Awoo.
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A page from Under Dark Skies, the second Nordguard book, which picks up right after Across Thin Ice. Check out the free 8-page preview of Under Dark Skies from Sofawolf Press in three days at AnthroCon!
We’ll also be running a panel on our approach to graphic novels, Saturday June 16th, from 3pm-4pm in the Lounge (Westin Hotel.)
Here’s some more information about the panel!
See you next weekend! :]
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Guess what! I’m a 2012 nominee for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award for Nordguard: Across Thin Ice! Check it out! :]
For the Coloradans:
In the few days I’ve been at home this month, I’ve been rampaging around to comic-book shops in the surrounding area, with Across Thin Ice copies in hand. I’m happy to say, everyone who saw it was very enthusiastic about the book! Several comic book places will be ordering from Diamond (and have books hopefully in October,) but a some places picked up some copies on the spot. So if you’re in Colorado, want to get yourself a copy of ATI, and would like to support some super friendly local businesses, check out:
– Kilgore Books, Located 624 E 13th Avenue, Denver CO 80203
– Calico Books, Located at 300 Nickel Street, Broomfield, CO 8002
– I Want More Comics! Located at 1020 W 104th Ave, Northglenn, CO 80234
– Time Warp, at 3105 28th Street, Boulder CO!
I plan on hitting a few more places along the road south tomorrow, namely the ‘Springs, and I may stop in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. If you know of any good places to hit up, let me know! I’ll try to post an updated list if any more places want to pick up copies on the spot. :]
I’m very happy to say Nordguard: Across Thin Ice has been chosen as an August Staff Pick by Diamond Distributors! Take a look! Diamond is the largest comic book distributor in North America—essentially, Diamond puts out a giant catalog which comic book stores/retailers order the lion’s share of their product from.
So what does that mean?
It mean’s I’ve got a small favor to ask! If you’re interested in seeing Across Thin Ice carried in stores around the country, you’ve got until the end of this month to ask your local comic shop to stock it!
Ask for “Across Thin Ice,” mention that it’s a staff pick on page #318 in Diamond’s August Previews Catalog, and that you’d love to order one or a dozen copies. ;]
If you have a copy already, bring it in to show them!
So, if you read the book and liked it, or just want to get a copy for yourself without shopping online, or just want to get the word out there–I’d be really appreciative if you ask for Across Thin Ice at your local comic store, anytime between now and September 1st!
Also, if you’re over seas and want to spare yourself shipping from the US – Across Thin Ice has already started to pop up in many comic book stores online—for you UK folks, Forbidden Planet has listed it as a pre-order! Same with Archonia in Belgium! (If you don’t order it, they may not stock it–so if you’ve had your eye on a copy but want cheaper shipping, this is the time to buy!)
Alopex from Sofawolf Press wrote a longer explanation about Diamond’s role and what you can do to help! Check it out! :]
Thank you for the moment of your time, and once again, a big thanks to everyone who’s already gotten a copy of Across Thin Ice!
Here is the artwork for the “Pi” character card we did for the Nordguard Card Game. (More information on the game can be found here!)
The original is small, about 3×4, in watercolor and acrylic.
Over the years, a couple people have asked where Pi got her name. Pi is actually a nick name (her real name comes up in the next book, actually…) There’s two stories behind how she got the nickname–one, being that she’s black and white and it’s short for piebald. The other is a slightly longer story from her days of basic training. In searching for an object buried in the snow, she stumbled and tripped, landing directly on the target. She set a new record time of 3.14, hence, the nickname “Pi.”
We’ve been getting a lot of character specific questions, usually in the chat during LiveStreams. We thought it would be fun to set up an “Ask the Nordguard” page! You can ask a character from the comic a question. When we have a bit of free time, or feel like sketching something a little less serious, we’ll respond to one or two of the questions in a quick and sketchy fashion.
So, check it out, and if you have a question for one of the characters–ask away!
Keep an eye on either @nordguard on Twitter, the Nordguard Development Blog, or the News feed for answers!
This was a piece painted a couple of weeks ago, for the Nordguard Card Game. Specifically, it’s one of the “Stray Territory” location cards, featuring a stray Maguruq who thinks you would be tasty to eat.
While the majority of the original artwork for the game is about 3×4″, we liked the thumbnail sketch of this one enough to page it a bit larger. The original is about 8×10, watercolors and acrylic.
Here is the original sketch, and some work-in-progress photographs:
The first step, aside from stretching the paper, is to add masking fluid to the foreground rocks/skull. (I use Winsor&Newton brand masking fluid.)
