Behind the Scenes: Page 1

So, I've decided to pull back the curtain to give you a glimpse into our creative process. If you're reading this, chances are you've checked out Snow Daze (If you haven't, check it out here). Here is the layout page that started it all. This page is part of a silent four page intro where we see Nolo's ritual before he goes out to work on a snow day. Leo's script called for a somewhat messy teenager's room that would give some visual clues into Nolo's character and interests. The overall layout remained the same between the sketch and the final version (seen below), but there are some key differences in the posters on the wall and some of the reading material on the floor. Leo liked the layout, but some of the posters had to change in order to fit the time period in which our story takes place. We decided that Snow Daze would take place between the early and mid-nineties. As a result the Cannibal Ox and MF Doom posters on Nolo's wall would be anachronistic. Cannibal Ox's album, The Cold Vein debuted in 2001 and MF Doom's debut (with his new moniker) came out in 1999. So I swapped out those posters for an illMatic (1994) poster.

The Michael Jordan poster stayed, because Mike is timeless for NBA fans, but Nolo's reading material changed. I decided to throw in a copy of The Source with 2pac on the cover as another marker of the time period.

The style of the characters also changed slightly during this time. I had started with a more exaggerated cartoony style than I usually work in, but later decided on the current style of Snow Daze which strikes more of a balance between the cartoonish style and realism.

Some other important details in Nolo's room are his cassette's and the book, The Art of War. Even though CD's were bringing about the slow demise of the audio cassette during the 90's, Nolo insists on cassettes as his media of choice. This parallels my own habits during the time. I held on to tapes until the bloody end. I remember my excitement when record stores were trying to unload all of their tapes and you could find classic albums for 99 cents. Now my phone holds way more albums than I could ever carry in my bag back in the day. Things done changed.

Nolo's copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War is important too. It tells you something about his approach to life and to his business. While he's a man of action, he also plays the long game and lines up all of his chess pieces.

That's it for this first edition of Snow Daze: Behind the Scenes. There will be more to come. Keep reading, true believers!

Peace,
Marcus

Tank

If you've been reading issue 1, particularly the last 10 pages or so, you've probably seen a bunch of characters who have yet to be mentioned by name. I'm going to be posting some of my sketches and drawings of these characters and we'll be expanding the character bio section of the site very soon. Here's a drawing I did of Tank, a member of the Bravo Team. He's the big dude who Nolo got the better of in the play fight on pages 20 and 21 (seen below).

In other news, issue 1 is almost done! There are about 6 more pages to go. As we move into the home stretch of issue 1 I'm working really hard to stick to my every other Monday schedule for uploading a new page. The next scheduled date is Monday, October 22nd. I'm juggling a lot of deadlines, but I'm working hard to get page 22 done on time. We have a lot of cool plans for the direction of the series after issue 1 is complete, including a format that will make it possible for us to get on a more regular weekly schedule for releasing comics. Stay tuned for more info, and keep checking in. Thanks for reading!

Peace,
Marcus

Year 1

This past weekend I posted page 11 of issue 1 to the site. What? You haven't gotten caught up yet? Rectify that now by visiting www.snowdazecomic.com/Comics. I'm very excited about page 11 for two reasons.

One: We're halfway done with issue 1! That may not seem like a big deal, but keep in mind, we're two guys caught up in the 9-to-5 world of paper work, phone calls, and grown up responsibilities, etc. Add to that all of my different artistic endeavors, community work, and being a father and a husband, and I feel pretty good about our progress. Plus, I'm very focused on working towards the goal of working on awesome comics like Snow Daze full time. One day... one day.

Two: These pages are the start of some important flashbacks that provide important details and insight into the formative years of Nolo's snow shoveling empire. Leo and I have been living with these characters for a while now and I've been anxious to get into the heart of the story so the readers can come to know and love our characters as well.

This story is for everyone who's worked their fingers to the bone. Everyone chasing their dreams. Those with big plans and those struggling to get by. There's a part of us all in these pages. Oxenvale is coming alive. I'm working on more art and pages that will be online soon. We'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts. You can contact us at snowydee1980@gmail.com.

Peace!
Marcus