WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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35 comments
I'm devastated.
I [learned a few hours ago](https://octodon.social/@kattni/112202546947731897) that [Craig Maloney](https://decafbad.net/about/) (aka cmaloney) passed away this morning.
Craig had joined the Pepper&Carrot project in its early days, almost ten years ago. We immediately clicked: his passion for metal, for retro video games, for creation, for Free/Libre and Open Source projects and communities and much more.
He was involved in testing, reviewing and proofreading the beta versions of each [episode under construction](https://framagit.org/peppercarrot/webcomics/-/issues/?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=all&label_name%5B%5D=future%20episode) with pertinence and precision.
On several occasions, he even saved some rather dull story I wrote, becoming the script doctor for episodes.
He knew the series' universe and internal logic so well that he became the official maintainer and writer of the [Pepper&Carrot Wiki](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/wiki/index.html) and had a Pepper&Carrot [role-playing game](https://framagit.org/peppercarrot/derivations/peppercarrot_fate_rpg) project.
He also helped with translation, proofreading my "Franglais", and had [even managed last year's April 1st](https://www.davidrevoy.com/article961/hollywood-ca-for-immediate-release) blog-post.
I had absolute trust in Craig. He was one of the few project moderators to have all the project keys and privileges. His moral compass was invaluable on this project, and helped us through our moments of community storminess. He was the architect behind our [Code of Conduct](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/documentation/409_Code_of_Conduct.html), which he authored in a participatory way by gathering and synthesizing the opinions of contributors. He was one of the two gatekeepers who could kick me out of the project if I crossed the line.
With these words, I hope to make you realize the massive impact Craig had on Pepper&Carrot, visible on every floor of the series's [credits](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/license/index.html).
He will leave a huge void behind him.
And not only here, but for the many projects he was involved with. He made the Internet a better place.
My thoughts and condolences also go out to his wife and family.
Those who want to talk about it are welcome on our [instant chat channels](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/chat/index.html) or in the comments.
And I hope he'll excuse me for violating our Code of Conduct by this end, but...
**Fuck cancer**
I'll miss you, Craig.
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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97 comments
_edit: published on 30 March: NOT an April Fool._
Hey, I feel like I'm at a big crossroads and this is an important blog post, but you probably already guessed that from the title.
It took me a long time to think about it. It still takes up all my brain bandwidth at the moment. But now that I have a clearer picture, I think it's time to share it with you.
## The end of Pepper&Carrot
I am planning to finish the Pepper & Carrot series relatively soon. But this change will **not happen tomorrow or next month**, I still have four more episodes to release before I get to my planned "~The End~". And as you know, it may take a while, especially since the episodes will be difficult to write and draw.
So why tell you about it now? Because it may affect many of my decisions about the project, and I wanted every contributor, supporter, and reader to be informed about this new goal. It might give a more understandable perspective to actions I'll take and things I'll write. Also, I can't keep this project to myself forever. :-)
I never liked it when a series 'goes on forever' and Pepper&Carrot will be 10 years old in May. It made me think a lot. I also always had a special admiration for authors who *knew* when to end their series.
I also want to write an ending while the project is still alive. I don't want to end this project when it starts to decline or is on the verge of being forgotten. The numbers are still good: more and more readers, supporters and all metrics are still progressing on all channels. **Thank you for that**. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the success you've made out of Pepper&Carrot, with all its spin-offs, the community, the contributors and everything else.
I'm counting on you to stick around until I finish the series, because I want to finish it well, and I'm already putting a lot of energy into writing an ending that I hope you'll like.
For this massive new quest, **I am asking for your support**. Most of my donation platforms (especially Patreon, Tippee) are set to trigger a payment "when the episode is released" and not "monthly". An extra budget to help me release the next four episodes will be welcome (I plan to end with episode 42 and finish with an ultimate 'book 5'). You can find the multiple ways to [patron me on this page](https://www.davidrevoy.com/static3/become-my-patron).
Thanks if you can take part in this ending, and of course thanks if you took part in the previous episodes!
Also, I wanted to tell you that I'm going to keep drawing Pepper and Carrot in a way, because...
🥁 _(... drum roll)_
## Introducing: Mini Fantasy Theater
I couldn't talk about the end of Pepper&Carrot without telling you what comes next. And that's been the **hardest part** of the last month for me: re-evaluating everything I've done over the last 10 years, learning about it, and **building a confident vision** of where I'm going next.
I'm planning a webcomic project called "Mini Fantasy Theater" (MFT for short).
This project will have a lot in common with Pepper&Carrot and will be built on the same basic core values:
- Made only with Free Libre and Open Source Software
- Released under a Libre Culture license
- Open Source: layered source files available
- No paywalls, no advertising
- Made for the web first
- Supported by the community.
- Share knowledge and tools: Making of, tutorials, scripts and brushes.
You already know two characters from the MFT lore: a young witch and her cat. Because the MFT project was simply the project at the root of Pepper&Carrot. But by the time I drew the first pilot, the first two characters of my first strip had become a success, and I just decided to carry on with them. I wrote a few lines about it in the first pages of the Pepper&Carrot artbook.
The format for the MFT project: short comic strips, humorous, fantasy, following a small (possibly recurring) cast of characters in the world of Hereva (the same world as Pepper&Carrot). It will evolve depending on how the strip works, with your feedback. Of course, Pepper the young witch and her cat Carrot will be part of the characters.
So don't be surprised if you see more experiments, worldbuilding, character designs and tests coming as I write the end of Pepper&Carrot. I already reserved the domain [https://www.minifantasytheater.com](https://www.davidrevoy.com/minifantasytheater/) .
It's also a challenge to start a new art project in this era of unethical AI art, pay to win social media, algorithms with cryptic rules that serve the interests of their platforms, search engines that only return commercial partnerships and AI pollution. But now I'm confident that I will find a way and bring interesting answers to the table.
That's it, and I'm very curious to see how you react to this. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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22 comments
I learned this morning of the passing of Akira Toriyama, the father of Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, designer of Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger. Also, probably the artist who influenced me the most when I started drawing. So I'm repurposing the blog post I made of a fan art I drew of Arale and I'll date it of today. My heart is really heavy this morning...
**Original post ( 23 october 2022 ):**
A fanart of the little girl robot Arale Norimaki, main character of the Japanese manga series Dr. Slump (Japanese: Dr.スランプ) written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama from 1980 to 1984. I have all the manga at home and I had a lot of fun painting this one.
This artwork was also here to test my new workflow, one that attempts to get better volumes, light, and ease preserving a contrast between sharp edges and soft shading. I had to test it on a funny character full of energy and motion.
Dr.Slump is a copyrighted property of Shueisha publisher, Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama.
Artwork done under fair-use, do not reuse commercially unless you have approval from the copyright owner to do so.
Adding export of the process here:
[](data/images/blog/2022/2022-10-21_arale-process_a.jpg)
[](data/images/blog/2022/2022-10-21_arale-process_b.jpg)
[](data/images/blog/2022/2022-10-21_arale-process_c.jpg)
[](data/images/blog/2022/2022-10-21_arale-process_d.jpg)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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21 comments
A recent photo of my sketchbook, still training with ballpoint pen directly, a cruel training. But I am beginning to get a better ability to imagine perspective grids without tracing them, and I can even begin to plan full-page compositions. It takes a while to build these new skills, but they are worth it.
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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65 comments
The big wave of spams is over? Thank you FediAdmins for doing what you do!
[Source here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2024-02-20_Masto-and-Pleroma-cleaning-spams_by-David-Revoy.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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30 comments
I just posted a new video tutorial! A commented step-by-step guide and advice on how to paint an original fantasy character design from scratch in Krita.
[youtube]Q7kMT78iBSg[/youtube]
- Ytb: https://youtu.be/Q7kMT78iBSg
- Ptb: https://peertube.touhoppai.moe/w/eGXzGxkAJpJXaBGopryD9T
- Src: https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2024-02-17_Character-Design_by-David-Revoy.html
**Timeline:**
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:48 Setup
- 02:05 Silhouette
- 06:32 Lambert Lightning
- 08:00 Grayscale painting
- 10:30 Color
- 15:10 Painting
I explain my interface layout here:
https://youtu.be/uYdEkOyFUn8
Brushes are here:
https://youtu.be/s7rV88734pE
**Soundtrack:**
- Opening background: A Ghrà, CC-BY Damiano Baldoni , opengameart.org
- Intro: Fabian Measures - Hanami (CC-By) , www.freemusicarchive.org , www.soundcloud.com/fogheart
- Background: Village Ambiance CC-BY Alexander Nakarada , https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/royalty-free-music/celtic-fantasy
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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27 comments
_Notice: click to enlarge._
**↓ Sketchbook 1:** Various witches, a weird dog, Ranma! and a little kid scribbled over my drawings in a corner and I mention it.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_01_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 2:** Various studies of wrinkles in clothes, white shirt without bra, shirt, hoodies, big hoodies. Use of colored pens cyan and pink. A steampunk girl with pink hair.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_02_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 3:** Several female body studies with bra and pants. One is crouched full page with a cigarette. A white corrector is visible. A strange face in the corner with cat ears.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_03_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchook 4:** Various foot studies, a woman in a strange pose discovers a butterfly on her foot. Another sits on a chair next to a large foot with sunglasses. A thumbnail study in the corner for a 2024 illustration: too gothic.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_04_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 5:** Pleroma kicking a bat-Threads logo, a politician with a pineapple instead of a head saying 'vote for me', a saxophone player, various pen tests on the right page, with 'wet' test for the ink: brush, ink pen, gel pen, ballpoint pen. Most of the tests are bad scribbles with ink running out of control.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_05_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 6:** Top-down studies, various portraits, various furry animals (dog, cow, cockatiel), someone wearing futuristic glasses in a cold environment, some kind of mecha armor for a woman protecting a plant, a bear, a squirrel, a young woman, Clint Eastwood.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_06_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 7:** GNU/Linux fishing together, a guy at a conference, an attempt for Yennefer from the Witcher books with a landscape done with a leaky ballpen: a man on a horse is visible in the background. A cowboy girl drinking with a hyppo and an owl.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_07_net.jpg)
**↓ Sketchbook 8:** Various clothes, bra and top without bra studies. Two heads of stereotypical fantasy orcs.
[](data/images/blog/2024/2024-01-09_sketchbook_08_net.jpg)
