As you guys know for our recently completed trailer I did everything. This includes the music. I can play music by ear so I just created something that I was hearing in my head and that I thought sounded good. I cannot read or write music and I am by no means a professional. So the music for the trailer left a lot to be desired. You can have another look at the trailer here:

I had planned to do the same for the Celflux animated short and hope for the best. However, Matthew Curtis (The voice of the High Councilor), on his own initiative, shared the Celflux project with a friend of his. This friend was a classicly trained musician who, according to him, fell in love with the project and expressed an interest in coming on board.

His name is Gwenael Mario Grisi and he started playing the piano at the age of six. He’s studied composition at the Conservatory in Belgium and graduated with three (3) master’s degrees. He’s also studied film editing with the purpose of learning how to better use music to tell stories. As with our amazingly talented voice cast, we are overwhelmed by how lucky we are to have such a talented and professional individual as part of the Celflux team. We would again like to acknowledge Matt’s role in making this happen. Mario had this to say about the Celflux project.

Your story is very touching and I’m still completely down for this project.
Your art is absolutely amazing, it gives me a lot of good vibes and I’m really happy I can help you for the music. It reminds me some old animated movies I was watching when I was younger, I’m in love with this project!

Here’s a sample of Mario’s work performed by the Brussels Phil Harmonic.

You can find out more about Mario and support his work at the following links:

Gwenael Mario Grisi on IMDB
Gwenael Grisi on Soundcloud
Gwenael Mario Grisi on Facebook

I always say when we first started working on Celflux we did not have any distinctive plans. We just wanted to do something as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. We never imagined that Celflux would grow into what it has become and seems poised to become. Thank you to all our fans and those who have given of their time and energy to make it happen.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

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Our recently released animated trailer has risen to 13K views on Facebook. This is more than I ever thought possible when I was making it. Because of that response and some really positive feedback from our fans, we have decided to embark upon an even more ambitious journey. We’ll be making a Celflux animated short film.

UPDATE: Celflux Animated Short First Trailer Completed.

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I’m a child of the 80s and my early Saturday morning cartoon addiction was the inspiration for me spending nine months creating the Celflux animated trailer. You can have a look at the trailer:

Or check the 13k views on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2fbd82D

I had to learn most of it from scratch and there was a learning curve. Through it all, I’ve learned a lot and we received som really good feedback. So Dixie Ann and I were talking about the possibility of us doing an animated short. Was it possible? Could I do it? It would be a lot of work. But I thought to myself it wasn’t necessarily about my ability but more about “What have I got to loose?” So as is our custom we began to do our research. We also had to decide if we were going to do a short with voices for the characters. I did everything for the trailer. But I couldn’t do voices. We decided that we had to have voices. But who would want to be a part of this little project? So we took a leap of faith and sent out requests. To our surprise, we were inundated with auditions of extremely talented individuals who wanted to portray the characters of Celflux. So much so, that it was really difficult to choose the voices because of so much talent.

What helped us decide was not how well someone could deliver a line, because as we said all the auditions were awesome. No, the deciding factor was if the individual could capture the spirit that we had in mind for the character. This was really important to us because the voices had to be believable. So today we are happy to introduce you to the talented voice artists who will be lending their awesome talent to bring the characters of Celflux to life. We want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of these individuals who not only have committed their time to help us, but they have really expressed a confidence in the project that really encouraged us. We encourage everyone to show these guys all the love and support possible.

Demetria Bridges – Okira: Her tagline is “The voice with the velvet touch.” Believe me, when I tell you, that’s a perfect description. Demetria has accepted the awesome task of being the voice of our leading lady Okira. She is an extremely talented and experienced voice actor with a long and impressive resume. She is also a fan of 80s cartoons. We are very lucky to have her as part of this project. You can find out more about her work and connect with her via her
Website: www.demetriabridges.com
LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/demetriabridges

Kate Sample – Samantha: You would remember Kate as the voice at the beginning of the trailer. She did a really good job for us and was excited to learn that we wanted to do a short. She is also highly talented and a really cool individual. It means a lot to us to have her on board. Visit her links to show her some love and support.
Website: www.BostonBritVoice.com
Voices 123: http://voice123.com/katesample
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kate-Sample-BostonBrit-Voice-1488146798064029/

Matt Curtis – High Councilor: When we heard Matt’s audition for the High Councilor, we were immediately sold. The guy is a vocal wizard. If someone can make you see facial expressions by just hearing their voice, that person is talented. He also has a long and impressive resume and a lot of experience doing character voices. To have him as part of the Cleflux project is invaluable. You can connect with him at these links:
Website: www.MicTheMatt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MictheMatt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MictheMatt

Manuel Benavidez – Ahoteh: Manuel describes himself as a newbie to voice acting. Well, we couldn’t tell. Because his audition was exactly what we had in mind for Ahoteh. Ahoteh is one of the main characters of Celflux and we needed someone to properly deliever him. The intensity and spirit were perfect so we immediately let him know that. He’s also shown us a great deal of encouragement and is really excited about the project. We are excited to have him as well. You can reach out to him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/manuel.benavidez.9

Tony Black – Raymond: We’ve always pictured Raymond played by Michael Jai White in a live action version of Celflux. So for the animation, we said we wanted a voice “similar” to Michael Jai White. When Tony sent his audition, we thought the real Michael Jai White was auditioning for the part. The guy did a perfect impression. We are really lucky to have this guy as part of the project. We have no doubt that Raymond will become one of the most memorable characters of Celflux because of Tony’s portrayal. You can check out his many other impressions and extensive demo talent via his Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/user-69124635

Chasity Conner – Shandrita: How can you demonstrate an introverted person using a voice? That’s what we had in mind as Shandrita’s personality. Chasity was able to capture that. She has extensive experience doing voices for anime and said Celflux was a project she really liked the first time she saw it. She, like the other voice actors, is very talented. We are really blessed to have her on board. You can check out her work via her Social Links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeeCeeVA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ceeceeva/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ceeceeva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeeCeeVA

William Harmar – Stephen: William has a strong English narrator’s voice. His YouTube channel has some really powerful readings of short stories that reminded us of those radio dramas that we used to listen to long ago. The guy is a vocal performer. To play Stephen would be a walk in the park for him, in our opinion. He sounds like he belongs on Broadway. The guy is that good. His audition for Stephen sold us immediately. We still can’t believe he is on board. You can check him out on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/GentlemanWalrus

Hector Chavez – Indigo: Versatile. That’s the word that comes to mind in listening to the work done by Hector. We needed a crazy, unhinged portrayal for Indigo. We wanted it believable. Hector delivered it spot on. His YouTube channel shows his wide range of work. His talent speaks for itself and we really appreciate the fact that he is part of this project. Follow him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HectorChavezVO
Or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmAyESqajZTY37-sRFXB6Q

Sarah Brown – Genocyde: The interesting thing about Sarah’s audition, is we weren’t sold at her portrayal of Gencyde, but on her introduction of the audition. She started out by saying. “Hello my name is Sarah Brown and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Genocyde”. The way she spoke saying that, sounded like Genocyde to us and it was enough for us. But even more than that, she captured Genocyde’s rage perfectly. In our minds, we saw Genocyde’s rant while we listened to her voice. It was perfect. As with the other talents, we cannot believe how lucky we are to have her as part of the project. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synaes

Tracy Pfau – Sarah: So we’ve saved Tracy for last. But believe me when I tell you she is by no means the least. Tracy is not just a voice actor, but an accomplished movie and TV actor. As her IMDB page will tell you, (yeah, she has an IMDB page) she’s had roles in Touched by an Angel, Vampire Diaries, Chuck, Married with Children and Dragnet to name a few. To say her resume is extensive is a drastic understatement. She is an excellent actor. We still are in disbelief that she sent us an audition and wanted to be a part of the project. You can check out her work at her website http://www.tracypfau.com/ and on IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679336/

So here you have it. The amazing voice cast of our Celflux animated short film. It will be titled “The Secret Weapon”. So here’s the thing. With this level of talent being on board, I’m challenged to bring my work up to the level that will be worthy of this kind of talent. As with the trailer, I’ll be doing everything myself. Yes, all of it. I have my work cut out for me. But I’m excited about it because not only is the team talented, they seem to really believe in Celflux and that’s a huge, huge encouragement to me.

We won’t be doing any form of crowdfunding for the Celflux Animated Short. The only support we’re asking of our fans, is to help us spread the word. Share the news with your friends using the hashtag #CelfluxFilm. So stay tuned for updates as we begin this journey, and we look forward to creating something we hope fans can watch and enjoy.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

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So we just wrapped up the second run of our Celflux Original Character Free Commission Giveaway Part Two. We had a really cool contest with many people visiting the site to vote for their favorite OC. 19 awesome original heroes entered the arena. Each of them already winners because they stepped up to the challenge. We want to thank each and every creator who submitted their incredible OC to the contest. We encourage you to keep building your heroes and worlds as the sky is the limit.

The champion of the contest was the submission by Trevan Evans, son of Evan Evans. Trevan is four (going on five) and has Type One Diabetes. His submission was a character called T1-Soldier.

A very cool character with the power to shrink down into the blood stream and fight diabetes. From very early on a rallying cry went out and family and friends alike came to vote for Trevan’s inspirational character. This is what it’s all about. Comics and creativity inspire people to action. Trevan got 218 votes. That’s 30.6% of the overall vote count.

A clear winner. We want to thank Trevan for being such an inspiration, and for taking part in our contest. So here we have it. Trevan’s free commission. I took my time with this one because I think it’s an awesome character with a very cool message. So I actually did some research on Type One Diabetes. For those who don’t know, like me, here’s a definition by the American Diabetes Association.

“Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.

In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. With the help of insulin therapy and other treatments, even young children can learn to manage their condition and live long healthy lives.”

Here’s what I came up with. The T1 Soldier battling glucose in the bloodstream.

Trevan will receive a high resolution 11×17 file of his own to do with as he wishes. Thank you for your awesome OC. Here is the Evans family. Trevan’s father Evan is a great comic colorist. Reach out to him on Facebook if you need a good colorist.

The Evan’s family. Little Trevan’s entry was the winning entry in the Celflux Original Character Free Commission Giveaway.

So thanks again to everyone who took part. Those who visited to vote as well as those who shared and spread the word. I think it’s safe to say that the second round of the Celflux OC Free Commission Giveaway was a success. So this definitely will be something that we will have on a regular basis. Till next time.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

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The first ever Celflux Fan Art Contest has been revamped and extended. Thanks to several kind sponsors we are able to increase the number of prizes as well as the prize amounts. So we’re extending our contest till August.

Details: Art may be created using any medium whether digital or traditional. It can be black and white or full color. Only characters from the graphic novel Celflux should be used. We are interested in seeing other artists interpretation of the characters of Celflux. All artwork submissions remain the property of the artist. Characters of Celflux belong to GemGfx. By submitting, you agree to allow us to use your art in our promotions online and elsewhere. Deadline for submission is July 31st, 2016. Voting begins August 1st, 2016 and ends August 31st, 2016. The winner will be announced August 31st, 2016. Artwork must be original and belong to the person submitting.

Procedure:
1. Upload your fan art via Facebook, Twitter, or Deviantart.
(Hashtag #CelfluxFanArt. This is important so we can find your entry.)

2. Submissions will be collected and put to a vote.

3. Invite your friends to like,share, comment on, and most important “Vote” for your entry.

4. The entry with the most votes wins.

Prizes: Thanks to several kind sponsors, we are able to have three cash prizes.

First Prize: $100 Cash.
Second Prize: $50 Cash.
Third Prize: $25 Cash.

(Prizes will be paid via Paypal.)

We look forward to seeing many cool entries. Contest begins on June 1st. That’s the launch date for Celflux issue no.3. So good luck to all who decide to take part.

Disclaimer: The host of this contest reserves the right to modify or discontinue this contest at any time.

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[socialpoll id=”2371529″]

Greetings Celflux fans.

As we draw near to the release of Celflux issue no.3 on June 1st,2016, we are going to be hosting two competitions. The first of which will be a return of our recently held OC Character Free Commission Giveaway Contest. We last held this contest in January, and we had a really good response. So we’re going to do it again.

Do you have an independent, original character? Here’s your chance to get it illustrated for free.Yes, it’s the return of the Celflux Original Character Free Commission Giveaway Contest. For the months of June and July 2016, I’ve decided to give away a free commission of one OC to one lucky creator.

Details: All characters remain the property of their owners. Deadline for submission is June 31st, 2016. Voting begins July 1st, 2016 and ends July 31st, 2016. The winner will be announced July 31st, 2016. Only original, independent characters will be accepted.

Procedure:
1. Upload your OC via Facebook, Twitter, or Deviantart with a sketch and short description.
(Hashtag #CelfluxGA2 This is important so we can find your entry.)

2. Submissions will be collected and put to a vote.

3. Invite your friends to like,share, comment on, and most important “Vote” for your character.

4. The character with the most votes wins.

Prize: There will only be ONE winner this time and they will receive an 11″ x 17″ 300 dpi commission of their original character.

So let’s do this. Contest begins on June 1st. That’s the launch date for Celflux issue no.3. So good luck to all who decide to take part.

Disclaimer: The host of this contest reserves the right to modify or discontinue this contest at any time.

Update:
We’ve decided to move up the date for the closing of votes. Our new closing date is July 19th, 2016. Take note of the new date. We announce the winner on Wednesday, July 20th, 2016. Thanks again to all the talented creators for submitting your awesome OCs and being a part of our contest.

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We’ve been wanting to create a new trailer for Celflux for some time now, and we wanted to make it more special than the last one. For the last Celflux trailer, we used a motion comic style.

First Celflux Trailer:

To the end of that trailer, we had a fully animated scene of Samantha flying past the screen. That was a tease of how we wanted the next Celflux trailer to look. Like many children of the 80s I’ve always had a fond place in my heart for 80s cartoons. In fact, they were some of my early inspirations that started me on my path to a career in the creative field. Last time when we were about to release Celflux issue no.2 I did a few articles about those said inspirations in which I mentioned a few names most people would be familiar with.

Thundercats:

Visionairies:
https://youtu.be/rBoxGdz2Km4

So I’ve always wanted to have an animated trailer in the style of the 80s cartoon intros. This is easier said than done though, because animation, contrary to popular belief, is a very involved and difficult process. Not to mention expensive. It takes large teams, countless hours of work to produce just 30 seconds of animation. With this it would be just me. Also, animation is a skill. A talent. Not any and everyone can do it. But I wanted this trailer, so I decided to embark upon the task of making it happen. So I did the research. I watched countless tutorials and documentaries. After a few months, I still was no where near qualified to create a second of animation. But you know what, I did it anyway. The trailer isn’t done yet, but I thought I would share a sneak peak today and get some feedback from the Celflux fans. So let us know what you think in the comments. We would really appreciate it.

I should stress:

ROUGH SNEAK PEEK. THIS IS NOT THE COMPETE VERSION.

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The video is basically samples of the artwork from Issue no.1, animated in the order of the story. The action sequence is just to generate some excitement. The very end of the teaser shows Samantha coming down flying through the clouds, and she makes a fly by the screen.

What I tried to do is convey and communicate the excitement I feel about Celflux in this short vid. You guys will let me know if I did. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

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The event is going to be held online, with updates as the days and week progresses. We’ll be giving away free downloads during the week. Each purchase of the print copy, entitles you to a free download of the digital version. Each purchase of the print copy also gives you a chance to win some cool Celflux Merchandise. Join the #Free event on Google Plus or on Facebook.

We’d really appreciate it if you would spread the word about our event so as many people as possible will attend. Look forward to seeing you there.

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When we first started the Celflux project, it was more a project of love. Just to realize a childhood dream of creating your own characters and stories and sharing it with others. We really did not have any stated goals or directions we wanted to go in other than knowing we had six volumes that we wanted to create. Let me say here that it’s not always a good idea to start something without a plan, but sometimes the journey of discovery is the most rewarding. Celflux has grown into a lot more since we first started. The research we’ve done has helped us create solid achievable goals that we can work towards. So we’ve decided that we’ll be creating six volumes with approximately four issues each. When we’ve completed the volumes, we’ll be compiling them into the graphic novel for that volume. May be hard cover, may be soft cover, we’re not sure yet.

So we recently completed Issue no.1 of Vol.I, and we’ve made digital copies available on DriveThru Comics for sale. We’d also sent it off to the printers to get print copies ready. Recently we received the proofs for the print copies. We were blown away by how fantastic the book looked. No, it’s not me tooting my own horn, it’s me genuinely surprised at how cool the book looked. It did not look like something we did. It looked like someone else did it. It gave us a really good feeling. A feeling like the thing you created came to life. Which brings me back to the Oprah moment I was having earlier. Holding the print copy in our hands we realized that we were not in this for the money. We felt a sense of accomplishment just by being able to create something and see it in physical form in our hands. We’d done it.

So our goal is to finish all six volumes, which is approx 24 issues and bring them all to print. If we can do this we will be content. We’re already satisfied with completing the first one and feel a sense of accomplishment. This little print comic book is a big deal to us. So it’s good to set goals, and work towards them, but find your accomplishment in the little things. This would make it even better when you achieve the big goals and you’ll still feel accomplished even if you don’t reach them.

Oh and The print copies of Celflux will be available on DriveThru Comics soon.

Till next time.

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When we as creators slave over our labour of love, we face the pitfall of thinking that it is the best thing ever. While it is quite possible that it would be the best thing that we have done so far, it is by no means the best that we will ever be able to do, and it most certainly is not the best thing available out there. To us it might be, but that’s where the admiration stops. It takes a lot of maturity to look objectively at your own work, and not be satisfied by what you see. To look at it and see room for improvement, and strive to improve. This is not about perfectionism, but objectivity. The ability to critique your work and by that improve your skill.

When we first started posting Celflux artwork and comic page, we got really good reviews, and we are still getting. I want to send a big thank you out to all those who gave their feedback, encouragement and kind words. I however have always practised trying to improve and never being satisfied with the level that I’m at, therefore I saw room for improvement in the work that we put out. So I decided to look again at the artwork for Celflux, and I went over everything and tried to improve in the areas where I saw deficiencies. Here are some things that I did in examining the work.

Removing Emotion From The Equation.

I had to divorce myself from my creations. That emotional attachment that I felt with them. The type of attachment that anyone who has had a part in bringing something into being has. Sometimes that attachment is beneficial and necessary. Let’s say in the case of a mother bringing a child into the world. But in the case of artwork, it can be detrimental. It’s ok to detach yourself from your art, in order to look at it in a critical manner and thus be able to see the deficiencies and improve in those areas. Pride and emotions makes the critical process murky, and you can’t see clearly.

Setting A High Standard

Using yourself as the measuring stick to measure yourself is not a good idea. You are at one level and you want to get to a higher level. So the key thing would be to measure yourself against someone who is at the level you would like to attain. Look at the artwork of others, and see what they have that you lack. Is it their line-work, inking, colouring or that foundation one everybody struggles with Anatomy. I’ve said it before one of my favourite artists is Joe Madureira. I think his work is extremely dynamic and I use his level of work to compare my work to.

It’s important that I state here, it’s not about mimicking, or copying someone else’s style. It’s about looking at their work and finding the points where they excel in, and building your own style from it.

Reworking Celflux

So that lead me to redoing the artwork for Celflux. I created a few new promotional images, and I went back over all the pages and reworked them. I even reworked the cover artwork. Here is an image of the new and old side by side, so you can make the comparison.

The old cover is on the left and the new is on the right. While you can still see there’s room for improvement, there is a vast difference in the two. The one on the right is far better.

So in conclusion, always be critical of your own work and looking at room for improvement. You will never grow as a creator, if you think to yourself that there’s no room to grow.

Till next time.
Celflux Team

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