I'm going fulltime with the Wormworld Saga!

I'm sorry that it was so quiet here on the blog over the last four weeks. The reason for that is that the last month was such a crazy hotchpotch of stuff that happened, which made me leap from here to there and which I just wasn't able to comprehend into a form that I could share with you. Now that I just had the chance to relax on a short trip to the Munich Comicfestival (which was a great event by the way) things have settled down a bit and I'm able to break the news to you about some decisions that I made. And boy are there news!

I was approached by a big investor a few weeks ago. To put it into a nutshell, they wanted to give me the money that I needed to work fulltime on the Wormworld Saga. That of course got me totally thrilled. My goal got within reach! So I created a business plan for a production company, we talked about the details and in the end it was up to me to sign the deal. It would have meant to create a company, earning a good salary as CEO and ... to hand over the major share of the Wormworld Saga property to the investor.

Relax! I didn't do it.

I realised that I hadn't worked my ass off over the last 18 months only to hand my rights over to someone else. But I'm deeply thankful for their approach because it made me crunch my numbers and it got me thinking about the financial potential of the Wormworld Saga project. And I realised that it could work. There still is a gap in the cash flow for the rest of this year and I will have to dive into my savings in order to bridge it. But next year, when the app has been in stores for several months, I'm optimistic enough to hope for a complete yearly income generated by the Wormworld Saga.

Especially because the app won't be the only way to generate income from!

The next big news is, that I found a publisher for a print adaption of the Wormworld Saga Digital Graphic Novel. That really wasn't an easy thing to do because there needs to be some serious editing done on the material and I had to find a publisher who would let me retain the rights for the digital version AND who would let me keep on publishing the free online version on the website. Fortunately I found a forward thinking publisher who would agree on these terms. The German Tokyopop publishing house will bring the Wormworld Saga books into stores from next year on. I'm thrilled and I think a book will be a nice artifact for fans and with it I will be able to reach people with my story who don't like to read comics on a screen. It will be published in Germany first and international contracts will be negotiated over the next months. I hope that it won't take too long until readers outside of Germany will be able to enjoy the Wormworld Saga in the printed edition.

Well, all this ultimately lead me to the decision to do the leap of  faith. I quit my job and will be working fulltime on the Wormworld Saga from 1st July on. I'm scared of course since I'm venturing into unknown territory here. I don't know how things will turn out. But how much sense this all makes! "The Journey Begins" is the title of the upcoming chapter two. The journey begins indeed and I begin to understand how Jonas must feel on the brink of his great adventure. I'm joining him and I hope you join us, too!

Oh, and I think I don't need to mention that the second chapter will be relased WAY before the end of the year now, do I? Feast your eyes on my rearranged schedule!

Compared to my old schedule I now I have FIVE times more hours per day to work on the Wormworld Saga AND I'm actually going to see my family in the evenings. That's pure craziness! Prepare to see the milestones fly by!

Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the last six months! If this all was just the prologue, I'm wondering what's going to happen now that things are really getting started. I'm going to work hard in order to meet your expectations.

Wormworld Saga App First Sneak Peek

I have to share a very first glimpse at the Wormworld Saga App with you! Robot Media, the developer of the app has recorded a small clip of the first version of the intro camera track and the homescreen with the cover flow. Please keep in mind that this is a very early version and that we will polish the hell out of it.

In addition to this, I have received the first version of the app for testing on my iPad. I can't tell you how happy I felt the moment I saw the Wormseal app icon, clicked on it and got propelled directly onto the attic. It was one of these moments. Like when I saw the massive amount of cardboard boxes for the kickstarter rewards in my hallway. Those moments when visions become reality.

I'll keep you updated on the app's progress!

Wormworld Saga App Homescreen Illustration

That's the finished illustration for the Wormworld Saga App homescreen. I'm looking forward to seeing it the first time in the actual app with the logos and the title fading in and everything! 

It took close to 16 hours to create this illustration. Quite some time if you can invest only 2 hours each day. Man, I would have finished this one in two days if I could just work fulltime on the project. But hey, we are working towards that goal and patience is a virtue. :)

However, I think this is a nice and atmospheric starting point for the app and it was well worth the effort. As soon as I have finished the screen layout I will be able to show you how everything will work together.

Wormworld Saga App Homescreen WIP

Finally I'm able to give you an update on my Wormworld Saga progress! On the weekends I'm quite busy with cropping, stamping and signing all the prints for the kickstarter rewards:

here you see merely 50 of the over 700 prints I've already prepared

During the week I'm working on the Wormworld Saga App now. My current task is to create the illustration for the homescreen where you browse the chapters. I want to start the app with a spectacular effect and therefore I have designed a three screens high illustration which the camera will pan down while titles are faded in and out. At the end of the pan you land directly inside Jonas' secret headquarters where you'll find a coverflow-like list of all available chapters. I will show you the screen design as soon as it is ready. For now I'm quite busy with creating the illustration. I've just finished the drawing which alone took me close to six hours:

You really have to love attics and perspective drawing in order to not become crazy drawing something like this, I guess. The scenery is very close to the last panel of chapter one but it's a completely new illustration with a much lower point of view. And instead of making it a night scene, I will create a gloomy day scene with bright sunlight pouring through the little windows and the crevices between the roof tiles. Think of a dark and dusty attic with bright islands of light. I'm really looking forward to finishing this illustration. It's the place where Jonas starts his adventures and it will become the place where the reader of the app will start his adventure, too.

I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Chapter 2 - Preliminary version

Ok, same procedure as last year! I have just finished the first draft of the grayscale preliminary version of chapter 2. I have not yet set the milestone marks because I want to let the first draft of this preliminary version rest for some time now. In the next weeks I will concentrate on the Wormworld Saga App (including work associated with the kickstarter campaign) and when that's wrapped up I will have gained enough mental distance to this preliminary version in order to be able to tell if changes have to be made. The storytelling gets much more complicated in the second chapter and I really want to make sure that everything works perfectly before I start painting the final artwork.

However, what I can already say is, that chapter 2 will be approximately 25% longer than the first chapter so you can look forward to a juicy update as soon as it is released! And there's another thing I can tell you. The title of chapter two will be:

Chapter 2 - The Journey Begins

So, in the next update I hope to be able to show some sneak peeks from the Wormworld Saga App production.

I wish everyone a happy easter!

Kickstarter closes with $23.729 - lots of work ahead!

The big news of course is the successful funding of the Wormworld Saga App on kickstarter.com. The backers there have pledged nearly double the amount of the original funding goal and that leaves me in pure awe. Yesterday I posted a video update on kickstarter.com and I figure that I can put it here, too. There is some information about the usage of the funds and some specific information for backers in it but I also talk generally about the next steps in the creation of the app and the online graphic novel.

To put it in a nutshell: there's a lot of work ahead and I will keep you updated on everything concerning the Wormworld Saga. The next update most likely will be the kickoff of the production of chapter two. I have worked over 15 hours on the preliminary version already and I soon will be able to set up my milestones for the final art. Finally I'll be able to concentrate on my artwork again. It's about time!

Oh, and I'm also proud to announce that, as of yesterday, the first chapter of the Wormworld Saga Online Graphic Novel was read 500.000 times. On to the million now!

I'm getting prepared!

I received a shipment of cardboard tubes yesterday.

Also, I received a second bottle of blue stamp color.

I already had ordered one at the beginning of the kickstarter campaign but in the last week I figured that this actually wouldn't be enough to mark ...

...over 700 prints!

You know, THIS is the moment at last. The moment I was waiting for ever since we reached the funding goal of $12.000. The moment where actual physical evidence is sitting right in my face and helps me to realize the crazy things that happened over the last four weeks. I can't believe what you all just did. It's unbelievable!

My print provider will fall off his chair when he receives my next print order...

By the way, because of some serious server trouble yesterday, the fine people at kickstarter have extended the deadline of the Wormworld Saga App fundraising campaign by full 48 hours to 2nd April. So, you've got three days left to become one of those people who will drain my blue stamp color supplies. I guess by now you know the link by heart:

The Wormworld Saga App kickstarter campaign

Wormworld Saga Watercolor Painting Steps

For the last days of the kickstarter campaign I felt encouraged to create a special item for a $1000 pledge tier. It had to be something really rare and unusual and I decided to create a watercolor painting. For the first time in 10 years (I'm not kidding you!) I took out my box of watercolors, cleaned the dust out of my brushes and filled two pickle glasses with water. I sat for hours to create an actual original artwork. Apart from my original pencil sketches this is my first original artwork in years. And I really had fun doing it! Here's the result:

I also want to tell you some details about my process. Since I wanted to have creative freedom with the drawing I created it in Photoshop. There I was able to balance the black areas with the white areas more effectively compared to pencil on paper. Here's the digital drawing:

I then printed a dark gray version of the drawing out on regular printing paper. I used a ballpoint pen and carbon copy paper to transfer the drawing onto the watercolor stock which I mounted with tape onto a small drawing board. In this picture I'm half way through the transfer process:

And here is the final result of the transfer:

After the transfer I took a lot of the carbon off the paper with a kneeted eraser in order to lighten up the transfered drawing. Then I started to paint with the watercolors. This is the result of the watercolor stage:

Now this was really lacking contrast and I was very anxious if the end result would look good but of course I knew that the final step of filling in the blacks would most likely do the trick. I used black pigment ink markers to ink the black areas. In this picture I was already half through the inking process:

At this moment I knew that the artwork would look very nice. The solid black areas build a nice contrast to the subtle coloring. I really like the result and it definitely is something very special. And it already found a new owner on kickstarter! 

I will create a painting like this (with a unique motive) for everyone who pledges $1000 on kickstarter and you have 3 days left to get hold of one of these (and a whole bunch of other prints that also come with a $1000 pledge by the way). And let me point out once again that everyone who pledges $25 or more will receive special edition prints as a reward. 3 days to go! All to be found at:

The Wormworld Saga App kickstarter campaign

The final week on kickstarter.com

This has really been an exciting month so far. I'm very happy that I didn't have to wait till the very end of it to see the total funding goal of the Wormworld Saga App kickstarter campaign being reached. I can tell you, it's really unnerving to open your inbox every morning, hoping that you've come a bit closer to the goal and feeling constant anxiety that it just might not work out in the end. But that's over now and I can't tell you how relieved I feel. The Wormworld Saga App will become a reality and I can't wait to sit down and work on its creation. I really have the ambition to make this simply the best comic app you'll find out there. You provided the financial means and I will provide the hard work! It's a deal!

And, of course until 31st March you can still become a backer of the Wormworld Saga App on kickstarter.com. The tiny pledge amount of $5 will already grant your name a place in the Wormworld Saga App credits. Every print you'll receive as a reward through the kickstarter campaign will be a special limited edition print with an exclusive blue Wormseal stamp. But what I really want to point out to you is the fact, that for a $25 pledge you'll receive a hand signed 20x15cm print of "Treehouses & Skycastles".

It is the title image of daniellieske.com and I'm going to use it as a title image in the app, too. This is my signature artwork, my version of dreamwork's fishing boy on the crescend moon, so to say. And the only way to receive a print of this image will be through the kickstarter campaign. I will never print it again ever!

During the next 7 days you'll still have the chance to get one!

The Wormworld Saga App on kickstarter.com

100% reached on kickstarter.com - It's DONE!

I can't tell you how happy I am right at the moment. Seriously, I don't find the right words. This year doesn't stop to surprise me.

Like I promised, here you have the last video in the 'Art of the Wormworld Saga' series. YouTube has enabled longer videos for my account and so I didn't have to split it up. I guess I'm going to upload the other videos in one piece, too. But it will take me some time to render them again. I hope you enjoy step 4!

And just so that you know, you can still pledge at the Wormworld Saga App kickstarter campaign until 31st March in order to provide me some extra funds and in order to receive a limited edition print!