ZP's Progress Log

A daily log of zp's progress on comic projectshttps://zpsketches.tumblr.com/

[zpprogress]

Garden of Swords - Milestone Goals

Complete rough series outline – 10/18/25 Complete!

Complete rough outlines for each chapter – 10/24/25 Complete!

Complete first draft thumbnails – 11/15/25

Thumbnail revisions – 11/30/25

Complete rough draft – 12/27/25

Finalize rough draft w/ preliminary lettering – 1/30/26

Finished pages + final edits – 8/30/26

Complete cover, extras, “marketing” materials, set up publishing platforms/avenues, etc - 9/30/2026

Publish - 10/2026

Update 2:

Oh this thing is NOT getting done in a year. I have GREATLY underestimated this timeline after being away for so long. The thumbnails alone are gonna take a month or two to finish.

That said, it feels pretty damn good to be back in the saddle and working on a project again, so I'll just keep chipping away at it until it's done - however long that takes. Probably do a few smaller things here and there so it doesn't get too monotonous.

Haven't had this much fun in a long time.

[zpprogress]

Garden of Swords - Milestone Goals

Complete rough series outline – 10/18/25 Complete!

Complete rough outlines for each chapter – 10/24/25 Complete!

Complete first draft thumbnails – 11/15/25

Thumbnail revisions – 11/30/25

Complete rough draft – 12/27/25

Finalize rough draft w/ preliminary lettering – 1/30/26

Finished pages + final edits – 8/30/26

Complete cover, extras, “marketing” materials, set up publishing platforms/avenues, etc - 9/30/2026

Publish - 10/2026

---

Update 1:

Took a bit longer and a few more iterations than I was initially expecting, but I finally have the outlines in a place I'm really happy with.

The story ended up being a bit longer than initially planned, so we'll see how that 11/15 goal holds up.

[zpprogress]

Garden of Swords - Milestone Goals

Complete rough series outline – 10/18/25

Complete rough outlines for each chapter – 10/24/25

Complete first draft thumbnails – 11/15/25

Thumbnail revisions – 11/30/25

Complete rough draft – 12/27/25

Finalize rough draft w/ preliminary lettering – 1/30/26

Finished pages + final edits – 8/30/26

Complete cover, extras, “marketing” materials, set up publishing platforms/avenues, etc - 9/30/2026

Publish - 10/2026

---

Alright. Let's see how this goes.

[zpsketches]

Comic - Garden of Swords (subject to change)

Single volume. Digital. Free to read. October 2026

See ya then, Lord willin'

[zpprogress]

If the last post did make it clear enough, it's gonna be quiet on this blog for a while. I don't have a set date to get back, just gonna focus on getting my mojo back.

I'll probably be posting more art on my main account in the meantime, so you can go there if you're so inclined.

[zpprogress]

Pause

Something's been eating at me for a while and I think it's about time I come out with it.

The whole point of this anthology project was to start creating more short comics and establish a nice little repository for them. But almost a year after embarking on this project I've only managed to finish two stories, one of which isn't very short at all. Again and again I get so ambitious with these stories that I struggle to fit them into a single chapter. I end up spending more time fussing over how to cut things down to make them fit than I do making the story. And the stories take so much time and energy to make that I don't really get to draw for fun or dive into other media like I used to.

I just feel kinda stifled. It's hard for me to get excited about the ideas I'm working on.

So here's what's gonna happen.

I've been living in a new town for a few years now, and I've spent so much time either at work or shut in writing/drawing at home that I've barely explored it. So I'm gonna fix that.

I've got alot of things I've been putting off watching and reading and playing in order to spend more time on these big projects. So I'm gonna recharge on that backlog.

And I'm gonna stop treating my art as so precious... at least for a while.

I'm gonna put a pause on these big planned projects and play around with all the stupid ideas running around my head, and whatever new madness I think up while taking this little breather. Whether they be illustrations or short comics, I'll have my fun with them and I'll post them, good or bad but never indifferent.

The anthology will still happen... but its on the backburner right now.

Right now I've just gotta breathe.

[zpprogress]

4/2/22

Did some work on simplifying a few scenes. Really need to bring the panel count down.

Urgent deadlines at work have kept me from putting as much time into the comic as I'd like to. It should slow down soon, but I'm probably still looking at minimal progress for the next week or so. I'll try to focus on small tasks like minor storyboard edits until I have a bit more freedom to draw for extended periods.

[zpprogress]

No update today

I've been blessed to have a full time job that I love.

That said, there are days when it feels like it's trying to kill me.

Talk to you on Saturday, folks.

[zpprogress]

3/26/22

Nearly finished with these updated rough draft panels. It's taken much longer than I'd hoped, but I'm finally starting to get into a rhythm again.

[zpprogress]

3/23/22

Progress got stifled a bit by some late hours at work, but work on the rough draft update is continuing apace!

[zpprogress]

3/19/22

Another short report. The process of updating the rough draft is still ongoing. It's important to make sure that the new draft doesn't end up exceeding the page limit.

[zpprogress]

3/16/22

Came up with a solution to the story problem I'm having and am currently making some updates to the rough draft to see how well this works. Hopefully will have more to report soon.

[zpprogress]

3/12/22

Another day with not too much to report. I'm still wracking my brain on one part of the story that's just not hitting how I'd like it to. Might need to make some updates to the opening of the story.

In other news, an idea for another short has finally started to crystalize in my head. At some point in the middle of my working on my current story I'll take a break to hammer out a quick rough draft for that. I've also got a longer story kicking about that I'll likely start roughing out around the same time. If all goes to plan I'll have a nice little backlog of potential future stories soon.

[zpprogress]

3/9/22

Not much to report today. Did a review of my current project and have some dialogue I'd like to rework a bit. Once that's done it's back to color tests and pencils!

[zpprogress]

3/5/22

Alright, done adding text to that new rough draft ("Innocent Fetish" is the tentative title, for anyone interested) and ready to get back into my current project.

Probably gonna take this opportunity to do one more sweep through the plot of this story and see if anything needs tweaking before getting deep into the rest of the color test. Fun ahead!

[zpprogress]

3/2/22

Things are starting to get busy again, which feels good.

Just finished the rough draft for one of the stories I'm keeping on the backburner. Planning to go back in and add the rest of the dialogue later this week before I get back to work on my main project.

Ideally I'd like to have two stories on the backburner, but I'm having a hard time formulating a second at the moment, and I don't see any point in forcing it. I'll continue work on the main project until something I like comes to mind. When that happens, I'll take some time off again to develop that as well.

Feels really good to be able to pump these out without immediately being tied down for an extended period of time. It also gives me more time to think about what I've written and what changes might be beneficial, which I think will be a huge help for my writing process.

Anyway, until next update.

[zpprogress]

2/26/22

Started working on a rough draft for one of the stories I'm hoping to publish in the future. It feels pretty weird putting it together, since it's pretty different than the type of stories I usually gravitate to, but I think that should make working on it pretty fun as well.