Losing by Winning Page 5
October 30th, 2012The marksmanship competition is in full swing in Losing by Winning Page 5. So much crystal shot into little, tiny pieces. To see Sunny’s sketch for this page, please vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comics.
By some miracle, the power stayed on over the past couple days. We in Washington, D.C. were fortunate to be spared the full brunt of the Sandy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those not so fortunate, especially our colorist who lives up that way. She’s without power and it might be up to a week before she gets it back. Drawing is on the back burner for her at the moment, which is completely understandable. This means that next week’s updates might be a bit late.
Losing by Winning Page 4
October 28th, 2012Almanac Reference: Muskets
Page 4 of Losing by Winning is up and the marksmanship competition begins. It’s good to be fabulously wealthy and be able to use crystal glasses as your targets. Sunny did another incredible job bringing this page to life. To see Sunny’s sketch for the page, please vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comics.
Just a heads up, most of the Snow by Night team is located in Virginia and you probably have heard about this horrible storm rolling through the region. It’s not too bad yet. It’s drizzling outside. I have the window open because I love the sound of rain – from the rhythmic pat-pat-pat on the leaves to the tapping of the drops on window panes. But the nastiness is supposed to rumble through tomorrow. I don’t expect too much carnage, but I expect that we will lose power, because Virginia has lots of trees and we always lose power in bad storm. Hopefully, it will be back up before the update on Wednesday. If not, we’ll get it up when we can.
Almanac – Light Cavalry
October 25th, 2012This week’s Almanac entry is the Light Cavalry of Saronne. I wrote this section a while ago, but a question by a commenter earlier this week brought the issue of women in the military to my attention again. While men would still dominate most of warfare, I wanted a role for women in the Japethic military to reflect the strong role women play in Saronnan society. Their patron goddess Giavere is a goddess, after all.
All right, I might have been influenced by Émilie Dequenne as Marianne in Brotherhood of the Wolf.
Losing by Winning Page 3
October 23rd, 2012Almanac Reference: Pistols
The Comtesse’s idea for entertainment is about to be co-opted by Vivienne and Marguerite in Page 3 of Losing by Winning. This should be an entertaining, but not the way you think, Comtesse.
Sunny based those pistols off of a pair of flintlock pistols crafted by Samuel Brunn that are part of the MET’s collection. The design is a little bit later than our period, but they’re so beautiful I wanted to use them anyway. To see Sunny’s sketch for this page, please vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comics.
Losing by Winning Page 2
October 21st, 2012Almanac Reference: Aradie, Giavere’s Gaze, Light Cavalry
Vivienne encounters an old rival in Page 2 of Losing by Winning and the sparks immediately start to fly. I love the juxtaposition of the soft pastels and snarky dialogue. To see Sunny’s sketches for the page, please vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comic.
On a different note, Brittany and I met Amber Dionne at Intervention a few weeks ago, where she was collecting money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through their Light the Night Walk. She raised more than $400 at Intervention and is well over $600 total. It’s a good cause. If you would like to contribute, please visit her donation site.
Almanac – Jean-Henri de Carailles
October 19th, 2012This week’s almanac entry is Jean-Henri de Carailles, also known as Vivienne’s pop. He’s the Governor General of Aradie, which makes him one of the most powerful men in the colony. Unfortunately, that might not count for all that much back in Saronne.
I’ve got a sneak peak of Monday’s page for you. Vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comic to see who Vivienne and Jacqueline encounter at the fête.
Losing by Winning Page 1
October 16th, 2012Almanac References: 1684, Blossom, Jacqueline de Tilly, Jean-Henri de Carailles, Saronne, Sherbourg, Vivienne de Carailles
Vivienne makes her triumphant return in Page 1 of Losing by Winning. She’s been away for far too long so I’ve asked S.Y. Lee to bring her to life in this vignette. And boy, did Lee deliver. The garden party is a feast of pastels, bows, and ruffles, and also attitude, sniping, and rivalries. Lee has a very different style and process from Brittany. If you want to see a great example, see the sketch Lee did for this page by voting for Snow by Night on Top Web Comic.
Laurent and a Schedule Change
October 14th, 2012Hello everyone! Today we have a concept art piece for you — Laurent Rivière. He’s a gambler, a rook and a rival to Jassart. He’s got a thing for purple and always wears his signature neck scarf. He and Jassart share little love for each other and are bound to come to blows soon.
After giving your feedback a lot of thought (thank you for all the input, btw), I’ve decided to put the remainder of Chapter 5 on a brief delay to mid November. We’re about to hit a fairly intense action scene and I don’t want to miss updates in the middle of it. If I have to pause anywhere, it needs to be now. We will pick this back up when Naty is feeling better.
Until then, I’ve got a surprise for you. Starting on Wednesday, I’m going to post the vignette that was scheduled to follow Chapter 5. This vignette is titled Losing by Winning and features Vivienne, the governor’s daughter. Our scene shifts from Aradie across the sea to Saronne to a garden party. Not just any lame garden party. A garden party with shooting! It’s going to be a lot of fun. The artist who is helping me with this is the incredibly talented S.Y. Lee. She is the creator of the webcomic The Fabled Travelers. If you like manga-style fairy tales (and I do), it’s well worth the read.
Sunny’s done a great job with Viv. Vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comic to see a preview of our governor’s daughter (she’s on the left) and her handmaid Jacqueline.
