And we’re off.

Chapter two is now officially underway.  There was originally voice-over dialogue that went with this page, but I felt in the end that it was too much of a cliché so I let it stand without words.  I think it’ll frame the next page better, anyway.  The title, by the way, is an excerpt from the Libera Me, a Catholic funerary absolution, which was originally the text for this page:

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda:
Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

It translates as “Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day, when the heavens and earth shall tremble, and Thou shalt come to judge all Creation by fire.”  It’s one of a few particularly grim pieces of Roman Catholic imagery that has survived from the middle ages, and it happened to pass through my mind as I was drawing this page.  It would, of course, have a very particular significance here, but actually quoting it on the page, while dramatic, made the wrong implications, so I took a different direction and let the moment stand on its own.

You may notice that the linework is a lot softer here than in previous pages.  I have officially made the move to pure pencil for this chapter, and its speed and ease of transfer is allowing me to make the drawing rather more sophisticated, and give it a bit of character I feel was lacking in the pen-and-ink drawings.  It’s a continual process of improvement and refinement for me, and I’m learning a lot about my own style and technique as I go.  For those who are interested, I’m using a combination of three pencils here: a 2B technical lead, a B graphite sketch pencil, and a 0.3mm HB mechanical pencil.  The lines are a little looser and greyer than previously but I think they have a softness to them that really helps the scene.  I’ve considered doing a video or behind the scenes thing about how I draw the comic but it always ends up making me feel really presumptuous, given that I really only barely know what I’m doing myself – my expertise is really in mechanical drawing, not comic art.  But maybe I will do something.  Sometime.  Maybe.

At any rate, we’re off to a good start I hope.  Once again, I have to thank everyone for all the votes of confidence and all the comments – I know I missed responding to one or two this week, but I had to work really late on Friday and it was just kind of crazy all around.  All the best to everyone, and I’ll see you next week!