Gonna be a 1-Page Week

by Zack on August 2, 2015 at 9:49 am
Posted In: Blog

So I already wrote and thumbnailed the next page.

The problem is, it’s one of those pages where I know deep down that I need to take some time with it to really work out all the kinks with the layout before finalizing it. The more the tension ramps up, the more I’ve gotta be sure my storytelling is the best it can be, so you always know what’s going on!

Life has been happening at me pretty hard for the past couple of weeks. It’s all coming to a head pretty much on Tuesday, and Monday is already shaping up to be a busier day than usual. Normally I’d take today to chill and work on the layout and then crank out the final page on Monday, but with the limited time I’ll have that’s not going to be doable while maintaining any semblance of the usual quality, so I’m going to defer this page till Friday so you get the Best Possible BSF Experience (BPBSFE) that you have come to expect.

I do apologize, though, and thank you for your patience and understanding.

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A VACATION DRAWS NEAR – Updates Resume on the 30th

by Zack on June 19, 2015 at 10:43 am
Posted In: Blog

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, but I’m going on a family vacation next week and will need to put BSF updates on hold until I get back.

Recently I’ve been putting more time into each page thanks to the Tuesday/Friday update schedule, and the extra time to do that twice this week just never materialized in the midst of work and getting ready to go on this vacation. While I could go back to my old “method” (a term I use loosely as well as reluctantly, as it resembled panicked flailing more than it did an actual artistic process) of cramming the entire production of a page into a single night for two nights in a row before I leave, I’d prefer not to since the quality would suffer.

So there won’t be any pages next week, and for that I apologize. There will be a new page on June 30th. Thank you all, as always, for your patience and understanding. I will see you on the 30th.

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Astral Aves guest page

by Zack on April 7, 2015 at 9:10 am
Posted In: Blog

I did a guest page for Astral Aves last week and it’s up today! You can check it out here.

If you’re not already reading Astral Aves, you should be!

In BSF-related news, I’m feeling better today but I’m still not 100%. Things are on track for a return on the 14th still, so no worries. Thank you for your patience and the well-wishes, everyone!

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I’m sick or something

by Zack on April 5, 2015 at 8:49 am
Posted In: Blog

So I’ve got really bad allergies or a cold (or both!) and I feel like hot molten garbage. I am just barely able to function on a mundane level, so going to work is doable… which is great, because I’ve barely got any time off to spare right now so I need to go in. Which means, unfortunately, I need to take time off from my OTHER job, the comic.
As always, this decision is a 50/50 split between quality (I don’t do my best work when my sinuses are trying to murder me) and my own well-being.

I apologize for the delay and thank you all for understanding. BSF will return on April 13th.

Also I have something to tell you about later this week! So watch for another blog post.

Okay, I’m gonna go lie down.

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One Page this Week and Schedule Change

by Zack on February 2, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Posted In: Blog

Alright, I could defer this until Tuesday at 12:00am but I already know this is coming, so I’m going to post it now.

Real Life is once again assaulting me from all angles, as usual without warning. Nothing tragic is happening, so no worries. It’s just been one of those days where a multitude of unrelated factors coalesce into me not having enough time to make this page look its best in time for Tuesday. Like, man… that last panel. It needs to look good. It needs to look its best.
I could totally force the page out quickly while my cat makes utterly insane amounts of pure, unadulterated noise at me, while I am also tired and frustrated and maybe Manga Studio 5 decides it’s time to be horrible, so I end up going to bed late, just so I can go to work in the morning all grumpy and I look at the page in the middle of the day and go “this is what I stayed up late for?” and maybe you like it well enough! But I’ll know it wasn’t the best page I could have shared with you.

I’ll know.

So, two things:

First off, this week I’m only going to post a page on Thursday. That way, page 423 can look its absolute best. Hammerghost Owain in all his glory, Ceris in her new armor in normal lighting, and the aforementioned last panel… all at the level of quality you have come to expect and I know I am capable of.
Secondly, part of the reason I end up not having enough time is that Thursday pages generally cause me a great deal of burnout, which sort of bleeds into the entire week and messing stuff up. There’s a lot of time to put together a page for Tuesday but comparatively less to do one for Thursday, and all of the work for the latter happens during the work week, so then I need more recovery time and then it cuts into evenings I should be spending on Tuesday’s page, and so on, and so forth… I need more time per page overall.

Thankfully, there’s a simple solution: starting next week, on Tuesday, February 9th, I’ll be updating BSF on Tuesdays and Fridays. This gives me the same amount of time to work on any given page, and more time to spread the work out so I don’t get burnt out and the pages consistently look their best, all the time.

Thank you, always, for your patience and understanding, and of course, for reading. See you Thursday!

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