Thanks @mitsuki-youko @JimSt @gregorya @Kaz_0 and everyone stopping by!! As usual you guys make my day 
Got back from the ranch. Really it's a property from a family member at the edges of the desert in the north of Mexico. Spent time over there digging up weeds, tilling a bit of the terrain and what not. Had some tacos with chicharron, some wings fried in habanero sauce, and in general touched some grass. Got sick, hands hurted, then did it again. So overall, pretty good.
Look at that guy go!
We actually arrived sooner than expected, so I got a chance to do some progress.
Term 4
Finished the first environment piece from "Study (copy) 3 environment drawings from professional artists/shows/games you like (lineart + simple coloring)"
As mentioned last time, it's based on the arkham origins penguins's lair, since the set and character I used (Big Red), is partially based on the penguin.
If I'm honest, near the end I started losing patience, as I wanted to keep moving to the next work in the queue, and I felt it was finally in a good enough place to wrap it up.
Other than the more obvious changes, I also tried to add some saturation to move the eyes, so you'll notice the desk and chandalier has more vivid colors while the left is more desaturated, so even though both sections have light, the right one pulls you more.
The character also serves as a key focus point, so even if the eyes wanders around, it's like the character draws them back to the center/right.
Overall I learned more about colors, how they combine with lighting, the overal room composition. It was a very interesting experience.
Storywise, this is the setting for Nozomu chapter 30, so it helped me on that end too. Granted I'll probably simplify several elements a bit, since this piece took quite a bit of time to do.
Still got 2 more to do!
Manga
Final page of chapter 29 done! Though I still need to work on the cover art, translation, editing, etc. Still got a lot to do before I upload it. Webtoon already sent me a notice that I'm late with the chapter too xD, but it's quite alright, since I'm taking my own pace this year.
1) Talking about the obvious, Iris is clearly not happy here. Those glances will hopefully tell the reader there's more going on with her than just jealousy, though it does seem like she's jealous as well doesn't she? xD. She's actually one of the more complex characters in the story, but I guess I shouldn't spoil much about her just yet. There's a certain sadness she carries with her even if she doesn't show it to others.
2) The dialogue between Seki and Sari continues, thinking about how to include dialogue for characters offscreen, there are a few ways to do it. Some mangas use inverted bubble tails to indicate the position of the character even if they're off screen, but I figured changing the color of the bubbles to indicate who's talking and setting a clear tone to the text was easier to follow. Each bubble is actually the tone of each character's hair to help the reader easily associate who's saying what (darker for male, lighter for female). Or at least that's the idea xD, works better when there's a color to associate.
3) The little joke also serves to have the reader "Stay" on these frames a bit longer than if they just featured Iris. Spoiling things a bit as well, the joke is actually something Iris told Seki when they where kids, so it adds a bit of a sting to her in this scene, though the reader won't have this context until much later. Not something that will be highlighted, just a bit thrown in there for those keeping track.
4) My struggle with BGs continues. Tried something different yet again for the big frame with the ballroom, leaning heavily on "suggested detail" instead of just tones. It helps to make the scene feel more "busy" to contrast the frames with Iris, adding some shadows, making her frames feel even more "lonely"
That's all for now! Oh no.. wait, I did start working on the sketch and color palete test for the cover:
I really liked Sari's design, and since I probably won't use it again any time soon, figured I would at least make a color piece with her, hence the color palette tests done previously xD
As usual, any and all feedback is very welcome!
Got a lot to do, so who knows when I'll get a chance to do another update, but with some luck I'll get a chance to continue grinding for a bit these days.
Bests of luck to everyone! Happy rest of the week! Cheers!
