  |
|
Read the comic script using the script button below.
Who's behind Dark Red? Meet the cast and crew.
Meet Richard Cavendish on the interviews page.
The Dark Red Chronicles
|
Hallowed Ground
A quick word from your friendly neighbourhood web guy. This photograph was taken early on during the development of Dark Red, back when we thought it was all going to be hand drawn. I went on a walk round the Necropolis with Lynn looking for reference material. She snapped away at anything that caught her eye. It's an interesting place to visit although it's a bit breezy on top of the hill. Enjoy,
|
|||
geeky|
Dark Red Intro Issue #2
A quick word from your friendly neighbourhood web guy. This week we have the introduction to go with Issue #2. Tom Thornton talks about his professional experience with comics and his thoughts on Dark Red. Thanks Tom. Actually while Lynn asked for a short introduction he actually produced an essay instead. It's got a lot of interesting details about the evolution of comic styles, read the extended version.
|
|||
calm|
Further Inquiries & Investigations
A quick word from your friendly neighbourhood web guy. The website seems to be running well. There are a few secrets hidden away for those who like to explore. And we've had few problems so far. So that's all good. This week we have the notes from Issue #2 by the researcher who has been studying recent events. Enjoy,
|
|||
|
Guest Art: Omar I. Rodriguez - Shadows
Today's guest art, Shadows, is from Omar I. Rodriguez. And is very special to me because Omar is the very first person to ever friend thedarkredblog on Live Journal. So I'm really happy to show off his talent with this wonderfully eerie and sinister picture. If you remember, the quote is a reference back to the first page of the comic. I spent ages looking at it and trying to decipher the layers of pictures. I'm pretty sure that the bird is a black crow and also sort of references a work of Omar's called Thom - A Graphic Novel. And that sort of looks like Sarah in the foreground with her white streak. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thanks Omar! (And just to let you know, there won't be an update next week.)
|
|||
sleepy|
Inquiries & Investigations
A quick word from your friendly neighbourhood web guy. We're back with Issue #1 again to hear from the researcher who has been providing us with all the insights on the interviews page. He knows more than he is saying, more than he can say. It can't be helped. We will just have to wait for the events to unfold. If you've had a chance to look about the site you might have noticed something funny with the new about page. Your browser's address bar should show that there's more than one of them. What's going on with that? I'm trying to find the best way to introduce new readers to the comic. In the future I'm going to start to directing new readers to the about page when they first visit the website. Don't worry, if you're a regular reader you'll continue to go straight to the latest page as you do now. Which is best advert for Dark Red? Is it behind door number one, door number two, or door number three? Join me on the forum if you want to have your say. Enjoy,
|
|||
determined|
Guest Art: Amanda Stewart - Sketches
I really like these sketches of Sarah and Muse, by my friend Amanda. She really is a great artist. These were all done a few years ago, just after the first drafts of Dark Red were written. Amanda helped me get started with the drawing and art side of the comic. After all it isn't a comic or graphic novel with just a script. The pictures of Muse (or Melita Adani) were drawn when she was going to be of African descent. This obviously changed when the actress was cast. We hadn't finalised her surname until that point. I hope you are enjoying having a wander round the new website. There are actually surprises in the website that I wasn't expecting to have. So I'm really pleased with it. Thanks to my amazing webguy. :D |
|
|
Updated Website & Introduction to Issue #1
(Post by the Dark Red Web Guy. :D)
Hello again. We've something a bit different this week. We travel back in time to give you the official introduction to Issue #1. Thanks to Susanna for this. If you're enjoying Dark Red then you should know that a hard copy version is available. I've got one and it's lovely. I was hugely impressed both by Lynn and Jo's work and the print quality from Indy Planet. Incidentally, Dark Red now sits in my bookshelf next to Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book series due to the quirk of alphabetic ordering. Go Dark Red! If you look around you should also see that we've updated the website again. Version 2 was functional but a bit plain in places. Version 3 has had a lot of time spent on some little details which, hopefully, give it a much more polished appearance. I'm particularly pleased with the new look archive and blog. With any update we may experience a few teething problems. As ever, if you experience any problems with the site then get in touch. Enjoy,
|
|||
accomplished|
Guest Art: Neil McChrystal - Gargoyles
Today's Guest Art is from a good friend of mine, Neil McChrystal. He's a talented illustrator and his website is definitely worth checking out. I adore Fallen Angel, Dragon Bashing and All For a Carrot. You can even buy prints of the Gargoyles and Dragon Bashing in his Exhibition & Sales Section. Neil's also worked with a lot of conventions in the UK to produce their advertising artwork. And has moved on to illustration for books, companies and charities. If you want to contact him for a commission his details are on the Exhibition & Sales Section. I adore his style, and love the fact that he can do abstracts and fine art sketches as well. One of my little pet plans is to get a commission from him with the cast of Dark Red in it. I'll probably get round to it in the next year at some point. My Webguy's also said that some time, in the next week possibly, we'll be launching the new website. I'm really looking forward to it. A lot of work has gone into it from the team. And I'm proud as punch of it.
|
|||
|
Bonus Page Sketch - Hell on Earth
Thought you might like to see this old page I sketched years ago. It was in the first drafts of the original ten issues of the comic I wrote. It was taken out as being too full of exposition. But I thought you might like to see it since the first couple of issues are out of the way. Incidentally this is the first full page I've lettered by myself. I know that my webguy is working really hard on the new version of the website. That's version 3.0, I think. I'm only offering odd and probably not so useful suggestions now and then. I have had a look and it's really, really cool. I'm really pleased with the new archive page, in particular. We're hoping to unveil the updated site in a week or so.
|
|||
creative|
Guest Art: Zeichenwut Productions - Sarah
I'd like to introduce 'The work of Zeichenwut Productions' to you. Zeichenwut's a talented artist who describes herself as a 'drawing maniac and coffee addict'. And lucky for us, is a friend of the Dark Red Blog. You can look at more of her work on her Live Journal. Personally, I love the Happy Undead T-shirts. I had my eye on the black one with the teeth. You know, Bella loves this sort of thing. Hmm, ideas for her next present. Better keep that one to myself. ;) Zeichenwut Productions take commissions if you need something, she does fan-art, oc's, soft yaoi, photorealistic (pencil only), cat-boy & cat-girls, and also chibis. Her chibis are really cute. The prices are really reasonable and her art is beautiful.
|
|||
pleased|
Guest Comic: Gynn Silva
I love this week's guest comic, created by Gynn Silva from Dandelion Studios. It's exactly the sort of conversation that Sarah would be having with her friends. We don't really have the space in the comic to have this sort of thing. It's a shame, I'd like to have them hanging out more and faffing about cause those are the bits I (secretly) really like. I think Jo likes the bits in between the plot as well. Dandelion Studios also has a Live Journal Community, a Comic Space Page and a Deviant Art Page. I highly recommend buying Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire. It's really funny. :D
|
|||
contemplative|
Afternoon Storm
We just had a thunder and lightning storm here in the west end of Glasgow. A couple of the blots were really near with them both arriving at the same time. They set off all the car alarms in the area and caused my cats to get really nervous. Which is odd cause they don't usually mind bad weather, constuction noises or fireworks. Zim climbed in my lap and Gir tried to sit on my head. :D It's nice to know that they'll come to me when they're frightened.
|
|||
surprised|
The Best of Bella
This week I would like to thank our wonderful, beautiful, talented actress, Bella Roivas, for all her time and hard work. Dark Red is lucky to have her on board and I thought a small celebration was in order. So let's raise our glasses to Bella! *clink!* Also Bella has located an actual proper white streak for us to use in the next issue. So I'll need to add a hairdresser to the team or have a go myself. ;) Thanks for everything Bella! :D
|
|||
|
Guest Art: Amanda Stewart - Sarah
I'm very pleased to show off a talented friend today. Amanda Stewart's an amazing artist and I'm dead chuffed that I have a drawing by her. In this picture Sarah is having a vision. She doesn't have them very often as she's not had much practice and also her talent's mostly focused on seeing mystical things in the now. Amanda's one of the Glasgow Roller Girls. I was watching some footage of them playing roller derby against London recently and it looked pretty insane. (Glasgow are in white and London in pink.) They'll be playing in Glasgow in a month or two and I can't wait to see them. More Pics Here. So good luck girls and have fun this summer. *waves hello*
|
|||
|
Guest Comic: Jennifer Thym - Psychic Poker
Today's guest comic is by the very talented Jennifer Thym, creator of Manimanimas. The psychic poker's a brilliant idea isn't it? I'd have loved to watch that game, knowing the joke. It's also so cool to see all the characters drawn by someone else. Jennifer's got everything spot on. I keep coming back to it, I like it so much. Manimanimas is worth checking out. It's not been going too long, but it's funny, well drawn and promising. Especially if you're addicted to on-line fantasy games you'll really appreciate it.
|
|||
|
Update: Character Sketches
Just a wee note to say that I've posted up some of the very first character sketches of Sarah and the gang. Except Daniel, I used to have a really good sketch him and I couldn't find it. Well, you know him, he's probably off fighting demons somewhere. If you see him, let me know. ;)
|
|||
|
Dark Red Yearly Round Up: Spring 2008
Dark Red has finished its second issue online now, so you should definitely check it out. The production team has worked really hard for over a year now, and I've been nose to the grindstone for about three years. Therefore I've decided that we could all do with a break. We'll be away for a few months but we are posting guest and fan art, as well as some never seen before Dark Red goodies. I'm really proud of what we've accomplished and wanted to post up about it. Two issues online, lots of behind the scenes stuff in the gallery, guest and a little bit of fan art, character interviews plus lots of wallpapers and avatars for people. Not bad for a year's work! And that's not all. In the 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, Dark Red was nominated for Outstanding Photographic Comic. We didn't win but were completely chuffed to be nominated. http://www.ccawards.com/2008finalists.h My letterer, Jo McKenzie, was present at Easter con (Orbital) recently. Being the extrovert of the Dark Red Production Team, she was on several panels and had loads of fun telling people about the comic. Most notably she was the only female in the panel on webcomics and the only one to actually have a webcomic. I'm really pleased about that. I think it says something about how far women have come in certain traditionally geeky fields. Since there were a few of my friends and cast members in the audience, whenever she mentioned Dark Red there were whoops and yells. Cool! The lovely Neil Gaiman was a guest of honour there. Jo spent a while waiting to meet him and get him to sign some books for her. She took the opportunity to present him with a hard copy of our comic. He said he'd heard of Dark Red, and it looked good but he'd been too busy to read it. I'm still all happy and slightly stunned when I think about it. She also came back with a signed copy of 'Neverwhere' for me. It reads, 'For Lynn - Mind the Gap! And thanks for Dark Red! Neil Gaiman.' And she carried a giant pink pig to ops for him. Jo is the best web comic partner a girl could have! :D And that, my friends, is the end of our first year of being Indy Comic producers.
|
|||
|
The Rock Star of Illustration
'Dark Red Guest Art: Matt Busch' Today we are showcasing the spectacular art of Matt Busch. He's known as the rock star of illustration and as you can see by his credits has worked on some very cool projects. I might have to stop to drool over his art some more. Anyways Matt, being a nice guy, has let Dark Red have a nosey about his archives and put up some of the ones we liked most. It's worth having a good look; I spent about an hour picking those. It was so hard to choose. Enjoy!
|
|||
|
Fan Art - Knitted Sarah
Today I'm totally pleased to present my very first piece of fan art. It's 'Knitted Sarah' by Sacha Haworth, our lovely angel from Issue 1. I thought that I'd arrange Knitted Sarah with some of the other Dark Red stuff I've gathered over the last year. My cute little badges and business cards. And behind all of this is a hard copy of Issue 1. It does mean a lot to me to hold something I've created. I'm really pleased with all the team have accomplished over the year. :D
|
|||
|
First Guest Comic!
I'm very proud to announce our first guest comic. The creator is a good friend of mine and of Dark Red's, Aaron Lewis from 'The Best of What's Left' (TBOWL). I'm thrilled with the comic he's made. It's fun to see someone else drawing in my comic universe. He'd also guessed bits of future plot, like Sarah's having a sword. I got this way before I put up the last page of issue 2. And I adore the little dolls of Sarah and Future Paladin. That's also a really good bit of guessing as you will see next week. ;) We didn't win the WCCA, but that's cool. A nomination is still a wonderful thing in the first year of a webcomic. We'd like to extend our congratulations to all the other nominees and winners. What's your favourite panel from Dark Red? Join the discussion on our forums to get your choice on the welcome page.
|
|||
All text & images copyright © 2005-2008 Lynn French and Joanna McKenzie. All Rights Reserved.
This work is registered with the UK Copyright Service: Reg. No: 253687