STATUS UPDATE 03
The Phantom Pleasure Newsletter
Hello, everyone!
I’ve been (slowly) working on the print version of The Phantom Pleasure. Turns out, the web graphic novel format and the web comic format don’t synchronize very well, at least the way I went about releasing The Phantom Pleasure. So it gave me a good excuse to restructure and re-illustrate the panels. It almost feels like I’m making the film version of The Phantom Pleasure or something.
I’m working very hard and pushing my limits, to get beyond my comfort zone with the art and storytelling. I really want to go all out on this thing. For example…
This was a panel of Echo falling down an uploader shaft from Episode 1.0… I was never happy with the way it came out. Looking at it now, it’s painfully amateurish! Here is a similar panel from the updated graphic novel:
The situation leading to Echo’s jump/fall is a little different in the print version, but I hope you like the new art… Even if it is low resolution here. I’m drawing the graphic novel at a HUGE art table size.
While I was updating the comic art, I slightly altered Halo’s design. I was never quite happy with her original hairstyle, and felt I needed to do something a little more expressive. I think this new style fits her personality better, and I look forward to drawing her swept-back spiky hair when she jumps around or gets surprised.
I’ve started incorporating art and characters from THE PHANTOM PLEASURE into my strange advertisement/collage/propaganda/modern art style pieces that I usually post to Instagram.
These art pieces are available (along with others) on my print shop at Lordess.io
I’ll be adding some exclusive Phantom Pleasure art to my shop eventually. Maybe some small/single run, signed pieces!
Also, yesterday, the wonderful music artist Grimes posted my art to her Instagram story, which was a nice surprise:
I gained a lot of new followers from that, so if you’re new here; welcome. I hope you enjoy this other side to my artwork. This particular piece was inspired by a conversation with a good friend, she had some very interesting observations about recent developments in AI; and it got me to thinking about The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil.
I believe we are where the hopes and dreams of the past went when the dreamers died. I have a fear, that before we begin to regard machines as “human” or sentient, we will have successfully degraded humanity to such a base level that the distinction will no longer be significant. From that fear, came absurdity, came this art piece.
There is a new project in the works that I’m not really able to talk about yet. I’m partnering with a powerful writer on a sci-fi comic, and so far it’s fascinating. Unlike with The Phantom Pleasure, I will only providing the artwork. I’m looking forward to the new challenge.
To finish, here is some music I’ve been listening to:
Wandering Flame (Slow/Ambient Remix) I happened to be listening to this track when I received my first big art deal, which was a situation that substantially changed my world. Since then, I’ve come to associate this track with those sudden, but somehow gentle, fluctuations in life. Feels like a massive, frightening wave that rises over you and crashes down at high velocity, but the impact feels good and drags you somewhere mysterious, beautiful, and new.
FILMMAKER - GLYF BLACK MOUNTAIN LODGE (Full EP)
This hits really hard, highly recommend drawing e-rotic grunge dialpunk art while listening to this.
The Sisters of Mercy - Colors
Very cold track about getting warm with someone, at least to me…
New Episode soon. As always, I’m working as much as I possibly can!