Hello everyone!

Today's post isn't exactly a project update. Even though I already have another finished page, I've decided to save a few of them so I can publish them closer together. Instead, I wanted to share a few thoughts because so much has changed since I first started this little project.

At the beginning, Echoes of Umbra was simply an excuse to make myself draw more and improve my linework and coloring. I still have a very specific artistic goal in mind, and although I haven't reached it yet, comparing the very first page to the most recent ones makes me realize how much I've improved.

A few days ago I went back and reread my earliest notes for Echoes of Umbra... and I realized just how much the story has changed.

Without spoiling anything, the script (currently in Chapter 4) has evolved far beyond what I originally imagined. What started as a fairly straightforward story with predictable ideas and rather flat supporting characters—because it was only meant as practice—slowly became something completely different.

As I kept writing, the characters started making decisions that even surprised me. Little by little, the original concept became almost unrecognizable compared to the story you'll eventually get to read, and I truly hope you'll enjoy that journey as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

If I'm honest, there are scenes that already intimidate me. Not because I don't want to draw them, but because I hope I'll be able to do them justice—artistically, narratively, and emotionally. One of my biggest goals is also to preserve the spirit of the original Jak and Daxter games. I'm doing my best to keep Jak and his companions as faithful to their original personalities as possible while telling a completely new story.

I'm also really looking forward to sharing more worldbuilding once Chapter 1 is finished. Right now I'm constantly fighting the temptation to reveal too much. I have so many things I'd love to show you—the cultures, the lore, the creatures, all the little details I've been working on—but I don't want to accidentally spoil the story before its time.

I've even been considering using Ko-fi for some of those behind-the-scenes posts, while keeping the main comic and general updates here. I'm still thinking about it, though.

The funny thing is that worldbuilding comes much more naturally to me than drawing pages, so I always end up with dozens of ideas I'm excited to share... but I have to keep reminding myself to be patient.

My biggest inspiration for the Umbra species definitely comes from worlds like Thra (The Dark Crystal) and Pandora in terms of atmosphere and aesthetics. Even so, my goal has never been to overshadow the original Jak and Daxter universe. Quite the opposite—I want them to fit naturally into the unanswered questions Naughty Dog intentionally left open, especially regarding the Precursors and the ancient history of their world.

I guess my biggest dilemma can be summed up like this:

"I want to share everything... but I don't know if I should wait until at least Chapter 1 is finished so I don't accidentally spoil the story or make everything feel overwhelming."

In any case, thank you so much to everyone who's been following this little personal project. I'm sorry the updates are slower than I'd like, but I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's patiently waits for each new page, illustration, or even little posts like this one.

Thank you, truly. 💜

SPA:

Hola a todos, hoy no hago una publicación de noticias y aunque ya yay una página acabada, quiero acumular unas cuantas para poderlas publicar seguidas. Si no, que quiero expresarme un poquito por que muchas cosas han cambiado desde que inicie este bonito proyecto.

Al principio, solo lo inicié como un modo de obligarme a dibujar y mejorar tanto las Lineas como el color,ya que tengo un objetivo muy marcado, y pese a que no he llegado a ello todavía, poniéndome a comparar la primera página con las más actuales creo que he conseguido mejorar bastante. Sin embargo, hace poco me puse a leer los primeros apuntes de Ecos de Umbra y… Me he dado cuenta de que, escribiendo el guion (que va por el cuarto capitulo) hay muchas cosas que, sin hacer spoiler han cambiado mucho. Antes era una historia con varias cosas predecibles y personajes secundarios bastante planos, ya que solo era una práctica. Y escribiendo, escribiendo los propios personajes han tomado decisiones que ni yo misma esperaba, haciendo que la primera idea resulte irreconocible con lo que os va a llegar dentro de un tiempo y que espero que disfrutéis. Si soy sincera, hay incluso sucesos que me da reparo no saber tratar del modo que Deberia en cuanto a dibujo o color, incluso a nivel narrativo saberlos manejar bien, y lo más importante hacer que la esencia de la franquicia principal no se pierda en el camino, ya que trato de mantener dentro de lo que cabe las personalidades de Jak y sus compañeros lo más canon posible. Sin embargo, tengo muchas ganas de seguir avanzando el proyecto y de que pasado el primer capitulo empezar a subir Lore y demas cosas sin miedo a mostrar spoiler. 

Incluso he estado sopesando que si bien algunas cosillas de Lore y worldbuilding si las subiría aquí pero no se, si subir otras  en ko-fi  por que lo cierto es que tengo muchísimas ganas de mostraros eñ las cosas que he estado trabajando (pese a que no he avanzado demasiado páginas por que me cuesta menos el worldbuilding) pero, me aterra dejar escapar spoilers pero al mismo tiempo, es eso es que me muero de ganas de compartiros cosas. No por que considere que son la gran patata por que se nota muchísimo que mi inspiración para mi versión de los oscuradores Hebe mucho de reinos como Thra (El cristal oscuro) o Pandora en cuanto a estética. Pese a que como ya he dicho, tampoco quiero que cobren demasiada importancia para que no parezca que son más importantes en la historia que el propio canon, por que no es Asi, estóy trabajando para encajarlos bien en varios huecos que Naughty dog dejó a libre interpretación é incluso en un pasado junto a los precursores y el por que estos no se parecerían nada a los enemigos de Jak 3.

Creo que mi problema se puede resumir en:

“Quiero compartir muchas cosas pero, no se si es correcto o debo esperar a terminar al menos el primer capitulo para que no parezca demasiado esquizofrénico o revele sin querer nada por accidente”

Terri stumbled into their world

Hello everyone!

Yes, the webcomic is still moving forward, but as I mentioned before, progress is slow. Between burnout and the fact that this heat keeps giving me migraines every other day, I'm moving at a snail's pace.

That said, even if it doesn't seem like I've made much progress on the pages themselves, I can say that the script and storyboards are already several chapters ahead.

Today I wanted to share this banner I made for the Instagram account, which I also ended up using for Faneo and Ko-fi while I was at it. Because yes, I finally made a Ko-fi in case anyone ever wants to support the project with the occasional coffee in the future.

The problem is... I honestly don't know what to post there yet. Any suggestions?

I really want to make more progress on Chapter 6 and start sharing lore and other little extras from the world of Ecos de Umbra.

In the meantime, I've decided that to avoid burning myself out, I'll dedicate one day a week or so to drawing whatever I feel like. So if you'd like to follow me on my other social media to see those pieces, feel free! (And of course, I'm sure some Ecos de Umbra drawings will sneak in there too.)

Thank you all for your patience and support 💜

SPA

¡Hola a todos!

Si, el webcomic sigue adelante, pero como ya dije, voy muy despacio por que entre el burn out y que con el calor que hace tengo migrañas dia si, dia tambien voy a paso de tortuga.

Aún así, si en cuanto a páginas parece que no avanzó mucho, en cuanto a guion y storyboard, puedo decir que van varios capítulos adelantados. Y hoy. Os traigo este banner que he hecho para la cuenta de Instagram y que he aprovechado para faneo y ko-fi de paso. Por que si, me he hechó un mo-fi por ai alguien más adelante quiere aportar su cafecito de forma puntual. Sin embargo, no se que subir ahi ¿Alguna sugerencia?

Hello everyone!

It's been about a week since I announced that page 15 was finished. In the end, I've decided to build up a buffer because, honestly, I'm working very slowly to avoid falling back into burnout.

So I'll try to stockpile a few pages before posting them weekly. That way I'll have a publication buffer and hopefully prevent another hiatus.

Thank you all for your patience! In the meantime, here's the current progress on the page 16.

SPA

Hola a todos, 

Happy Saturday everyone!

I’ve got some more updates to share. I’m already around halfway through the script for Chapter 3 of Echoes of Umbra (or maybe that’s where I’ll end up splitting it, I’m not sure yet), and I’ve also continued working on the storyboard.

And the best part… I’ve finally finished the page I left half done! The only thing left is adding the dialogue, and it’ll be ready to publish. However… I’m not sure whether I should post it right away or wait until I have at least one page in reserve, just in case I want to try returning to a one-page-per-week schedule. What do you think?

Honestly, I think the burnout is finally gone, but now comes the suffocating heat where I live, and that gives me terrible migraines. So I don’t want to promise weekly updates again when, right now, I’m spending most of my time working on the script because it feels much less demanding.

As for the illustration, it’s mostly intended as a guide for how the eyes of the three Darklings should look in more detailed illustrations or close-up panels. For obvious reasons, I simplify them in most comic panels.

Another thing I want to work on is properly defining some of the Darklings’ design elements, such as their wings and tails. None of them have a fixed design for those yet. And I have to admit that poor Aureon (the one with the long white hair) is the character I’ve neglected the most—I don’t even have a proper bust illustration of him yet.

To be honest, it’s a little embarrassing to admit that I started this webcomic without having a fully developed design for any of the OCs. At most, I had a few bust illustrations, like in Eclipsia’s case, and even her design has changed since then.

So creating something more consistent for them is still on my to-do list, along with studying the original J&D characters more closely.

But hey, if I’ve managed to make a somewhat decent webcomic (or at least I hope so) without really knowing what the hell I’m doing, then that means anyone can do it.

So if anyone has a fan project they want to make but feels intimidated because they “don’t know where to start,” my advice is simply: start.

Joining the club of “people who have no idea what they’re doing but put a lot of love and effort into it” is already a huge first step toward learning and improving.

ESP:

¡Feliz sábado!

Pues traigo más novedades, llevo ya no se si la mitad o cortaré ahí el guion del tercer capitulo de ecos de umbra, además de que he seguido un poco más el storyboard. Y lo mejor… ¡Ya he terminado la página que dejé a medias! Solo falta poner los diálogos y ya estará lista para ser publicada. Sin embargo… No sé si debería publicarla o de nuevo, esperar a tener a, menos una reserva de una página por simp pudiera volver a tener la meta de una página a la semana ¿Que opináis? 

A fin de cuentas, creo que el burn out ya se fue, pero ahora viene el calor asfixiante donde vivo y eso me da muchísimas migrañas así que, tampoco quiero prometer que volverá de nuevo cada semana si realmente a lo que estoy dedicándome más ahora mismo es a guion precisamente por que se me hace menos pesado…

Good morning everyone,

So, in the end I didn’t start any new projects. Recently I’ve just been continuing with the script — or more specifically, the dialogue for Chapter 2 of Echoes of Umbra… and it’s finally finished! So tomorrow I’ll start working on the storyboard for it.

As for Chapter 1… honestly, progressing with the script, the storyboard, and making standalone illustrations has slowly been bringing back my motivation to continue the full comic pages. So if everything goes well, I should be posting the next page soon.

I really think I’m finally starting to recover from burnout this time, and I don’t want to end up exhausting myself again, so I’d rather take things slowly. Once again, thank you so much to everyone still here waiting for updates.

And speaking of the illustration… I won’t say the name yet. But it’s a character who will appear much later in the story, and one I’ve spent a very long time wondering whether I should remove entirely or not. In the end, I decided not to. But it’ll still be a very, very long time before they appear.

ESP:

 Buenos días a todos,

Pues al final no comencé ningun proyecto nuevo, si no que recientemente he seguido únicamente con el guion. O mejor dicho, los diálogos del capitulo 2 de ecos de umbra y… ¡Ya está terminado! Así que mañana me pondre a seguir con el storyboard del mismo. 

En cuanto al capitulo 1… Pues precisamente el avanzar el guion, el storyboard y hacer ilustraciones sueltas me esta devolviendo las ganas de seguir con las páginas completas. Así que si todo va bien, pronto colgaré la siguiente pagina. Creo que esta vez si que si estoy saliendo del burn out y no me quiero volver a quemar, Asi que prefiero ir poco a poco. De nuevo muchas gracias a los que siguen aqui esperando actualizaciones.

Hello everyone!

⌛The remaining 7 days is here! You have about 1 WEEK left before our “Over 21” Jak and Daxter zine Contributor applications close!

We’re looking for artists, writers AND mixologists for our spicy drinks~ 🍺Please don’t hesitate to apply~💖

Application: https://forms.gle/LnbDNKWt3Gnr2LrDA