#knamil art class

[knamil]

Some turnarounds for Lord Scourge and my JK Remi.

[knamil]

Stasis Comic! Start | Previous

Happy Star Wars Day!

Notes below the cut. Captions are still in script form, but I have added them to the image description instead as a test.

We have come to the end of the bits and pieces that belong to the cut companion quest content that was datamined a long time ago. In the cut content Lord Irjil offers the Jedi something in exchange for not destroying the Stasis Cell and the Jedi can make choices. This is obviously different and will only get more different from here on out, it's just that I will no longer be borrowing dialog or characters from cut content.

I have no idea what Lord Irjil was supposed to look like, but I hope you enjoy this little shit I concocted as much as I do.

Sorry for the cliff hanger, this thing is going to be a series of cliff hangers 4 pages at a time.

Thanks for reading. May the Fourth be with you!

[knamil]

Spoilers for the Jedi Knight story.

Filter if you don't want to see this ever again: #knamil stasis comic

This story takes place not long after the main Jedi Knight story ends. This is an AU Comic because nothing that was released after initial story launch (Makeb onward and esp not KOTFE KOTET are considered "true" for this universe.)

Notes and captions below the cut.

I wrote the story for this in 2014 and I'm using it as a basis to follow along with an art class I'm auditing. It's inspired by companion content that was originally cut from the game, but was datamined and posted online. If you've never seen it, there was supposed to be a quest where you can help Lord Scourge get his feelings back.

I don't know how to write captions for a comic so I'm including the script as a caption.

If there is a standard way to caption comics for screen readers, msg me and I will do my best.

Conventions used

IM: stands for Internal Monologue. Scourge’s internal monologue appears in black boxes with red text and red outline.

Speech bubbles are rounded white bubbles with black text and black outline.

Setting descriptions/general captions are blue boxes with black outline and black text.

The script labels each image as a page. Each panel will have a short description of the picture then the dialog within the panel.

Begin script

Page 1 Scourge kneeling in a cell meditating. Red forcefields surround him. Title: Stasis Part I (by knamil)

Page 2 Caption: Coruscant Holding Cells - 86 Days After the Emperor’s Defeat (A.E.D.)

Panel 1 Scourge is kneeling in his cell meditating. The frame shows a partial profile of his face. One of his eyes are open. A figure is shown walking toward him. Behind the figure are closed doors.

SCOURGE IM: The Medic. Interesting.

Panel 2 A head portrait of Doc

Caption: Archiban “Doc” Kimble

DOC Hey Scourge. How’s it going?

Panel 3 Scourge is kneeling in his cell looking at the floor. He says nothing. Doc stands in front of the cell facing Scourge

DOC Just seein’ if you need anything. Maybe you want to chat? Have a little heart to heart. You know?

Panel 4 Scourge looks up.

Panel 5 Doc is looking down at Scourge. The back wall of the holding facility can be seen behind him.

Panel 6 Closer focus on Scourge.

SCOURGE Tell me, Doctor… has the Jedi stopped screaming yet?

Page 3 Panel 1 Doc looks angry

Panel 2 Doc looks sad

Panel 3 Doc looks resigned

DOC I don’t know.

Panel 4 The Jedi is on a surgery table. Machinery and tubes cover her abdomen. A breathing mask covers her mouth. Her eyes are squeezed shut in an expression of pain.

DOC They kicked me out two days ago. Her wounds won’t close. The bleeding won’t stop.

They’re rerouting half her organs with cybernetics just to keep her alive.

Panel 5 Doc leans over to sit on the floor.

DOC I heard they put you in here because you wouldn’t talk when you brought her in.

I don’t understand why you won’t tell us what’s happening to her.

Panel 6 Scourge still kneels in his cell.

SCOURGE Because there is nothing in your limited understanding of the Force and its potential that can help her.

Panel 7 Doc is sitting on the floor on the other side of the force field facing Scourge.

DOC Can you?

SCOURGE No.

Panel 8 Close up view of Scourge. He looks down.

SCOURGE The ritual may not be undone.

IM: It would mean the end of everything.

End Script

[knamil]

Stasis Comic Page Start | Previous

Captions in script form in the image description.

[knamil]

More Stasis Comic!

Previous Pages

Notes and captions below the cut

Notes: A lot of the dialog here was taken from the cut companion content that was datamined. I've edited and rearranged it, but the explanation of the Stasis Cell (and thus the inspiration for the whole comic) is from the text.

Once again captions are in script form.

Begin Script

Page 4 (Image 1)

Setting: The Focus (Jedi Knight's Defender class ship) - 66 Days A.E.D. (After the Emperor's Defeat)

Panel 1 Doc, Kira, and Remi sit around a dejarik table watching Kira and Doc play. Jedi Knight Remi sits on the back of one of the couches casually.

SCOURGE Jedi, I would speak with you… Privately.

Panel 2 Caption: Jedi Master Remi Syeriy

Focused on Remi’s face.

REMI Sure.

Panel 3 They enter the cargo bay. Scourge locks the door. Remi appears surprised.(no dialog)

Panel 4 More of the cargo bay. Crates are stacked up against the walls. Scourge stands on the left and Remi on the right.

SCOURGE

I have noticed your... openness to those who ask your aid. Normally, I would say not to waste your time on every slack-jawed beggar who needs a favor done. But this time, I find myself in need.

REMI I would no sooner turn you away than the next “slack-jawed beggar.”

Panel 5 Headshot of Scourge frowning. (no dialog)

Panel 6 Remi is boosting herself up onto some of the crates to sit down.

REMI Come on, Scourge. You know I’d do anything for my crew.

Panel 7 Headshot of Scourge.

SCOURGE A habit you may someday regret.

Page 5 (Image 2) Still in the cargo bay.

Panel 1 Scourge leaning against a stack of crates, profile view.

SCOURGE The process that keeps me alive is… horrific.

Panel 2 A picture of a large device. The device is located somewhere else. Scourge narrates over it.

SCOURGE It is an ancient Sith artifact known as the “Stasis Cell.” It freezes every atom in my body in a punctuated equilibrium, a painful process that ultimately gives me the energy to move, but not to feel. It is… hard. I am ready for a change.

Panel 3 Remi is sitting on some crates. She looks skeptical.

REMI Are you asking me to help you die?

Panel 4 Focus on Scourge’s face.

SCOURGE Death is well within my grasp. What I want is to live. The Sith taught me to embrace passions, to indulge the senses, to give in to lust as easily as anger. I will not live the passionless existence of a Jedi.

Panel 5 Remi’s face.

REMI I’d be offended, but I’ve had worse requests for help. Fine. What can I do?

Panel 6 Scourge leans against some crates talking to Remi who sits opposite him on more crates.

SCOURGE I have located the Stasis Cell, but I need your help to find and destroy it.

REMI I hope you’re not asking me to go back to Dromund Kaas. I hate making double trips.

SCOURGE No, but your Council may not approve of our destination or our objectives. The same might be said of your crew.

REMI

Hmm… The council doesn’t need me anywhere at the moment… so just give me a few days to hand out crew assignments.

Panel 7 Scourge rubs his chin appraising Remi’s response.

SCOURGE Interesting. You are willing to hide this from your council and closest allies?

REMI Do you want me to help you or not?

Panel 8 Scourge accepts her help.

SCOURGE I can be ready when you are, Jedi.

End Script

[knamil]

I mentioned earlier that I’m doing traditional art for art class. watercolor specifically

Usually my watercolor process involves the often fraught initial stage of drawing with pencil then an equally perilous period of graphite transfer (that is when I’m not just completely balls out freehanding it)

So when my instructor suggested digital lineart then printing on watercolor paper I was like: that’s allowed?!

I didn’t say that but I was thinking it

my printer is not wide format, so technically the final size I wanted to do would still have to be hand transferred, but practice and planning can go much faster and more accurately with printing and I’ve gone through enough iterations that I may not have to go larger for the result I want.

All that to say trad run is going better than expected and while I have painted this same painting 20 times badly, each time with a few disastrous exceptions was better. The final is near or maybe nigh to strike a more ominous tone.

[knamil]

Today is week 4 of art class. I'm doing another vampire painting!

I voiced my current lack of *waves hands vaguely* ability to do stuff when I'm not taking class and the instructor suggested I try doing my art piece traditionally.

It's much slower to do art this way... I only know how to do water colors so my ability to fix flaws is limited by both the medium and my rudimentary abilities in said medium. Also no zoom and drawing small is hard so I have to do physically bigger work but managing water drying times etc on larger paper is hard and requires a strategy which means I have to know what I'm doing which means lmao I'm fucked.

I'll get there.

Maybe.

If not I can always scan in the image and correct it digitally. I might end up doing that anyway. We'll see.

[knamil]

Stasis Comic - Start | Previous

Notes and Captions below the cut

Note: Some dialog is still being taken from the cut content.

Begin Script

Page 6 (Image 1) Caption: Planet 20120624 Imperial Outpost - 82 Days AED

Panel 1 Scourge(right) and Remi(left) walk away from a neutral transport ship.

SCOURGE Remember we have a mission. We are not here to save anyone.

REMI Who exactly would I want to save?

SCOURGE IM: She would have wanted to save everyone. She always tried.

Panel 2 Scourge and Remi approach a small building at the base of a mountain.

SCOURGE If this is a typical Imperial outpost there will be slaves. Likely corrupted by the power contained in the artifact.

Panel 3 Scourge(left) and Remi(right) stand outside a door with a security panel. Remi is slicing into it.

SCOURGE You cannot save them. And if you must do something for them, a swift death is all they should be spared.

REMI You’re telling me this now?

SCOURGE Would you change your mind?

Panel 4 Scourge and Remi enter the building and the doors close.

REMI No.

Page 7 (Image 2) The room they have entered is an elevator. They stand facing the doors.

Panel 1 Viewed in profile facing right, Scourge (left), Remi (right)

REMI Do you know how to destroy it?

SCOURGE I do.

Panel 2 Viewed in profile Scourge still faces right Remi turns her head to look at him.

REMI Do you know for sure if this’ll work?

SCOURGE I do not.

IM: Perhaps I should have warned her sooner…

Panel 3 Remi stares at Scourge in shock as he stares straight ahead.

SCOURGE IM: But even my best spies could not uncover what we would face within.

Panel 4 Focus on Remi she looks down and away.

REMI (muttering quietly to herself) Great… What could go wrong?

SCOURGE IM: It mattered little.

Panel 5 Elevator opens showing two guards standing outside the doors.

SCOURGE IM: Nothing was going to stop me from finding the artifact…

Panel 6 Scourge and Remi, with drawn lightsabers kill the guards before they can turn around.

IM: And I knew she would not force me to seek it alone.

Page 8 (Image 3) Panel 1 Remi and Scourge fight on a bridge leading from the elevator across a chasm. The bridge is held up by large statues. Remi leaps across the bridge to take out a manned turret, while Scourge deflects fire from the defending guards.

SCOURGE IM: Though secrecy was obviously its chief defense…

Panel 2 A closed blast door with another security panel. Remi slices it while scourge guards.

SCOURGE IM: I was surprised at the facility’s lack of security.

Panel 3 The doors open revealing the stasis cell.

SCOURGE IM: I should have known better.

End Script

[knamil]

I did my first art fight attack. So... success! Someone else was nice enough to attack me so I'm working on revenge for that now.

I also signed up for art class again with the same instructor. It's been 1.5 years and I have not made any new portfolio pieces, so I have lots of guilt and shame :].

Not really, well kind of, but not really. Fortunately, the instructor is really kind so we can just pick up from where I left off. I hope. At least it's something to look forward to. Class starts in September.

[knamil]

Foreshadowing

This is my last piece for art class! You can see the concept process in my previous posts.

[knamil]

A 48 hour and still going migraine derailed my attempts to post a comic this week. I think I'll work on making one big post and maybe try to build up a few pages in advance so I'm not just posting on the day I finish something (sign of migraine, there's a word for having finished pages to post later and I don't know what that word is).

I'm reworking part 3's thumbnails since I changed it so much. So far I've only edited part 2 a little bit and part one is mostly intact.

Art class this week was more reviewing other people's work. I noticed 3 main points of correction that the instructor did.

tangents. I try to look for my own tangents when I see them, but it's a never ending fight and I definitely fail to find them all

too much talking heads. I feel like I do this a lot, but most of my writing experience focuses on dialogue so talking heads keeps happening.

too zoomed out on the action. I think framing action just right is really hard and the action scenes I've had so far were really small and far away. I had a reason for that though, so hopefully I can fix it in other places.

[knamil]

I have been encouraged by awesome friends so... :]

blacklist #knamil sketches

The new project is a prompt I made up myself. An illustration where foreign invaders depose a Queen by force, but the Queen has a secret that allows her to fight back. It's a little ambitious to show all that in one image, but I'm too stupid to make my own life easy.

SO. Here's the first set of thumbnails I came up with

I had the idea of something involving chess maybe or something involving a pen.

I took that to class a few weeks ago and the feedback was that there was no real feeling that the queen had any means to fight back. A suggestion was to do something with the background maybe, or have a sword hidden or a shotgun under the table or something. All good feedback, and I agree I didn't get the "secret weapon" thing communicated in there at all. Back to the drawing board.

A little hard to see, but in the second week I had the idea that her shadow was the indicator that she had a way to fight. I thought she would be grabbing one of them and stabbing the other with her quill. The feedback I got on this one was that the shadow was good, but the grabbing hand looked like she was mind controlling one of the invaders so maybe not do that one. Other suggestions were to play around with the angles so it's less boxy and had more movement.

Moar thumbnails! again again!

This was from last class. I got the approval for B. So now there are two scenes. On the bottom the queen is being forced to sign something. But in the shadows behind she's attacking. There's a kind of extreme bottom up perspective and a bright light source in the foreground. They liked the environment also acting as a weapon with the swords also going through the shadow version of the men. Some other suggestions were knocking over her throne and making the background painting be some kind of addition to her shadow silhouette.

This is where I got to before my brain decided I wasn't going to get to paint anymore. I'm feeling better, but I've just lost all my momentum.

At the time I made this I decided on the rococo era for the clothing and architectural inspiration. She's kneeling now and her throne is on it's side behind her. I've also knocked off her crown (it definitely shouldn't just sit on her dress like that lol). I think I'll try to give the crown back to her shadow through some gilded rococo decorations. I also was going to use banners with sword painted on them, but now I'm thinking I'm going to do some more gilded weird decorations or maybe some statues.

I'm still working on the shadow positions. I like the guy stabbing himself with the sword, but I kind of want her to look like she's more responsible for that.

Also she's an elf now. I wanted it to be obvious that they were foreigners taking a throne and not like her subjects overthrowing her. Because that is a different vibe.

Anyway hope you enjoyed my awful thumbnails.

[knamil]

project update:

after reviewing my thumbnails and comparing the shapes to where i left off with my value sketch I reworked some stuff to try to get a bit closer to it

I put the chair back and fiddled with the shadows. I took this to class and got more feedback. I've been encouraged to try to work the puffy dress in which I really want. I love the big rococo dress skirts so I think if I use value to keep the swoopy silhouette I can still have some poofy dress in there. I probably will leave out the sleeves though the arm silhouettes might be better without.

[knamil]

This week's assignment for art class I'm auditing is to do some environment concept work. From my understanding ppl had to draw 3 walls of the various interior sets + exterior sets.

I have a few environments that I'm going to need to draw for my comic. 2 interiors of JK ship a kind of "holding prison" and an outpost that I have to invent that has an exterior and like 5 interior shots.

OR

I could just dive in and do the first page of the comic and make up the interiors as I get to the panels that need them.

Yeah that's what I did.

So page 2 done (I consider page 1 to be the "cover" which is really that Scourge pic I posted last week.)

wooo.

I don't know how to post the comic. I don't like making super long posts, but posting 1 page at a time might be more annoying? Are long image posts ok now that they have that shortening feature?

[knamil]

I haven't talked about art class in a while. I thought I did, but I might have deleted that post.

Anyway art class has mostly been reviewing student work so there's not a lot to say except to try to absorb and apply the advice for myself. However, last class the instructor showed us how they used to make comics. The process of pencils to inks and the hand lettering and word balloons that are glued onto the original art. It was neat, but I'm glad for computers.

Sometime in the next month a couple of art directors are supposed to visit to give feedback to people and answer industry questions. Looking forward to that.

Signups for next semester art class are ongoing. Not sure I want to sign up for anything right now even for audit. Should probably think about it later when I'm feeling better.

[knamil]

I really wanted to have more pages done by now. I wanted to have two posts, one for May the Fourth then another for Revenge of the Fifth, but like my Migraines didn't go away for a week and I made the highly intelligent decision to switch drawing programs so I barely got todays comic out and I am sad that I am not keeping up with my entirely self inflicted deadlines.

I mentioned previously reworking part 3's thumbnails. It helped me realize part of part 3 should be in part 2 so I have to also rework part 2's thumbnails.

Oh here's something funny:

The first batch of thumbnails were done really quickly just to get an estimate of pages and layout, but I found a lot of bits where 1 panel was assigned to the text "and then they fight here"

1 panel

where "they fight"

hah hahahaha.

ok this is going to be much longer than I thought. I will just give in to the process.

Still waking up in the morning looking forward to it though. I guess that's something.