Flowerlark Studios

Believe it or not, but this spring marks the 10th anniversary of the Fawna’s Quest/ Ashes story. I came up with it in high school when I was 14. The old old original was done all by hand in coloured pencil in a ‘Sunday comic’ format. Though it had a continuous storyline, each chapter was its own little arc with a punchline in every strip. I actually managed to dig up one of the old chapters I scanned years ago (chapter 12, I believe). It’s one of the more bizarre arcs, covering the vindictive vixen Narcissus (yeah… her name is spelled wrong in the comic ) as she seeks out her sister Kayla in order to exact revenge on her. As you can see, it’s completely awful. XD This old version was simply a silly story about Fawna, Flowerlark, and Russell seeking to prevent their forest from being destroyed by construction workers and all the inane adventures they had along the way. There was no solid plot, no daemons (no humans at all, actually), and no point to it other than I was having tonnes of fun working on it. The second incarnation of the story is more familiar, and started in 2006 in a graphic novel format. We see the villains appear, the daemons, the two worlds, and an actual plot. However, it was still quite awful. It got better as it went along until it was actually pretty good both art and writing wise in 2009, but the beginning was so poorly done that I felt compelled to redo it. At that point I had organised the story better and formed a much more solid and complex plot. Therefore, the entire thing needed to be redone in order to reflect both my current skill and the new plot. It was retitled ‘Ashes,’ as ‘Fawna’s Quest’ really didn’t fit the story anymore. This third (and hopefully final) incarnation is the one that’s updating now.

Hey, all. I am back from yet another trip to LA to see my spine doctor. I had a third surgery and am doing well. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. I am hoping it sticks this time and that I don’t get sick again. I’ve been relaxing by playing lots of video games. I plan on getting back into sculpture soon and hopefully comics will follow not too long after. Epic Fail will likey be the fist comic to resume as I have tonnes of ideas I’m itching to draw.

(BTW, I’m doing this update from my new DSi. )

Yes, my geekdom has reached a new low. Yesterday I completed the national pokedex on Heartgold. Just in time for white to come out and force me to collect another 150+ .

Hey all, been a while. I’m still here and Ashes is updating again on its website (even though the ‘latest’ thumbnail is not changing), albeit sporadically. Once Chapter 1 is all up I’m taking a break before chapter 2. My health took another nasty dive and I can’t get to LA to see my surgeon until early Feb at least. So it might be March or later until Chapter 2 starts.

Another November creeps up upon me and it is time once more for National Novel Writing Month. And again, I’m obliged to sit out. However, I do not intend to be idle this November. I would like to do at least a little writing, and I think that I will set the modest goal of rewriting the prologue and first chapter of the novel version of Ashes. I’m horrendously guilty of something known as ‘purple prose.’ Which means there’s a ridiculous amount of irrelevant verbiage. So I’m trimming away all the flowery debris and attempting a much simpler, faster-paced, and readable style. Soff gave me a very good critique of the two chapters and helped me spot the major problems. If I am pleased enough with the rewrites I may start posting the prose along with the comic. But knowing what an insufferable perfectionist I am, it’s unlikely. :/

Also, I cleaned up my links page, removing all the link exchanges whose websites have disappeared or who have removed their links to me.