The REAL Hero!!!

Dumating na yung kuha nung mga ginawa kong designs for a pinoy client sa states. Sa Sunday na din pala ang laban ni Pacman (Pinoy Time syempre) at excited nko para dito. Cotto has been saying some shit already about how he would beat our Pambansang Kamao. Bilib din ako kay Manny dahil humble lang siya at dinadaan na lng sa training yung yabang. I know he would win this one. Dapat lang maniwala tayo na mananalo siya. Dedicated kaya ang labang ito para sa lahat ng nasalanta, eh isa ako dun kaya salamat kay Pacman para dito. Mananalo Tayo!!! Kung hindi man, malay natin dayain, wala akong pakialam, isa si Manny sa aking mga REAL life superheroes kaya Go Pac Man...talunin mo si Kutto!!!

Characters to watchout other than Heneral SINAG

Mr Z: The typical rich and influential character out to conquer the world.

Artemio Bar-Bel: The old hero trying to make his mark this newage.

REPUBLIKA: The presentday heroes who struggle daily to gain respect among the public who still adore and respect the more powerful Heneral Sinag.

Leviathan: The nasty creature out to devour everything on its path

Black Narding: The hero/vigilante barred with no rules and works alone secretly at night

Let Me Explain

Haven't done new pages lately. Since Ondoy I have been very busy picking up doing delayed artworks for other projects, and I do have many infact to worry about every week. One of these is a comic book in due release for next years San Diego Comic Con. Not a very lucrative deal though but as a start it would be a nice thing to be doing for me just for the experience of this whole comic book mess I'm in right now. Due to this my attention is now converted in the comissioned comic book. I'd really hate to sacrifice PANATA but for the mere fact that it would literally make me a very busy man, in which I am very much already, I would just like to free up some load to concentrate my comicbook time on this project. You have seen how I drew PANATA in this blog, it really requires some time and having to do the two together would really make my schedule a living hell and would even affect some other non comic related commitments.

I'm thinking of continuing PANATA maybe on December and I just hope I finish the book already and write the second. Lots of plans really and I'm just thinking of even self-printing the whole thing. I'd really hate that printing topic. I would also like to consider doing it on CD, who knows?

At last Pages 25 to 26(spread) and Page 27

After Ondoy my schedule was way way off. I was emailing clients anticipating many artwork delays due to the storm. I also emailed my office trying to secure a 1 week leave of absence. Well, I'm giving myself just 1 whole week to clean all the mess Ondoy gave us. Isa pa, Mom was returning from Canada on Tuesday night so i guess the Commander in Chief will be a great addition to the effort so 1 week is just about right for the job.

Fastforward...Electricity got jumpstarted one week after the great flood. It was on a Sunday I think. I was really excited to work.(...now did I wrote that down right?) I quickly assembled the PC and charged my laptop in preparation for a gruelling week ahead. At this time I was only missing pages 25 to 27. I was laid off 1 week from PANATA...hmm...I tried doing pencils for the spread on Tuesday night while waiting for Mom to arrive. I was aided with battery charged light (yun bang motolite battery...hehe). I was alone so what the heck.

Page 27 I did just lately, while watching Ateneo and UE for the Championship. I was in the office...yes you heard that right, at the office doing the last page. We we're excused to do stuff while half of the PCs are dead due to electricity problems. I carry my comics specially for these times. I don't know if my artwork reflected UE's loss but I enjoyed watching the game. Nice one ATENEO, UST will get back at you next year. Onwards to Chapter 2 now.

Weather Update :)

Let me start this blog by Thanking God. It was a real challenging week. I've discovered lots of things about me and my family. Iba talaga pag nasusuong ka sa isang napakatinding sitwasyon, marami kang nalalaman tungkol sa mga limitations mo at sa mga ugali ng mga kasama mo sa buhay. I'm just glad we're all ok and our lives are spared. First time na bumaha ng ganon sa bahay namin. We've been living there for 30 years already ngyun lng bumaha ng ganun. Marikenyo pala ako. Salamat sa Dios talaga. We managed to save some electronic stuff like computers and some television, yung iba iniwan nlng namin sa baha. Talagang mabilis tumaas yung tubig, at yung mga kaya lng talaga namin yung na save at nadala sa second floor. Actually, ung second floor na ginawa ng tatay ko parang tree house lng nya, although its made of concrete eh wala naman talagang natutulog dun. Ngyun lng namin nalaman talaga ang naging greater purpose nung kaya pala nagawa yun. Thank God talaga. Nagmistulang Noahs ark namin yung kwarto. Naaawa ako dun sa mga neighbors namin na walang 2nd floor kse they can't save anything but themselves. Most houses sa amin are bungalow kaya just imagine the trouble they're into while the flooding. 

Sa ngyun electricity is back and also the phone lines. We've tested some appliances like the ref and the washing machine and its working naman. Mabuti dahil super daming putikang damit na lalabhan.  Hindi ko pa maibaba yung computer ko kaya hindi pa naka set up. I emailed my personal clients to tell them what happened and Thank God they are really nice to me. Salamat talaga abut abot. Yun nga lng this coming week sobrang dami kong gagawin as in tambak and I have to go to my day job din, walang pahinga. After one week of cleaning wala paring relaxation time. Even now its raining where I am and I just hope na it doesn't flood again in the nearest future, kse talagang pata na ako ng kalilinis.

Back to PANATA. 3 pages nlng and the weather changed everything. As for now I don't see the 1st chapter being printed. I decided to finish the whole PANATA book and hopefully umabot siya next year sa Comic Con. I'm thinking of finishing Chapter one as a teaser and posting it sa net. Abang abang nlng po.

Thanks be to God.

PANATA book pages 22 to 24

Wow, akalain mu 3 pages nlng and Chapter One will be finished. I've been doing this for over a month now and seeing the pages just brings me inner joy...hehehe. I'm starting to think of printing. Options are to finish the PANATA book or to print chapter one as a single comic, maybe as the teaser for the whole thing....hmmm....think, think. Kanina nga pala me and my pal Jeff Apelo went to a printing press company sa Edsa for a quotation, so I'm expecting an email later today and I just hope and pray for a reasonable price. Another dilemma would be coloring. Personally I want the pages to be colored for it to have a real collectors value...naks naman. Dream nalang eh why not dream big ika nga. I just hope my budget would fit pero I'm considering all possible options...including the classic indie look (you know what that means). We'll see.
Kala ko tapos nko sa barangay scenes...hehehe. Not that I love doing people scenes pero the eksena calls for realism. I feel the need to show the aura of a certain scene, how it would be portrayed in real life or how people would react. I just hope I'm doing an OK job with the lotsa-crowd thing. 

This scene was not included in the original draft. It was added recently to create a gap between certain scenes. It also will show some minor details about Artemio's present life, where he's been and hints of why he's...well at the bar drinking coffee.

A Slight Change of Name

Yep a slight addition to the Name.

Salamat kina Sir Gio Paredes ( Kalayaan ) and Sir Randy Albert for their concern at sa pag-notify sakin na may kaparehong pangalan si Sinag

...Si Heneral Sinag pala...hehehe

The first SINAG character was made by Julius Villanueva at girl siya.

Nagulantang talaga ako. My fault was I never searched for any similar idea or the same name tagged to a Pinoy Super Hero. I was so obsessed with my idea that googling for any character similar or kapangalan nung character ko never did enter my mind. Guess I was careless. I'm always careless. Well, at least I made friends hehehe.

Immediately after I read sir Gio and sir Randy's comment sa blog ko paguwi ko I searched for Julius and emailed him the matter. He was so mabait and I explained my side naman and vowed to use Heneral SINAG as the new name for my Character. Syempre the Sinag word would still come out siguro on the dialogues occasionally pero for now on I will be putting "Heneral" for the purpose of having a distinction between the two Sinags, as respect narin to the first Sinag creator.

Why Heneral?...Not Captain or Kapitan like the other heroes, or maybe Sarhento or Commander kaya?

It was part of the plan eversince the initial pages of PANATA that Sinag is an officer, a General that is, on his home planet. He is part of the Big Four that calls themselves War-Yor which are the leaders of a massive space hukbo sa planeta nila. So a small backgrounder there...sinu kaya yung tatlo pa? All I can say is that me isa pang Heneral and you will definately see him in future time.

Thats all for now...Thanks!!!

PANATA book pages 19 to 21

I really hate my clouds here and some other things.

Like I said on my earlier blogs shortcut method ang gamit ko and really prone to errors. Pero pwede na yan, bawi nlng sa next page.

I'm trying to search sa net for an Air Traffic Agency here in the Pinas  pero wala akong makita.Just settled for this image na nasababa which I doubt its accuracy to the real Pinoy Air Traffic Center .
Artemio Bar-Bel...naidrawing din kita ulit. If Nescafe would only allow me to endorse them the cup he's holding would be red already, hehehe. Actual time dyan sa scene na yan would be 12 noon. Kape sa tanghali!!! I guess he's a coffee lover like me. Not Starbucks ha, pangmayaman yun, 3 in 1 lng naman. Yun na!!!

Page 17 - Thats the Shang if your wondering. The building though looks disoriented...must be the view or my reference picture. Oh well.

Some of the details here just killed my time, but I love doing detail.
It makes the comic seem real and the environment really helps set the tone for a certain scene. I try to put in background to every box necessary or when it is relevant and at the same time disregard it when ever its too much already.

I just try to imagine the scene like what would it look like if it was in a movie. It really helps me visualize. Real photos as pose reference helps alot too. I'm just glad the internet supplies unending reference to various needs.

Trouble with doing immediate spontaneous inks for the SINAG pages makes it almost impossible not to have errors. Like on this page, admittedly I have some. Pls notice the glasses of Mr. Z (the bald guy)...adjustments have to be made inorder to correct its proper shape.
The problem is you can't erase ink. I see to it that I avoid using liquid paper or even the computer for correcting the mis-inked parts, just to keep my works honest. I just rely on black shadows and the anything goes attitude. I guess it works with me.

Long last the much awaited scene 5...the missing page scene. This was not really planned, but after seeing the comics sequence
I guess this page helps very much in story telling and adding more details to the Robbery scene.

I am currently in the quick sketch process of the next few pages, which is very exciting. We'll have a first peek of Artemio Bar-Bel !!!, one of the main players of the story. I wish I could tell you guys more pero yun lng muna... Till the next SINAG pages.

The Flash back scene. I have to use a different drawing style for the 2 pages (see pages below!!!). Notice finer lines and the limited black shading. I really enjoyed using this style, it makes work faster and alot easier for me. I'm thinking of using this style for another comic title in the future...hmmm...Really, I can do say 10 pages a day with this style rather than the one I'm using now...hehehe.

But I would prefer my usual style rather than this speedy version for the regular SINAG pages. I want blacks to be prominent to strongly represent the images, as one described it as crisp and detailed.  I want to make this book special even if it takes alot of my time in doing so. Takes tons of patience and time management on my part as I have many other art obligations other than this book, and theres a new company I am connected with which will make me more busier. I just thank God for all the blessings and I just pray for good health coz more work means less sleep for me.

I'll be on Palawan tomorrow for a well deserved rest. Till the next blog.

PANATA book pages 10 to 13

Im back...Sunday nga pala ngyun. I'm blogging bago mag church...hehehe.

Now part 2 post for the bank scene. I really love doing the action sequences, can't wait to get my hands on the fight scenes...lot of plans talaga, just have to do it one step at a time.

Please notice the page 13, which is the opening for the backgrounder scene...you know..the scene where you have the flashbacks. I am thinking of using a differnet style for the flashback scenes, maybe this week or early next week I'll have some pages posted already.

Notice also the scribbles on the newspaper. Lots of backgrounder hints there and future hints also...dami talaga ideas...Have to go...rush rush...

PANATA book pages 6 to 9

At last I get to post the new and final SINAG character design thru these pages. I plan to do just 4 pages a week just to maintain the quality of art and be consistent on the phasing of each page. No rush ika nga. I am still thinking of coloring the pages, but I'm pretty open on doing the comicbook in black and white, depende sa time or budget sa printing. All in the future answers will come. But I think the artworks are good enough to be presented without the coloring naman so either way its turning out really well in my assessment. I'm also considering getting some help as for the coloring job, but for now the labor of love is all in my hands.

I am thinking of doing a page prior to these 4. Maybe showing the bank or the people inside before the actual robbery. Just wait for this page, may come in a surprise...hehehe.

I'll be posting pages 10 to 13 next, as you have noticed this is a late postage as time has always been so tight and blogging is considered a luxury.

Now off to the next 4 pages...

Re-Design HENERAL SINAG Character

1:23am, Philippine time...the Apnea's keeping me awake. My only medication is a pack of mentholated candies. I have chewed dozens already this day it almost feels like Narda's talisman, and all there's left is to shout out Darna's name. Better have this checked soon or suffer mentholated disorder next.

Speaking of superheroes, I have been redesigning SINAG since he's to appear on the next pages. Not that I don't like his look, actually I am content with the design, its just that circumstances dictates me of change. Why? I'd really hate to go on details its just something was not approved...how can I put this...it may cause problems in the future, sort of thing. Yes, law stuff. Well just take a look at the character from my previous previous post. Does anything look familiar?...Get it?...No?...Its better if you don't get it actually, it saves me time to explain, but for those who are getting it...yes, yun nga yun! Don't accuse me of anything yet though, there hasn't been any formal complaint...hahaha...for now. Get it why I dont want to go into details huh? To cut a long explaining short I just need to tweak little things on the character just to keep it all safe.

For a backgrounder of the problem: The SINAG plot, it was supposed to be the unofficial continuation of another story...do I really need to get into details? If you'd guess what inspired the design of the SINAG character then you are still getting me upto this point. The comics was actually inspired by DC's Kingdom Come. For those who doesn't know this popular comic book, the plot is about Superman and other DC characters depicted in their old age. So there you go, a clue at last to all this mumbo-jumbo. Its like the question "What if Peter Pan grew up?", remember that one...Hook? Syempre, one of my best movies of all time. Its nice to play what ifs in our minds, right? Even greater when you see it for real or in Hooks case the movie version, or in my case the SINAG version.

So why don't make your own shit?-you ask. Inspiration is the only answer. Its like when you are inlove do you really ask yourself why this person? I fell madly inlove with the concept and the idea that made me want to draw comic books again after all these years. Its like wanting something to get out of you and you have no control over it, the only thing there is to resolve is how can I release it, how can I express. I am speaking as an artist now and I do hope you understand all the drama behind this.

If then so why not ask authorized permission for certain shits - Well, I have actually. Two times. My emails are in limbo right now floating and uncertain of its reply. Its been a week and I have been running out of patience. I am not patient and I am not expecting anything at this point. Acting on pure driven instincts with open eyes is what keeps me going. Faith, as the english title of my supposed first book is the key and essential word thru all of this. They may be thinking why say yes to this indie guy or why the hell should we even bother. For all you know if this stuff makes money they'll be coming out of the blue claiming the rights. I'm being praning now. They might not even be thinking about anything...yet. Who knows, really.

Change. I guess this is the only answer to this thing. I'd really hate ruining nice ideas but story wise and character wise these changes are needed and will be met. Not much though. I will still leave the mystery of SINAG to the future readers and let them decide who or what. I just hope to finish all of my planned three books and move on. Just to get it out of the system so to speak.

There you go. Serious no?...hehehe. Eto na lng masasabi ko...kung wala si Captain Marvel,si Wonder Woman,si Plasticman at ang Ibong Adarna wala sigurong SINAG. I'll just leave it at that.

First 4 pages for PANATA Book

Here are the 1st 4 pages of SINAG. My first 4 official comic layouts.

Last time I remember doing comics was 18 years ago, I think.I'm 30 now so I was about 12 then...highschool years. I wish I could have kept all my comic work way back , but I will post samples from the ones I still have...soon. I remember making a business out of it, having my comics for rent to my classmates. I remember having competition that time. Philip Nazer Espaldon and Jae Rodney Fernandez. Siguro we started our own indie movement that time sa classroom. Philip's style was like clean and crisp, while Rodney's work was sketchy and a bit dirty looking. Mine, well you'll see when I post them here...hehehe. I remember using recycled test papers/newsprint paper and fax paper my dad and aunt gave me to draw on. Guess they we're very supportive that time. I don't know bout the other 2 guys but I was casting some of my best buds in my comic books, even my brother has his own character, Super Echat. Yes, I remember vividly...hahahaha. Well, I'll tell you more story when I post my old works.

Back to SINAG. In this so called comics comeback of mine I tried doing really detailed work on the drawings. Thank You internet for the reference images and my UNi point-one pen...gamit na gamit sya. I used regular sized typewriting paper instead of the regular 11x17 inches professionals usually use. Reason is I don't have a flat bed scanner that big to fit in A3 paper. Second is I can't bring 11x17 drawings at work and do the comics in secret...hahaha. I drew the panels by quick scribbled pencil sketches and directly inking them in the process with my trusty pens. Wollah!!! I'm still adjusting on time management though. This week I just managed to squeeze in 4 inked pages, a pretty slow pace I might add. I have lots of commissioned work and my time is literally divided into different companies I work for including my regular day job. I just hope my current employer doesn't read this...hahaha. I will post some commissioned artworks soon just to give you some idea of what keeps me up until 3AM.

Currently, I'm on the process of doing the next page...pretty exciting and action packed. You might get to see SINAG in action for the first time. Syempre, I'll post it here again soon. Wait, I have lots to post na...soon...oh no. This blog even takes away some precious time...hahaha.

HENERAL S I N A G