Home Stretch!

Still with me?

I sincerely hope so, because Dust Bunny has finally reached the climactic end scene of his story! There are only 15 pages left to illustrate in the nearly 175 page graphic novel. After that, and a handful of edits, it'll be off to the printing phase for the book!

Since the volume of non-spoiler panel art is becoming increasingly more difficult to find and share, this will most likely be one of the last full updates (via the blog and Kickstarter) regarding the novel's process. Again, smaller updates are dropped weekly on the Dust Bunny Facebook Page. So join up if you haven't!

The end is in sight! And with that, here's a process shot of our hero in the final scene!

30 Pages To Go!

Admittedly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to update progress on Dust Bunny. Hence, the cryptic silhouette shot with zero context.

It's not for the lack of labor, art, or substance to share. But with an approximate 30 pages left on the book, and closing in rapidly on the story's climax, nearly every snippet of interesting art is either a spoiler, or just something that I don't want to reveal before the book is released. I want this to be a fresh read for everyone who was awesome enough to contribute to its success.

I've done my best to keep entire characters, and scenes under the radar, yet share what I can in order to assure all of my amazing supporters that, yes, this machine is still cranking. However, my once generous ration of content surrounding the static sleuth has slimmed out quite a bit, and I want all of you to experience this story to its fullest once it's in your hands.

That being said, I will continue to keep everyone updated over the course of the next month or so on the book's progress. Soft updates occur a bit more frequent on the Dust Bunny Facebook Page! Again, a million thanks for everyone's patience! Happy November!

Video Update from the Claybank Jamboree!

This past weekend marked a big milestone for myself as well as some of the talented people I'm surrounded with!

Saturday played many roles; one of which was taking Dust Bunny pre-orders from an open audience, allowing me to dip my toes in the waters of on-site vendor work. Wonderful prep for things to come, I hope. The book did better than I thought it would, and the overall response was extremely gratifying! It's always nice to get a face-to-face reaction from someone in regards to the graphic novel. It keeps me energized and amped up to keep going. A very hearty thank you to everyone who came out this weekend to buy prints, pre-order Dust Bunny, or just offer up encouraging words!

Secondly, my mortal enemy Joshua David Matthews has finally rallied enough resources to raise his evil empire - Giant Step Films. Before you do anything else, go check out the new Halloween documentary pitch - "Ten Thirty-One". You have the opportunity (for free) to actually be in the company's debut film! Spread the word! It's going to be great!

Now, onto the video!

Claybank Jamboree from Brett Brooks on Vimeo.

The Caddyvac.

If you've been following the Dust Bunny Facebook Page, you've probably seen a snippet from the below excerpt which marks the beginning of an 11-page car chase sequence.

During the pre-production of this book, I knew that I wanted to give Dust Bunny's ride - The Caddyvac - its own 15 minutes of fame. After all, what's a detective story without a solid car chase? Akin to The Blues Mobile, Ecto-1, or the Delorean, I wanted the Caddyvac to become a character in its own right; to exude some form of personality without resorting to the overt gimmicks of Kitt or Herbie. One of my favorite quotes from Henry Gibson (the head nazi in The Blues Brothers) when referencing the famous car chase scene from that film was, "Those cars were dancing, man." What a fantastic visual reinforcement to the story which is, in fact, a musical.

I mean, how many short seconds do you really need to absorb that signature, yet haunting wail before registering it as Ecto-1? And how could the Delorean breathe without its flux capacitor; without its heartbeat? There's a voice to these vehicles.

Originally, in 2006, Dust Bunny drove a (barely) modified handheld vacuum cleaner that resembled a spacecraft more than a car. Granted, these never left the drawing board, but I think they served a greater purpose some 5 years later when I would decide that heavy modifications were needed to make the Vac feel like it belonged in Basement City, and that our dirty detective would actually drive it.

The other incredibly fun concept for this chase sequence is that the secondary and tertiary characters also reinforce their respective personalities a la their rides. As well, all of the makes and models of these cars are pulled from completely different decades, which adds a layer of variety and visual interest to the scene itself.

Technically speaking, the perspective and curvilinear components to these pages are proving to be the most challenging piece of the book yet. It's forced me to come off of cruise control in some ways, and grip the wheel a little firmer. But in doing so, the payoff is extremely satisfying when I do get to sit back and read the pages sequentially.

That being said, I'm even more eager to finally share this story with all of you. Whether it be a roaring muffler, or an expository monologue, my hope is that what's under the hood of this story resonates just as clearly as the detailed exterior atop the pages...

Process Trifecta!

It's been truly exciting to finally be back on Dust Bunny in full force. And with it, as always, comes the satisfaction of including you folks in my journey to a finished graphic novel! With less than a third of the book remaining, I've decided to present a full-on page creation from the ground up!

These 3 videos are a slight departure from previously posted footage. This time around, I'll be taking you a little deeper into my process through a commentary track, outlining some of my homemade approaches to getting exactly what I want out of Dust Bunny and the world he lives in!

If you'd like to keep up with Dust Bunny's soft updates, join the Facebook page! And please, spread the word!

Enjoy the videos!

Creating the Page, Part 1 - The Sketch from Brett Brooks on Vimeo.

Creating the Page, Part 2 - The Inks from Brett Brooks on Vimeo.

Creating the Page, Part 3 - Tones and Textures from Brett Brooks on Vimeo.

Dusting Off Some Goodies...

Dust Bunny is an interesting mix of old and new.

About half of the characters (many that are being kept under the radar until the book is released) were actually created back in 2006. I found these tonight, while sifting through some old art files. I thought the evolution of the characters was fun. But even more interesting than that, there's a clear consistency in some of the design choices from 6 years ago up to present day. A few variables were abandoned (the story's concept was much different 6 years ago, and laced with slapstick humor) but by and large, you can see a considerable amount of the original idea preserved.

There will be a little more exposition to their origins in the Dust Bunny process book, which will be released along with the graphic novel. There will even be a couple of original comic pages from 2006. For now, however, I thought this was a nifty little morsel of Basement City history!

 

Be on the lookout next week for a 3-part process video, which will follow the creation of a page from start to finish! In the meantime, if you'd like to keep up with the soft updates, you can join the Facebook page here!

Living the Dream.

And we're back! Lots to share!

After a long, methodical hiatus of client work I'm extremely pleased to say that the dirty rabbit has finally swept himself back into the forefront of my workload. And I couldn't be happier.

Over the next few months, I'll be dedicating myself to the final third of Dust Bunny's story. I've been on the edge of my seat, finalizing my freelance gigs while simultaneously gearing up to revisit the graphic novel. And with a car chase scene right around the corner, again, I couldn't be happier.

So, as a small teaser, here's a short process video highlighting Dust Bunny and Mite midway into the story!

Process Video from Brett Brooks on Vimeo.

On a related note, myself and Jason Sheedy (videographer for a number of the Dust Bunny vlogs) recently released our first single "Living the Dream". While seemingly disconnected from Dust Bunny, the song was actually born during the early pages of the graphic novel when I was - in fact - living my dream of waking to a full time job of comic book pages every day (thanks to you guys)! We wrote the song in the midst of our own cloud nine as an anthem and celebration to any and all who have ever aspired to seize that ever-elusive day and capture a small nugget of fulfillment along your journey! Hope you like!

You can download "Living the Dream"at CDBaby.com here or through iTunes, here!

Every day of the week...