That feeling when you unexpectedly go too far with something…

So I’m pretty sure this has been the shortest, most precise scene ever so far in MitM (YAY!). Most of MitM’s scenes are slow and drawn out, but I somehow managed to compress this conversation and exchange between Dayton and Janice down to only two pages O.O

Although it may have helped the fact that I had a very clear image of how this conversation would go since I first wrote this dialogue with some rough facial expressions in my sketch book way back during the middle of last chapter…

Decently pleased with how the page came out for this. It has some fun paneling, some alright inking, and a very wet Dayton :3

JUMP to page >> Page 118

HA! Got this one done on time 😛

I think this page actually marks the first page of this inking exercise that I didn’t mess up on. I’m not saying I’ve perfected the art of inking, I’m only saying that I didn’t make an accidental mark while inking this page.

For the “Splash” panel, I debated drawing a realistic water splash (after all, I did something similar way back on Page 39). Eventually I decided I would draw it poorly and it would look funky, so I went for a stylized approach instead. And yes, I used a really cliche manga scene change with the first panel looking up in the sky.

Fun fact: the last, bottom panel was not in my thumbnail sketch of the page. The original plan was to make the panels taller and end with a “splash!” (sorry, couldn’t help myself). However, I thought an establishing shot would be beneficial to show where they are, and I thought it would be really ambiguous that Dayton had fallen into a fountain without the panel.

So…I would like to dedicate this page to my mom. Alright, confession time. I obviously pull from myself and my experience to help build the characters of MitM. Certain characters have more of me in them than others, but ultimately all of them have a little piece of me (after all, I do draw them…). Dayton’s short-temper with his dad is very similar to one of my traits that I’m most ashamed of. My lack of patience with my mom. I would generally consider myself a decently patient person, but sadly that is a characteristic I rarely show my mother. My reasoning for my behavior honestly is along the same lines as Dayton’s line, “I really don’t know…” however, unlike Dayton, I’m no longer a teenager and I don’t have some lame adoption excuse.

Anyways, I’d like to dedicate this page as a way for me to say, “Sorry mom. I love you and I really don’t mean to be that easily frustrated teenager that never grew up.”

JUMP to page >> Page 117

Yeah, yeah, I know. Definitely a little later than normal this week, but I really didn’t want to miss updating this week…

This week’s page looked better as a sketch o_o

Setting aside self-doubt and the multiple inking blurps, still decently pleased with this page. Trying out some fun inking with the roof in the last two panels which is kinda cool if it wasn’t such a “marker killer.” Whatever the case, I’m glad to finally get Dayton and Janice out of the house. Still need to cover a lot of ground in this chapter 😛

If you haven’t noticed, MitM tends to move pretty slowly (probably to a fault). This page is a good example. Technically I probably could have combined each row of panels into only 3 panels. Appropriate pacing? or poor decisions on my part?? Although, looking back, I did just spend 6 pages waking characters up, having a brief argument, and finally leaving >.< JUMP to page >> Page 116

Ah yes, another beautiful page displaying my inability as an artist 😛

I never got Ray to look right while coughing in the first panel, nor did the blood-stained handkerchief come out very well in the fifth panel. Did have some fun trying out some new panel ideas though. Also experimented with some more variety in word bubbles and font (which I might keep working with).

Since the last page did not exactly instigate a wave of discussion about how I should ink the pages, I decided on my own that I’m still gonna try to pursue the “ink shading” at least a little bit longer…

JUMP to page >> Page 115

Come on Dayton. “…decided to do it yourself.” That seems a little much. I’m pretty sure Sam played a pretty significant role in convincing you to do the job 😛

Spent a lot of time writing this page. I knew from the beginning I wanted the conversation to escalate to having Dayton frustrated and on the edge of an argument, but smoothly getting there with the dialogue proved a significant challenge for my small little writer’s brain…

However, I was really pleased with how the panel layout came out. I liked the 9-panel grid (with the missing panel in the middle) and how it created this circular composition that revolves around a conversation. The conversation itself also goes through a three level system (top three panels, then middle two, and then final three) as things become tense. Another cool touch I tried to do was keep the left panels focused on Dayton and the right ones on Ray. Originally the bottom ones were gonna perfectly mirror the top panels (first panel would show Dayton with Ray silhouette in background, and the last two focus on Ray), but I switched it up a little.

Also, Oh look! No ink-shading-thingy this page. I’m not completely abandoning the ink shading, but I wanted to try and see what it would look like just filling in open spots with ink. I’d love to hear what you guys think. Your opinion could change the future of MitM’s style! 😀

JUMP to page >> Page 114

Whoops, a day late, but I gave it my best ^^;

Once again, blah blah, not sure this style is working, blah blah, it’s becoming more and more obvious I’m not sure what I’m trying to do with this style, blah blah blah 😛

Still trying to find a balancing point, but I do really want to push my art style, so please bare with me through these troubling times of extreme experimentation (I mean I’m always trying to experiment with MitM, but this is more radical and…yeah…)

Since it’s NOT obvious by any means, the long skinny panel is meant to show Dayton in four positions. Running down the stairs, grabbing a loaf of bread (yeah yeah, I know, but there are many more issues than my poorly drawn bread), slicing the bread, and then his silhouette grabbing something from the top of the cupboard. Yeah…this panel kinda just fell apart the farther along I got. I had hoped that silhouetting the last Dayton would help him and the other characters stand out more, but that obviously didn’t work. I was also unsure of whether or not to use the solid inking black for background elements or foreground stuff. Yup. Officially botched.

Also back to crappy scanner for a few weeks…

JUMP to page >> Page 113

Hmm…I don’t know…

Not sure I’m digging this ink shading. I’m definitely gonna give it some more time and a little more practice, but like I said, expect some weird stylistic changes to happen this chapter.

The bottom four panels were super fun to draw though. They were designed to mirror Dayton’s four panels of him waking up on the last page. These four panels with Janice though were supposed to have actual panels around her. I drew them during the sketch phase, but they never got inked because I thought the panellessness (real word, I swear) was pretty cool. Well that and I’ve never done something like this before, and you know me, always eager to try out something new 😛

JUMP to page >> Page 112

I warned you!!

But seriously, I was really serious about testing out some new stuff artistically with my style in this chapter. Expect to see some stuff that will never show up again in MitM, and some terrible face-palm moments. However, I hope to finish Chapter 5 a better artist (here’s hoping!).

For today’s atrocious experiment, I present to you: Ink Shading!

Not only did I dive into this blindly with no idea what I was gonna do, but I didn’t actually figure out how I wanted to do it till like halfway through the page. Looking over the finished product, it’s not…terrible. I do like the idea of some solid black shapes using ink, and some subtle ink shading. Also I think if I get a better hang of inking like this, I could do some cool dark scenes. Until then it’ll just kinda look all awkward……like this page…

JUMP TO PAGE >> Page 111

That’s it. The end. No more. One hundred and ten pages is a good stopping point 😛

…Well, at least for a chapter. Next chapter (Chapter 5!) will bring us back to Dayton and his adventures. But, sadly we are all gonna have to wait longer than just another week to find out what the next part of MitM brings to the story.

I will be briefly putting Mutt in the Middle on hold. Why? There are several reasons that factor into my decision, but the biggest for me is the MitM website. It is in DESPERATE need of updating. While the front end is……feasible…the back end is currently a mess and needs reworking. Fittingly the domain name for my website is set to expire next week (which I will renew), so it’s like a perfect reminder/sign to get some work done on the site.

I will sorely miss working on MitM weekly, so I may get restless with the website rework and start chapter 5 before the website is finished ^^;