My fourth post ever on Hive (pre-fork Steemit to be accurate) occurred on September 21st of 2016 and featured one of the first pieces of character concept art for my comic "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..."
It's hard to believe that was more than five years ago. So much has changed in that time both with Hive and the blockchain world, and much for me personally as well. For me, the creation of this comic book and my presence and journey on Hive have been indelibly linked. The one thing that has not changed, that seems to be an ever present constant... is that I'm still working on "I Thought It Would Be Zombies...!" 😅
I did indeed release a small print run of the first issue in 2019, however even as I sent it off to the printer I labelled it a "Preview Edition" as I knew it didn't live up to my vision, expectations, or even my abilities at that time. Since then I (hope) my skills have continued to improve, and I know that the process and care I'm approaching each page and piece with is on a higher level as well.
For the first time ever I'm working on "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." full time! I'm treating it as my job and hopefully as the launchpad for my new career. The journey begins anew as I'm pretty much starting from scratch, using the prior published issue as nothing more than a rough reference for the work to come.
Today was a productive day so I wanted to end on an even higher note with this little "freewrite" post and sharing the start of this next chapter in my endeavors! I was up early and did an hour of practice warmup sketching, I'm trying to make that a habit, and throughout the day picked away at finishing the pencil artwork for page 1 of the real issue #1 of "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..."
Now, since I'm planning on executing all the stages of production (pencils, inks, colors) myself; I don't necessarily need to render this detailed at this initial stage. However, I'm approaching this first issue with a twofold purpose. In addition to launching my creator owned project, I also intend this first issue to serve as my portfolio and calling card to potentially expose myself to freelance opportunities in the industry as well. As such I do want to have each stage finished to a high level as many editors and potential clients may want to see just the pencils, etc. I've got to resist the time saving temptation to say, "Oh, I'll just leave that for the inks..."
And damn, I'm already realizing I could use the time savings though! It's amazing how time has flown and seems to have no meaning anymore. I've already started booking comic conventions for next year thinking that it's a lifetime away... but the first is right around the corner, the first weekend in March! Once I really broke down a production schedule and looked at the pace I'll need to keep in order to have a first issue ready for that convention... it's going to be tight. Especially because (idiot that I am) I've decided to make this first issue a double sized debut featuring 48 pages of story instead of the standard 24, which was the length of the preview edition previously released.
The one thing I have going for me is that this is my job now. It's still going to be a trial to bring all my focus and energy to the table every day... but I don't have to cram this workload in after hours on end at a soul sucking day job!
So, if you've been with me here for years... thank you! for all your support and I hope I'm not beating a dead horse as I retread some of the same ground from years ago. If you're new to my blog then welcome and I hope you enjoy the ride.
You may notice this is the first post I'm making in an official "ITIWBZ..." community that I registered some time ago. It's on my "to-do" list to get it prettied up and ready for my legion of fans to come (fingers crossed) but I figured I'd best start using it a bit! I hope it will be a cornerstone of sharing my comic on Hive in the future, so please feel free to join if you're interested. In the days to come I'll have more preview artwork of course, and also be announcing some plans for honoring/transitioning my "OG" Fundition supporters from back in the day, and I'll be hoping to solicit some conversation and feedback around future NFT sales and the distribution of "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." #1.
But... one thing at a time! As the saying goes, "A journey of a million miles begins with a single step." Which is thankfully still true even if you're beginning that journey anew a second time.
-Bryan "the Imp" Imhoff
Follow me for more behind the scenes looks at the creation of "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." Your votes help support its production! Also look for limited edition digital artwork for sale on NFTShowroom.com
