I’m starting to realise how much shading makes a difference. Teague in the latest comic update looks so much better and more mature, exactly how I envisioned him to be. Comparing that to the others really highlights how boyish he looks in comparison (and trust me, he’s no teenager).
I’m taking that into account for future comic pages. Hopefully I’ll be able to fit that development in!
I’ve been really missing old coastal towns recently, particularly Cornwall and Pembrokeshire. Being reminded of them on occasion helps keep me grounded when my mind becomes too noisy. ‘Teague Fagan’ as a comic was one I started out of fun, through my love for these places and the sea. When the worries of making it more established for an audience rose up, it suddenly became less fun because instead of keeping it focused, I added more plot points, more characters, more arcs to establish; thus making it a bigger project to complete. I think that’s what’s caused me to struggle to continue over the last few months and made me want to re-think the storyline; re-establishing what made me want to start it in the first place.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my mini brain fart. It’s actually nice to write my thoughts down ^^
Managed to complete the next page! 😀
I was worried I wouldn’t be able to make this month’s update as it’s been such a hectic few weeks. I’ve been worried about getting a new car for work and affording to get it serviced. The end is in sight now thank goodness with the worst of it over. My family have been wonderfully helpful, couldn’t have done it without them <3
My art is going to be focusing on starting my PhD project now. It’s hard going back and forth between whether I can continue with the comic or not because I do want to keep going but at the same time I do need to use my time wisely, as I have very little spare.
I’ll work on the comic when I can because no doubt I will like to come back to have a break from my PhD work. In the meantime, I hope you like the new page!
Ever made a decision and regretted it? Well, that’s how I feel with my latest post. After being away from my comic for a while, I realised how much I really don’t want to leave it alone. It seems the break definitely helped rekindle my passion for it so I will be working on the next page soon.
Thank you everyone for your patience with me, it certainly has been a journey so far. The next challenge is establishing how I am going to balance my personal work, PhD work and job. I believe it is doable if I keep to the once monthly update.
Fortunately this had coincided with the final share of the new SpiderForest comics so please see below!
New Member Spotlight – Broken Places
Politics, natural disaster, or the advances of technology can make the world a harsh place to navigate. Will these characters find treasures lost to a time before disaster struck their land? Or spiral deeper into chaos along with it?
Malatona When It Rains – Despite promises over the last twenty years, the Isahek river is flooding again. When a tax collector is shot by its banks, the provincial court must respond to the rising violence. The members of the court vie for control of their crumbling empire.
Pneuma Vita – After obtaining a mysterious book about plants, Lyka discovers a medicinal plant called “Pneuma Vita” that may be able to treat her father’s worsening asthma. But it grows in the farthest region outside of the city, far beyond everything Lyka knows…
Hollow Trail – A post apocalyptic adventure webcomic following Rosario as he explores a scary and mystifying world left behind many years ago, what type of friends will he make? And what lies along these hollow trails?
Ultraviolents – A near-future gay body horror comic about two men using underground blood sports and body modification as therapy.
LOSTLAND – A supernatural, post-apoc adventure story following the tales of four travelers and the little twists of fate that bind them both to each other, and to one man’s grand design for this new world.
Hello all! I hope you’re well and looking forward to the colder seasons. I really love Autumn and Winter (maybe not the darker morning side to it but there’s something about it that I adore).
Following on from my short break, I have decided to take a longer hiatus due to my reflections resulting in me wanting to reform my comic into a series of images as part of my PhD work. I’ve found the story I want to tell may not necessarily be told best in comic format – especially when I find the transitionary scenes between ones I most want to create more a chore.
Nonetheless, I will keep this website and the pages up. I never know, I may want to return to it for fun! For now I am leaving it indefinitely.
In the meantime, here is the next round of new comics from SpiderForest!
New Member Spotlight – Falling into a New World
Whether you’re stepping into a whole new planet, a seemingly-normal game, or your wildest dreams, these comics will let you escape from your normal responsibilities. But tread carefully, you may find more than you bargained for!
Ash in the Wind – Alexis is a disillusioned college student who has lost interest in the real world. When a chance turns up to investigate a paranormal legend (and with the boy she’s been eyeing) she seizes it. But when dreams become reality, reality becomes a nightmare.
Foreach – Jasper is an exorcist-in-training who feels beaten down by the pressures of life, friends and family. When it gets to be too much, Jasper likes to sit down and play a videogame called LOVE BOMB… but there’s more to this game than seems at first…
Slumbertown – Slumber is an unsuspecting ghost town that ALSO happens to exist as a collective dreamscape of its 32 villagers! No one can quite remember how they moved to Slumber – or who or what is keeping them there.
NEVERMIND – Two 20-somethings, Jethro and Dolly, and their experiences with extraterrestrials, particularly a curious cyclops princess named Diesel, during the extremely crusty, grungy year of 1994.
Broccoli Soup – Broccoli wakes up one day in a featureless void with no idea how they got there. The only other inhabitant of the void is their mysterious creator (and Very Best Friend) Lady Doris, who sends them away on missions to other worlds. Broccoli must bring Politeness and Goodness to the universe and make their creator proud, but there’s one problem: they don’t really know what Polite and Good even means.
Hello all!
Thank you for your patience while I’m on my break. You may have noticed that I did upload one more page since the last blog post but that was due to it being so close to done, I thought it silly to leave it. It has made me look forward to doing the next one!
I’ve had a lot more readers come to visit the website so hello and welcome everyone! It’s very nice to see 🙂 The next SpiderForest creators are now available for sharing, please see below.
New Member Spotlight – Normality and Paranormality
Normal is relative. Enjoy these comics that explore what happens when a touch of the silly, surreal, or supernatural bleeds into the lives of normal people.
The Bright Side – Emily is a prickly and reclusive teenage girl. After a couple of random tragedies, she befriends Death – who turns out to be naive, neurotic, and completely endearing. Despite being eternal, “Dee” has at least as much growing up to do as Emily does.
Monsters & Myriads – A midwestern exploration into the spooky fantastic that haunts closed arcades, moon-frosted cornfields, and shadowed school hallways. Highschoolers band together to uncover a gothic conspiracy that threatens to unravel their school, town, and world.
Prophet of the Sun – A story about a selfish loser who would rather lie to themselves and everyone around them than face discomfort. This would be ok if they weren’t also the unstable vessel of the Sun, a strange new god intent on destorying the world.
Lauren Ipsum – Lauren Ipsum is a professional librarian, part-time writer, and an intellectual culture enthusiast (nerd). Join this looney rabbit and her friends running the esteemed St. Paws Library!
The City Under Saturn – A group of mobsters slowly begin to uncover that the man they’re are working for may not be entirely human and that those contracts they signed may be more than legally binding.
The Organization of Ghost Hunters – After an encounter with a mysterious stranger, Ian Cooper discovers he’s able to see ghosts. The friendly dog spirit that follows him around isn’t so bad, but when dangerous spirits start to show up, he may need a little help.
SpiderForest is going to be updating the new comics (including my own) soon so I wanted to share my fellow new spiders here 😀 There’s some really talented people in this group and I’ve been enjoying reading some myself. Please click on the links below to go to their comic websites!
New Member Spotlight – Unlikely Heroes
Pirates and pilots, serpents and sorcery! Jump into adventures and mystery with these comics about taking your destiny into your own hands – whether you’re ready or not!
Thunderstar – Amanda is an adventurous goth girl and a great pilot in the Royal Starfleet. When her boyfriend is kidnapped by a cult for their own nefarious purposes, it’s up to her and her high-strung engineer to defy the odds, cross the galaxy, and save him.
Teague Fagan – A sea serpent in the form of a human hermit is exiled to an island somewhere in the Celtic Sea while mermaids mysteriously, yet ruthlessly, hunt him down. But a new threat may pull him out of hiding…
Saffron Wave – Set 3000 years ago on ancient Crete, Nephele lives in uneventful solitude, until her world is upended by strange sea monsters and an even stranger woman giving her magical girl powers.
Heart of the Storm – Tempest–a wanted pirate with no ship and no attachments–spends her time dancing around the gallows and making a mockery of the law. She takes and does as she pleases, consequences be damned. But that might all change when she saves Callisto’s life.
Yokoka’s Quest – Yokoka is a catgirl on an adventure and winging it, but what could go wrong? Right?
Entropy – Arielle is an impulsive, headstrong blacksmith’s apprentice who comes in contact with a strange magical artifact that seems connected to an otherworldly being. As she experiments with its power, she may have accidentally kickstarted the apocalypse.
Hello lovely readers!
I’ve come to a point where I need to have a break from my comic for 1-2 months. I’ve been working on it for the past 2-3 years (including the first draft that hasn’t been published here) and there has been a few recent developments in story and character that has made me re-consider a few things in design and plot. So I need time to reflect on them. Funnily enough, the story has been inspired by the same sources that inspired my PhD proposal – so it’s likely it will crossover onto my academic work. In the meantime, I am giving myself the space needed to develop these new ideas.
Plus I need time to settle into my new job.
To all those who returned to enjoy the story or recent fans, this message is for you <3
Two loads of good news, I have finally completed page 78! That took me all day today and I’m knackered.
I may return to play around further with the text as it’s quite a busy one-panel page. However for now I am happy to leave it.
I’ve made a couple of changes to some previous pages’ script to fit in the update of my storyline, that is Ogog returning to his original name of Bryn Llewellyn (the purpose is that the former name no longer served a purpose and just added confusion). It’s early enough in the story to make that change so I took the opportunity.
I am also now an official PhD art student! This means I need to consider this alongside my new job and my comic updates, and it’s likely that I will have to return to a once monthly update rather than weekly realistically. Sorry everyone, I do need to sleep and relax from time to time to avoid burnout.
Enjoy the new page, I am going to rest on the sofa for a while.
Haha! It took me all evening but we’re finally up to date with the comic 😀
Also all of the comic pages have gone through a resizing to make it easier to read so fingers crossed that works well for everyone. Any issues you spot, please let me know and I’ll work to get it fixed.
In the meantime, read through Teague Fagan to catch up to the latest page! I’m now free to make updates (though I will also continue to work on other art pieces to upload to the character page) so time to grab the pencil.
