How is artist Winona Nelson creating the “amazing” art of Artifice?

In a comment on my webcomic site, Winona responded to a reader asking just that question. I know there are creators and artists who are following Artifice, so I thought I would post up her response here. It gets a little technical, but even for us non-artists, it’s kinda cool to think about all the work that goes into making one of these pages.

(Click to enlarge the images. Then hit the arrow key to cycle them.)

Winona here I’m flattered that you asked (and that it doesn’t look like obvious Photoshoppery!) Here’s the whole process:

Yaoi 911 Artifice Page 5 Pencils
Art by Winona Nelson
© 2011 Alex Woolfson

I did pencil 1/4 page thumbnails of each page, then scanned and blew them up and did digital pencils. I like to do the pencils digitally because at that stage I’m still moving things around a lot and this way if I want to move a figure over an inch it doesn’t mean redrawing the whole page. I also built the sets in 3d using Sketchup, and used the models as reference for the perspective.

I then printed the pencils and taped them to the back of the paper I was going to ink on. I didn’t have a big printer for the first half of the project so I was printing on two pages with the middle overlapping, hehe!

Yaoi 911 Artifice Page 5 Inks
Art by Winona Nelson
© 2011 Alex Woolfson

The inks are Staedtler and Prisma technical pens (and a .25 Pilot Hi-Tec C for tiny details) on Borden and Riley #234 Paris Bleedproof paper for pens. The paper was trial and error. I tried Blueline boards, which are too thick for lightboxing and too rough (and they aren’t archival; they yellow over time), then regular cover stock which was thin enough to lightbox well but was too absorbent, it bled a lot. Then a friend tipped me off about the B&D paper, which is suuuper smooth, really translucent on a lightbox, and the ink doesn’t spread at all, it’s fantastic You have to cut it to size but it really is the best to ink on!

Yaoi 911 Artifice Page 5 Inks
Art by Winona Nelson
© 2011 Alex Woolfson

Then I scan the inks and color in Photoshop. For the spots that look more painterly, like that explosion, what I’m using is a hard round brush with pressure set to opacity and the flow set to 25%. [EDITOR NOTE: For us non-artists, what Winona means here is that she is using a pressure-sensitive Wacom pen which changes the opacity of the colors depending on how hard she presses it against her tablet.] I’ve used that hard round brush forever but changing the flow never occurred to me until fairly recently, and it’s made a big difference. It just makes it feel a bit more intuitive and it’s easier to blend with. Most of the form shading is done with that brush (or a soft-edged brush for big gradients and things I want to be very smooth, like skin). The actual shadow areas are done on a separate layer set to Color Burn, all the same sort of purple-blue (no K).

I’ve been subtly colorizing the inks too, which I do by making a new layer and then adding a layer mask made from the ink layer. The layer mask allows you to paint outside the line as much as you want and none of it shows up, but if you then need to make changes to the inks you can delete the layer mask and make it again from the revised inks and the color will still be there. You can get pretty much the same effect by copying the ink layer and locking the transparency and painting on it, but that method doesn’t make it so easy to make changes since you then have to make the changes in the appropriate color and it takes a bit longer.

One final thought that might be interesting to you is that this is all done in CMYK because we’ve always intended to print the book. That means some colors don’t get quite as bright as RGB, but those colors aren’t printable. It also means I had to be very aware of K values sneaking in, because if you’re not picking every color with the color picker and setting the ink percentages to contain 0% K, you can end up with muddy colors when it prints. K is the only opaque ink and it’s also very slightly thick on the paper so it appears ever so slightly raised; you don’t want it anywhere but the inks and maybe some really dark shadow areas if you can help it.

Hope that made some sense to you! I’ve used Photoshop for so long I can get a bit technical talking about it 0_0

Have any questions? Please ask them here and I’ll forward them on to Winona to answer!

In addition to the webcomic Artifice, I’m also offering some of my other yaoi comics as free PDF downloads for my mailing list subscribers, How do you get them? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the links will be sent right to you!

Find articles like this one interesting and useful? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Want to learn more about the process of creating pencils and inks for comics? Then check out Yaoi Art: From Thumbnail Sketches to Final Pencils and Yaoi Art: From Pencils to Inks!
• Interested in creating your own comics? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!
• Curious about why I decided to start a webcomic? Then read Gay Sci-Fi Webcomic Artifice Now Online and Why call Artifice a “gay sci-fi webcomic”?
• Want to read reviews of other yaoi comics? Then please take a look at my in-depth Yaoi Reviews!

The response to the first only-for-subscribers wallpaper by Ponderosa was overwhelmingly positive, so I’ve decided to send out another one. This time the pencils and inks were created by DC/Marvel/Dark Horse artist, Adam DeKraker, and the colors are by Arifice artist, Winona Nelson. (You can read a bit about them here.)

"Pillow Fight" | Click to enlarge.

It’s Mike and Rob from Tough having a pillow fight in their underwear! Who says sorority girls have all the fun?

Let me know what you think!

As I’ve said before, creating exclusive downloads for subscribers is an experiment; one that I’m hoping you’ll like. So what do you think? Do you like seeing Mike and Rob like this? And what do you think of the art? Sweet, sexy, cool, not cool? Let me know in the comments section of this blog post! If it turns out you all continue to like these, then I’ll commission more of them. (And if you really like this one, you can get it right now as a poster or card.)

So, what’s next?

Some readers have said while they really liked Ponderosa’s art with the shirtless guys, that they would need something a little… different to show their support for Tough and Yaoi 911. Something, y’know, tamer, that wouldn’t give casual bystanders heart palpitations if they were to see it.

Well, that makes a lot of sense to me, so in addition to creating some more sexy wallpapers, I’ve also commissioned a couple fully-clothed, safe-for-Grandma ones. The first of which I’ll actually be sending you next month! It’s by yaoi artist Agent Agnes and it’s super sweet. Sound good?

Please let me know what you think of Adam’s and Winona’s work in the comments!

Want to download the high-res versions of this wallpaper? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent to you about a week after you sign up! (And in the meantime, you get download links for the first two completed chapters of Tough sent to you immediately in the Welcome Email. That’s 70 full-color pages of yaoi goodness. For free. Score!)

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Take a look at the last wallpaper I sent out for Tough!
• I’ve also just launched a gay sci-fi webcomic that you won’t want to miss. Check out Artifice now!

Just a quick post to share some new art with you. While I’m waiting on art for “Brother’s Keeper” (just got the last penciled pages today!) and Artifice (which is so close!) to finish, I’ve started work on a superhero yaoi. That’s right: a superhero yaoi.

I’m working with DC/Marvel/Dark Horse penciler Adam DeKraker on this and he just sent me character designs for our two main characters: superhero Kyle and supervillain “The Annihilator”.

Check them out and let me know what you think in the comments!

Want to make sure you get the free download link to this comic when it’s finished? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you when it’s done! (And in the meantime, you get the first two completed chapters of Tough sent to you right now! That’s 70 full-color pages of yaoi goodness. Score!)

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

One thing about making independent comics is that it can take a long time to finish. When you’re DC or Marvel, if you want great work done quickly, you can just throw money at it, but when you’re just a guy with a desire to tell cool stories, that’s not an option. And as I’ve said before on this blog, I’d rather have to wait a little bit to get great art and tell my story the right way than cut corners and wind up with a comic that’s just so-so.

The challenge, of course, is staying connected with your readers. I mean, I’m never going to get rich making yaoi comics. (On some days, breaking even seems like a lot to hope for…) So the only realistic reward I can reasonably expect is to have my work connect with people and to hear back from them. And I have to tell you, the kind words you all have put in the comments of this blog and on my Facebook page more than make all the hard work worthwhile.

But I’m still presented with the challenge of how to stay in my readers minds if it takes several months to finish a chapter. This is a particular problem for new folks who sign up for our mailing list and then don’t hear from me for a long time. They get that first Welcome Email with the links to our free comics, don’t hear anything for weeks and weeks, and by the time they get sent an email with the next comic, they often have no memory of signing up. Some even hit the dreaded Junk/Spam button—which among other things, actually sends me a direct message calling me a spammer—even though they themselves asked to get my emails!

My Evil Plan

The solution, of course, is to send out more emails to my subscribers. But, the truth is, I myself don’t like to get a ton of email even if I do sign up for something. And I’m not just going to send out random, content-free updates—if I’m going to send an email to thousands of people (close to 14,000 subscribers right now!), then it has to be something that I myself would be delighted to get. So I got to thinking: comics take a long time to finish; but a full-color pin-up—that’s a much different matter. And getting sexy art with the boys kissing and stuff, well, that’s something I’d be delighted to get in my Inbox.

So… I’ve decided to work with some of my favorite yaoi artists to create pin-ups of our characters that I can send out as exclusive downloads for my subscribers to use as computer desktop wallpaper/screensavers. I’ve commissioned four of them and the first one, by yaoi artist Ponderosa, is now ready for subscribers to download!

Here’s what it looks like:

Art by Kimi Owens. © 2011 Alex Woolfson.

(Click image to enlarge)

People who are currently subscribed to the Yaoi 911 News & Downloads mailing list have already been sent the links for high-res wallpapers of this image that work on all the standard computer monitor sizes as well as the iPhone. But for new subscribers, I’m trying something different. When new members sign up for the list, they will be sent a link to these wallpapers (and all the others as I create them), but those particular links won’t be in that first Welcome Email. Instead, I’ll send this first wallpaper out a couple days after they sign up. Other pin-ups (when they’re done) I’ll send out maybe every week after that first one. That way, new subscribers will get more than just one email from me—and so hopefully they will be more likely to remember who the heck Yaoi 911 is in the future and feel a bit more connected to our work right now. And they’ll get a nice treat in their Inbox every week or so which makes me smile when I think about it.

That’s my evil plan, anyway.

An Experiment

As with pretty much everything I do in this wacky new world of publishing independent comics through the Internet, this is an experiment. I had this art created in the hope that you might like it and, over the next few months, I’ll be sending out 3 more new wallpapers. But what do you think? As a subscriber, would you want me to send you free, yaoi wallpapers? Do you like seeing Mike and Rob like this? And what do you think of the art? Sweet, sexy, cool, not cool?

Please let me know in the comments section of this blog post! If it turns out you all like these, then I’ll commission more of them and subscribers will hear from me a bit more often, like once a month or so. (And if you really like the art, then I’ll also make them available as posters you can get at our store.)

So to sum up: This is the first of four wallpapers. I plan to release them once a month for the time being. And by that time, hopefully I’ll have another comic ready to share with you all.

Please let me know what you think!

Want to download the high-res versions of this wallpaper? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent to you within 48 hours of your sign up! (And you get download links for the first two completed chapters of Tough sent to you immediately in the Welcome Email. That’s 70 full-color pages of yaoi goodness. For free. Score!)

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

So, as you know, we’ve been hard at work on the next chapter of Tough, Chapter 3: “Brother’s Keeper”! What’s it about? It’s the next morning and in this chapter, we meet Mike’s bad-girl sister, Maria, who is very curious about what her sweet little brother Mike was doing out of the house until 1 AM. 15-year-old Mike, of course, isn’t exactly ready to talk about his little make-out session with a twenty-something guy but then Maria isn’t the type of woman to take “no” for an answer. Will Mike be able to keep his secrets from this force of nature? Maybe, maybe not — but believe me, he sure is adorable trying!

Right now, we’re creating the pencils for this chapter and I’m excited to say I’m working with a very talented, new penciler Randall Whiteis whose work I think you’re really going to like. So much so, that I wanted to share with you a few preview pages to whet your appetite. Please take a look at the first nine penciled pages below (to which I’ve added my first pass of word balloons) and let me know what you think in the comments!

Pencils by Randall Whites. © 2010 Alex Woolfson.

Hey! Wondering what happens next? No problem — we’ll giving away this comic for free! Want to make sure you get the free download link to this comic when it’s finished? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you when it’s done! (And in the meantime, you get the first two completed chapters of Tough sent to you right now! That’s 70 full-color pages of yaoi goodness. Score!)

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Guess what? The second chapter of our gay teen comic Tough, “No Kissing”, is now finished and ready for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers to download!

This will serve as the master post for Tough Chapter Two: “No Kissing”. Here is where readers should leave comments about what they thought about the comic and it’s also where I’ll be sharing the first 16 preview pages with you!

What’s the second chapter about?

The fight from Chapter One is over, the bad boys have slunk away in defeat and to celebrate their victory hunky Rob has invited 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro back to his place for some Xbox and Hard Lemonade.

After a few drinks and a few fighting games, Mike is feeling relaxed and cocky. Sure, he’s alone in the bedroom of an out gay guy, but they just saved each others’ lives and Mike has made Rob promise there’s not going to be any “gay stuff” — and certainly no kissing.

But when Rob starts giving Mike a backrub, Mike is forced to question how much he can trust this older, more experienced boy. And as Mike begins to like the massage more than he should, he starts to wonder exactly how much he can trust himself…

How do I read this comic?

This is another free download for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers. Subscribers to our mailing list get sent links to our free comics and this is the latest one. So if you want to read more, just sign up — a link will be sent right to you!

But hey, sometimes email can take a while, so if you’re a subscriber and haven’t gotten the email yet, you can also find and download Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing at our new store. Simply create a new account at our store using your subscriber email address, Add To Cart one of our free comics and when you Checkout, you’ll be able to download it for free. It’s fast and easy — try it!

Get Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing right now at The Yaoi 911 Store.

Where can I talk about it?

Right here! The comments section of this post is the place to let me and other readers know what you thought. (And please do — you’re the whole reason we’re making these comics. And we love encouragement. )

What about spoilers?

So folks are able to talk about the work without worrying about spoiling the story for others, I’ve added a new feature to the blog comments: spoiler protection! It works like this. Put the spoiler text into your comment between bracketed “spoiler” tags like this

to end up with this:

So, when does Chapter Three come out?

Well, we’re working on it. Our goal is to have it finished in a few months, just like this chapter was — but my experience tells me that stuff happens so I don’t want to give a firm date until I know we’re only weeks away. That said — don’t despair, you can still get your Yaoi 911 fix before then! Our first full-length, for-pay graphic novel, Artifice, is being colored right now and that means it should be done before the Fall. So, one way or the other, we should have another comic for you in a few months — and trust me, Artifice has it all: sex, action, romance, androids, evil robopsychologists and an adorable and scrappy young love interest. It’s going to be awesome!

Please tell me what you thought!

So that’s what you need to know about our latest comic. I really do hope you like how Mike’s story is coming along. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Preview Pages

Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing written by Alex Woolfson. Pencils by Vitto. Colors and cover art by Winona Nelson.
© 2010 Alex Woolfson. All Rights Reserved.

Want to download the entire 35 page comic? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the very first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

All right — so close!

I know I said we’d have the second chapter of Tough ready today, but it turns out we still have just another couple “i”‘s to dot and “t”‘s to cross before we send this 35 page full-color yaoi comic out to the nearly 13,000 (!) subscribers of the Yaoi 911 News and Downloads mailing list. It’s tempting to rush things to make our deadline, but I’d rather make sure everything works and runs smoothly (meaning that I actually have gone through and tested everything) before I click that SEND NOW button. Because once I click it, there’s no turning back!

So, in the meantime, to tide you all over, I have a special treat. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the cover art for “No Kissing” — painted by our very own kick-ass artist Winona Nelson! (Who also did the colors for “No Kissing” — and IMHO kicked ass there as well!)

(Click on the image to see a bigger version.)

I really think she knocked it out of the park with this one. And hopefully, seeing her awesome work will whet your appetite for Chapter 2. (Out sometime this week!)

(And hey, if you want to receive this comic when I send it out, please make sure you’ve signed up on our Free Comics page. Tough Chapter Two: “No Kissing” is another free comic from Yaoi 911.)

If you like what you see, please let us know in the comments! We live for encouragement! (And right now, as we hustle to get everything finished, a little encouragement would be a very nice thing…)

UPDATE 5-3-10: I’ve just posted Winona’s painting on our print store. Check it out.

It’s finally here! The first chapter of our seven chapter gay teen yaoi comic Tough is now finished!

This will serve as the master post for Tough: Chapter One. Here is where readers should leave comments about what they thought about the comic and it’s also where I’ll be sharing the first 16 preview pages with you!

What’s this first chapter about?

Tough starts with 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro being dragged into a fag bashing by a bunch of older, wilder boys. Mike knows it’s wrong and tries to stop it, but that just makes things worse; the older boys turn on him, forcing him to either beat the cute gay boy they’ve cornered or face the same fate. Can Mike figure out a way to save this guy and himself? And could this really be the start of a romance?! Read Tough: Chapter One to find out!

How do I read this comic?

This is another free download for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers. Subscribers to our mailing list get sent links to our free comics and this is the latest one. So if you want to read more, just sign up — a link will be sent right to you!

(You can also find and download Tough: Chapter One at our new store. If you’re a subscriber and haven’t gotten the Yaoi 911 News & Downloads email yet, you can create a new account at our store using your subscriber email address, Add To Cart a free comic and when you Checkout, you’ll be able to download it for free. It’s fast and easy — try it! Tough: Chapter One at The Yaoi 911 Store. )

Where can I talk about it?

Right here! The comments section’s of this post is the place to let me and other readers know what you thought. (And please do — you’re the whole reason we’re making these comics. And we love encouragement. )

What about spoilers?

So that folks are able to talk about the work without worrying about spoiling the story for others, I’ve added a new feature to the blog comments: spoiler protection! It works like this. Put the spoiler text into your comment between bracketed “spoiler” tags like this

to end up with this:

So, when does Chapter Two come out?

Chapter One is where we meet our heroes (and villains) and set things up. Chapter Two deals with the aftermath of what happens and it’s where the yaoi really gets cooking. If you want more kissing — and I know you do — I promise, you won’t have to wait long. The next chapter delivers the goods.

Chapter Two is already completely finished and will be sent out to subscribers on May 1, 2010.

Please tell me what you thought!

So that’s what you need to know about our latest comic. I really do hope you like the beginning of our story. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought!

Preview Pages

Tough: Chapter One written by Alex Woolfson. Pencils by Vitto. Colors by Vincent Lee.
© 2010 Alex Woolfson. All Rights Reserved.

Want to download the entire comic? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

]]> http://www.yaoi911.com/yaoi-comic-tough-is-ready-for-download/feed/ 45 http://www.yaoi911.com/yaoi-art-painted-cover-art-for-tough/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yaoi-art-painted-cover-art-for-tough http://www.yaoi911.com/yaoi-art-painted-cover-art-for-tough/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:05:39 +0000 Alex Woolfson http://www.yaoi911.com/?p=1032 Tough (it gets its title from this first chapter). Well, our artist Winona Nelson has just finished painting the cover art for the book and here it is!]]>

So, things are coming together nicely for the release of our next free comic, the 35 page gay teen romance-and-rescue story, “Tough”.

And now I have something very exciting to show you. As I’ve mentioned before, “Tough” is the first chapter in a two volume, seven chapter graphic novel also called Tough (it gets its title from this first chapter). We’ve been working hard on it and it should be ready for download shortly. Well, in the meantime, our artist Winona Nelson has just finished painting the cover art for the book and here it is! (Click on it for a larger view.)

Now, I asked Winona to create an image with our heroes combining the themes of “romance” and “danger” with the specific plot elements of the first chapter and I think she did a fantastic job. Totally nailed it.

(And I especially like the fact that there are layers of meaning to it — at first you see the kissing, and then you see the dangerous shadows and then you see that one of the boys himself (Mike) is also carrying a bat!)

IMHO, it’s intriguing and beautiful, just like a book cover should be… (I’m of course biased, but if I saw a book on the shelf in a bookstore with Winona’s art on it, I’d definitely pick it up and give it a look!)

Having this artwork finished also marks the first time we have an actual item for sale. (Woo hoo!) If you like this painting, you can get a very high-quality print (poster) made of it over at Imagekind. (A perfect way to show off your love of yaoi and style up your crib!)

While there are more flashy sites out there, the thing I like about Imagekind is that in addition to having the best quality paper and printing in the business, they also have very high quality framing. (I’ve bought four prints from them framed, and Imagekind’s framing was superior to what I got here in San Francisco for my other prints.) So, even though I have this art up with other places for sale, Imagekind is the printer I’d recommend if you’d like a really beautiful, very high-quality print for your wall (and especially if you’d like it nicely framed). In addition, they offer a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee — which also earns my respect.

And another nice thing about Imagekind is that you have the option of getting a “greeting card” of the print where you can actually resize the art — and thus focus directly in on the boys kissing. For just $4.99, greeting cards are the easiest, most affordable way to own this art.

EDIT: And now, due to popular demand, we’ve created a version of the art with just the kissing — for those who want to focus on the romance without any distractions. You can find that image here:

If mousepads, mugs and postcards are more your thing, we also have a Zazzle store. And Zazzle goes out of their way to make things easy to find and buy on their site with all the bells and whistles an independent creator like me could want. Just check out their crazy flash panel:

You can pretty much get anything you can think of made into a product with your art at Zazzle. Personally, I want the skateboard!

Anyway, that’s the latest on the Yaoi 911 comics front. I hope you like what you see. If you have a moment, please let me know in the comments what you think of Winona’s work!

Hey! Wondering what happens in this story? No problem — we’ll be giving away this comic for free! (When it’s done, that is!) Want to make sure you get the free download links to this comic when it’s finished? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

So, we’ve been hard at work on our gay teen Boys Love story Tough — the pencils for all 35 pages of Chapter One are now complete, our colorist Jesse Heagy is hard at work coloring those penciled pages and I’ve just finished lettering those pages. Which means I can now show you some pages with words! My words! Oh, happy day.

I’ll be posting soon a bit about what the lettering process is like — lettering being the stage where you add in all the word balloons and sound effects — but while I’m working on that post, I just couldn’t wait to share what some of the writing is like with you — at least for the first 12 pages. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy what you read!

But first a caveat — this is lettering over pencils — this isn’t the finished artwork (which will be in full-color), thus it is also not the finished lettering. The pages will, of course, look much more polished once the coloring is complete and I’ll be adding color and other visual effects as well to the sound effects. Please understand, this is still a “work-in-progress.”

But I think Vitto’s pencils are absolutely strong enough to stand on their own — and hopefully, the addition of the lettering will help you get a feel for what to expect when Chapter One is finished. In the comments, please let me know what you think!

(Oh, and to give you the full heads-up, in these pages, there’s strong language, the threat of violence and bad boys doing and saying bad things. But maybe that’s just how you like it. Yeah, baby, yeah!)

Click on one of the thumbnails below to activate our Lightbox viewer. Use your keyboard’s arrow keys to move to the next or previous pages. Click anywhere outside the image to close the Lightbox.

Hey! Wondering what happens next? No problem — we’re giving away this comic for free! Want to make sure you get the free download links to this comic when it’s finished? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911â„¢ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!