They are finished! I swear, they are the hardest part so far. I know the story, I just needed to figure out how I wanted to tell it. Still sticking with 3-5 panals per page, though it can change depending on the mood.
Drew up a small page of what I could find concerning how manga and american comics appear to be different in how they do layouts. Of course, this is just a basic overview. It does not apply to every artist. I found that the mangaka tend to keep to a more structured layout, with the american comics having their panels show up everywhere. I've used a mixture of both, leaning mainly towards the more structured layout.
My own pencil layouts are really rough and no one but myself should really be able to tell what is going. But that's all that matters. And, the page amount has increased from the propsed 8 to 16. I owe this to the fact that certain things needed to happen to tell the story and it all needed more space.

I mean that I'm reading comics and Manga. But it has a point. I'm studying how different artist layout everything on the page. How many panels they use. What angles they use.  Speech vs action. I even went to the comic store in Austin.
I'm just about done with the story. Decided to throw in some Arthurian flair.
Tomorrow, I'll finish up the layouts and start on some character sketches. Should have some pages done soon.

Wow. School is flying by already...
Since the last meeting, I've really tried to figure out what I want to tell in the story, and how much time I have to tell it. I doubt I have the time to create a full 20-something page comic thanks to all my other classes, so I'm going to focus on a short introductory story. At the moment, it's set at eight pages.  But I haven't gotten it all layed out yet. I know how I want this to begin and end, I just need to get the middle written out.
The story begins with Lan, an 8 year old boy, arriveing with his parents at his grandparent's farm in the Ozarks. They are moving in because of financial troubles. Both parents lost their jobs. After a quick meet and greet, the boy wonders off to put his bag away. He hears the adults begin to argue in the background. While putting his stuff away, he will sense something watching him, but turn and find nothing. That will be the introduction to one of the many fea/spirits. He will then find his way out onto the expansive property where he will meet the other main character. I don't really have a name for this other character so far. It will come in time. He's a spirit that manifests itself from the bodies of ravens. And he has a scarecrow as a servent. The Raven man will greet the boy and "welcome him to the neighborhood".
And that's what I want to tell. At the moment. As this goes on, the story might change here and there to make everything work better.
I've got a few quick layouts done that will either be scanned in or done digitally within the next few days. Then on to actually penciling out the pages. I wanted to try the non scanning blue pencil, but can't find anyone who has it.

Nothing really happened to speak off. I just reminded the professor of what my overall goal was for the quarter and how I was going to go about it. This blog is to document everything that happens along the way. From personal ideas and problems, to inspirations and WIPs of pages. Hoping to get a good number of pages done before I graduate, plus a cover.

I've going for a dark fantasy-kind of feel for this comic. Something akin to Labyrinth. Lots of evil spirits and fea and a child. But lots of real life issues as well. I've got a good outline of it in my head, with most of the main characters created. Only a few sketches at the moment. More to come of course.
As for art, my inspirations for this are as follows: scottie young
 http://www.skottieyoung.com/. I love how he has his own style that fits. It's not overly realistic. He captures the moment perfectly. Second is Rafael Albuquerque, http://www.rafaelalbuquerque.com/blog/. I know of his stuff from American Vampire. He has a mastery of lines, especially when they aren't inked.
Last is actually a series that has had many artists. That would be Sandman by Neil Gaiman. It has a whimsy to it that I like.
Overall, I want to a dream-like feel to my pages. I don't intend on inking at all. I've always liked my own pencils. Some of my friends are of the same opinion. One of the reasons I always like Micheal Turner, was that you could see his line work. It was darker than normal, but that was thanks to the computer.
As for color, I'd like to have the 'real world' be composed of pale and unsaturated colors. This other place that the kid will visit will be saturated and flowing. I hope to do this in water color.... We'll see how that turns out.
For my next meeting, I'll have a couple pages roughed out and most of the story hashed out too.