Blog

More site work, SDCC flyer

Brock Beauchamp
June 29, 2011

In my never-ending quest to never leave anything be, I have restructured the site… again. This is the third major iteration of the site in seven months and is the sixth or seventh minor revision. This time around, my goal was to set up Variables on its own subdomain. Once I finished that, I decided that SelfCentEnt and Variables should have slightly different layouts. Then I decided they should use different colors. Etc, etc, etc… So there you go. Now that I have Variables on its own subdomain and the blog on the main domain, I can continue to customize... View Article

Nothing happens!

Brock Beauchamp
June 27, 2011

This is one of those pages where you just need to get through it because not a whole lot is happening. White is driving, looking for the Monroes. If you look carefully, you get hints about Blake’s future and who sent White to go looking for the boy. Only two pages left! Click through the image to see the entire first issue of Variables 1992.

White investigating

Brock Beauchamp
June 24, 2011

I skipped this week’s blog post because I really had nothing to say about anything. With the end of the issue approaching, I need to square away the final few pages, prepare the next short story, and then get ready for CONvergence in a week and San Diego Comic Con in four weeks. Whew. I’m hoping to paint an 11×17 poster for CON but with this issue taking longer than I’d like, I don’t know if there will be time. Here are the inks for the second White page. He’s looking for Blake and Roger and is checking out a... View Article

It’s all so… purple

Brock Beauchamp
June 20, 2011

Here’s page 17. We’re back at the logging site and someone new is looking for Blake. This character will be around for quite some time. His name is Samuel White and he’s a bit of an odd fellow. You’ll learn more about him early in issue two. Coloring this page was hard. I tried to capture a twilight sky but fear that it may have come off as just being too purple. Oh well, chalk it up to more experience with color. It’s definitely my weakest skill set when it comes to creating this comic but, like everything else, I... View Article

Introducing White

Brock Beauchamp
June 17, 2011

Here’s the last recurring character that will be introduced in this issue, Samuel White. You’ll find out who he is and what he wants with Blake in upcoming pages. He’s a bit of an oddity and once you see the colored page, you’ll notice that there are a few intriguing details about the character that tell a bit about his past. You can’t see it here but this page takes place during twilight hours, which changed how I penciled and inked the page. Instead of adding ink detail, I left large areas empty so I could add the detail using... View Article

DC Comics reboot – again, really?

Brock Beauchamp
June 15, 2011

Initially, I was intrigued by the DC reboot that is going to happen, with 52 titles re-launching at issue #1. Over the past week to drum up fan interest, new character designs have been rolling out of DC. Jim Lee has said that this is being done to attract new fans. I don’t get it. What new fans? Didn’t we just go through this a few years back? This is just another case of the print comic industry not knowing which way is up anymore. They want new fans, great. If they’re serious about expanding the market, then why has... View Article

Getting hit with a shovel

Brock Beauchamp
June 13, 2011

Aaaaaaaaand here’s the last Blake page of the issue. The men in suits got the best of him and are now hauling him off to parts unknown. The kid appears to be in a spot of trouble but you’ll have to wait for next issue to see how it plays out. Overall, I’m happy with the page. I worked my ass off this weekend and managed to not only finish this page but I’m nearly halfway through next week’s page as well. Good thing, too: I need to take off almost every weekend of July for various activities so I... View Article

Final Blake page – onward and upward!

Brock Beauchamp
June 10, 2011

Here’s the last page of the Blake story until next issue! As you can see, things have gone wrong for the boy. Honestly, I always wanted to draw a scene where someone gets hit with a shovel. It’s such a cliche but it’s great. In fiction, there is always a shovel lying around somewhere nearby, just waiting for someone to pick it up and turn it into a makeshift weapon, usually a “make this character unconscious” device. And there you go. Mission accomplished. Hey, it’s a comic book. I’m allowed to have a little fun here. Overall, the page is... View Article

Artist interactions & digital drawing

Brock Beauchamp
June 8, 2011

One of the greatest things about webcomics is that the reader has a direct pipeline to the creators of their favorite works. This new way of comicking isn’t like the old Marvel/DC ivory towered, hide the creative staff in a cocoon style of creation process. Pages come out at a crawl, scripts are revised on the fly based on reader support or dislike and if you pay attention, you probably even know what time your favorite artist eats his or her breakfast based on their twitter schedule. When I started creating SelfCentEnt, it was something I put a lot of... View Article

Blake fights back

Brock Beauchamp
June 6, 2011

I’ve been waiting a long time to use some of the coloring and lettering tricks I planned on introducing for issue 2 and this page was my only shot to try a few of them out before I start work on that issue in about a month’s time. This is probably the most action-y of any pages in this issue, with Blake expending some of the energy he had stored from the lightning strikes so I have the perfect vehicle to try coloring my ink lines and adding a few gradients to the page. After it’s said and done, this... View Article

Blake lashes out

Brock Beauchamp
June 3, 2011

Hey, it’s Friday again and that means… the weekend is almost here! In less important news, here’s the Friday art preview. For the first time, we get to see Blake actually use his ability to harness electricity, much to the chagrin of the poor fellow who is trying his best to pin the kid on the ground. Given the last panel of the page, this probably isn’t going to end well for anyone involved. I’m pretty happy with this page and as I enter my first “action” scene, I find myself thankful that I left the script somewhat loose in... View Article

Two – Two – Two for One!

Avatar
June 1, 2011

Remember last month when I told you to tune in today when I would be all together and planned and everything? Psych! Life and this first Wednesday of the month blog post are NOT all together.  But we’re going with it anyway.  I was going to tell you all about Zoo City – but I just need more time to write that.  I wrote it once and it was bad. You don’t want to read that blog – which is sad, because I want you to want to read that book! So, instead, today’s book blog is a two-for-one because... View Article

And… action!

Brock Beauchamp
May 30, 2011

Hey, something happens! It only took 14 pages to get around to it but hey, better late than never. The mysterious men already know something about Blake but it’s apparent that they didn’t think through their plan with much care. Tasing the kid who survived two consecutive lightning strikes probably isn’t going to work as well as one would hope. It’s Memorial Day and I’m keeping this short and sweet. Click through the image to jump to Variables 1992 #1, as always. Cheers!

Unsuccessfully tasing the electrical boy

Brock Beauchamp
May 27, 2011

This page makes me chuckle. We’re finally getting to the scene that inspired the cover of the book and the mysterious men are obviously trying to capture Blake, though their method of neutralization leaves something to be desired. Tasing a kid who survived two lightning strikes isn’t what I would call a strategy for success. Now that I’ve been forcing myself to add more background detail, I’ve been a lot happier with each of the ensuing pages. I’m getting faster at drawing and that allows me more time to add detail to still finish a page by the end of... View Article