{"id":8835,"date":"2026-03-06T19:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/?p=8835"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:45:59","slug":"duskbirds-volume-2-cover-layout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/2026\/03\/duskbirds-volume-2-cover-layout\/","title":{"rendered":"Duskbirds Volume 2: Cover Layout | March 6, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8835 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview-web.png'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"477\" height=\"735\" src=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview-web.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Cover layout for &quot;Duskbirds: Volume 2 - Introspective Comics.&quot; Shows the title with an illustration of &quot;ghost Elsium&quot; underneath, a horned creature with an anteater-like nose looking distressed.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8836\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview-web.png 477w, https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview-web-195x300.png 195w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8836'>\n\t\t\t\tCover mock-up 1\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview.01-web.png'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"478\" height=\"735\" src=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview.01-web.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Alternate version of the previous cover; full-bleed version.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview.01-web.png 478w, https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duskbirds_vol_2_preview.01-web-195x300.png 195w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8849'>\n\t\t\t\tCover mock-up 2\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I recently learned I will be at another convention next month! (Early April) This one is smaller than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fanime.com\/the-oasis\/manga-ichiba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Manga Ichiba<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fanime.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fanime.<\/a> In my focus with getting <a href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/harbinger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Harbinger&#8217;s Path<\/a> ready for <em>Manga Ichiba,<\/em> I forgot that I applied to this second convention. Similar with Manga Ichiba, I applied to this one at the suggestion of my indie comics friend. It&#8217;s very likely I wouldn&#8217;t have applied to either if it wasn&#8217;t for her encouragement. Many thanks again to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theresaarzola.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Theresa!<\/a> :D (Who recently finished her successfully-funded <em>Kickstarter<\/em> for her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/thispapercloud\/beyond-the-road-a-graphic-memoir-ready-to-print\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comic memoir<\/a> &#8211; which I think you can still support as a late backer!)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For this second convention, I was surprised last month when I learned I was accepted. I had a brief few days where I was scrambling to see if I could finish the print version for <em>The Harbinger&#8217;s Path<\/em> in time for this early-April convention. After looking into logistics, I decided I did not want to rush Harbinger. I planned <em>Harbinger&#8217;s<\/em> print schedule around Fanime&#8217;s timeline. That&#8217;s in late May, compared to the second convention in early April &#8211; nearly a two-month difference in time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8839\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8839\" style=\"width: 311px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8839\" src=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web.jpg\" alt=\"Elsium the &quot;duskbird&quot; running to the left.\" width=\"311\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web.jpg 950w, https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021.02.22-elsium-wisp-wip-web-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8839\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elsium the &#8220;duskbird.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After mentioning my concerns to my friend, she mentioned Duskbirds might be a better fit for for this convention. This is specifically a small, indie comics con, compared to Fanime, which has a much stronger emphasis on fanworks. While learning this was a relief &#8211; in that I could continue with my original timeline for Harbinger &#8211; it created the new situation where I now had to format an entirely new comic I hadn&#8217;t been planning to. &#8216;<\/p>\n<p>I started layouts last month, but finally had a chance to really dig into it today. I was surprised how many comics I had to sort through &#8211; I have 42 finished comics for Duskbirds. I culled most of the early ones &#8211; many were too messy for what i want to show &#8211; but even after doing this, a single document ran up to around 40-45 pages. About 5 of these were due to a &#8220;bonus illustration&#8221; section I was considering adding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This was too unwieldy for what I essentially want to print as a small &#8220;zine.&#8221; Today, I decided to try splitting these comics into 2 volumes &#8211; one for the more &#8220;lighthearted&#8221; comics, and the other for the more &#8220;slightly more serious&#8221; comics. The latter which I&#8217;m currently referring to &#8220;introspective&#8221; comics. This is similar to how I categorize them &#8211; I have a notebook full of Duskbirds ideas which are separated into &#8220;fun ideas&#8221; and &#8220;serious ideas.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It gives me a good excuse to use this artwork of Elsium as the cover for the second volume, as I&#8217;ve always been bemused by how distressed he looks in this image, haha. I&#8217;m also amused by how retro this font looks with this cover. It&#8217;s the same font I use for <em>The Harbinger&#8217;s Path<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/harbinger\/guild-wars-2-the-harbingers-path-cover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cover,<\/a> which doesn&#8217;t give me this feeling at all. I&#8217;m guessing it&#8217;s the combination of the dark background and larger font size.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So, which convention is this second con?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8837 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lizliu.com\/sketchblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PLCAF-logo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"256\"><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the <a href=\"https:\/\/smcl.org\/comicartsfest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Peninsula Libraries Comic Arts Fest (PLCAF)<\/a> this <strong>April 4th!<\/strong>&nbsp;If you&#8217;re in the area, please feel free to stop by and say hello.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Okay, now back to book layouting for me!&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I recently learned I will be at another convention next month! (Early April) This one is smaller than Manga Ichiba at Fanime. In my focus with getting The Harbinger&#8217;s Path ready for Manga Ichiba, I forgot that I applied to this second convention. Similar with Manga Ichiba, I applied to this<span class=\"excerpt-ellipsis\">&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/2026\/03\/duskbirds-volume-2-cover-layout\/\" itemprop=\"url\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[788,5,10],"tags":[431,430,872,309,859,875,874,873],"class_list":["post-8835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comics","category-digital-art","category-work-in-progress","tag-duskbird","tag-duskbirds","tag-duskbirds-comics","tag-elsium","tag-indie-comics","tag-indie-comics-con","tag-peninsula-libraries-comic-arts-fest","tag-plcaf"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Landy","author_link":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/author\/liz\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/category\/comics\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Comics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/category\/digital-art\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Digital Art<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/category\/work-in-progress\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Work-In-Progress<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I recently learned I will be at another convention next month! (Early April) This one is smaller than Manga Ichiba at Fanime. In my focus with getting The Harbinger&#8217;s Path ready for Manga Ichiba, I forgot that I applied to this second convention. Similar with Manga Ichiba, I applied to this...Continue&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8835"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9176,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835\/revisions\/9176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}