I've been experimenting with page layouts! I've heard a lot of positive feedback about that middle panel with Pudding and Miles. I like it too! These backgrounds continue to be an absolute blast to draw. 

(Shoot... I've passed 250 pages already!?)

I've been waiting so long to explain how magic works in Dot X, (And on all of Hetrea) and I'm FINALLY starting to sew those informative seeds! : D There's so much to go into about it, but like Audrey, I think the real meat of it's best saved for another day!

There's SO much to cover though... It'll happen as the comic continues! I don't want to throw it ALL at you at once. We've got a story to continue!

There's a small story associated with this page!

When I was about 4 years old, my family was looking to move into a new house. We went to so many open houses, and very few memories of these houses ever stuck with me. All houses are very similar in the grand scheme of things.

One house, however, will always stick with me! It was three stories tall and had a bathroom on each floor. It was affordable! (We'd later find out there was a gas leak or something and so we didn't move there. I don't remember if it was exactly a gas leak, I was very little at the time. Something like that!)

I was so excited by this house until we reached the master bedroom. The walls of the master bedroom were painted a deep purple and other than the bed and a dresser, the room was empty. On either side of the bed, two huge, hyper-realistic eyes were painted onto the wall. Walking into that room was one of the most terrifying moments of my young life. 

...So I figured I'd memorialize it in my comic?! 

Anyway, that's the story of Audrey's bedroom design!

(I've recently learned that this house in question belonged to members of a biker gang... Sheesh!)

Holy cow! I've started an art blog! If you're interested, you can access it easily from Hetrea.com!

Anyway, as for this page of the comic...

I really like the lighting in this one. :3

Whenever Audrey uses her magic it's a ton of fun to color. Have I mentioned that I updated Audrey and Danny's character bio art??

I've been doing so much drawing lately!!

Hello Patrons! Here's an original song for you off the new album, Besides. ALSO we are opening for Ben Folds on September 16th in SF so if you wanna come see that you can get tickets here! http://www.axs.com/events/280499/ben-folds-ymusic-tickets

Thank you for making all this craziness possible.

Audrey's got a new look going on! After many years of a simple design that didn't look THAT different from Hurricane, it was time for an upgrade. It's been a long time coming! I think it was most apparent that Audrey needed a more involved design whenever she was shown near Chia in the past. Chia entered the comic with her new design, but Audrey still had a design that was nearly a decade old...

And yes! those are caskets. 

This page is the idea that sparked the entire chapter. I had been playing around with the idea of a sad chapter for a little while, but I wanted the ending to be meaningful. Once I had this idea, everything else snapped into place.

This might be my favorite page in the comic!! I'm a sucker for the splash pages, and this is the first one where I feel like the colors come together in a big way in regards to the composition of the piece.

That being said, it's impossible for me to pick a definitive favorite page! I've enjoyed making every one of them! 

Putting the demonic tendril effects at the top of the page was a ton of fun. I really enjoy drawing the demon, and all of it's related visuals.

Also drawing the light through the window hitting Pudding! Ever since I did that in 'The Wonderful' chapter, I've wanted to do it again!

Unfortunately, not a ton happens on this page. That seems to be a pattern with these plot- important chapters, they focus more on the dialog than the action. I need to work on that!!

I suppose one thing I can note here is that Miles' eyebrows are only visible when his goggles are off. With his goggles on, he loses most of his expressions! It makes him appear more... Robotic. 

The lightning effect is fun to make! I didn't have it glow while I was working it- that's an effect I added in at the end to really make it stand out. I can't think of any other lightning rays in any sort of media I've read/watched, and so I designed Professor Inventor's laser to look something like a lightning rod. 

Also, originally he was going to have a freeze ray, but I didn't know how to make that clear visually! I think things turned out better this way anyhow.

Nearly every comment on this page over on the main hosting site reference Chia's final line in this page in one way or another. Is this going to be a running gag in the Dot X community?

That line, 'Also your goggles smell nice' is something I said to myself as a joke while writing this page, but as I went on I decided it was just the right combination of cute and weird that Chia might actually say it. The page became formed around that statement and I'm really happy with it! 

With the recent passing of Mr Iwata, the way Speedy feels in this chapter is realer than ever for me. It's a simple page, but with the recent turn of events, one of my favorites. 

I don't mention it expressly here or the next page, but It's to be assumed that Zeda's met the rest of the cast at least once by now. It's been like two chapters since his introduction, right? That's plenty of time!

An entire page of just Gell and Goo, and it still takes me forever to make it. Agh! I tried. There sure's been a ton of dialog this chapter! Prep for the ball, I guess!

Hoo boy. The chapter may be a bit of a sadness slide from here 'till the end, but stay with it!

Also, sorry I keep forgetting to upload the pages here on Patreon in a timely manner >_<

Drawing sad characters is not something I've much practice at. Even looking at this page again after having finished it so long ago is pretty rough for me!  I know I've felt the way Speedy has before, and honestly I doubt anyone hasn't!

It's amazing how a truly sad event can change ones outlook on so many things. I made this page quite a while ago, and I felt very happy at the time! After hearing of the news regarding Mr Iwata, I changed the name of this page to "In Loving Memory". I don't remember the original name. 

How bizarre that I chose to draw Gell playing a GBA on this page. Maybe she's playing a game he worked on?

The layout to this page is very different from what I usually do! I want to play around with more dynamic page layouts, and this is the first example of that in a long time. I think it really works! Though I'll also go back to my usual page type often, you'll see more in this vein in the future!

The original design document of this page saw Zeda and Goo's panic to the end of the page. It came across as... pointless in the long run, so I opted for a shorter version of the same joke!

Ah Speedy, you're trying your best to be a good sport. Alas, Gell has loyalties to her species... thing.

I've been having a lot of fun drawing Goo lately! She's really taking on a shape of her own, finally after all these years! 

There are so many characters on this page. It took me forever to finish! Why do I do this to myself?? >_<

I'm walking on sunshine because our ALBUM IS OUT. It's call BESIDES and it's available on iTunes (http://apple.co/1K8QKkt) and Loudr (http://ldr.fm/rbtq7) and Spotify (http://spoti.fi/1Hc9kcz)!!!

Thank you so much for making these videos possible. We were planning on posting this earlier today but ran into a PLETHORA of technical difficulties. They seem to be MOSTLY resolved now. Anyhow, thanks for your patience and HAPPY ALBUM DAY!!!

This is a prime example of me unable to think up a name for a page.

Chia's back! She's a huge fan favorite and one of my personal favorite characters to write, so I'm careful to use her sparingly. Because of that, whenever she shows up it's a big deal!

Chia has a different outfit in every chapter as well, so whenever I'm going to use her, I get to design new clothing for her! Some things never change though, such as her bow and general color scheme!