Hiatus – September Update

Inking is starting to happen. I'm still terrified of coloring since I had always found that step to be tedious. Adding in grief is probably not going to be a good combo, especially since I was in the coloring phase when my sister died...

Yeah, that's going to be a mess.

But, at least the inking is starting to come along. And Danni didn't turn out too bad. Or at least, I like to think so. If you don't agree, don't tell me, lol. Let me live in my delusion that my inking skills are still okay XD

55 Comments

I just reread all the archive, and a new update happens. Must be my birthday! (It is).

Still here!
Thanks for posting. Glad you’re around, still. 🙂

Welcome back Aneeka, great to hear from you 🙂
the inking phase, is where you have the scetch, and then add the more pronounced lines, right? (not an artist)
if so, yes, it looks good 🙂

Correct 🙂 You ink over your sketch to finalize the lines, then erase the sketch (or just make that layer invisible).

There’s nothing wrong with your inking! It looks good. And I will still read your comic even if it’s in black and white (or grayscale: look at El Goonish Shive). I’m glad to hear from you!
?

I agree, I was about to mention EGS as well because Dan is the one example I know of who switched from color to grayscale at some point and is only occasionally doing colored sketches. Also he often draws no background whatsoever. 🙂

The inking is still beautiful and I hope you’ll eventually find the strength to continue telling us this great story! Some shading as well as pupils in their irises would be nice, but other than that you can just add the dialogue and declare the page finished in my opinion.

Also the ad banner at the bottom of the page that slowly goes up and only slowly goes down when closing it is super annoying. I bet that in the recent months something in your page’s code must’ve changed without your knowledge.

Well… from what I can tell, your inking skills are not bad. Definitely above “just okay” in my opinion.

And for other things… take whatever time you need.
Would rather read something good than something rushed, but I _will_ read it when it’s out.
So… Health first, Story later.

Take as much time as you need, this story comes second to your health, mental/emotional or otherwise. Happy to see you move forward, and hope that you are doing okay!

Looks just fine to me. Certainly not so poor that I might be moved to do something hazardous to my health like offer to take care of it for you. Happy for you that you’re still moving forward and taking things at the pace you’re comfortable with. Well done, lass.

If you want to, you can skip the colouring and continue in black and white. I won’t mind.

Looking good! Tons of <3

Just yesterday I was thinking about you, wondering how you were. I’m happy to to see you’re moving forward.

Inking is good! You haven’t lost your touch yet. Happy to see you still there and still going. It’s hard, but you will have fans here, no matter how long it takes.

I’m exciting to see how things will progress!

Looks good. I can’t honestly say this isn’t a biased take since i’m just happy to see you trying again.

Is there any possibility to “hire” a colorist? I’m sure someone out there would be willing to help or volunteer once they understand your situation. Just a thought.

Regardless, I’m glad you’re trying and I understand how hard it is. I had a major depressive episode and it took me years before I could even attempt to sketch anything, let alone composite an entire image.

Take your time.

The voulenteer is an excellent idea.

Plot is at a good point for a few grey pages anyway! Feel free to make progress back to full art in steps.

Wishing you well. <3
Looking forward to your return, but at your own pace.

Good to hear from you again. Progress is one step at a time, and you have to walk before you run and I’m really happy to see you taking steps 🙂 You’re doing amazing and we love you and your work, the presence of commenters still checking in is evidence of that.

You’re art style seems to have changed over the hiatus, but not enough to care about. Given the number of comics that have gone silent since the pandemic I’m just happy to see you’re drawing.

Danni!

You can do it! or not, as you are able, we’d even love black and white comics for a while if thats all you can produce! If you have trouble coloring you don’t need to, or only put a little color here and there, you could always go back and color later when you feel more up to it if you ever wanted. I’m glad you are doing a little better.

Those are good news! still here 😉

Welcome back. The art looks fine to me. Looking forward to the story.

If coloring brings up painful memories, we would still enjoy your work if it was black and white

get and feel better

Still here. Page looks good.

Your inking looks great, Aneeka! It’s wonderful to see another update. Take care!

I’m not sure what to say, and I wish I knew how to help. But I love this story, and I’m so excited to see what comes next; but much more than that I’m just glad you’re getting better. I want you to be okay, regardless of how long it takes you to get there

Good to hear from you again! Danni looks great 🙂

NAV will always hold a place in my heart, as another digital faceless voice I just want to add that I hope in whatever way that it becomes easier for you to deal with the burden of grief. My condolences for everything that’s happened.

*Delivers one(1) truckload of hugs* <3

I’m glad you’re getting your feet back. Nothing wrong with slow grieving.

I drop by often to keep an eye out for updates and am glad to see you’re still around. Just take your time and do what you can. Don’t push yourself too hard – we care about YOU more than anything!

Aneeka, I sent you an email with a sample of my work as a colorist. If you think that having someone volunteer to add colors would be helpful.

It appears to me that the skills do not go away. It just takes a ton more time to do things. Ability to focus, and sometimes persistence, can be hurt pretty badly. But in nearly all cases: what we have done a lot of, that we have learned well and do retain.

I hate to possibly send you down a rabbit hole but (I’m assuming because you are an artist) at least you don’t have Aphantasia like I do. It is a condition where you don’t have mental images or sounds. Soooo, be happy you can remember what she looked like and sounded like when you bring her to mind? I’ve been married for 19 years and when my wife walks out of the room I can’t imagine her face. I intellectually know what she looks like, I have words to describe her, and I instantly recognize her but I can’t picture her, or anything for that matter. My only sounds in my head are my own voice, I can’t “hear” anyone or anything but me. I guess this was just a crappy ‘Hey, it could be worse’. Back to the point I meant to get to… losing someone sucks and I hope it stops hurting as much.

P.S. Going blind is one of my biggest fears.

I just spent the weekend re-reading the archive and… it brought back so many memories. I love this series and I’m so sorry you’ve lost so many people back-to-back. The inking looks good. It looks like your art, and I think that’s all any of us want.

I’m praying for your recovery and your family’s health.

Dani looks great.

Hello everyone!
Glad there’s some activity, I was worried…
It is now October, or if you know of it, Oct-Ogre.

We moved, and my wife is finally putting the electronics back to where they belong and struggling with the wiring and all that. I’m helping in only the most basic capacity. After all, she created that gordian mess, she pulled it down and boxed it our old house, and she’s the one who wants it functional NOW!
I can sometimes tell when to keep as far away from blame/liability as possible, and that’s one of them, a BIG one!
As to “most basic capacity”, that’s plugging in the power plugs she says, and the HDMI cable she says into the jack she says to. I’ll still get blamed when things inevitable go wrong, but that’s a lot more tolerable than the AoE Blamethrower I’d be trying to dodge if I’d done more.
(I tried to avoid even that, but I got cornered, sigh…)

Hope readers got a bit of a chuckle over those descriptions.
More fun is that housing didn’t have a key for the mailbox, and the post office has been “working” on a replacement for about 3 weeks so far. (Yes, even before we moved in.)
I’m afraid there may be a junk mail explosion when it’s finally opened.

Well I’m off to go blow up some undead monstrosities or similar like online for a bit. Hope you have cool costumes and plenty of candy this month 😉

Don’t discredit yourself so quickly, Aneeka. Your “not too bad” inking is still pretty good, in my opinion ?

Besides, seeing any sort of update from you is a positive sign that you are still thinking of us despite all that is going on, and lets us know about how you are faring (whether good or… not so much). We may not know you on a personal level, but we are still here to support you in any way we can.

The question mark was supposed to be a smiley emoji, by the way. The sentiment remains the same, though.

Hey, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but maybe you should consider hiring a colorist?

Since you were in the middle of coloring when life took you out at the kneecaps and laid you out for a while, it may be worth it to either get a friend or hire someone to help with the coloring, at least at first, so it doesn’t feel like. Such a task to get through it.

Or maybe just having someone nearby while you color.

I don’t know what will work better for you, but if this is a concern/problem, it might just be worth it to get assistance. Even if only for like, a year.

I love the work you’ve put out, and I will continue to be check up on you no matter what.

Thanks for sticking with this despite everything. You’re brave and courageous; healing comes in baby steps, so keep taking it one day at a time. The only way out is through.

Welcome back

If you choose line art, B&W, limited color, or full color I am sure you will do excellent.

Hi Aneeka, figured now would be a good time to send some words of support 🙂
We’re still here for you, whenever you need us 🙂

Holidays are coming up. I know from experience that is one of the hardest times (and in the last two months we’ve had a couple of losses to remind us once again, including one younger generation shocker). So wanted to give you a reminder we’re still here looking in on you in case you need what little support we can offer. Right, folks?

Right! 🙂

Your Inking looks great!

Oh good! The page is back, I was worried that it had disappeared.

Whew! I got nervous when the website said it was down for maintenance.

Glad you’ve got it back up!

Hang in there! We’re all pulling for you!

Take all the time you need <3 Your story is great and I look forwards to seeing it one day, in whatever form that takes. Please don't beat yourself up about your style!

I was told last year that I would probably not see this year (stage 4 cancer), and my heart breaks for you. I have a sister and she was almost in your shoes, makes me cry every time I think about it. The worst thing about being told such awful news, was knowing how it would devastate my family. I was lucky in the end (immunotherapy worked, and better than anyone expected), but so many people are not, and were not.

I don't know your beliefs, but I hope you have comfort and support, and people to take care of you. The relationship you have/had with your sister is real and meaningful and the love is so strong, and that's why it's so hard.

Sending you so much love <3

Still here, despite my RSS reader trying to say the site was dead. 🙂
Hope you’re doing well!

Really glad the site is back up. I was getting very nervous.

Really glad that the page came back from maintenance. Just passing the time re-reading the NAV zines I bought from you a while ago ( pretty sure it was a RTX. I bought one, then came back the next day and pretty much bought all the others )

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

Hiatus – September Update