Patreon Launched!

 Hello everyone! This is a post to let you know that I've opened up a Patreon page to support my original comics! I've been uploading to it pretty regularly, and it's become a place for me to share comic pages and to help build more of an audience for my work.

I haven't forgotten about this blog and do still intend to post work on here, I've just been pretty busy with a great many projects, that I will post about soon!

If you want to check out my Patreon, you can find it here: 

https://www.patreon.com/jorgesantiagojr

I've also started a new comic titled Honor Bound! Honor Bound is a fantasy romance story centered around a squire who is trying to return to their love following a failed war campaign. I've already posted a bunch of process work on my Patreon, but I'll share more about the story and my other projects soon!

Curse of the Eel has 1 Million Views on Tapas!

 Hello everyone, I wanted to post this before but my end of the year has been hectic, but Curse of the Eel has hit a really cool milestone! My comic has 1 million views on Tapas, which is amazing! I'm really lucky to have made a story that can be enjoyed by people, and I hope everyone will continue to enjoy Eel as the story enters its final acts!

https://tapas.io/series/Eel/info

Here is an illustration I made for the occasion! Thank you for reading!

Curse of the Eel Chapter 14

 Today I began posting chapter 14 of Curse of the Eel on Tapastic and Tumblr, and I'll be adding a link to my menu to those pages so people can read them. This chapter was a little hard for me, I was trying to draw it while being having my tank completely on empty. I just had little to no energy to do any real drawing, and anything I did draw didn't look right or just looked less than what I want or expect from my art. It's a sucky thought process, but that poisonous mindset really hobbled me in 2020.

 

Thankfully, new year brings new beginnings, and while I've never been as busy as I am now with projects, new jobs, and new energy, I'm finally feeling a bit like my younger self who just wanted to draw to make people smile or cry with my weird comics. Today Curse of the Eel returns after a short hiatus, and chapter 14 marks the beginning of the end; this comic that I thought would be 2 graphic novels is now half way through book 3, and I'm really proud of it. I've also learned how much these characters mean to people and that is an honor I can't even begin to comprehend, but one that I'm grateful for. If this comic can bring a smile to someone without one, then it was worth every second it took to dream up. I hope this new chapter finds you all well and that you have a great day, and if not, I hope Eel can lift your spirits if even for a bit.

Curse of the Eel Volume 2

Hello all, I hope you're all doing well despite the quarantine and all the other craziness going on in the world. Unfortunately a number of the shows I was planning to attend this year have been postponed, which is the safe thing to do of course, it's just a bit of a bummer. However, I did get my restock of Curse of the Eel Volume 1 as well as my brand spanking new Volume 2! This book collects chapters 7-11 of the comic that began as my thesis and has become the flagship title that shows people how I write and draw my own stories!

Curse of the Eel is about a goth girl named Connie whom, in volume 1, accidentally summons an Eldritch creature known as the Eel to earth. In volume 2, things have taken a turn for the worse as the cult responsible for all of the madness in Connie's life is making big strides in their dark plan. The question is, will Connie be able to do anything about it, especially now that it looks like she and the Eel are turning into one being?

You can pick up the volumes from my store HERE! I'll still be shipping despite the quarantine, but I'll only be shipping at the end of each week, just to stay safe myself. Also, because this is a crazy time and I appreciate your support, each order with an Eel book will get a free bonus illustration of Eel eating a different food! I'll include some of the ones I've already done here to show what they look like!

Thank you for reading and take care! I'll have more art to post soon!

Volume 2 Cover!

Chapter 7 that I love!

Chapter 8 page of horror!

Chapter 9 page that I'm quite proud of! Environmental storytelling!!

Chapter 10 page of the cult person showing their power and fury!

Chapter 11 page that summarizes Eel and Connie's relationship

Eel Bonus Art: Dippin' Dots!

Eel Bonus Art: Okonomiyaki!

Eel Bonus Art: Buffalo Wings!

Curse of the Eel Ch12 Art and CONVENTION UPDATES

Hey ya'll, making a quick update to my schedule so far! I'll be attending two conventions for sure this year:

SC Comic Con in March in Greenville, South Carolina
MomoCon in May in Atlanta, Georgia

Check my social media for my table numbers! And now, here's some art because I'm trying to get as much done between freelance work and my new teaching gig. I'm also teaching now, that's a new development!

This is a pretty important moment for Frank, who has been questioning his sexuality since chapter 3. Holy crap, that was 8 chapters ago... Love is the most powerful feeling ever, and it conquers all. Take care and I hope you'll enjoy the next update when it comes up!

Curse of the Eel volume 2 cover!

Hello everyone! A lack of updates to this site means I've mainly been working on freelance works that I can't really share, but it's good to be busy! I've also been doing my best to keep up with all my original comics, and Curse of the Eel volume 2 is almost ready to go! Here is my process for this cover and some of my thoughts on it.

Curse of the Eel is my take on a modern day world where eldritch creatures and magic wind up in the hands of some odd peoples. Connie is a goth girl who is bullied at high school, and the only person she's able to trust/talk with, is the weird Cthulhu-ish Eel monster that she accidentally summoned. Unfortunately for Connie, Eel isn't the only weird eldritch abomination wandering the halls of her school and the woods of the surrounding area.

This comic was my thesis for my MFA and has been running for 5 years at this point, and I'm working on the 12th chapter as we speak! It's actually doing well on sites like Tapastic and Smackjeeves.

For this cover, I wanted to mirror the first volume cover but also showing that the earth and the Eel's realm are being smashed together, and the thin veneer keeping the worlds separate are cracking, hence the fun glass cracks!

As always, inked with my Raphael 8404 #3 brush with Yasutomo sumi ink on Stillman & Birn Beta Paper.

 

Patreon Page Launched!

I'm on Patreon!

This Spring, I've decided to put together a Patreon to promote my comic making endeavors! If you become a patron, you'll get access to my sketchbook studies, start to finish process for fan art and prints, characters designs, and my entire comic making process! And if we can reach a certain monthly goal, I'll be able to start updating my webcomic Curse of the Eel twice a week instead of just once!

I don't intend to hide any of my work behind a paywall, so I'll still try to post on here and on my other social media regularly, but if you wanted to get sneak peeks at things I'm doing or pdfs of the comics I'm completing, please consider donating to my Patreon if you like my work!

Thank you!

Curse of the Eel ch7 Cover Process

Here's a little look at my art for the cover of Eel 7. I don't have the pencils scanned, I was really excited to ink this. At first, I did not plan for the cracks on the face of the red side. My theming with these, was to show the difference in planes that was so prevalent in Lovecraft's work that inspired me to make Eel. His thoughts were that the universe was infinitely vast and complicated and humans grasp of it was limited, so I tried to visually show two opposite but complimentary worlds: human and non-human. With the end of Eel 6, that split is breaking, and upon inking this cover, I had the idea to show that cracking here. For the first time, the two worlds are linked, and based on this cover, it can't be good.

My tools here were:
Inks: Raphael 8404 #4 brush and Deleter Gpens with FW and Maxon black inks
Paper: Stillman and Birn Beta paper

I hope you enjoy the cover and Eel 7 when it's out.

Curse of the Eel Chapter 7 WIP

Here are a few pages of pencils and inks from Curse of the Eel 7, as spoiler free as I can make them.

I started drawing these as my work on Spencer and Locke was coming to an end, I'm not even really sure what I can share of that work at this point, so Eel it is. These were a fun break from buildings and such, and I feel like I got to play with my brush a lot on these. I hope that the framing is interesting and that you're left wondering who that person in the hoodie is.

Tools: Prismacolor Turquoise leadholder with Faber Castell B Lead for pencils
Inks: Raphael 8404 #3 brush, Deleter G-pen and FW Acrylic Ink
Paper: Stillman and Birn Beta paper, the best for drawing comics

SPX 2016!!

I'll be at table I-12 this weekend for the Small Press Expoooo! Here's a map and some covers of comics that didn't exist last year at the show, that will THIS YEAR!!

Curse of the Eel Ch 6 pgs 1-5 Inked

It's been too long since I had a comic update! Since I can't really show what I'm working on for publishers or for pitches, I'll share my most recent inks of Curse of the Eel. If you'd like to see the pencils for these pages, click HERE.

Inking Curse of the Eel is the most fun. I use a Raphael #3 brush to do most of my lines and that allows me to ink fast and expressively. I've started using Zebra brush pens to help me do fine lines, just because I want spare my wrist since my day job in graphic design is also demanding of my wrist. I'm inking as always on Stillman and Birn Beta paper, the surface is super accepting of pencil and ink and I've still yet to find a paper that is as much fun to ink on as it is to pencil on.

This was a fun chapter for Eel, I got to delve into some of the actual horror stuff that's been brewing since chapter 1. I got to draw 2 monsters in this issue, so I'm happy. I didn't think I was so into horror when I started Eel, but I've become really fond of it now. I still listen to H.P. Lovecraft audiobooks to set the mood while I'm working. These are also the places where I get to play with my comic skills. I don't really get the chance to on my other projects so my own projects are where I can try weird things and see how the experiments go! Like that 4th page, I hope you enjoy that one!

Thanks for the read and hope you like the pages!