It takes a little longer to produce each comic but the new technique I’ve been using to draw the strip seems to work very nicely. The images are sharper and the colours seem a little more vibrant because instead of inking each frame, merging it with a border and then colouring it I’ve instead produced the borders as one layer, inked each frame in one layer and then coloured in a third layer. The advantage of this method is that both the outlines and the colours are effectively painted onto transparency rather than a white background, so they’re not tinged with white.

I’ve also begun trying to add more confidence to my line work and I think it shows. Instead of drawing lines in small, peacemeal steps I’ve begun inking in whole curves in one stroke. I think as I develop this technique I’ll be able to produce some very effective work and it will add greatly to the look and feel of the series. As the saying goes: watch this space for further developments!

This new drawing style is working well for me but it is certainly very time-consuming and I’ve noticed that the nib on my pen is starting to wear down. I think I have replacements but if not I know I can get some. I think I may have to make some form of compromise between the new and old colouring styles, since the new style means a lot of scribbling to get the colours in.

I’m working on getting the whole of Pie Noon sketched out ahead of time because that saves me a lot of time on my weekends which can be devoted to inking and colouring. I’m aiming to have the whole story completed in no more than 25 episodes but don’t hold me to that because I’m not entirely certain at the moment. It’s safe to say that it won’t be continuing into the autumn if I have my way and nothing stops me from drawing the strip.

The new colouring technique is working out very nicely now and I’m starting to see a benefit in terms of speed of production for the strips. This one took about three hours to put together, including inking and lettering; which is a decent saving on time over previous efforts. I’m very pleased with the result, too.

As I mentioned on my blog, I’m planning to producing a trial run of three-panel strips once Pie Noon is completed. I’m not sure if these will start immediately after Pie Noon or after one or two more stories are run but a trial of three-panel strips is planned for the future. Whether they will constitute the start of Series Three or not will remain to be seen, of course. If they’re unsuccessful then chances are I’ll just put them into Series Two, chalk the idea up to experience and move on.

Time, as they say, will tell.

I’ve had the final panel for this story going ’round my head since I started work on this version of Pie Noon last year. I think it’s pretty good, all things considered, and it’s pretty close to what I envisaged in my mind all those months ago.

We’re nearing the end of the story now and while I’ve been approached to do another interlude story I think under the circumstances I’m just going to press ahead and finish this story before going off on another wacky adventure with these guys. However, do stay tuned because after ”Pie Noon” finishes there’s a fun expedition planned for the crew of the N.S.S. Cheesy in Nob Trek: The Next Excursion!

Those of you who visit YouTube may be interested to know that I filmed my computer while I inked and coloured the first panel of this week’s episode. You can see the results here.