Blogwithfeet: The art/rant blog of Renee Lott

Festering Romance page 30 pencils

Festering Romance page 30 pencils

As promised, it’s Monday, so time for new Festering Romance art!  I had to consider for a while whether or not I would post pages from the Festering Romance preview yet (pages 3-15 of the book), but I’ve decided not to in favor of posting pages I haven’t released before.  I may post pages from the preview eventually, but not right away, and since I won’t be posting pages with key story elements or spoilers, it shouldn’t really matter that much if I post pages out of order.  And still, if I do release pages from the preview on this blog, the text will be whited out (as I’ve done on this page), so you people who picked up the preview are still extra special lucky and stuff.

Well, first, for everyone who hasn’t read anything about Festering Romance yet, let me tell you a bit about the book.  Festering Romance is my first graphic novel, my first professionally published work, and the longest work I’ve attempted to date… It’ll be around 180 pages long (the 180 penciled comic pages of story for the book are already finished) and will be released by Oni Press in 2009.  Right now we’re aiming for a Summer release, but keep checking back as things can change unexpectedly.

But what is Festering Romance about…?

Festering Romance is a ghost story, a romance, a drama, a comedy, and a coming-of-age tale.  The story is fiction and an example of an education plot.  The main character is a female college student named Janet, and the main struggle is internal.  And, despite the ghost aspect, the story is generally slice-of-life in nature.

But what is it about?

Janet lives with Paul, her ghost companion and best friend.  She appreciates the solitude of her life and its small pleasures.  However, it seems the more she tries to stay alone, the more the world pushes itself back onto her.  Freya, one of Janet’s few friends, continually tries to set Janet up on dates, but the success of her most recent set-up leads Janet to more turmoil than happiness.  Strangely, it’s the things Janet and this new guy have in common that end up keeping them apart.

…and I’d say that’s pretty much the basic plot, without giving too much away.

I went through all my pages and picked out ones that for one reason or another stick out to me and I particularly like.  Why do I like page 30?  Well, I like the drawings and expressions… Janet and Paul here are pretty on model.  And I think it shows the relationship between the two characters pretty well.  Janet takes things too seriously, while Paul just can’t get himself to make a crisis out of all of Janet’s problems.

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at the preview page and thanks for stopping by and looking!  Check back next Monday for another artwork post, and check back on Friday for a new blog post!