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How many pages long is the whole story of
the Adventures of Prince Ziph ?
This initial story has about 200 pages now, divided into four volumes of 50 pages each.
This first story, is mainly a huge introduction to the characters and to my ancient Mars world, Subsequently a sequel of equal lenght is already being prepared in my imagination, wich will develop even further some of the concepts presented in this first story, so stay tuned.
Actualy, right now i have ideas for at least a 600 page saga with this story.
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How many books are available right now ?
Only the first adventure is on sale right now. With the second book coming out next May of 2007.
You can buy this first volume in hardcover or in softcover versions.
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When will the next part be available ?
Iīm now right at the middle of coloring the second book, and it will be available in May of this 2007 year.
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How long does it take for each volume to be completed ?
The whole story, took eight months to draw (October 2005/May 2006).
All the 200 pages are being inked and colored at this time.
Each 50 page volume, takes about four months to complete. Each page takes about between ten to sixteen hours to be inked and colored, but this may vary depending on the details. Pages with lots of characters take long to complete. Pages with less characters and more scenery are faster (and much, much more fun) to paint and create.
Actualy, if i could, i would do a story just with landscapes, because i hate to draw and paint characters. I know, this might sound strange coming from someone who just did 200 pages of sketches filled with characters, but, hey..what can i say... ;)
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Canīt you do it faster ? Iīve read the first adventure and i want more.
No, i canīt. I donīt use computers and i never will (for this saga at least). So painting all this stuff with real brushes and wet paints takes plenty of time but i prefer it this way because itīs tons of more fun ! And i love the fact that every color and tone you see on the pages , was created and controled by me.
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But comics can be created very fast. Why not use some of those methods ?
Altough this might look as a regular Comics work, actualy my stuff follows more the rules of the European comics (wich are not the same as the American Comics). The flow of the narratives are diferent, the graphic style and the way the projects are created have few things in common despite looking like similar products.
My style has nothing to do with the usual super-hero american comics and follows more the structure of a writen 200 page novel than it has to do with american comics.
My influences are mainly the european comics - Asterix (by Gosciny & Uderzo) - for the humor and graphic style mixed with the - Adventures of Blake & Mortimer (by Edgar P. Jacobs) - in the way i use text when i need to tell something with lots of narrative that couldnīt be presented in a graphic way. Mix both influences with a bit of Tolkien, Ursula K Le Guin (EarthSea series of novels), The Neverending Story (book and first movie) and all the European style comics (bande desineé in french) you can find and youīll have my work.
The fact that i work alone creating from scratch everything you see in the final product makes everything take longer to complete.
I could never work like in the american comics where usualy thereīs a person for each phase of a project. I could never let any person ink my drawings or color my pages. It wouldnīt feel as the work was mine.
I much prefer the Author thing...it takes more time, but itīs more personal. Thatīs another reason i like European comics. Sometimes an album can take up to five years or more in production but i donīt mind waiting.
But donīt worry about it, my - Adventures of Prince Ziph - fantasy saga will entirely in print much sooner. ;)
The second adventure comes out in a couple of months.
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Do you have any more comics available ?
No. Not yet...
I have plenty of work around my archives, but nothing of relevance to be shared with an audience, Yet ...
I have been away from Comics for 14 years. A long time ago before the Internet, if you lived in a small country like Portugal, you would do better to forget about being involved in comics in a more serious way. Or in general Arts for that matter. Unless you have a godfather whoīs a publisher, (cue Don Corleone music).
So i did the next best thing and i went into graphic design.
Iīve worked as a graphic designer for all these years for a software company, and comics went on hold, until last year. Altough iīve also always worked in illustration in part-time and as a hobby, particulary fantasy illustration.
The Adventures of Prince Ziph, is my first big comics project. Iīve been working around it for almost twenty years now and it wonīt be my last, you can be sure. Specialy after the aceptance this project has been getting right now.
If you want you can learn more about the history of this work by clicking here. In the future one of the first complete old versions of this saga, will also available for download. Not yet tough.
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Where can we see your fantasy illustrations ?
Besides here, you can see a few samples at my personal website, in the illustration area or in my old public gallery here at Elfwood.
A long time ago, iīve also worked in the first Portuguese Pc game back in 1994, you can also see some related stuff about that in the Gambys section of my page.
And before you ask where do i get inspiration for my fantasy worlds, well...one of the main things are my long walks around the area where i live. You can check some of the photos iīve been taking here in the western part of the Portuguese Algarve region on my photo-website. All pics taken with a 3.5 megapixel Sony Cybershot cam, and what you see is what i got. No digital manipulation involved.
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Can I hire you to illustrate books, posters, covers or do all sorts of illustration work ?
Please do. Email me with details on your project and letīs talk.
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Do you sell originals of your work ?
Yes i do. Soon there will be a specific area for that on this website, so keep visiting. More details about this later.
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