The Book of Three

This one is messy and a little phoned-in in spots, and I apologize. I am, after over ten years, approaching burnout, and sometimes am choosing between fine-tuning and never finishing. Thanks, all of you who are still following! I am touched by your patience.

Well, you wouldn't know you were burned out from this page! It's beautifully done. The gwythaint is spot on 😉 and the colors really pop. I especially like the grim, shadowed, upward looking expression that Doli has in the last panel...very foreboding and just perfect for this scene.

Thank you for continuing. I appreciate all the work you put into the fandom. Hope you can find some ways to un-burn out over the summer. And I agree, it doesn't looked phoned in at all - great as always.

The sword angle in the third-to-last panel looks a bit protective. O_O

Always nice to see a new page! I wish you could see it through /our/ eyes, though, and share the thrill instead of noticing the fine-tuning you chose not to do. This is a great depiction of what turns out to be a pivotal point in Taran’s fate. The characters’ expressions convey so well all of the mixed emotions at play.

I laughed aloud at Eilonwy’s line about Achren — /totally/ forgot about it. Such a Lloydian moment of humor amidst the drama. 😆

[A string chord from some Ennio Morricone score blares as Doli leans into the penumbral setting with steely determination]

I'm not looking forward to what happens soon... but I'm here for it.

Welcome back! It's still a good page. Especially those last two panels.

Don't burn out yet! Your flame still shines brightly across the wastelands of Prydain fandom, where nought is bright and glorious save your timeless work.

...which is my way of saying yours is the best artwork I have seen of Lloyd's world, and it would be a shame to see that bright and shining light go out. Keep it up, this page is lovely!

(NotTheHarp) Your marathon is a long one and you are still continuing, it is already a huge achievement. But it is not a marathon with a fastest winner so take your time and afford to be messy when you want. We are happy to see your work whenever it is ready, or ready enough.

Last panel is great, don't want to meet him in a dark alley at night, as we say in Dutch. He has the low sun behind him, shining bright on his earring, making him extra scary! I also like the asymmetrical design of the axe!

His axe thirsts...

Here till the end, whatever way that comes about!

I never get over the Doll-bulging-eyes-anger thing you do. It's hilarious and so well-executed.

It may not be up to your standards in your eyes, but it gets the point across ... and the flat of the blade ... such that I'd assumed your choices intentional. And that's when I consider this one of my favourite scenes in all the books.
Perhaps drawing under the halls of the Mountain King (I've got Grieg on my mind) led you too far into "Difficult Art". Your secondary strength is greatest in the expressions and staging ... and your primary strength is in your understanding of and love for the text.
In other words, be ye not so harde upon thyself. Verily, regrets anticipated weight like a mountain but in memory become like unto a mote fallen from a sparrow's eye, of no import, like blathering upon the wind. Here endeth the cheering session. Well, ... rah, rah. NOW here endeth the cheering session.

I still get very happy when there is a page update! This doesn't look phoned in at all, the composition is fantastic. Some of the finishing touches aren't there - like the brush strokes are a bit broader and not fine-tuned as usual I suppose (I don't know how to say this in digital art-relevant words...). But the atmospherics and composition are wonderful. Really, really like the perspective in the last panel with Doli. I can see how the remaining chapters in the book would seem intimidating, but I can't wait to see them. I think trying to convey the rising tension over the next few chapters would be daunting.

I'm curious how you plan out future pages - do you sketch out a whole chapter when you begin it? Or do you really go page by page? Kind of curious if you already know how many comic pages are left in this chapter? The book?

Thanks for another great page!

If you're feeling burnt out, just set it aside. Seriously. We have the books. This is more enjoyable when we know it's a labor of love and joy, not of tedium and self-sacrifice.

Also, might I suggest, as a break, a series of black-and-white concept sketches from The Black Cauldron? (Not that you'd do a graphic novel of that. I just want to see your interpretation of Gwystyl.)

I recently started reading the Chronicles to my boys (ages 9 and 7) and they're loving it. I made sure to show them some of your pages, so they would have a correct idea of what the characters look like (contra the Disney Abomination).

Thanks again for all your work!

I'm still reading!

So, you're not going to try all five books, then? :p

is it burnout or just anticipation of the end? We're only a couple chapters out from concluding The Book of Three so I think a little bit of corner-cutting is excusable. Besides, everything has improved over the years so much that a "lazy update" still looks better than some of the first updates from chapter 1 XD

We all love what you do. I come back because you bring life to a favorite fantasy novel of my youth (that I continue to be astounded that no one has been able to translate well to another media).

That being said, if you're hitting burn out, please do what you need to do for yourself.

If that's take a full hiatus, do it...

If that's ending the comic, do it... (I know you're close, but still)

You've already lovingly crafted something that has brought joy to me, and I suspect to many others. And you've done this without a paywall or receiving direct payment from any of us. (I mean, we all know why, but still)

You don't owe us anything.

Of course I (and the rest of us) would be disappointed. But just because you're somewhat close to the end, doesn't mean that you have to finish it.

(Hell, I wish you could do the whole series as your job... Think you could get away with your own webcomic series featuring the adventures of an Assistant Sheep Farmer named Karan and a young sorceress named Beilonwy?)

Anyway, I hope this comes off as well-meaning. As much as I love the series, I want the creators I enjoy to be well.

Take care,

Robert

I feel a little bad for only commenting once, way back on… oh, wow, it was #181 (chapter 12 page 14), four years ago!

I have been following your progress faithfully ever since then, thanks to the wonders of RSS feeds. Yes, those are still absolutely a thing, even though the internet keeps trying to move on to newfangled ways of subscribing, following, etc.

I fully understand the feeling of approach burnout—oh, how well I know it and loathe it! I wish there was something I could do to help encourage you. Well, I suppose there is: comment more. I shall do my very best to do so.

Incidentally, searching for that one comment gave me a delightful opportunity to reread the whole thing up to that point. Which has also made me dig out my copy of The Book of Three, from a book room still not properly unpacked since moving house in March, and start reading it again. So thank you for that.

I’m no art critic, and it’s taken that reread for me to be able to see what you’re talking about when you call this page “messy and a little phoned-in”. Okay, yeah, I can pick the difference between this and, say, #169. But if I could turn out work this good on my bad days—and if I could overcome impostor syndrome, and…

Look, what I’m trying to say is, you’re good. Really good. Your art is good, and you deserve to feel good about it. I know you often won’t, but I hope there are still many times when you do.

I guess that's Doli's "My axe has cut nothing but wood since we left Moria" moment.

Just want to say thank you for continuing and I avidly follow every page! In this one I particularly love the two panels of the trio pending over and their eyes first looking at the gwythaint and then looking sideways at the sound of Doli pulling out his axe.

Eilonwy looks great in those middle panels

It's beautiful as always, don't give up!

Thank you. I wish I could help you get paid for your work here!

Oh, wow! Two things I love here: Gurgi freaking the eff out in the first panel, and then Doli gets a hero shot. From below, he looks strong and heroic, but in shadow he looks absolutely dangerous -- a signal that his impulse is leading him to do the wrong thing. A really strong ending!