Three Year Old Review (AKA Reviewed by a Three-Year-Old)

A few days ago, my three-year-old cousin dropped by for a visit. Eventually, she found some Draconis sketches and wanted to know more about them. So we opened up the website and I read/paraphrased the stories to her. Here’s what she thought:

Draconis Wicked - Flight is pretty. Draconis and Snakey are cool because they have long tails. Malcorona is neat because he’s a dragon like Draconis, but he spends too much time in the dark and he’s hard to see. The “blue castle” is great. All the people are neat because they look like animals and it’s fun to guess what each one is. The only person who isn’t great is Cloaker, who is scary. Marjorie needs to “make more story.”

Urban Underbrush - Dynamite and Detonator are characters from a storybook, despite the fact that they have never appeared in print. Vincent is the “Prince Charming” because he’s the only one who got a kiss from a girl. The best comics are the ones with dogs or “the little green dragon that sits on people’s shoulders.”

Always nice to get some useful feedback.

-Marj

Website Make Over

Well, we've had the old Lepus Site for a year now, and it's time for some changes. I've kept most of the old design, but I tried to get rid of some of the clutter.

I suspected that the site needed an overhaul when I added Draconis Wicked to the mix. Right from the beginning, I had always expected to add Draconis Wicked to the existing site. When Draconis finally joined us, I thought it would be like adding a second story to an existing house. It was more like suspending a brick from a sculpture made from wire. It can be done, but it should be done carefully or everything collapses under it's own weight.

So here's a breakdown of our new features:
1.) The Home Page is now a hub for the site's most important features.
2.) The Draconis Wicked page is now a mini home page for all things Draconis and the Urban Underbrush page does the same for the Urban Underbrush comics.
3.) The Blog is no longer stuck to the comics. I now write the blogs on Google's Blogger and run them to the site via Feedburner. Older posts should be stored on Blogger, including all past blogs. (I moved them to blogger last week. It took too long.)

Other things may have moved around or changed color or something, but I think you'll be able to find everything. If you spot any flaws or broken links, feel free to email me or leave a message on Facebook.

This seemed like the perfect time to kick up the site a little because this is one of those rare times when both Urban Underbrush and Draconis Wicked are starting new chapters at the same time. We'll be meeting some new characters and following new adventures and there will be some shifts in the current dynamics. I hope you'll follow long.

Enjoy.

-Marj

Lepus Studios

Draconis Wicked Updated

(Originally posted August 8, 2011)

Draconis Wicked: Chapter One, Part Three is finally finished and posted. If you missed the other links, you can find the latest TEN PAGES Here.

I wanted to finish Chapter One before the end of the summer, but it's been kind of frantic trying to get those pages drawn, colored and posted on time (or close to on time). But I was in a hurry to get to the point. I think a lot of people won't get on board with Draconis if they couldn't learn about his motives and mission right away.

Anyway, now that you know what Draconis Wicked is all about, I can slow down a little. Expect about six pages of Draconis each month. And before you complain, try to keep in mind that making a page of Draconis takes about three times as long as making an Urban Underbrush strip. Yet since Draconis started, you've been getting about two Draconis pages for each episode of Underbrush.

But don't worry. The story will still move at a fair pace and I have no plans to stop it.

In the meantime, I'll be spending some of my newly earned free time on web maintenance and advertising, so the Lepus world should be getting a little bigger and more exciting.

And don't forget to come back on Thursday for another installment of Urban Underbrush.

-Marj

Draconis Wicked Delayed - Here's Why

(Originally posted August 1, 2011)

Sorry, folks. Draconis Wicked: Chapter One, Part Three is running behind schedule. Expect the third and final installment of the chapter to appear on Monday, August 8. Urban Underbrush will continue to run on schedule. I actually finished drawing all the pages weeks ago, but I haven’t found the time to color them. This is a pretty key moment in the story, so I’m not spoiling the effect by posting in plain black and white. Your patience will be rewarded. Why the delay? This month, I taught two weeks of computer art classes for middle school and high school students and helped set up their student gallery. After that, I had one week to finish getting ready for my sister’s wedding. I thought I could finish coloring my pages during that intermittent week, but weddings are a lot of work. On top of the normal amount of chores, we all kept thinking of little extra touches we could add, such as writing the wedding toast in the form of a poem or making the groom an exact replica of Homer Simpson’s pig cufflinks.

(He totally wore them to the ceremony.)

This is the first time I’ve ever missed an update, so bear with me while I get back up to speed. Thanks for understanding.

-The Management (Marj)

Draconis Part Two

(Originally posted June 30, 2011)

As you can guess from the title, the second installment of Draconis Wicked has gone up. You can read it from the beginning of the story or start from the beginning of part two.

It's been a fair amount of work getting these pages posted on time. Especially since this month's Draconis needed to be up early, due to Independance Day Weekend (don't expect Urban Underbrush and Draconis Wicked to appear on the same day again anytime soon). I may need to make some schedule adjustments in the fall.

But it's been so nice to finally start illustrating Draconis and his friends. It's great to put pictures to these stories after all this time.

Happy 4th of July.

-Marj

Make Way for Draconis

(Originally posted June 9, 2011)

So, there’s been some crazy stuff happening here at the old comic factory. If you dropped in on Monday, you probably noticed the first nine pages (!) of Draconis Wicked, my newest comic. If you missed it, catch up here.

As I mentioned last week, I want to update Draconis on a publisher schedule - a large update each month. My goal is to add to the story on the first Monday of each month. Well there are no new pages this week I have finished the new cover for chapter one:

I’m really pleased that I can finally start drawing Draconis Wicked. I’ve been playing with the story for years, but it has taken awhile for me to improve my drawing, digital painting, and web design skills enough to do justice to the story.

Meanwhile, the fans of Urban Underbrush don’t have to worry. Underbrush will still be appearing on the regular schedule. We’re getting close to the end of the current story. Then we’ll get back to the general nonsense we know and love.

In the weeks ahead, I’ll be adjusting the site to make sure it’s big enough for two comics.

-Marj

Countdown Begins

(Originally posted June 2, 2011)

Spread the word! Draconis Wicked, my other comic, is starting this Monday, June 6 2011. Make sure you come back to Lepus Studios on Monday for the first several pages.

I know, I promised you more warning than this. Originally, I had planned to begin Draconis on the last day of spring, but lately, I’ve been considering the advantages to starting at the beginning of the month instead of at the end of it. Sure, I would have liked to have more pages finished before the official launch, but now seems like a good time to get started and I really don’t want to delay it any longer.

So I could tell you a little more about the story and such, but I’d rather wait a few days and let the opening speak for itself.

See you on Monday.

-Marj

Social Stuff

(Originally Posted Sept. 10, 2010)

This blog discusses:

Technology

Comics

Education

Lepus Studios is finally on Facebook. I had been putting off making a Facebook page for sometime. Up until last month, I was still taking IT classes. After being required to write so many websites, Powerpoint shows, videos, and hyperbooks keeping up with Facebook felt like another job. But now that I am no longer a student, I've started to feel a little cut off, so it must be time to get out there and become social.

Right now, the Lepus Studios account is a little small (but still growing). I have a few images up now and I intend to post some pictures from my sketch books over the course of the week. But right now, I am displaying some pictures from Draconis Wicked that have never been shown before. Go visit and join up here. You can tell people that you got in on the ground floor.

And speaking of Draconis Wicked, I have been doing some storyboards and color tests last week. Here is one of the samples:

I made this drawing to help me decide which colors I would be using for the backgrounds (The character colors were chosen long ago) and which brushes I would be using to color them (a combination of gradients, fuzzy brushes, and splatter brushes). This is basically what you can expect the graphic novel to look like. I hope to get some chapters of Draconis done in the next month or so, but I want to get some more Urban Underbrush stuff writen before I throw myself into another story.

It's only going to get better, so stick around.

-Marj