B-E-A-T

(Did I say there would be sketches posted here?)

Sorry for the internet silence, but last week really kicked my ass. Like a real, physical beating. Between work, a funeral, and 18 inches of snow (okay, more like ten. It just felt like eighteen when I was shoveling it) I got pretty worn out. Y'know... "beat."

Here is a picture of a truck that I drew toward the end of last week. It is also quite "beat." In that way it could be considered a metaphorical self portrait. A connection hammered home by the sloppy typography.

I was tired and messed up the lettering at the bottom there. Something compelled me to try and fix it but it still doesn't look right.

Anyway. Yeah... yay for drawing.

Guest Artist: Tessa Varju

Today is my niece Tessa's seventh birthday. This is a picture she drew while we visited her in NorthCarolina this past summer.

That little guy in the center - with the crazy eyes... that's me.


A shockingly accurate depiction.




Here's a little sequence she drew featuring the robot from my ! story.


Happy Birthday, Tessa! Love ya.

What now?

With ! finished, and Uncertainty not yet ready to begin posting, this is going to turn into a more of a sketch blog than a comics blog. I see "cartooning" (comics making) and drawing as two subtly different disciplines - with "cartooning" more akin to writing than straight illustration. I've always felt the cartooning part of me is stronger than the image making part, but I have to find something else to fulfill my obsessive need to keep up an internet presence.

So bear with me until I get the next story up and running here.

To start off, here is a first sketch for a small project I'm toying with. Not much but it gives this blog a rare burst of color...

! - the end

Pages fifty-two and fifty-three finish this story off. I hope the finish does not disappoint.
For better or worse, it's all over!

For those of you who are interested, there is a print version of ! is in the works. It may take some time though. I have many, many revisions to make to the comic and have yet to work out the particulars of publication (I'd really like one long accordion fold if I can manage it). All of this has to take the backburner to my next project too. I've been leaving Alexander hanging for too long now.

It'll happen eventually, though. And at least now you can read the whole story.

Thanks for reading!

! - page fifty-one

The story so far.

! - page fifty

I had to sit and think about how to draw that stairwell there.
Sit.

And think...


That's ridiculous!

The story so far.

! - page forty-nine

If you've been with this blog a while, this should start to look kinda familiar.
Remember?

! - page forty-eight

(The story so far...)

! - page forty-seven

Okay, at this point I can say with relative certainty that there are only six more pages left to go.
(The story so far...)

! - page forty-six

New year, new page. Ho-hum...

(The story so far...)

! - page forty-five

Only hours left to go, one more page for 2008. This thing should finish up sometime in 2009.
Hope everybody out there has a great New Year!

(The stroy so far...)

! - page forty-four

Derik Badman had some kind words for this blog posted over this past holiday weekend (words specifically on the diary comics, which I have not posted as of late. Whatever...) so I drew him into this scene. That's what flattery'll get ya! See if you can spot him.

Christmas was a lot of work but I should be able to get back to finishing this story up now. Here's the whole thing so far...

! - page forty-three

The story so far...

! - page forty-two

As always,click here to see how we got to this point.

! - page forty-one

Here's page 41, and Here's pages one through forty-one.

! - page forty

Back to new comics stuff.

Recently, I told a friend who has some interest in my moving on from this story that I was going to ramp up my production to hurry up and finish it. Following that conversation I promptly stopped drawing anything at all. I am a bad friend.

I am going exclusive to ! on this blog until I get the damn thing done!
Here is the story so far.

Untold Mysteries of (Popular) Science

Journal comics have unfortunately fallen by the wayside for now. Been pretty busy with the holidays and my work schedule lately. I'll get back to them. Ideally, I'd like to make those strips as automatic and thoughtless a process as possible. I just haven't found that sweet spot yet.

Anyway, here's a story I did for Cat Garza's Secrets and Lies.
Looking back, I've got mixed feelings about the whole story - the ending seems kind of muddled to me now. But I am reservedly happy about the results.
Online, I know, the text is kinda small (it's better in print) but I did fix a typo that (GASP) made it into the final book version.

Anyway, here goes:

mostly banal: sure, comics are fun. but doodling is funner right now.

mostly banal: white noise

mostly banal: who cares?