It's what Blogs are for, right?

I'm trying to refine my charicatures a bit, so they look more like what we really look like. Expect some more change in that department. I like the layout here too, though. It's basically a gag-strip but eschewing the panel borders gives it a different sort of feel, I think.

So, I had a pretty good weekend. Another Welton strip done (that's 3 of 9 now, if you're counting) and got some work on an illustration for a (possible) upcoming article for the Examiner. Oh, and Chris brought me a Wacom Intuos 2 to try out (borrowed from work). I'm not sure if it'll pan out 'cause it's got a serial connection and the Mac only takes USB. Even if I find a cheap adaptor there's no guarantee the computer'll recognize it. Worth a shot though, and I appreciate Chris bringing it over. (Let's see... what else can I complain about not having...)

And I just got word that Markus is nearing completion on his Infinite Canvas thesis, which I get to read when he's done.

All in all I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Rachelle's blog is here (no dirt yet, though)

The Week in Review: I got sick

This is not exactly presented the way I drew it.
I messed around with the color in Photoshop.

What do you think?

Between Thought and Expression...

This is the barest of bare bones ideas.

I may expand this into a real comic some day.

Photoshop Blues (and Reds, and Yellows, and Greens, and ...)

So, I set a mon-wed-fri blog post schedule for myself, in case you hadn't noticed. The idea is to keep my hand and mind in practice with these sketchy things so when I get time to do some real down and dirty comics work I'm already somewhat warmed up. The stop-start-stop of my comic making was really getting to me. I've been enjoying doing a comics-style blog though, and if I can keep it up I've got plans to expand the concept a little. So anyway, I set a schedule and I already missed last Friday (too busy). I don't feel too bad about it though 'cause I made up for it this weekend working on other comics stuff.

I Finished another section of the Welton Colbert thing. That's going at about 1 part per month, I guess. What's taking so long isn't so much the drawing itself but all the other production work (and a lousy production schedule). I'm building a lot of the comic like an animation, superimposing the characters on top of a static background. Piecing it together like this is taking a lot longer than I thought it would and coloring it with the mouse is a bitch.

The Welton comic isn't what I'm complaining about in this strip, though. Welton is pretty much fill-in-the-shapes flat colors, once I get the art ready to color. I was getting frustrated with the slow progress on Welton, so to blow off a little steam I tried out a different technique with a sketch I had.


All in all It turned out pretty well, I think. It didn't really take all that long to do but it would've been a lot quicker with a Wacom or something. Those thing are still out of my price range, especially as it would essentially be a just a fancy toy for me to play with (as opposed to a necessity). Oh well, a guy can dream can't he?

Pertinant Links:
Jeff's site
e. gordon gallery

Come on by and bring your wealthy patron-type friends...

The Magical Fruit?

Bipolar Opposites?

What to draw... What to draw...

New Webcomic Examiner (really new)

I have an article in the new Webcomics Examiner up today. Actually, I have the only article as the web-based magazine has shifted it's format.

Here it is in Joe Zabel's words (boldface is mine):

Webcomics Examiner Adopts New Format and Schedule

January 3rd, 2006– The Webcomics Examiner has
converted to a new format, and beginning today will
publish on a weekly schedule. Says editor Joe Zabel,
“The quarterly magazine format served us well, but we
decided to change to a new look that showcases each
individual article to the max.”

The Webcomics Examiner is a forum of reviews,
interviews, and critical articles evaluating webcomics
as a fine art. The free-access website is at
http://webcomicsreview.com.

The format change also adds a host of new features,
including a site search engine, a comments section at
the end of each article, and archive indexing by
article type and author name. Behind the scenes, a new
content management system will save the editors
signifigant amounts of time in preparing and
publishing articles.

The new format was designed by Alexander Danner, using
WordPress, an open source content management system.

The premiere feature in the new format is a review by
Tym Godek of Nathan Castle’s comics. Upcoming are
reviews of Girl Genius, Little Dee, Nine Planets
Without Intelligent Life, and numerous other comics.
The Examiner continues its tradition of free-ranging
critical roundtables with a summit on experimental
webcomics coming up in February.

I like the new format (which Joe and Alexander worked very hard on for the past few months). There was concern about switching to the blog-style format and losing the kind of clean, professional feel that the Examiner's always had but I think Joe and Alex did a great job in adapting the old template to the new format.

Aside from the fancy new features Wordpress brings, I like that the "new" Examiner: 1) will come out more often, and 2) focuses exclusively on one article (every piece gets its week and none are lost in the background). The comment enabling is nice too and I hope it's take advantage of (it's about discussion people!)

I look forward to reading this each and every week and so should you.

Whine n' Dine

What I Did This Week

Well, there you have it. A la I Have No Superfluous Leisure (except it actually does map my superfluous leisure).

I've never mapped out my time like this. It's kind of depressing. Leaving aside any complaint about spending almost half my life at work (almost everyone feels that way, I'm sure) I'm sort of disappointed at how I spend my free time. I didn't think I watched that much TV.

I should do this more often. It's very revealing.

See? Cats are good for something.

Cranky New Year...

To be perfectly honest I don't remember if all of those "ball" drops were in the CNN report. I remember the chip and the drag queen (Anderson Cooper made a big deal about that one) and Times square of course. The rest I picked up off of Google (but they may well have been mentioned, too.). Thought I'd just mention that. You know, full disclosure.

If I haven't already told you, Happy New Year.