Background > What's Next?
The Elves and Charity
Producing The Elves of Iax is the single most difficult challenge I have ever pursued. I am extremely proud of getting chapter 1 published, and though the success is small, it is nice to hear from people who have enjoyed it and want to see more.
Producing The Elves of Iax is the single most difficult challenge I have ever pursued. I am extremely proud of getting chapter 1 published, and though the success is small, it is nice to hear from people who have enjoyed it and want to see more.
Lately, it seems as if working on Iax gets harder as I go. My artwork continues to improve, but my increasingly rigid attention to detail drags production out by months. The truth is, it takes so much energy to create a page I'm proud of that I'm often finding it impossible to motivate myself to work on it. Still, nothing is more important to me then telling these stories, and I simply can't imagine giving it up entirely.
I have a pretty clear plan of what I want to produce next. Chapter 2 comes first, which will lead into the first true story arch regarding Lorgo's journey to Farmhelm. After Chapter 2 is done and published, I intend to finish the animated teaser and produce a flash web game. The game will shed some light on the story of the Iax/Farmhelm war, picking up immediately after Py was seemingly eviscerated on page 5 of "Finding Lorgo." Following that, I will begin working on Chapter 3 while helping a few other artists, such as my friends Allison, Jenn, Q and Big Josh from over at Studio Splurd, to produce a handful of companion comics that will tell more story of the world of Iax from a few different points of view. It's all very exciting, there's just so much work to do between now and then.
I think one of the most discouraging things about moving forward is that while I am working, I am quite detached from the comics community, and thus never get any feedback. I've always found it very difficult to create and promote my art at the same time. What I would like is to find a way to keep some buzz going about The Elves while I continue to work. The main reason I am writing today is to announce a plan I'd like to try.
One of the only things as important to me as The Elves is my charity work. I'm not a saint by any stretch, but I really love giving whenever I can. So lately, I've been thinking up ways I can combine my two passions for the better. I need some exposure for The Elves of Iax, but I don't have the energy to follow the convention circuit these days, and the thought of advertising the Elves is utterly distasteful to me, as well as largely ineffective. The solution I've come up with is to start selling The Elves of Iax artwork specifically to raise money for charity.
On Monday, April 21st, I will create an E-bay auction featuring a signed, framed, high resolution poster of the cover and first page of The Elves of Iax Chapter One: Finding Lorgo. 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go to Childhaven, an organization in Washington state that provides protective services for at-risk kids. If this first auction goes well, I would like to do the same for every 2 page spread I create, with the proceeds going to organizations like World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Child's Play. Most importantly, I will only print and auction each poster once! So not only will you be supporting a great foundation with each auction, you'll own a one-of-a-kind piece of Elves of Iax history!
I hope that my friends and the comic community can become as excited about this as I am. It really would mean a lot to me if I could start something really great with my little Elf story. I will have an open discussion about this on the Elves of Iax community on Live Journal, and I can also answer questions at the e-mail address found on the foot of elvesofiax.com. I look forward to hearing from everyone!