The Infamous Green Marine
I have no idea why she made this suggestion, for she’d never seen any of my old art. I used to be able to draw (see How Ejection Pods Work, for one of the few surviving examples), but then I contrived to break my arm, over and over again, and the succession of injuries took its toll. Human figures seemed out of the question. And unusual perspectives promised to be a challenge. But heck, I thought, a few sketches of airships and equipment can’t hurt.
At first it was disheartening. I’d struggle over some simple sketch, remember how easily my pencils used to glide across paper back before that third or fourth broken bone, and feel a twinge of regret. But Fleming’s glider was fun, that cassowary came out much better than I expected, and by the time I finished coloring the Number One Engine Car in Sky is Empty, I’d begun to look forward to the drawing almost as much as the writing. There were most certainly some disasters, such as the Infamous Green Marine of Episode 13, but heck, surely the Royal Navy has a place in its ranks for zombies. (Zombie… Lance-Zombie… Colour-Zombie… Zombie-Major… Warrant Zombie… et cetera)
The question I have for you, Noble Readers, as Season One approaches its climax, is… do you enjoy the graphics? Do you feel that they add to the story? Would you like to see slightly a larger format – say, 600×360 rather than 500×300? And which ones were your favorites? This will give me some idea where to go with Season Two. Of course, if the Infamous Green Marine ends up heading the list, I’ll have to change my name, flee to Sarah’s Island, and spend the rest of my days hiding from the world on some distant tropical beach, sipping drinks with little paper umbrellas in them.
We understand about girlfriends. Unlike wives, who can suggest that we fix the garbage disposal until they are blue in the face, a girlfriend can suggest that we take up flying, and we will happily swan dive off the nearest cliff.
However, being wounded in action puts a different slant on things. If, due to your injuries, you are unable to make satisfactory illustrations, or at least satisfying by your own standards, and you aren’t going with an artistic girl at the minute, I for one would be willing to forego the pictures. Just for the record, I think they have been fine, and the captions quite amusing. I’m not certain that I would have taken the trouble to read the first chapter if it hadn’t been for the picture, although I would like to think I’m at least literary enough that I would have. Actually, I think it was the promise of meeting island maidens that kept me going, and when it happened, it was a rewarding experience indeed.
A number of your illustrations are notable, but if I was pressed for a favorite, it would have to be the first one. The surreal image of the nose section of an airship, drifting placidly through the azure sky (I don’t know if it’s really azure; it just sounds poetic), is partly what hooked me into reading the first chapter. After that, the silhouettes in chapter 3, with the wrecked airship rising out of the jungle in the distance, provided a nicely eerie scene, with a hint of allure. I also find your detailed illustrations of airships, such as at chapter 15, quite interesting.
I think the sizes are fine the way they are.
Hi Kona, thanks for the input! I spent a good part of last evening looking at different-sized graphics, trying to weigh the relative merits of different formats, but ultimately, I need input from the readers for issues of presentation and readability of that sort. I’d prefer to stick close to the current sizes so the pages will display well on a laptop, but we’ll see how the votes add up.
If you enjoyed the technical details about airships, just wait for the FAQ page! It’s finally coming together. A few rainy days, with no chance to fly and nothing to do but sit at the computer, and it might be ready. The R-505 hull plans came out well, now I need to find a few good pictures of Woodrow Wilson and Bethmann-Hollweg. I’ve begun to wonder if there is such a thing as a good picture of Bethmann-Hollweg. In all the ones I’ve found so far, he looks like Sergeant Schulz’s older brother.
The images should stay, since they help jump-start the imagination. On the other hand, since this is not a comic strip or an art blog, the images should remain small and unobtrusive, just as they are now.
The best image so far is the one for Episode 7. It shows just enough to be surprising and interesting, but without giving too much away. Showing Sarah, Pierre, and the rest of the characters “in action,” such as the way Episode 42’s image depicts the crew, would not leave anything to the imagination. Showing only one arm only is brilliant. The elegant sleeve, purple nail polish, and delicate bracelet provide just enough clues for the reader to imagine the rest of the character, while the spear arouses the reader’s curiosity.
Other images, such as the ones for Episodes 12, 22, 29, and 40, are valuable because they illustrate technical details which would not otherwise be obvious. The map in image 29 is especially useful, since it gives a “big picture” overview of what has happened so far and provides down the geography for the things to come. Without that map, I would be completely confused.
Hi William. Gosh, I rather liked the graphic Episode 42 — perhaps because I’m also a slinger. But I most see what you mean, and that spear in Episode 7 was certainly one of the ones I most enjoyed creating. That balance you speak of — hinting without giving too much away — has always been my goal, since the world is already full of webcomics, graphic novels, and the like composed by artists I could never hope to equal. My feeling, after doing this for a year, is that the best way to maintain that balance is to keep experimenting, learn from the results, and have fun. So I very much appreciate your comments! And they will most certainly prove useful as I start work on… Season Two…
When I first found a link to this series (if I recall, the link trail started from a discussion about wanking airships over at Alternatehistory.com, where I am a lurking member), I was interested mainly in the promise of airship alt-history. However, when I opened up page one, I saw the image, read the chapter title, then saw the alt-text on the image…I knew that this series had a sense of humor I didn’t want to miss. Since then, your art has helped set the feel as a realistic but still “serial” alternate world, not to mention providing solid mental images of important things, like 505 herself, the various settings, and of course the characters themselves.
Hi, Paul.
I’ve just finished the archives and am waiting for my first realtime update, so you can tell I’m enjoying the series, and can live with the occasional “shaky” character sketch. I especially enjoy your airship and steamship drawings, as well as your sense of composition (e.g., the drifting bow, Sarah’s arm). So, yes please, keep drawing as long you want.
You might also want to solicit reader art (no hidden agenda here, I’m certainly no artist!); maybe put it by for the times you lack time or inclination to draw.
Finally, the technical tidbits are fascinating, such as the inflatable pontoon beneath the control car. I’m looking forward to future episodes
Cheers–
–Dave.
It sounds like a lot of people liked the graphics that illustrated technical details, such as the water-landing apparatus, that were mentioned in the text. This is a way useful thing to know! And you can be assured that I will keep it in mind as I prepare for Season Two! I was also intrigued by Dave’s suggestion about reader art. One of my hopes for Season Two is to add things like a forum, which could well include provisions for guest stories, art, and the like. This is the sort of thing that must be handled properly, so I’ve been doing a careful survey of other sites to see what works and identify potential pitfalls.
I think you might want to work on the faces a bit more; it’s the main part of the artwork that throws me off. I think it might be the proportions; everything from the eyes down only take up half of a real face.
You might want to consider drawing at a larger size, and then shrinking it down with digital manipulation software after you scan it in.
Thanks, Nick! That is useful input, which I shall keep in mind when I do the next round of faces. One big problem has been the hairlines, which tend to migrate on the smaller figures when I scan and reduce them. This throws the proportions off, and next thing I know, it’s the Infamous Green Marine all over again. I may have to break down and get a new scanner — these resolution and line-quality issues seem to be associated with the contrast settings on the ancient unit I’m using now, which was built for the Royal Navy Airship Service signal corps sometime in the late 30s.