Given that the Gradients gang is both in college and they all live together, it’s quite easy for them to institute a gaming night. And given Xolotl’s love for pop culture, of course one night they would end up playing rol. Following that logic, I had to draw them as the D&D classes because it’s fun!
Good ol’ Henry. He obviously gets the H because of his name, but he’s also hard working, and honest to a fault. He’s one of the house inhabitants at Gradients, where he sometimes takes the role of the straight man to the other’s more obvious quirky personalities. He loves sports and is in Mexico studying to become an Architect.
If you are one of my Patreon, you already know the misadventures of Romeo during his first day of College. However, I’ve also shown you art of a bunch of other people who share the world with him, and it’ time to know HOW he meet them, in a completely new Gradients serialization, that will start the first week of December on Tapas.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Patreon strips will stop. They will continue as always, and will follow Romeo and the gang between the pages of the Tapas serialization.
The first week will have daily updates from Monday to Friday, and after that, you can follow Gradients every Tuesday.
Like and subscribe at: tapas.io/series/GradientsComic
As I go back to the daily color sketch, I decided it would be fun to see what the characters in Gradients would dress as for a Halloween party, since well, that way you can get to know them better. It was really, really fun to draw and choose every costume, even if some required a bit more research than others.
Romeo went as Dorian Grey (the Penny Dreadful Version), Rene went as Elizabeth Bennet (From Pride and Prejudice AND Zombies), Xolotl as Steve Harrington and Izqui as the Demogorgon (from Stranger Things), Luisa as Jeannie II pretending to be Jeannie (from I dream with Jeannie), Honesty as an Axolotl, Henry and Aria as Waldo and Carmen San Diego, and Noemi as Luna Lovegood (From Harry Potter).
I’ve talked about Gradients (previously Abre Una Ventana), very recently. Just when I was announcing the beginning of the strips on Patreon, I made a series of most of the main cast for Instagram, that I am sharing here again.
Aria, Henry, Moonbeam Honesty, Luisa, René, Romeo, and Xolotl look a bit different when I make them in traditional techniques, but they’re still my beloved kids.
Around 15 years ago, I was called by my editor at Vanguardia Editores, Mr. Arnulfo Flores (R.I.P.) to tell me about a new magazine he was launching. The magazine, Saga Shojo, was a huge risk for mexican market: one that would be run by women, with only stories by women and only women collaborators. And he wanted me to be the editor, and to make a story “like Friends”. I was all up for editing, but there was a small problem… I hated Friends.
There were other problems (such as the resistance to more LGBT+ friendly stories from both audience and editing staff), but I created Abre una Ventana (Open a Window. Long story that has to do with my love for musicals), and la Saga Shojo had the love of the readers for about 10 issues. (Well, less according to sale numbers, but due to mr. Flores’s faith and stubborness, we lasted 10 issues). And while the others stories closed, I left mine open ended because I hadn’t finished with the characters.
In 2006, I tried to relaunch it with the Oubilette magazine. But due to time, and other situations, I couldn’t get past issue 2.
Still, I didn’t forget Romeo and the gang. And so now I can tell you all that I have written the whole story (22 chapters of 16 pages each, more or less) , and while I am drawing it, I am doing small strips with the characters, that am posting in Patreon, once a week. First strip of the month is free for all, the other three are for Patreons starting at $1.00 USD.
So, I hope you all like it, and trust me, you will be seeing more of the gang around here too.
And of course, I hope you follow me in Patreon too! 😀