Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 14 C

Avevo dimenticato quasi che oggi esce la nuova porzione di capitolo!
Come sono smemorina!
Eccoci qui, pronti alla lettura quindi.
Ancora in flash al momento... Shockdom e' arrivato al capitolo 13 per cui, quando saremo in pari, comincero' a linkarvi a quel sito per la versione italiana e, presto, appena risolvero' tutti i problemi tecnici, faro' in modo di sistemare la sezione download con i capitoli in pdf per coloro i quali amino navigare in queste acque con gli smartphone o le tablets (xoom o ipad che sia).
Buona lettura!

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 14 C

Oh silly me!
Today it's release day!
As usual you can click on the reader below the enjoy the flash version of the comic.
Otherwise click on the title of the post to go read on Smack Jeeves (bookmarked for you, as usual).

I will soon update the download section for those who navigate with smartphones and tables. It takes some time to set up, sorry for keeping you waiting but it's the end of the school's semester and it's always a bit of a nightmare in a bureaucratical way.

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Pea and Martin Too Darn Hot.

I have to say it: thiese two look proper even when they are doing hot stuff. LOL

He looks perplex too.

Maybe he even said his prayers before he went for it.

Anyways, have a nice weekend guys.

If you haven't voted for the Smack Jeeves awards I've heard it's going to be up until mid August so it's a call to arms we need.

Hopefully I can post something cool tomorrow as well (but I burned my had yesterday and I am trying to make the skin dry stretched, so I don't move it too much).

So for this cute couple now, I only have one more to finish the previous sets, the Adjective!

So coming up next Foxy and Lio XXI, the Mermaid or the Adjective... I will surprise you.

another lineart.

Today a quick note because fridays are my doom and I gotta run really fast here and there the whole day.

This is my planned design for Pea and Martin's "Too darn hot" I might change some things here and there, I'll see.

I will be tackling the big illustration (the mermaid one) over the weekend, if I am satisfied with the lineart that is... because currently I am not too happy with what I have... mhhhh...

Thanks you all for voting in the Smack Jeeves awards (and remember to recruit more crewmemebers LOL) and for voting in the OC game poll.

The graphic challenge is still open.

I am also planning on uploading the final pdf for the download section soon (trying to figure out where I put chapter 1 and 2 - else I'll have to grab them from the volume).

See you later!

Oc updates etc etc.

While I debate as to which one of the 3 images should be the cover for chapter 15... (I am opened to suggestions but I kinda like the one in the middle... ooooh the mysterious container!!!!)

I was checking out the polls for the OC characters.

So far it's a war between Allegra and Katharina! I hope you all already chose and voted for the favorite OC.

For the ones who were asking (and I myself did not pay attention, so I had to ask too)... The Smack Jeeves Awards will close mid-August. So you have time to find new recruits to vote for our crew.

Muahr ahr ahr!

By the Way... Pifo is not stretching anything... it's just that when I draw sometimes I swoosh around and sketch lines that aren't supposed to do anything except measure the distance between the characters and stuff. So... construction lines.

He is supposed to hold a container in his hands instead.

The meaning of sleeping position 5

Some would call this position a spooning or illegal spooning (if one is sleeping close to the edge of the bed and the other one is kinda pursuing and hugging, like a chase scene of sort, in the sleep, LOL).

When I picked this position for Pea and Martin I actually wanted to mix 3 different things.

Pea sleeps in fetal position, it's the typical position of those who are tough on the outside and sweet on the inside and don't easily trust others but when they open up they do it for real. Apparently it's a most typical position for women (who adopt it more than men).

The position I chose for Martin is the log. It's the typical position of those who are easy going, very sociable, very trusting and easily gullible.

To be sleeping as a log his leg would be straight.

The problem with Martin is... there are no beds big enough for him, being the poor guy 190 cm (6'2" almost 6'3") so he either has to let his feet stick out of the bed or he has to curl up a bit.

I guess, back home, he has had a bed custom built for him, ha ha ha.

The third thing I wanted to add is the fact that Pea is actually a hugger.

So remember when she was commenting to the doc about Kes - that she gets a hold of things and never let go? (but then we saw that Kes is actually the one sleeping within somebody's arms?).

My guess is... Pea has been waking up for years intertwined with her sister in the morning... thinking: oh my, she sure is a hugging freak.

When, in fact, poor Kes, had been squeezed the whole night by miss hugging freak herself ha ha ha.

It's such a small detail, sorry, not really evident enough to talk about it, not really worth telling a story about, probably... and not relevant to the storytelling itself - but my sister is like that too and that's what inspired me to hint at this little fact. She always tells people they take the whole space in bed, they snore and talk... but she is the one doing so and I swore I would tape her in her sleep one night, like that movie Paranormal, and then show it to her. Revenge!!!!

Thank you for voting!

Thank you all for voting on the Smack Jeeves awards.

Let's see what has Deda been up to these busy busy days?

- I am trying to catch up with all the missing illustrations for Martin and Pea (coming your way is "the meaning of sleeping position" for them).

- I have drawn 25 pages into chapter 15,

- ...cleaned up all the way until page 3 of chapter 15.

- Am researching for the Lio and Foxy XXI (for the boy is a pilot).

...and when I was about to draw the cover of chapter 15 in Illustrator I realized... I was misleading the readers... Nuooooh! Oh, the humanity! Oh, the horror! O_O

Yes, I double checked my pages, 40 (5 missing, where were they?) and when I found the 5 missing pages it came to me that the cover I was sketching for chapter 15 was instead the cover for chapter 16.

Flip flip, look look... oh... there's my little note: chapter 15 cover - Pifo and Quoque!

Now I am down sketching that one and coming up with ideas is so complicated without coffee.

I shall go get another cup!

By the way... I was looking at the polls this morning... seems like it's going to be a fight between Katharina and Allegra! :D

The Smack Jeeves Awards are up!

If the direct link does not work try this:http://sjawards11.smackjeeves.com/
After clicking latest comic, choose category n. 5 in the pull down menu.

Se non dovesse funzionare il link provate questo: http://sjawards11.smackjeeves.com/

cliccate su latest comics e poi cercate nella navigazione in alto a destra a destra la categoria romance, la n.5!

A promise well kept. I was told the Awards would be put online during the weekend and so they were.

I chose the image to the left to represent Balthasar in the finals... but I have to confess we're up against some tough competition so we better start a tam-tam - although I don't think we stand a chance against the super popular series!

Oh, well, whichever way it goes it's already very cool to be in the finals, it's a great spotlight and hopefully more people would feel compelled to read the story and will join our merry crew! :D

Click on the title of the post to reach the Smack Jeeves - Romance - page!

Also.... You know the the Oc polls are still open, right?

Have you chosen your favorite Oc yet?
------------------------------

Piccola comunicazione di servizio.
Il Pirata Baldassarre e' stato nominato nella categoria Best Romance per gli Smack Jeeves awards di quest'anno.
La competizione e' tosta... c'e' beyond temptation (mi pare che l'autrice sia italiana anche lei) e poi c'e' anche Paradox che ha un sacco di fans.
Ma se vi fa piacere votare per i nostri pirati il poll e' aperto a tutti, ecco il link diretto per votare!

LINK

Comunque vada e' gia' una gran bella cosa essere in finale. Crea visibilita' per il fumetto e forse nuovi lettori decideranno di dare una possibilita' al fumetto e si aggiungeranno alla nostra allegra ciurma!

A ogni modo io continuo a fare il passaparola perche' la speranza e' l'ultima a morire ah ah ah!

Silly me...

I haven't done this silly thing in a while...

Here are some pages from chapter 15! *_*

The penciled one are drawing from page 45 of chapter 14.

Also... can you spot the dust bunnies? Yes... my messy messy desk is populated by all sorts of dust bunnies, sigh.

Here's another silly thing I have started long ago and still have not found time to continue (I have to put resin in the neck and feet to reinforce the joints, that's what's holding me... I am lazy with resin).

This is the filling of a toy that, supposedly, should become Wilson Kane.

But the polymer clay I am using is not the best type (anyways this is just the filling, I might go get superscupley II for the exterior) and I have yet to go get the primer too.

Will I ever finish it? T_T

Back cover Volume 4

Happy weekend, everyone!

You won't see me around today as I need to catch up quite a lot with the comic work!

So, for your enjoyement here's the back cover of volume 4... with a pouty pouty Foxy!

He's cute! Hahahahahhahah! I wanna pinch his cheeks until they hurt!

Kane and Castalia XXI

Alright, I gotta run for class!

Give me a couple of hours, so that the caffeine kicks in, and I will post the story-line accordingly.

I must collect my thoughts though, because the story I came up with for Kane and Castalia - since I wanted to maintain the symbiotic relationship and the kittiness of our girl - is a bit complicated to explain.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy the drawing.

I will update this post soon! Do not fear! :D

Story

In the contemporary version of the story, I want to keep the relationship between Kane and Castalia's family, so they have known each other since childhood.

In short Kane and Callimaco are best friends and grow up together. They are both into arts and drawings, movies, videogames and cartoons and have a small workshop in Callimaco's garage. That's where they create their small projects experimenting with cameras and using computers as the tecnology progresses... (no internet except for dial up so time is spent wisely creating and discovering :P).

Callimaco is more of a technological guy, while Kane prefers traditional things and is more into sculpting and welding. Eventually, because they are both very creative and "pioneers", they get into CG, go to Art School, University and get hired into a big Animation company: Callimaco as animator and Kane as a sculptor (eventually he gets into modeling and zbrush).

After a while, while Callimaco continues his career, Kane decides he needs a more relaxed lifestyle to find more time to express himself through his art because he has not found yet a balance and a definite center.

He quits his job, gets into teaching, buys a very cool small cottage outside of campus and divides his days between teaching, sculpting in his studio and swimming at night.

Where is Castalia in all this? Well, she has been there with the boys all along, being always very close to Callimaco. She is also very artistic and talented, an enfant prodige, and helps the boys in their experiments. She is very much into pirates, everything she draws is about pirates, she writes stories about them, even makes a comic (where she turns all of her friends and family memebers into pirates or so) where Kane is absolute hero... because she simply adores him.

In fact, ever since she can remember, she has idolized her brother's friend and she jumps on him whenever she sees him with big sparkly eyes. So Kane grows up with an extra appendix called Castalia... soon to be nicknamed: the backpack!
So imagine him, since young, walk around with Castalia attached to his leg, then his waist, then his back...
It becomes so natural, at one point, that it feels weird when the girl is not around.

When Callimaco and Kane's path are separated by diferent career choices, Castalia still follows Kane around more than she would her own brother. She has become a little pirate herself (both online and on the street - she is into graffiti)... eventually Kane suggest to her to go to school and don't waste her talent around, she should share it with the world!

She enrolls in his school but he forbids her from taking his class. They still get involved in a project for a school mural... and all the designs she presents are verymuch like a tag and not personal enough... he wants a mural instead. So he tells her that she should pour her feelings and her storytelling abilities in her design which she finds a bit difficult to do because that would imply that Kane should be the main subject in her mural (which he also forbid).

Eventually the fact that they show up in each other's art cannot be avoided, it's always the case when artist team up and live their lives and art in tandem: you get feedback, help, a different point of view a free model and a fusion of two styles that, together, create a third, awesome style!

Eventually Castalia would have sleepovers at Kane's house, like they always did when they were kids, where they watch movies, play videogames or draw each other... (sometimes she tries to sneak in the bathroom to draw him under the shower). Kane knows about Castalia's feelings for him, as she voices them often, at times he jokes about them, other he teases her... and overall he admits he is not completely immune to the same feelings either, but he explains her that if their relationship changes and something goes wrong they will lose everything they have and he definitely does not want to loose that because it's too precious. (now imagine him saying this to a crying kitty, with big kitty eyes, crouching on a chair, meowing like a baby and niagara falls style tears - while he explains tha this is exactly the kind of things he wants to avoid).

So see Kane is all about a quite living, a bit like an old man, enjoying his retirement and strongly believes that he needs to reach a state of peace in order to be able to create, because art is not born from chaos... but this steady life not really helping his art either and he feels frustrated about it. So, at one point, neither of them is going anywhere with their projects and their art, because one of them is too frustrated and the other one is not frustrated at all...

That's when Castalia decides to stay away from Kane to find a moment of peace instead and a little space of her own to focus on her mural... and Kane finally finds frustration.

--- in a way consider what happens here a perfect mirror to what happens in the comic... only it spans across many years instead of a few months :D ---

The totally unrelated post! Ahr!

Being the stick-in-the-mud it usually is - and one is not surprised it gets hacked too -Sony will soon remove this so you'll find yourself googlin "The Pirates + official trailer"...
This is the totally unrelated post I was anticipating:
Aardmans Studios is going Ahr-dman on us on March 2012!

I am fairly excited!

We finally start to take this pirate stuff seriously again, which means... not seriously at all! Ha ha ha.
I honestly can't wait to see this poor fella run for Pirate of the year award in the movie and quite frankly, being Aardman one of my favorite studios of all time, there's no questioning taste nor quality here: it will be awesome no matter what!

On another completely unrelated note, but maybe not so much, I keep forgetting to show you one thing.... which is this:

What the fluff is this, you might ask?
When I went to Nikoi, for vacation, I noticed that one of my hatches worked with this system... which is the one you can see used on the Alidivento as well! *_*

So coool.

I didn't know there existed a place where they applied this type of system to their windows!

I thought it was used only on ships, for hatches.

I know it might seem weird to be me so excited about a hatch.

But I always drew it trying to figure out, in my head, how it could have worked... but never

actually saw one! ha ha ha I was so happy!.

Sooo, this is what it looks like from the outside (you can totally imagine Kes and Wes having their conversation about fever and being socked in "stuff", right?).

It props up against a groove and that's how you block it.

...and this is what it looks like when it's closed.

So it actually bends AND rotate.

I have to say it works better with small shutters. The one I opened was huge and heavy.

It took me for ever to open it and when it came to bringing it down... I could not make it!

So room service had to take care of that for me hahahaahha.

I'm a weakling pirate!

Pea and Martin XXI

Sorry for the mess, yesterday. So many double posts.
I got a new pc in my office and I tried to post the update from here (since I needed to rush away - my bff just gave birth to a baby boy) and... let me tell you "internet explorer" has now become and insult I shall use quite often from now on and it stands for so many bad things (it's not compatible with any of the website I browse, not even facebook - but to mess up blogger... ooooh, you must be reaaaaally really... internet explorer!)

Here we go! Martin and Pea XXI! In full color.
What's their story about? It's very simple.

Story

Pea is an event planner and Martin is in charge to organize a retirement dinner for his superior. A story meant to be, you would say, heck no!
This is the classic story of a girl who thinks she knows what she wants, she does everything to get what she wants and then realizes she needed something else. (but it's definitely not giving up her job for love).

Let's just say that, in the XXI century, Pea swoons over another man. This man introduces her to Martin because the poor man has to plan a big event and does not know where to begin.
Pea takes the matter into her hands but is not charmed by uniform nor hunkiness, besides her mind is set over the other guy. At times she is cold but sharp and her ability in multitasking is quite impressive (not to mention her wonderful taste!).

As we know Martin is the kind of guy who expresses himself honestly and directly. At first he thanks her over and over again, stating how he could never ever have done it without her and that she is very good and so he expresses his gratitude maybe a bit too much.
Pea finds this a bit annoying.

Eventually, since Martin knows the man Pea likes, he makes her notice that he is taken by somebody else... to which she replies that she will still conquer him, and why wouldn't she, she has everything a man could possibly desire: isn't she pretty, smart, elegant and witty?

Martin agrees that she does, the only thing lacking is a charming personality. This infuriates her and, set on fire, she decides to go for it (unprepared).
The first attempt to conquer the man fails miserably as she is told, bluntly, that she would be the perfect woman if only she were a little sweeter sometimes.
She goes through many different stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance... and the last one finally leads her to ask for Martin help - since he first pointed out what her problem was.

Thus begins a traning using the basic romantic midi-chlorians in Pea's blood that will turn her into a Jedi of love.... oh yea, I forgot to mention... she is a Star Wars fan.
And this is where we discover that, in her private life, Pea is quite disfunctional and dreams of a Han Solo of her own. *_* (Who doesn't?).

Martin has to deal with all of this and from here on... expect a classic romantic comedy à la French Kiss, happy ending included DURING the event. *_*

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 14 B

Ups, avevo detto che avrei messo online una nuova illustrazione... e invece mi sono accorta che mancano solo poche ore all'update.
E siccome oggi sono felice e contenta, sapete una cosa? Maddai, metto su l'update con qualche ora di anticipo!
Buona lettura!

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 14 B

My bad, guys, I said I would upload an illustration and then I realized I am only 7 hours away.
Heck I am so jolly today, jollier than a Jolly Roger, that I've decided to upload early!

There! I hope you enjoy the new 8 pages:D
(as usual click on the title of the post to read the updates on Smackjeeves from where we left).

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

We're finalists on the SJ Awards!

Good morning, everyone!
I was going to post something a bit unrelated today, because Aardman studios has finished a new Pirate movie done with the stop motion technique and I wanted to show you the trailer but.... when I went to SJ to upload the page I found this wonderful message:

Hello and congratulations on your comic being a finalist for this year's Official Smack Jeeves Awards! Your comic, The Pirate Balthasar, is a finalist for Best Romance!

Imagine my surprise! O_o

I did not know anybody nominated me for anything (actually I am very bad with contests and stuff because I never pay enough attention to directions and deadlines, hahahaha) but...

THANK YOU!

I think this is one of the best signs of appreciation I could ever get and if positive feedback was ever positive: this is it!

Now I need to prepare an image 350x350 for the actual SJ page (I know most of you would want to see Cat in it! Ha ha ha). I only have 4 days to do this... so we better come up with ideas fast.

Anyways... stick around as I will be posting the colored version of Pea and Martin in about 6 hours! :D

BIG NEWS!

I attach another lineart of the XXI series but will leave the story for when I upload the colored version, for today I have to write a very long post, sorry!

Now for the Big News: The Pirate Balthasar will NOT end in 2012!

That is... life, health and job permitting... I will continue until I have ideas.

The current storyline will end in 2012 though.

After that an extra volume (or two, who knows) will follow with special stories and I might call that: The Pirate Balthasar - Before!

Content planned:
1) How Kane met Foxy
2) How Kane met Cat
3) How Kane met Westley

If you have any requests let me know.

Will follow another series which I plan to call: The Pirate Balthasar - Adventure!

Possible content:
1) A visit to Badia
2) Balthasar vs. Circes
3) and the one story I hinted about in the promo (the one with Kane kissing Castalia's leg).
Mostly Kane&Castalia stories.

Will follow another series probably called: The Pirate Balthasar - Next!

Possible contents:
1) Every time we say goodbye. (Kes and Wes)
2) Balthasar and Andromeda (The next generation)
3) (and this one I am still trying to gather my thoughts about but it's like a 10 years after).

And why not? I will also attempt: The Pirate Balthasar XXI!

Since you seemed to enjoy the current illustrations so much.
God knows what the style will be for these specials... and let's hope I'll be grant health, wealth and time to achieve such a scheme.

Truth be told... I have too much fun writing stories and if you find them to your liking I would be honored to go on this adventure with you.

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Now I have a message for my Italian readers, since I received messages of complaint about a certain comic list (the one to the side with a number 2 on it).
I will make sure to write the message in both languages for everyone to understand what's going on.

Cari lettori italiani,
mi dispiace sapere che vi sentiate frustrati dalla moderazione di parte del Fumetti Web Top 100.
Francamente non ho idea di cosa stia succedendo - non ho mai tempo di passare per quel sito - per cui mi riferisco ai messaggi ricevuti.
Non capisco nemmeno perche' prendiate il tutto cosi' seriamente.
Da quello che mi avete detto vi hanno censurati e non e' che possiamo farci molto, no?

Non siamo in lista per vincere niente, non e' una competizione.
E' semplicemente una lista!
Se siamo al secondo, terzo o quarto posto che importanza ha? :D

Ho registrato il fumetto al sito solo per dargli un po' di visibilita' e nessun altro motivo. Stare in prima pagina e' gia' tanto.

Se la gente lo legge e si diverte, bene. Se non lo legge e non gli piace, bene lo stesso, a noi cosa cambia?

Anche se, mi rendo conto che , nel resto del mondo c'e' molto piu' senso civico rispetto a queste cose - ma bisogna capire che, in Italia, al momento, c'e' tanta frustrazione e che stare seduti dietro un monitor acutizza la sindrome dell'impiegato che sogna di essere Superman e la gente si sfoga virtualmente perche' non puo' farlo realmente.

Far ruotare la propria esistenza attorno a questo genere di cose - invece di godersi le vacanze estive (com'e' tipico della popolazione italiana) - credo sia punizione sufficiente e c'e' poco da arrabbiarsi, voglio dire, io non smetto certo di disegnare per cosi' poco.

Del resto su tre cose potete stare tranquilli:
1) Quando un'opera e' la fuori non appartiene piu' solo all'autore ma anche al lettorato.
2) Non si puo' piacere a tutti per cui tanto vale continuare a fare quello che si fa esattamente come lo si e' fatto fino a ora (almeno una persona, cioe' io, e' felice).
3) Il lettorato non mi deve niente... ma io non devo nulla al lettorato - anche perche' dopo tanti anni di lavoro professionale ho imparato ad accettare critiche costruttive da gente con certe credenziali, le critiche non costruttive lasciano il tempo che trovano - e non fanno neanche male perche', di norma, non hanno fondamento, mirano solo a offendere. Se le ritengo false non ci possono tangere, no?

Diceva H.G. Wells: L'uomo che alza il pugno per primo è quello che non ha più idee in testa.
Su col morale, su! :D

Non ve la prendete troppo. Sono facezie da bambini. Prima o poi si stancano, trovano la fidanzatina... io continuo comunque e nuovi piccoli troll arriveranno a dare fastidio: e' il naturale cerchio della vita!

Ma soprattutto vi devo chiedere un favore: non mandatemi messaggi riguardanti questa storia, non ho proprio tempo per queste cose (ho gia' dato 20 anni fa! Gli haters li conosco tutti, sono catalogabili, ve lo dico col cuore: e' uno spreco di tempo!)...

Il Pirata Baldassarre e' SOLO un fumetto! Godetevelo!
Altrimenti, anche voi, finirete col non avere una vita e vi attapirate a vuoto!

Se volete fare uno scherzetto, quando votate, se votate, scrivete "5 stelle - alla maniera dei pirati!" E si fa un mega flood alla maniera dei pirati! XD
Se li pubblicano allora il sospetto di parzialita' e' infondato. Se non li pubblicano allora avete ragione voi ed e' un classico sito di Itaglionzi.
----------------

And for those who are curious to know what's going on:
Apparently the Fumetti Top Web 100 list, the one to the right column with a n.2 on it, is applying a reverse moderation for the comic and the Italian readers are getting frustrated about it.

As a consequenceI have received complaints about it stating only the negative comments are accepted (including insults) and the positive ones are deleted.

I cannot do anything about it and I honestly don't really care for defamation is quite common in Italy and apparently some people don't have a life and are attacking the comic just for fun (with the help of the administration apparently).

I honestly don't care to be 1st, 2nd or 3rd. All I wanted to do was be in the first page and give some visibility to the comic, for I think it's worth reading (IMHO).

No matter what they say I will keep on drawing, eventually they'll get tired and get a life, a girlfriend and then some new trolls will show up as the great circle of life continues. XDD

With time and experience, having worked professionally for so long, I've learned that the only critiques worth taking into consideration are the ones that aim to improve you, not bash you.

Unfortunately, in these times of crisis, the "employee who wishes to be a hero" syndrome is growing and creating little monsters that hide behind a monitor and live in virtual world, while the real one completely disappears from sight. I think this is punishment enough for these people and I don't think anybody should get mad or answer or even take spare a thought on this type of behavior.

So I am asking here that the Italian readers stop writing me concerning this matter because I really don't want to go back to "Italy" through the web when it's crystal clear I moved abroad many years ago for a reason.

So if this thing upset them, I am sorry, I will not interfere because I don't care and don't have time to even go and visit the website.
If they want to tick them off, instead of answering, I proposed to play a prank: click on the button to go to the site, click on the green button to vote, put 5 stars and write in "commenti": "5 stelle - alla maniera dei pirati!" thus flooding the website.

If the comments show up then their suspects are not founded and if they don't show up then it's true that the website is piloted. In both cases there is nothing we can do about it and that's Italy for you.

As for me... I will keep on drawing and that's the best answer I can give, I suppose!
The Pirate Balthasar is just a comic, enjoy it, enjoy life, enjoy the world and don't live on the internet! :D

That's all.

OC contest - polls!

I hope this work... if you don't see a poll that you should see a link.
If you don't see a poll I will be able to fix the link on monday (when, I am hoping, polldaddy would become again fully functional).



I would like to remind you their stories so Pick the story too not just a good looking character (I mean it!).

Clyde and the old lady by Zoeyagent

"The old lady will take Kane away from Castalia while in the middle of a crowd in a market place (or something) thinking it's her husband because of her oldness and such (poor eyesight).... and she rambles on about the passed... "Oh I remember the time...." Kane tries to fight back from the old ladies clutches but she interrupts and babbles on and on about the old days living in her exaggerated fantasies..... When Kane finds a way out he latches some random person (Clyde) from wherever to the old lady which doesn't seem to notice....

Then Clyde will notice who is on him, and seeing that Kane did it he will say.... "DAMN YOU PIRATE BALTHAZAR", Old lady then taps him harshly in the face because of language.... then says "Honey, Language!"

This old lady would probably be about a little over half of Kane's height with squinted eyes.... and Every time she sees Castalia she will say "just one moment little boy"...... and if she sees pifo she will say "little girl"..... "

Julian by Isolde

Everyone is standing around (talking/walking/etc.) in the marketplace when one of the gang feels a tug on their clothes. That person (who is the approached person? Imagine the possibilities *wiggle eyebrows*) looks down and sees a little boy who has yet to lose his baby fat smiling shyly upwards with his hands behind his back. He then suddenly brings out flowers and says "you're pretty, will you marry me?". Sadly, due to age differences (or gender similarities), he is rejected; but he's alright because he gets a promise/orange/something to placate him and he runs off to a woman who is shouting "JULIAN!!!"

I have no clue if that name is appropriate? There's nothing extraordinary about this boy other then he is extremely cute haha. Growing up to be a heartbreaker that one. :) Again, sorry my drawing is not particularly polished, I only know how to use a pen and scanner and somehow it always end up looking strange after being scanned.... He has jet black hair btw, though I forgot to colour it in :p


Allegra by Kanako

Second child of a wealthy Sicilian family, Allegra has a strong temper. She speaks only when requested and says what she’s expected to say, but what really talks is her eyes’ expressions. She could speak calm and sweet and yet looking at you with a killing gaze.
She’s quite skinny but she had a substantial dowry, which allowed her father to marry her with the current chief of Martin Steeves. Her husband isn’t strong enough to cope with her and he ended yielding to Allegra’s will. So in the end are Allegra and her father who command in her husband’s place and send Martin after Kane (that’s because of something really old pending between Allegra’s grandfather Costanzo and Kane’s grandfather... you know, family duty XD)
About her appearance in the comic, I imagine a scene like this: Martin doing his report to his chief and Allegra standing behind her husband’s chair, commenting and advising both her husband and the captain XD And her poor husband sink into the chair XD

Katharina by Mallory

Katharina Althanasius Wolf
Height: 5’7” (Foxy’s height)
Age: 19
Hair: Dark Strawberry Blond
Eyes: Pale Blue

Katharina Wolf is a young German woman living along the Mediterranean Coast with her scientist father. Her mother has passed away and so her life is just a matter of following her father around Europe while he researches.

She’s seen in the background looking for something first. Then has a yelling fit in German looking up at the sky, “Heinrich! Raus aus dem Fenster! Sie sind ein Schmerz in meinem…” (Heinrich! Get out of the window! You are a pain in my…) Josh turns back to move to her.

“Can I help you…” She interrupts by yelling at the window again where there is a gray kitten.

“Damnit! Get down!” He blinks at her, taken a back as she starts hopping at the window. Carefully he reaches up and pulls the kitten down handing it to her. She glances at him, glares and then turns to walk away quickly. The cat meows and she turns to look down at it. “No, Heinrich, he was not THAT handsome…” She looks back flushes and then skitters away behind a building. Josh is left bewildered. Kane steps in.

“Who was that?”

“I have no idea….but I wouldn’t mind finding out.”



Dhalia by Myridd

Dahlia is a rich, highly desirable lady, at the height of fashion and a mastermind at the politics of noble houses. (Incidently, I think Pea and her would get along great!). She is however, very caring and carries around a terribly wounded heart. Probably the reason she acts so superior and prideful is to hide her inner weakness.

Anyway, I thought for the contest she would run into them in town (or on a ship if they attack a rich one or whatever.) and she would say something along the lines of "A rose should be the center of attention." Than she would huff and turn away. "However, this does have the feel of a cameo role." and than she would simply walk off. Or whatever.

Cassiopea fan art

While I prepare the polls, that will be up tomorrow, let me show you another fan art done by elianthos called: a new journey.


Remember to visit her on Deviant Art and leave her a nice message.

I believe, with this one, I am all caught up in showing all the nice fan art and works you have sent me during the past few weeks so I can finally start a polls without having to worry "did I post them all? Did I forget anybody?"

Sunday is a perfect day to start a poll so remember to come back because it's time to choose the winners of our OC contest! :D

Wes and Kes XXI

Here's our second illustration for the set: The Pirate Balthasar XXI century.

These are Wes and Kes in contemporary clothing. (In this case I did not use realistic clothing colors but went back to their original color scheme. I would love to see a doctor wear purple but apparently green and blue are hygienic colors!).

STORY
Of course our doctor is still a doctor and he works in a hospital. Imagine how busy his life is. Clearly he cannot do his own laundry and because Cassandra's laundry shop is right across from the hospital (and the smart girl really knows where to position her business) he drops his laundry on the way to work and pick it up on his way back.

Because he is always in a rush and lost in his thoughts Cassandra thinks the doctor is quite rude so she does not serve him with her best smile (and frankly, most of the time, the poor girl is sweating, submerged by clothes to iron and steam) so he doesn't care very much either.

Until one day, when she is grumpier than usual... she does not read a label properly and irons a shirt that is not supposed to be ironed, leaving a beautiful yellow, new halo/pattern on the doc's favorite shirt.

That's when the man comes to life the first time and shows signs of intelligence and anger. So that she says: oh, you're actually a living, thinking being...
He asks her to fix the problem and storms out. She says that she definitely can, but clearly cannot.

Clearly. There is no other option than buying him a new shirt but when she goes and sees the brand and goes to buy the item she realizes the shirt costs a looooot!
She still buys it, in tears (for she is now broke) and goes to his office to throw the shirt, victoriously, in his face (while her heart weeps for she could have bought so much food with that money) and he finds half asleep on his chair.
Triumphant, she laughs in his face: ha ha ha, I told you I could fix it?
He looks at the thing still sleepy and goes: this is not my shirt.

Apparently he customizes his cuffs. He also gets very upset because the shirt costs a lot of money and she didn't have to buy a new one, since he never paid for the original one to begin with!
So while they fight over who should pay for the new shirt another type of spark goes off and they literally jump each other.

The aftermath of the event is extremely embarrassing - although it did relieve him from his stress - there's a very long, heavy silence, until he asks: can I buy you a cup of coffee?

The next day he goes and asks her over for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. He does not show up though and Kes decides not to waste her lunch break anyway. The food is horrible but cheap and she still manages to eat everything with great appetite thinking that she should have come to the cafeteria more often and eat plenty of food. On her way out she sees him run down the hallway after a stretcher he stops, making a screeching sound... runs back towards her, claims she is exactly the person he wanted to see, lands a kiss on her lips, grins and promises he will make it up to her.

At this point the girl is puzzled as to where this is going.



Here's the lineart for you guys, in case you wanted to give the coloring a try :D

Fan Jewels.

You have no idea how surprised I was when I opened Facebook the other day and saw these!

Yaya (I don't know if you remember her, she is the one who did the drawing of Castalia and Ronald McDonald's) has created these beautiful pirate jewellery.

She put butterflies too!

The pendent are about 5 cm in height and reach the sternum.

She was mentioning that she could probably sell them for 15/18 euros (the materials are expensive) excluding shipping fees.

Now if you were to go to her deviant art account you would also see better, individual, pictures of every single piece!

So click on her name Yaya to go leave a comment under your favorite piece!

Oh boy, I usually don't wear necklaces... but these... I want them all!!!! *_*

Curiosities - Chapter 14 and specials

I haven't updated my links so I will do it today.

Here are the curiosities for the beginning of chapter 14 and the special.

The special was about "good misunderstandings".
Usually, in modern days storytelling, we have misunderstandings that lead to troubles... it's the kind of stuff that makes me very very angry, Hulk-like angry, when I read stories.
So I decided to create a misunderstandings that works to our advantage instead.

Wes and Kes talk about corn - it's a corny special after all.
Somehow they are referring to different corn but, at the same time, Wes' reply answers to Kes' question perfectly.

So, see? Misunderstandings can be used to our advantage too.

The mood of the whole scene is awkward until Kes finds it in her hear to ask the question that's puzzles her.

First of all the doctor is still traumatized by the haircut - the last time somebody sneaked into his cabin, his beautiful hair was gone...
Then Kes tries to hide the fact that she kindly removed the book from her hubby's chest - still not completely honest or sure of herself, is she?



About this... actually she is wrong.
She first named them and mentioned them to him when they first had breakfast together.

I don't think though that Westley sees the Shalalas he saw HER turn into one a couple of times "he's ourssss, you're oursssss" pants off and stuff. LOL

They might have talked about it, after all we don't know what they were giggling about during their first night ^_____^ (supergrin).


Do you do this? I do it all the time... it's a stupid thing, I know, but it's too darn funny.

I like to stand in front of far object and put my hands up so it looks like I am holding them. So, for example, I have a stupid picture of me holding the Hollywood sign (who doesn't?), pushing the Tower of Pisa (who doesn't), groping David's butt (who... ehm... doesn't?).

Go shallalas!!!


Down to chapter 14: Dysentery.

It used to be called Flux or Body Flux (did you know? Sir Francis Drake died of it, that's why I picked it). It's a common sailor illness and affected many pirates.

If it's not cured properly it can be fatal.

Because it is caused by a bacteria it is very important to stay away as much as possible from the people affected and it is also very very important to wash hands very often.

Although our doctor might not know about the origin of the illness he knows what Flux is (but I decided not to use the historical name here and use dysentery instead to avoid the same question over and over from the people who don't read the blog).

So "the bad humor" of the illness cause diarrhea and vomit so, the poor doctor, is covered in something quite disgusting and wants to keep everybody away to limit the problem the ones he quarantined in his sick bay.

To Kane and the others this is mostly a problem of hygiene.
Somebody did not use the hands bucket after pooping maybe and the bad humors have spread and everything needs to be cleaned.

They'll have to refill on water and food as well (they might be "contaminated") and so on...

In the past a lot of weird things were believed to be true... some of them were true but were called with a different name. Once again this could be a misunderstanding use to our advantage: they might not know what causes dysentery but surely they have developed a system that helps even though it applies... to humors! XDD

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 14 A

You can read it here or you can click on the title of the post to read it on Smack Jeeves.
Drunk Duck was down the whole week so it will take ma a while to update.

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 14 A

Eccoci qui con la prima parte del capitolo 14.
Buona lettura.

Open publication - Free publishing - More commedia

Release updates, fan art and polls closed.

A new fan art from elianthos (she is sooo prolific, right? *_*)
Click on her name to go and leave a nice comment under this drawing (representing Kane and Castalia) entitled: like a single cell.


The release will be up very soon. Which means that after release and curiosities the polls for OC contest will be up! (so you have 3 more days to try your luck and submit :D).

Another thing you might noticed. The release dates on the calendar have changed.

So far I could only plan the next two (because I haven't decided yet if I want to break down the final release of 15 pages into two: you know waiting 15 days is not cool).

Chapter 14 B will be 8 pages.
Chapter 14 C will be 12 pages.

With these two release we reach page 30!

Sunday loot

Today I'll make a juicy post.

First of all our friend Selenia has created a soundtrack for The Pirate Balthasar (which brings us back to the game where we were all picking songs: well, she actually put the songs there! Kewl! *_*/)

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For the mind melting concept... Elianthos was drawing Cat and Callista while I was drawing Cat and Callista. Muahahahahhaha. We are turning into borgs!

So visit her here to leave a comment under this illustration she called: blooming! *_*

I love the colors!

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This is my recent miniature painting... called "All night long".

All night long by ~Dedasaur on deviantART

So today: soundtrack, fanart and silly painting.... rich loot for my mates!

Happy sunday!

The Pirate Balthasar - XXI - Cat and Callista.

And here's the final, colored version of the first illustration for the set "XXI century".

The city in the background is Singapore (I use my own pics for this kinds of stuff LOL).

I hope you enjoy it and stay tuned for the next surprise! (but it might take me a couple of days to finish the second one ;P)

The Graphic Challenge: second entry

A Fynnian entered the competition and between the pink barrier and the butterflies we have full doctor impact on this wallpaper.

So follow o0oVixeno0o on Deviant Art and leave a nice comment of Doctorliciousness joy under her wallpaper! :D

(I have more fan art to show... but maybe you would be curious to see already the Colored Version of the Cat & Calli in contemporary clothes, right?)

So tomorrow for the series Balthasar XXI: Cat and Callista!

Fan Art and OC game end (but still extra week)

As promised today we have some fan art by elianthos.
Recently she has been inspired by Kane (and when I draw Cat and Callista she draw Cat and Callista too which I call mind-melting LOL).

As usual you can click on her nick to visit her Deviant Art page and comment under her artwork. She has a sketch version of it and a color work in progress.

She also has some other works in the making I will post them soon.




Enough of the top part... let's move to his bottom!

I am pretty sure you are also curios to see... her Potrait of Giovannino.

So click on the link and follow it to her livejournal (you'll have to click on a warning "for content" to proceed to the actual page).

Scroll down the post and you will see HIM in the flesh ^^".
Hahahahhah! The drawing are super funny I love expressions IT makes! XDDDD


THE OC GAME ENDED!

But if you have any late submission, please hurry before I create the polls. Thanks! :D

The breakfast of Captains

Sorry lame joke! hahahahaha.

Anyways... after I managed to finish the set for the Love and Dance set is about time I tackled the breakfast club! (lols) - which means that coming up next are: adjective, sleeping position and too darn hot.

I only have Pifo and Quoque left for these sets and we are complete.

So this is the long awaited Pea and Martin development. I know some of you took a liking to the captain - being so honest, like a knight in shining armor - I wonder how he will manage to conquer Pea's heart! (whistle whistle)

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 13 - Corny Special

After having a certain conversation with her sisters, during girls' night, Kes decides to go and ask the doctor a certain question... what would be his answer?

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Il Pirata Baldassarre - Capitolo 13 - Speciale Mais

Dopo una certa conversazione avvenuta durante la serata sole donne, Kes pone una domanda particolare al dottore... quale sara' la risposta?

Open publication - Free publishing - More comedy

Pea - Special (chapter 13)

I had promised two specials at the end of chapter 13 so... here's the first one (it will be uploaded in the back of chapter 13, while the second special will have its own upload and you will get to read it all in one go).

English:













Italiano:

Cat and Callista lineart

(I already posted this on Deviant Art and Facebook, now it's the blog's turn)

I thought I'd submit the lineart first... to see if any of you out there wants to tackle the coloring for fun!

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This Illustration is part of a set that sees the characters from The Pirate Balthasar in contemporary clothing.

Here are the themes I picked:

Cat construction worker and Callista architect (here)

Westley as a doctor and Cassandra owner of a laundry (that serves the hospital)

Foxy as a formula 1 pilot and Lio as his doctor

Martin is in the Navy clearly and Pea organizes events (like fund raisers and stuff).

Pifo and Quoque have a restaurant

Kane is an art teacher and Castalia a graffiti artist

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Story (why not?)

In contemporary settings Callista is a very shy but talented architect working in a big firm and she has being given her first big project to build a super eco-friendly skyscraper.

She's quite nerdy and a klutz and it's not a good combination if you get teamed up with arrogant people because she looks distracted and lives in her own little world and people take advantage of that.

So she is sent by herself to supervise the construction site and Cat is the big boss there, very strict with safety at work and stuff, and Callista always forgets to wear proper clothes and the helmet.

The first time she sees him he is standing on a beam, holding a big hammer and there's fabric behind him... but against the light, and with the strong wind, he looks like Thor.

So she drools over that for about 20 minutes (geeky girl!) even after he starts scolding her for not wearing a helmet.

Of course Callista's sister would tease her when they see the man, because he doesn't look like Thor at all. I mean, he is tall, dark and handsome... but definitely dark, unlike Thor.

Anyways in the XXI century Cat would definitely be taller but Callista might not be more extroverted...

You can continue from here if you want to! :D

Chapter 13 final curiosities

Only a couple of curiosities this time around.
The first one: Who is Duccio?
Really, you don't remember him from chapter 4?

The mouse accident?

Let's see if this refreshes your memory a bit. He is the carpenter.

Helps Cat with all the carpentry on board. Including patching mice holes.

Guess why the doctor needs a carpenter so desperately?

Could it be because everybody keep on barging in his room without knocking while he is having dessert with the wifey? XDDD

The other question asked was: what are they eating?

It's not really important for the story but we did talk about food and diet before, especially since Pifo started cooking and less and less shark was used as a surrogate for other stuff.

It's round and it's warm, it's a vegetable that can be kept for quite sometimes and it's not a potato. It's beetroot with vinegar.

There are different kinds from red to white (the white ones are sweeter and are quite big).

The Mediterranean diet is based off of a perfect balance of carbs, meats/seafood and vegetables. We also eat a lot of cheese and legumes but not a lot of cereals as they are (we have to process them).

Now meats on board has to be preserved, that's why they attack the ship from Parma every time they have the chance (prosciutto, salame, capocollo, all kinds of preserved meat there). Vegetables... they really cannot keep fresh ones, although they might have some since they just left an island. You'd mostly see those kinds of vegetable that can be kept for long time, in a dark and not so damp room, like potatoes and all kinds of roots. You can also keep apples for quite some time.

Ways of cooking: things, in general, in the XVII century were mostly boiled, roasted, grilled (put under the ashes) and very seldom fried (it was expensive). Steaming was not so common, except some population could steam their cous cous.

Almost everything comes with bread or pizza (flat bread) or focaccia (another type of flat bread). Rice had just arrived and was not so popular.

So that's the reason why, when somebody said: They are eating steamed buns. - I had to answer with a no. It's impossible. Steamed buns are Asian, originally from China, come from rice flour, fresh minced meats and vegetables (there's also seafood, corn and sweet version). I eat them from breakfast everyday but, to be honest with you, the first time I ever had a steam bun was in San Francisco, in Chinatown, in 2001 and before that I only saw them in manga and anime and kept wondering what they were.

We don't have anything like it in my part of the World. Even the closest thing I can think of... which is an Iris, is fried, has ricotta cheese inside and tastes completely different.

It might interest to you to know that...

In the XVII century corn becomes very popular especially with farmers and polenta was born.

In the south polenta is made with chick peas.

A lot of liquors were invented, especially after dinners.

Béchamel sauce and Mayonnaise were invented in the XVII century and super rich people could afford to drink coffee, tea and hot chocolates at the end of their meal in the North of Europe. In the South coffee was already available through the Arabian cultures and was a way to aggregate and socialize (smoking too). :D