llll FAQ.
[ Back.]
FAQ the acronym of Frequently Asked Questions; they are answered here so a popular question would not need to be answered multiple times. I'd really appreciate it if you can read this before you proceed to message or E-mail me. Or you can read it for fun if you're really bored.
[About me.] My lyphe.
[About the manga.] Details about those and their production.
[About the website.] Details about Ashen Ray, its history, and construction.
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Q: How old are you/what's your name/where do you study/etc?
A: See my profile.
Q: How long have you been drawing? How long have you been drawing anime or CGing?
A: I've been doodling since elementary school like most people, never seriously. I started trying to copy existing anime in grade 4 or 5, with traditional media. I only started to draw anime seriously after I got a tablet at christmas of 2002 or 2003, I forgot.
Q: Have you had art education?
A: I am mostly self-taught; the 2 random art classes I took in high school didn't help much..
Q: How long do you spend on drawing every day/week?
A: It depends on how much work I have or how motivated I am. Most of my freetime from studying is spent on drawing and going online (concurrently, since I can't focus). But a lot of time during the semester, I can't find time to draw at all because of school work.
Q: Can you teach me how to use photoshop/create a layer/write html/write php/make a chatbox/etc.?
A: No, as much as I'd like to help out, I can't. I am not a teaching robot. Please make use of google. If you can't find an answer after trying very hard, then feel free to ask.
Q: Can you be my friend/can we chat/can I show you works for critique/etc.?
A: Those are redundant questions. As long as you are not being demanding and greedy/selfish, (ie. blaming me for not replying fast enough, or for not being able to provide useful critiques / flood me with every single little thing you do) I probably will try to help you.
Q: Do you have a life?
A: no
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llll About the manga.
Q: What do you use to draw your manga pages?
A: I use one 8.5x11 paper and fold it in half for 2 pages, HB mechanical pencil, Photoshop CS with tones downloaded online or shared by friends. Psychobob is an excellent screentone source for webcomics.
Q: How do you draw your manga pages?
A: I sketch lightly to plan out where everything goes (panels, bubbles, figures), then I outline the sketch and sometimes shadow certain areas lightly with a pencil. Then I scan it, adjust the levels in Photoshop to make the pencil lines darker, then cel-shade it and add effects with tones or whatever else at hand. In the end, I put on a layer of tone on Overlay, and draw out a fake scan-shadow in the middle.
Q: How long does it take you to draw each page?
A: About a whole day.
Q: The manga's pace is slow/you update slow/bad planning/other criticisms regarding overall quality.
A: Most of that is due to my part because I am not that great at drawing manga. However, you should also take into consideration that This is planned to be a long series, and while I should try to keep up interest and suspense, I can't reveal everything really fast and get to the deep depth of the story all of a sudden in the beginning.
Q: Do you have it published? Why don't you publish it?
A: I will be trying to self-publish it.
Q: *Plot/character-related question or spoiler request*
A: Depending on my mood, you can try and you may actually get something out of it :p
Q: How did you create the story/characters/who/what inspired you?
A: A lot of things probably influenced me, but nothing really inspired this to be created out of the blue. The main few characters came first when I was still new to CG, then I wanted to make a story for them, and as it went through many failures, a few more main supporting characters came to be. Through many revisions I change the characters' roles and personalities, and each latter revision reuses some ideas from before that I think are worth keeping. Eventually I combine them all together, come up with logical explanations for all necessary links between events and people, and created Blackbird.
Q: How long is this series going to be?
A: So long that I think I won't ever finish it cus I'm that slow.
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llll About the website.
Q: Where did you get your background music from? What are their names?
A: I randomly encounter the music I find. All information known to me about the songs are listed at the bgm box.
Q: Can you send me the song? I can't find it!
A: sure, just give me an e-mail and ask for it politely.
Q: Can we affiliate / exchange links?
A: I only do link exchanges. Please visit the links section for details!.
Q: How did you make this site/what did you make it with?
A: I made it with Macromedia Dreamweaver 8.
Q: How did you make your forum/message board/mangaviewer/etc?
A: I downloaded scripts for the forum, and special effects. Other than those, I wrote all the php myself in Dreamweaver.
Q: I have found an error/I have suggestions.
A: please send me an e-mail about it!
Q: Is this free hosting or paid hosting?
A: I paid for the domain name and server space.
Q: Can you host me?
A: Most likely no. But if you are a close friend, ask.