...and that's that.

...not really. The adventure picks up where we left off after our traditional GUEST ART WEEK(S) (cue groans)

Actually, don't groan. This lovely take on Miranda was done by the fantastically talented Humbug of Tales of Pylea, who puts me to shame consistantly, on a weekly basis.

I'm gonna need to do a fan art gallery here someday soon. :D

Ok, specifics. Guest art starts today, runs until the 8th or thereabouts (still have a few last minute things to put in there). Visit everyone else's stuff, be prepaired to give up your non-comic reading privilages for a while (Seriously. There are bestselling novels that aren't HALF as good as these guys's comics), come back on the 12th for the start of chapter 4. There. Now for my continual, slightly sappy ranting for this week:

This arc turned out to be a MONSTER, much bigger than I thought it would be, and will probably last several chapters. Let's call it "crisis in three acts" and leave it at that. It probably won't end until Chapter five.

...probably. No gaurentees to that, either. I'm 85% sure where this arc is going to end, but it's going to be fun getting there.

There was a LOT of metaphorical stuff in the latter pages. I probably will not need to do it again, and will try very hard to make it shorter if I do. If you're not getting anything, I'd LOVE to hold a sort of "Open Q and A" for you guys...but you'll only get answers to questions that I feel SHOULD have been answered by now. Yes, I am evil.

Whenever a chapter ends, I like to go through and re-visit it. The amount of work I have to put into each page means that it obviously takes several months to get everything done. This chapter was STARTED in February. I finished the last page sometime in May. It means that the art has had a lot of time to cool down and my eyes are somewhat fresher. I can see the art better now than I could when I did the pages themselves.

The prologue was painful, is still painful, will probably always be painful. I go through it only when I have to. I don't care what people say, I still hate it. Chapter One is schitzophrenic art style, while Chapter 2 is significantly less so. But every time I look through and cringe, thinking "GOd. I SHOULD do so much better" (Originally I wrote "could", but if I feel that way, obviously I CAN'T do better)

This time I looked through, and I am content with every page. There are a couple of PANELS where I cringe, but by and large, I can read the whole thing and feel content.

That is an entirly new feeling.

A lot of you guys probably don't/didn't realize what a painful process making this thing has been to me. (where as, if you've been with me from the beginning, you know this story) I started this comic in 2004. In 2003, I could not draw. Peroid. At. Freaking. All. I had NO confidence whatsoever in my drawing abilities...and to be frank, the weren't there. The cringe-worthy pages were IMPROVEMENTS. I spent a year working on drawing to get to THAT point. And I didn't really like it that much, to be honest. It was painful. There were moments of "OMG! PRETTY!", but it was pretty IN SPITE OF itself. I have some OLD stuff from my first comic idea lying around that makes the first twelve pages look good.

It amazes me, absolutely amazes me, that I've improved as much as I have. In 2003, I would not have called myself an artist. In fact, if someone had showed me that last page November 2003 and told me that one day, I would be doing THAT...I'd have laughed in your face and called you a liar (what can I say? I was seventeen. :D) It's like a paraleptic learning how to walk.

...and what's REALLY amazing is that in the last couple of months (when I can take time away from my j-word) I've done better stuff.

Oh, I still have problems. Consistancy is a big one, and one I'm going to fix...somehow. Eventually. But the big difference between now and when I started is I know I can do it now. I know I can get there. When I started out...I didn't.

So to close this tooting of my own horn...dang. I'm good. Not perfect, but finally...good. Not great. Just good.

I can be content with being good.

Oh, and the next time someone says "I can't draw", slap them for me, will you? Because just because you can't draw NOW doesn't mean you won't be able to draw LATER. You just have to do it. Over.

And over.

And over.

...ok. Enjoy the fan art (...meaning, ya'll will find something else to do for a week) and come back on the 8th. AND VISIT EVERYBODY'S COMIC. They gave me presants. They deserve the attention. :D - Chelsea Gaither