet; but I will do what I must. Work on my comics may lag because of it, but I did sketch four pages in a month, which is more than I’ve done in a long time — and in the midst of some generally not-good things, too — so I think my plans are going relatively well. I’ve been overwhelmed lately, honestly, but I think it’s coming out well. I’ll make things work, somehow.

That said, I’m also working on something for Union of Heroes, doing art relating to a recent event, going to a wedding, going to a convention (not as a guest or anything), and this is my month to work on my other comic, so… as far as Millennium goes, it will be slow in April, anyway, lol. Note that I always accept commissions for art and personal websites as part of freelance.

In the meantime, check this out: someone whose old comic I admired has started a new comic, which is expected to be even better. You should go read it ASAP:

April 1, 2011 | No Comments