Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

But seriously, it's hot as hell in Iowa. I was reading a new story about how streams are shrinking so much that fish are either being 'air drowned' by getting trapped in puddles or the water is heating up so much that fish are literally being cooked to death. I guess local animals will have a lot of fish to eat before we get what is being pegged as a 'colder than usual winter'. Kinda scary stuff.

Well, I've been 'drawing' a lot offline but most of it has been testing ink swatches and trying to get some practice in with inking and using colored acrylic inks. Below are some practice inking I did for pencils that were originally done by the über talented Terry Dodson:

     These were inked using PH Martin's Blackstar Matte Ink with some no-name brand round taklon brushes, size 1 and 1/10. The problem I was having is that I have no way of printing these off at the size they were originally done in (which is, I *think*, 11"x17"?) So they were worked at in a smaller resolution, which means the fine line work ended up a but thicker than I was hoping, but for being the first three attempts at North American style comic book inking, I think I did well.

Unrelated, I think I may have finally made the map for EGD. Exciting, yeah? I may end up adding in more cities and stuff as the story/comic goes live, but for right now I think it's enough information to get an idea of whats happening:

  

The planet (that for now I'm just calling Terra Major since I never hammered down a real name + it fits my Latin thing I've got going) is actually a moon of another larger, currently uninhabitable planet.

 Oh! I finished the soundtrack too, after compiling it on and off for the last year. I was really concerned about making sure it worked both as an entire OST and that each transition from song to song was in the right order. I think both parts have something like 160+ full listens on them. That's how anal I've been about this. So, here's the playlist (in order) for each CD. I put some scene information in between the *'s, so if you'd like some major spoilers than you can highlight the white text. :)

EGD: Part I       55 minutes

1. Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route) - Beirut *Opening Credits, flashback of the 1st attempted Khetweny Genocide*
2. Kecharitomene - Loreena Mckennitt * Heiwa meets a confescated Deshi, and Deshi decides she'd really like to steal his body. Fighting ensues*
3. We Share Our Mothers' Health - The Knife * Introduction to EOH, The Hive*
   
4. You - Two Sheds * The search for the stones begins on a small tragedy*
5. The Silence Between us - Bob Mould *Montage scene between major characters*
6. Colossus - Afro Celt Sound System * Heiwa and the gang have to escape some pissed off foreigners by jumping off a cliff*
7. World Town - M.I.A. *Massive fight scene*
8. Strict Machine - Goldfrapp *flashback - what really happened between Sekhemwy, EOH, and Süni during the genocide*
9. To Be Alone with You - Sufjan Stevens *A sudden death leaves the Khetweni people to mourn, along with some special strangers*
10. Unison - Björk * A big ole' sex scene *
11. Drummer's Reel - Dhol Foundation *The nations gather their powers to fight off the Hive and regain control over the stones*
12. Guyamas Sonora - Beirut *Closing Credits, Spoiler scenes leading into Part II*

EGD: Part II       43 minutes

1. Burning The Past - Harry Gregson-Williams *Pre-credits: Khetwen prepares for Heiwa's death, and secret plans are prepared for its new leader*
2. The Whip - Locksley *Opening credits: An introduction to the Royal Mail Service, and the people who sincerely hate working for it.*
3. This Is Mother You - Sinad O Connor *Montage scene, and a secret is revealed about Jivamukta*
4. Train - Goldfrapp * Alex goes against his father's wishes and takes a transport ride into the heart of Hive Epsilon*
5. Hold Me, I'm Falling - The Unknown *Heiwa is dethroned in a Coup by Alex*
6. Ghosts - Ladytron *The Coup begins to divide it's own people and royally piss off surrounding countries*
7. Ghalla Gurian - Panjabi MC *An old acquaintance realizes she won't find true love.*
8. The Penalty - Beirut *Montage between current & past lovers*
9. Stilbruch - C413 * The nations decide that Josei and Heiwa need to be the ones to bring down the Gods with the stones*
10. Flynn Lives - Daft Punk *The Apocalypse and everything afterwards*
11. Postcards From Italy - Beirut *The nations regather to pay tribute to fallen warriors, New kingdoms are forged from ruin.*

Next time I make an entry, I'll try to get some MP3 apps up so y'all can taste test it. I'll also put up some more information, including the songs that didn't make the cut.