….and so they did….
Ladies and Gents, after 170 pages and ten years of drawing and re-drawing, I am pleased to give you the completed volume of Bata Neart – Book 1.
Last year during Bata Neart’s 10-year anniversary video, I did mention a bit about what this comic has meant to me, and how it has kept me going as a cartoonist during all of these years. Without Bata Neart, there would be no Back Office, there would be none of the collaboration works I joined in on, simply this comic is at the very heart of my identity as a cartoonist.
Oh yea, and this month marks 5 years since I launched RAWRtacular…so that’s something too 😀
Book 1 is in its own way, the story of my early cartooning years, and my evolution into the cartoonist I am today. Thus, with some emotional weight, I’m putting a close to this precious volume, and taking a moment to prepare for the next big phase.
As chance would have it, Book 1’s end timed perfectly with my attendance with Manga School Nakano, and instruction from my good friend & pro manga-ka Nao Yazawa. Thanks to her teachings, I am going to try and evolve yet again. This time, from cartoonist to full blown manga-artist. I will look to improve everthing from character design, artwork to page layout. Not to worry about the characters though, they will be the same as always (in particular a certain cheeky brunette). This all starts from Chapter 6.
In the meantime, as part of my on-going course with Manga School Nakano, the next new Bata Neart page will be part of my non-cannon 16 page Japanese-style manga (read right-to-left).
But before that again (because it isn’t ready), a certain someone would like to have a word with you. Tune in next week to find out what that is.
Until then…let’s run to tomorrow!
Huzzah! Congratulations Rawr. 😀 Looking forward to continuing this journey with you and seeing where it all goes.
Wow, yeah, congratulations, Rawr, you’ve poured your life into this project, and I’m glad you’re getting so much back from all that effort 🙂
@Azreal: Thank you! I hope it will be a fun trip 🙂
@Delta: Thank you too 🙂 It does feel very rewarding to be at this point, especially now that know readers have been building a connection with the characters (and not just me).
Um what language was Aoife speaking? ‘Cause Aine seemed to get the idea–or was she just keeping up?
Some things really don’t need translation. And an awful lot of what we communicate is with non-verbals: inflection, tone, body language, facial expression, etc. And remember, this is Aoife we’re talking about. Aoife transcends language barriers, I think. 😉
I know this is supposed to be an uplifting moment, but I can’t help snickering like a middle schooler at the lack of pants here.
@Delta: Although I’m sort of alluding to the possibility that Aine might already be starting grasp English, the truth is I really wanted to Aoife to say that line. Something about “Running to tomorrow” seemed0 like an upbeat way to bring the book to a close. My guess is that Aine could understand from Aoife’s happy tone and body language that she wanted her to come running with her. And so she happily obliges, running off with her new-found friends.
Well…at least that’s what I was trying to go for anyway 🙂
@Kessy: That is always my hope for Aoife. I would like to think that ‘Aoife-isms’ go beyond language. Hell…I wonder if the UN would consider replacing Esperanto with Aoife-isms 🙂
@melaredblu: I’m glad you liked that 🙂 It was kind of my hope that Aoife’s lack of pants would inject a bit of silly comedy into an otherwise “elegant” sunrise scene. A sign of things to come I hope 🙂
Well, Rawr, I think the UN would have one small problem with that plan: there’s only one Aoife. Well, unless you wanted to start making clones of her. Wait… That’s it! I’ve discovered your evil plan! You’re going to take over the world with an army of cloned Aoifes!
That’s pretty scary, actually. I wonder if it would make a good Doctor Who story?
@Kessy: Well, Aoife could mentor at the planned ‘International Institute of Aoife Studies’, and bring in some trainee-Aoifes 🙂 (There are also many girls in Ireland named ‘Aoife’ who could fit the bill).
Army of Aoife clones? It would certainly work as a Doctor Who serial, given that half the high-drama plots usually involve evil armies trying to invade Earth. Been watching it on the BBC since I was a child, so I’m very familiar with the formula. I’d probably call the episode ‘Victory of the Aoifes’ and they would go around the world turning landmarks into statues of Ashling. The Doctor would eventually learn how to make an Ashling-decoy to lure them back into ‘Aoife-space’ 😀
Oh yeah, I grew up on Tom Baker’s Doctor on PBS right after Saturday morning cartoons. (Bear in mind that serials took years to make it across the Pond back then, and got rerun a lot, so I’m not quite *that* old. 😉 )
BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask, if Aoife is a brunette, what color hair do Ashling, Fione, Aine and everyone else have? My tendency with BW is to assume that the most common hair color is brown and infer the others from that basis.
@Kessy: Ah Tom Baker’s Doctor. Undoubtedly my answer whenever asked which is ‘my’ Doctor. Starred in my favorite Who episode ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ 🙂
Ah Ashling’s hair colour. I have been cheating for years by just making her hair the generic 75L-15% Screentone that I use for everything. I haven’t 100% decided, but my leaning is towards her being Strawberry-Blonde. I’b much prefer that, as making her standard red-head is a bit of an Irish cliché, which I’d like to avoid. Other colours I had played with were Brown, dark blond, and even pink(!).
Aine and Fiona are light blonde. This helps me diversify the character designs a bit, and since the main trio is Ashling / Aoife / Aine, 3 different hair shades helps *a lot* 🙂 Also, ‘Blonde’ in the style I use is easier to manage, since it’s just white with screen-tone added for shadow.
Yeah, Tom Baker will always be the Doctor to me. Although I have to admit that David Tennant is a close second.
Hmmm, my first thought is that Ashling doesn’t really seem like the type to dye her hair to me. And given the general tone of Bata Neart, I don’t think unusual hair colors like pink would work that well. Unless… Maybe Ashling’s hair changed color when she fell in the crevasse? I’ve heard stories of things like that happening, although I don’t know if it’s ever been documented to actually happen in real life. Just kind of thinking outloud here.
Congratulations on the milestone!
On hair colours, I agree that pink, blue, green and such things wouldn’t quite work in this setting.
On ‘Run to tomorrow’, yes that is a good phrase. I sort of wish I would do that. But it is very very far from how I do things. If I did run to tomorrow, I might be happier, but I would not be me.
@Ogh7w: Thank you 😀
Well…Aoife is the sort who would run to tomorrow, then to the next day, and then to the day after that. That’s just her.
Or you could be like me, who’s causally strolling towards tomorrow, enjoying the view. All down to the person I recon 🙂