Comic #135: The Finding of the Fort
Monday, December 7th, 2009The fort depicted here really did exist. It wasn’t as complete as shown in this comic, though. The real one was just a level platform with a plank ladder leading up one of the support trees. It was a short 15 minute walk from my cul-de-sac into the thick of the woods, down an unofficial “well-tread” path. I still to this day don’t know who built it or how old it was at the time I found it.
Unfortunately, time was not kind to it; much like the stepping stones and the oversized piping, this is yet another landmark of my childhood that has not survived. On one of my last trips out into the woods while visiting the old house, I found that the fort had all but disintegrated, either decomposed by the elements or removed by someone. All that’s left of it is a single plank of wood nailed to a tree.
So yes, in case anyone missed last week’s color update, be sure to check it out by clicking the “previous comic” button. I updated late on Monday night so I’m not sure how many people may have overlooked it. In case you did, I had mentioned that I would be dropping the grayscale for awhile with the comic to allow me more time to maintain a regular update. My graduate thesis is kicking in and I’ll be working full-time on that for the next year or so. The only way I could see myself keeping up a faster and consistent update schedule is if I made the pages less time-consuming to finish. To compensate, I’m going to experiment with spot blacks and more textures in the settings, which I hope you all enjoy just as much!
I’ll still keep the option available to donate for a full-color update, and will fulfill those pages immediately. This is just a way for me to still keep producing P&C during my grad thesis time and eliminate any delays in the future. I’m sure you all are as tired as I am of seeing multiple weeks go by without any new material!
December 7th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
nice fort
December 8th, 2009 at 12:14 am
I think it looks just as good without any greyscale actually, the stark monochrome contrast between the trees is probably even better for showing up the detail without distracting the eye.
December 11th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Three things:
1. Lol at Skin’s thtupid pineconeths.
2.Totally support the monochrome, cuz I really wanna see where this treehouse takes the guys.
3. When did Peter go somewhere without Seth?
December 11th, 2009 at 4:16 am
Hehe, well there have been moments where Peter has gone without Seth for random amounts of time. There was that segment back in the newspaper-style strips where Peter had to go to school without him and ended up stuck in a locker.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Can someone tell me what spot blacks are?
December 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Sure, Rachel: “Spot Blacks” refer to the areas of solid black in an inked image. They provide a bit of contrast and direction, typically to make the page more visually appealing and easier to read. Spot blacks and textures are just two ways to create depth and improve the composition of a black & white comic page.