Year 2: Quarter 1

Branden Singletary
Jul 16, 2019
5 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Well, well, well. Not only have we completed the quarter, it seems we have begun the start of a new year! A lot has been accomplished and there is a lot to reflect on. We’ll start with a recap of the last quarter, move to an overview of last year (and my general thoughts on what’s to come), before laying out the goals for the new quarter.

Goals of the Previous Quarter

[✓] Experiment!

A wide range of styles here, but a majority of them lean more towards the side of “realism.” Reason for that was due to testing brushes and seeing what cool-looking effects I could make with them and because of that, I have a stronger grasp of how to use different styles to convey different moods and themes. Texture makes pieces “darker” in theme. Much more gritty, dense and “weighty” if that makes any sense. A lack of texture conveys the opposite - light, timeless and supernatural.

Additionally, during the process of working Purpose, I was playing around with switching back and forth between RGB to CMYK mode and I realized how much of a difference that makes. I was looking for ways to integrate desaturated colors with moderately saturated ones and I think I’ve just figured it out. I even used it in Purity and Emergence (didn’t make the entire piece look better, in fact, I overdid it but that’s beside the point). This is going to be fun to use in future pieces.

[✓] Refine the nine different castes.

The core designs of the different castes have been finalized. I’m pleased with all of them despite how utterly inconsistent the artwork looks when displayed together, but to be fair, that wasn’t the goal (I also blame the need for experimentation). As long as the individual designs were simple to recreate and aesthetically pleasing, I considered it a success.

[~] Revise, expand upon and tie up loose ends of the lore of the world.

Didn’t quite have the time to get as much of this done as I wanted, nor did I feel that it was necessary. However, writing out the plot of the Astral Triptych forced me to think about how the inhabitants of the world influence one another and that in of itself has been extremely helpful. Plus, it made me realize just how well everything fits together. If time permits, I will return to this goal in the future and see if I will be able to hash out something a little bit more concrete. Perhaps even the creation of a lore book could be in order…

[✓] Finish first draft of plot for the Astral Triptych.

The entire plot of the Astral Triptych has been laid out! I honestly thought it would take a lot more time. I did have some trouble picking a proper starting point, as well as figuring out what castes to focus on, despite having a very good idea of how it would all end. Some people often have the opposite problem and I envy them. Regardless, things may very well change in accordance to how the plot moves forward, but I will first need to hash out the details through writing the script and my, is that going to be a daunting task…

An Overview

This year was a success. I thought it would take a long time to get to this point considering how slow everything was moving in the very first quarter, but things seriously picked up. All it takes is being consistent, which also requires discipline, willpower and mostly importantly patience. Share your artwork with everyone, work comfortably and always seek to better your own work in small incremental steps. Take risks with your work, move outside your comfort zone and learn from the mistakes you’ve made; failure is essential if you want to improve. You will soon look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come in such a short amount of time. With every new drawing that was made in the past year, I’ve greatly impressed myself and that spurred even greater motivation to create things.

I’m unsure how to end this pseudo-inspirational section, so I’ll just say this: if you are truly passionate about making things, keep making things, no matter how ‘bad’ you think it looks. It’ll pay off, it’ll look great and you’ll want to make more things. You will become self-motivating. And that’s a good mindset to have.

Looking Forward

In Year 1: Quarter 1, I laid out what I wanted to achieve with this project. I’m not going to dissect the list itself (even though it’s incredibly naive), but I will present a refined road map. One that more accurately represents the path I’m going to take in order to reach “the end” of this project. Whatever that may entail.

[✓] Create the concept of world setting and identify its various underlying themes.
[✓] Illustrate (through writing and visual art) the different castes represented within the world, cementing its foundation.
[~] With the previously created material, channel these resources into the creation of a narrative (in the form of a web comic/graphic novel).
[ ] Build further upon this narrative and release many more comics/novels based on the foundation of this idea (yes, I already know what comics are going follow this current one and I’m extremely excited for it).
[ ] With all of this source material, channel these resources into the creation of an animated series that rehashes all of the previously made narratives.
[ ] In the meantime, create a tabletop RPG so that it may function as a strong foundation for...
[ ] ...a video game based on this world - potentially a VR experience.

This list is subject to change over the course of the next several years, however I can’t imagine it would be altered too much. Any further alterations will be posted on a yearly basis, as I’m sure something is going to come up that will halt my progress a little bit. That always tends to be the case.

Goals of the New Quarter

Experiment! … With black & white!
Work on the script for the Astral Triptych.

Due to me being done with “the concept art” of the Astral Triptych, I’ve run out of things to draw that pertains to the world. I could create landscapes and scenes and all that nonsense, but I think it would be better suited to do that once I actually start the illustration process for the comic. Until then, I’m going to draw things that may prompt interesting (or at least, what I think are interesting) discussions about the nature of the cosmos, the human condition and the future of our civilization as a whole. And they’re going to be (mostly) black and white - both visually and thematically.

I feel compelled to state this every update. I also have a Discord Server, for all those that have an interest in what I do, as well as writing, drawing, gaming and creating things in general. If your curiosity is piqued, the link is right there waiting for you!

It’s about time I get back to doing my thing. There is a lot to be done and someone’s gotta take care of it.

Until the next one, October 15!