Passerines Development Diary
this fun little guy is intended to chronicle my adventures working on my first comic, passerines! it follows two guys who are gender as they go on a normal road trip where nothing bad happens :) note that this page makes use of spoilers - hover over highlight text to reveal what it says!
#1 | 10/4/21
working on some character stuff today! i started by writing down some little details about robin and starling - for example, what their room looks like, what they like to carry around, and their favorite article of clothing - then started working on their backstories. robin's came pretty naturally to me, but starling's will be a challenge. i think he needs some more outgoing or interesting character traits - we'll see :)
i'd also like to keep working on the outline for the first chapter's sketch draft. i just really want to share some of my work with my friends, and maybe all 0 people who read this site!
#2 | 10/5/21 - major spoilers ahead!
last night, vee suggested that i nickname starling and robin's doppelgangers rex and satin, after breeds of rat, which is PERFECT and i LOVE THAT FOR THEM. i'm collectively referring to them as rat gang because my addiction to tallahassee directly correlated with my re-interest in this, and robin and starling are already bird-themed. i still need to design them, though... which is why i'm writing this!
there are a couple of different avenues i could take with their visual designs. they're intended to symbolize their internal struggles - what they're most afraid of in themselves. my first idea was to have them just look exactly like how they do. simple, easy, gets the job done, opens up some fun plot possibilities. win-win! but i think that takes away a lot of fun i could have. they're supernatural entities, anyways - it makes sense that they could use some type of glamour to appear more like their originals when need be. more on this soon!
#3 | 10/11/21 - major spoilers ahead!
i showed vee, glimmer, and brandon what i had, and they seemed to really like it! vee and glimmer talked to me about rex and satin a little bit, helped me flesh them out, and brandon just listened, which i was grateful for :)
vee suggested that one of the characters gets injured in a relatively minor way - sprains their ankle, gets a big cut, etc. - and that's what helps them start depending on each other to an unhealthy degree (more than they already are). glimmer also told me about the best scene idea, EVER, that you'll have to take a look at the comic to see ;) assuming i finish it, that is...
on the actually "sitting down and doing things" side, it's not going pawsome. i have a design down for rex (which i am in LOVE with, by the way) and the genderites, but not mel or satin. progress on the paper draft is slow, too. i know what i want on the page, but it's just so hard to get it down. and, because last-minute changes are my passion, i'm thinking of having them meet a lot earlier than they already are. maybe 6 months? i think it would give their relationship a lot more time to ferment. by seeing that (mostly through flashbacks), we can get more of a sense of why they're good for each other and why they're... uh... not.
well, wish me luck! hopefully i can iron everything out soon.
#4 | 1/2/21
hiiiii besties it's been a while!
so, no, i have not stopped thinking about passerines. have i stopped working on it? yes. i started writing the script at the beginning of november, right after i dropped the tallahassee site, but my workflow just was not doing it for me. i got distracted by school, holidays, and mental illness. buuuut i've been chipping away at other, smaller comics projects, and i think i've figured out a new way to actually make the damn comic!
i'm going to start scripting on notebook paper and thumbnailing instead of trying to draw the whole thing out in detail. i will also probably draft on paper, because it is dozens of times faster. when i was working on my ap lit midterm, i churned out pages SO much faster in my sketchbook than in medibang. all i'd have to do from there is scan and upload the sketches, then ink and color digitally (which tends to look a hell of a lot nicer). although, i have considered doing my color traditionally, and i've been getting more experience with my colored pencils... decisions, decisions...
oh, and i've gotten a reference sheet down for the two of them! they're chillin, just vibin together, bein' real cute. there will be design notes written around them. once i'm done, i'll probably share it here and on toyhou.se - all i have to do is the writing. next up will be the rat gang. i solemnly swear to update this more often.
#5 | 4/25/22
"i solemnly swear to update this more often" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
college emotions are kicking my ass, but at least i still have blorbo and blorbette. i haven't done scripting, but i have been working on some planning stuff these past few days. i laid down some rules for the visual design of the world, complete with some illustrations!
i also got the behavior of rat gang to a place where i could really be happy with them. spoilers ahead, but...
both satin and rex are genuinely trying to be helpful. they want to act in the best interest of their doubles, truly! they just don't understand why the most direct and efficient solution to a problem might be immoral or overblown. like, starling goes "aw, man, i hope my girlfriend doesn't break up with me", so rex chases her down in the woods and tries to break her ankles with a tree branch so that she can't physically run away from him. robin feels lost emotionally and wants starling to be, too, and also doesn't want to go to the town where The Lanie Incident happened. so satin steals the map.
i also saw everything everywhere all at once, which is an AMAZING movie btw. that plus a visit to the hirshhorn over the weekend is encouraging me to get more creative with, well, everything! but especially making more abstract environments and plot events. (if you're in the area, you have GOT to see the weather (exhibit)! i enjoyed it a lot more than the other one there, although i didn't get to check out the timed entry one.) you'll all see the fruits of this inspiration when i have more that's ready to share. for now, have a good one! halcyon signing off :sparkles:
#6 | 7/10/22
another long wait, but i do have some good news! outlining is coming along pretty well. i'm actually dogsitting for the neighbors, and rudy (that's the dog!) is pretty laid-back, so i'd like to try and work on a practice comic while i'm here. i have some dialogue written out, and trust me, you guys'll be the first to see it!
i've also gotten some *gorgeous* art of rat gang from art fight this year. it's really getting me excited to make more about these guys! bye for now :)
