I decided to give OpenCanavas a spin on this comic and used it for the sketch and the line work. I think the inking pen it has handles better than the one that SAI has (SAI has a bug that can cause the starts and ends of strokes to distort). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any way to hide the “marching ants” of the selection tool which makes it very hard to color masked areas. So on the whole, I’m still thinking SAI is the superior tool. I just wish they’d release a new update – their last release is from 2008.

Next up on my book list is Paradise Lost by John Milton. A poem published in 1667, it still pretty engaging despite some of the archaic phrasing. It tells the story of Satan’s expulsion from Heaven and attempts to seek revenge by perverting mankind. The story line is familiar enough if you’re familiar with the Biblical story and extra-Bibilical legends, but Milton really brings the characters to life in a way that would fit in well along side Tolkein’s tales of Middle Earth. Then again, Tolkein would have been well acquainted with Milton’s works.