7 pages drawn, 3 laid out!

Now...  to bake a cake!  Mwahah!

An hour into the event known to the universe only as "24 Hour Comicbook Day."  I've gotten about 4 pages pencilled.  Right now I'm just playing catch-up on all of the strips I wanted to get done this week.  I wanted to build up a backstock of comics so that I'd be able to focus on the upcoming NaNoWriMo event without scrambling to get a semi-weekly comic strip up as well.  I've still got a number left that I've laid out but haven't drawn or inked yet.  Hopefully I can bust through these and finish up this little story arc with enough time to work on a short (4 - 6 page) original graphic story today.

Gambatte!

It's been a while since I've entered something.  I really need to learn that blogging is about just throwing something up here regularly.  ^_^;  In that vein, here's a glimpse into my sketchbook!

As you can see I did a couple portrait sketches of McKinley and then...  kind made a Ghost Rider a homeroom teacher.  You know.  Just to see what he looked like.  "Mr. Murder - Algebra Teacher" probably won't make it into this series, though I could see some retooling shaping him up to fit in nicely with my Evil Acedemy idea.

Mweh heh heh.

Don't have a whole lot to say other than I've finally gotten the webcomic back up and running.  It's using a wordpress theme called ComicPress that, while it still looks a touch on the generic side right now, is making things easier (and easier to look at) as far as presentation goes.

I've put up 2 (3) strips already and am working on putting up more non-strip content.  I guess I'll just have to get over my shyness. ;)

http://www.fluffyandbear.com/

My third participation in 24 Hour Comicbook Day was less than complete, but certainly not disappointing. Largely because not only did I manage to have fun with an idea I'd had sitting around for ages, but I managed to stop before the joints on my right hand swelled into gianormous sausage links. We're talkin' German-imported here, people, none of that wussy Jimmy Dean crapola!


This year's premise was about some average teenager accidentally getting enrolled in a school that churned out future underworld leaders. I know, I just can't write and draw enough evil. I wonder what that says about me as a person? Hmmm...


Anywho, here's a sample page (no. 3 out of 9 completed) for those who suffer from uncontrollable curiosity.


( Click for image goodness! )

It's my last day off before I go in to work tomorrow night and then leaving driving to Little Rock (with a stop at the in-laws) for the weekend.  It's been an exciting time, since ne_today got the final revision copy of her and zabasity 's book.  It was a very trippy experience to see my name listed as a credit on the back of the title page.

Crap, I'm going to have to start being productive and pumping out more original stuff, aren't I?!

Thankfully I have a wonderfully supportive/pushy person in my life and thus got out a few ideas on paper before Little Dude started devouring my soul....

The laptop, it is back.

It is also, aha, devoid of any and everything of value that I'd once stored upon it.

But that's fine.  I've spent the last 11 or so hours shuffling through install disks and bringing it back up to snuff.  Photoshop, Painter, Trillian and all my handy-dandy work programs are once more installed.  I managed to make a copy of bookmarks for both IE and FireFox before the Dreaded Event(tm) so that's all well and good, too.  All I need now are the Wacom drivers and a snazzy new desktop wallpaper (alas, I have no pics of Little Dude available) and I'm ready to trudge through my imminent discovery process -- you know, the part where I find out what I'm missing at crucial moments where I need whatever those things are.

In other news, the manga project is excruciating, but I've got the characters, I've got the plot, I just need to build up some momentum.  Admittedly, I'm probably channeling a little too much AstroBoy and not enough, er, whatever the hell it is TokyoPop sells that isn't Fruits Basket or Kare Kano.  But hey, it's a fun idea and certainly good enough for a 16 - 20 page punchline.

The Rising Stars of Manga Contest

The challenge:

16 - 20 pages of inked and lettered artwork

The deadline:

January 12th, 2007.

The incentive:

$1000

And now I must sequester myself to my art room.

Well, I've just finished touching up the pages and making the copies for submission.  The only touch-up I did was adding the spot-blacks to the pages where I essentially drew word bubbles because it was "really dark."  Go imagination.  All in all, I'm actually pretty pleased with them.

And abusing the company color printer made the large areas of black friggin' POP.  The hell-dog looks friggin' awesome in a couple panels as does the just-coming-into-the-light page.  Again, not to be an ass and brag, but I'm pretty satisfied with this most frenetic endeavor.  Go Team Me.

Now...  I just have to gear up for NaNoWriMo this year...

Good lord, what am I going to write about?  So many ideas and not that many of them are very humorous.  Though we all know I can turn pretty much anything into slapstick...

Oh well, the comic will go to the submission place on Monday and I guess I've got a few weeks to determine whatever the hell I'm writing about.

Ah, finally something to post about.

No, it's not about Little Dude finally knuckling under my iron fist and cutting his tantrums down considerably.  Although that is pretty awesome.  Thank you, Mrs. Jo!

Naw, I've finally managed to get all of Galatea up on my devART page.  For those not in "the know" this was a quick scene I had combining Jewish golem folklore, the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea and a touch of Frankensteinian obsession.  You can see all five pages of my harried and rushed graphic short story there or via these individual links:

WARNING:  There IS boobage.  So if mammaries offend you, stay away.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

Whee.  Wasn't that fun?

So, about that meeting of all the prodigious comc creators/graphic storytellers in Lexington?  Yeah, nobody fuckin' showed up so it was me and the comicbook store clerk (Jamie, with his Masters in Archaic Languages or some shit) shooting the shit while the pre-adolescent Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament raged in the back of the store.  Not what I'd hoped for, but still, new friends and all.

Work's been something odd.  Not exactly busy, but just busy enough to keep my mind off my original projects.  Que sera sera.

Tonight, I'm taking a couple hours off and watching Little Man while ne_today hangs out with her knitting peeps.  Little Man, coincidentally is banging Jetfire on my drawing table and we're listening to Switchfoot in the background.

On the bright side, Oni Press is having another talent search, so I'm probably going to slap together something with one of their scripts.  I'm also working on pulling something together for Tokyopop's yearly contest.  But oh-so many genres to choose from!

Oh well, maybe I can get some writing done once Little Dude is in bed.  Hope springs eternal and all that jazz.


...

...who uses the phrase "all that jazz" anymore?  God, I'm a friggin' anachronism.  I blame you, mom.  You and the Seventies in general.

So, I'm finally going to the Lexington Comic whatever group tonight.  Managed to print out half the pages of the Snow White and Rose Red thingy before the printer ink cartridges gave up their ghosts.  Alas.  But I wisely started with the last page first and went in reverse order, so while the story won't make any sense (even if HAD words...), the best of the artwork is printed out with nice neat panel borders.  Yippee.

I'm also planning on putting the pages (as they are now first, then once they're lettered) up on a deviant art account.  The first three are already here.

Well, this should be exciting.  Maybe.

But hey, in other news, after some brainstorming during the car ride to pick up Little Dude, I've actually made some headway on what I want to do with the Norse mythology/Thrud story...  and that is add King Arthur.  Wow.  I cannot be stopped.

All 20 pages of the Snow White & Rose Red story have been scanned and converted to .PSD files...  now to scrounge for the time to add the borders and come up with some snappy dialog.  Whee.


Off to bed with me.

...out?

Anywho, so far there are only four contestants who've submitted their bios to the Small Press Idol contest. And even though I'm hella busy right now (THANK YOU CRAPPY SERVERS!) I had to get this down since it just kinda hit me.

( On Lucy: )


Whatcha think? I think it says everything you need to know about both characters. It's freakin' inspired, gawddammit!

Whoa.

It's been almost a month since I've updated yon journal and, like most things I put off, I've been waiting for something really big to happen to make up for the time away. But a lot HAS happened, and I've just been too lazy to post about it.

First, I'm web-homeless at the moment, having let the EvaComics domain and hosting lapse because I have a bunch of my own ideas I want out on the InterWebz. That, and I've outgrown that little doujinshi project. Outgrown it months ago, even though I still have the occassional gag strip idea. So, I'm fishing for domain names upon which to host my own art and writing as well as hopefully use as a launching pad for my artistic endeavors. Thus far, magnificentbeard.com hasn't been taken, but something in my head says it might be too close in name to another site I can't friggin' remember. Oh well. Suggestions are always welcome.

Second, I'm currently (well, not at this very moment... ) working on the character bios and images for the Second Round of the Small Press Idol contest. Though, considering their site's been down for almost a week, the enthusiasm's been waning for that project. It has, however, given me the excuse to go back and reread my NaNoWriMo novel and I've enjoyed hearing the characters' voices again.

( An Excerpt for the Bio for Doctor Destructo )

Another happy-happy-joy-joy event was the expenditure of an ungodly sum of money to repair and register both the car and the truck. Mass air flow sensor, spark-plugs, front brakes for one; driver-side window and new exhast for the latter. It's all on one of the credit cards (cue the shuddering from intense loathing) and thankfully my performance bonus came in, but still... god DAMN it.

There's also the crap-fest that was resubmitting Little Dude's special assistance paperwork, a task I'd thought I'd done TWO MONTHS AGO. I will admit to that being one of my least favorite surprises EVER. I mean, I'd been less surprised by the third house fire than this.*

Fifth, I've absorbed the entirety of the Naruto manga and anime series. That's right, all 301 chapters and all 178 episodes. Not to mention scouring FFN and the likes for fanart and fiction. It's been over a year since I'd watched any television regularly and probably another half a year of not watching any anime. It's been fun to take a peek since I've started to feel really burnt out on comics/anime/manga/whatever in general. I've dropped my pull list to something like 5 indy titles with the occassional impulse purchase (read: Mouse Guard, Polly and the Pirates, SiP, True Story Swear to God, and Usagi Yojimbo). Picked up Nightmare & Fairytales which is muy awesome.

Sixth, though I have finished neither the lettering for the Snow White and Rose Red graphic short story nor the entry for the Small Press Idol contest, I have started working on fleshing out a couple other projects. One involving the idea of "karma brokers" and the other derived from post-Ragnarok Norse mythology. There will probably be little kids hitting people. A lot. I think it's my niche. Heh heh. (Here is where having server space would be nice since I've got a couple sketches done that aren't half bad.)

Wow. That's a shitload of writing. I'd bet that if I put that much time and energy into a given project, I'd be a gazillionaire by now or some shit. Oh well, back to kids smacking people with hammers!






*By "third house fire", I mean "the third time my home and all my possessions were destroyed by fire." I recall my reaction being something along the lines "What? Again?! FUCK!"

That's right, folks! Finally all 20 pages are inked! Now, to do the lettering and the SPI stuff. Ah, so this is what accomplishment feels like...

I finally finished the inks on the Rose Red and Snow White graphic short story. I skipped out on doing the different chapter title pages so (and because) it's only twenty pages. I still need to add the heavy inks to some of Snow's hair and some guy's suit, but aside from that: DONE.

I mean finished. Completed. Mission accomplished. There is not another page to ink.

It's a pretty good feeling to have that under my belt. I mean, I still want to add the words and word balloons, but that can be done at work on PhotoShop not necessarily tied to my drawing table. Although, I'm thinking I might want to rescan in everything at 600 dpi before getting into everything, just to make sure it's print quality (in case I want to submit it to somewhere, the files are already at that dpi). But honestly, that's only a small amount of tinkering. It takes me maybe half an hour to slap on borders and balloons and stuff.

What I'm really excited about is, now that I've cleared the deck, I can focus on the Small Press Idol contest. It's a contest to submit and develop an idea for publishing a 4-issue limited series. I've been putting some thought into it, and while I have a lot of interesting ideas, I think the one mostly to be able to consume 96 pages of story is.... DOMESTIC VILLAINY!

What can I say? I'm both excited and terrified at the idea of expanding on the worlds of Dr. Destructo, Dash MacPherson and everyone else. The first step, however, is creating a fabulous, eye-catching, can't-resist-picking-up cover...

CRAP!

I enjoyed my week away from work and Little Dude enough to pretty much drop most of my interweb hobbies and some-such. As it is, I got lots done but not nearly enough for what I could have gotten accomplished. I think I got some more pages of the Snow White and Rose Red story inked, but not scanned.

I also did a 5-hour graphic short story, fusing the whole Pygmalion and Galatea myth with something I was hoping was very Frankenstein-ish. I was thinking about pursuing a couple different directions with it, but I think I picked a nice place to end it.

Go here to see it!

Discussions with the Wif have pulling me in the direction of starting a website for all my original art and graphic stories and not any of the fan-stuff. Not that I wouldn't have the occassional Batman or Shinji picture up, but that wouldn't be the main thrust of the site, ya know? I have one name already in mind (no, I'll reserve posting it so that the interweb demons do not snatch it from my grasp), but I'm open to suggestions.

Though I have my doubts, My Better Half assures me I'd be able to update the site about 3 times a week. And I do like the idea of eventually publishing/printing something like an anthology of all my little myth/fairytale stories. So sometime after the tax refund comes in and the credit cards are paid down/off a bit, I'll look into getting that up and running.

And finally... Little Dude apparently LOVES cupcakes. So much so that ingesting through his mouth is not fast enough, he must smear it all over his face to fully enjoy its cupcakey goodness.