 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Bite-Size strips |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Updates / News / Announcements / Etc. | ||||||||||||||||
|
1) I deeply thank those of you who donated to help me with the various costs of producing the comics. Your money has gone (and is going) towards hosting fees for the website, and will help offset the cost of printing the first run of Bite-Size vol. 1. 2) How's "The Legend of Xavier" going, you ask? God bless you, my child. Listen to this happy song as you read on and look at the unfinished comic below. These are some snapshots of my progress:
Inking a comic isn't mentally exhausting at all. (Or, it shouldn't be, if the pencils and lettering are done. In fact, it might even be relaxing and/or fun.) It's really like a brisk jog where the route has already been laid out, and I just have to get from the start to finish at whatever pace I can. I listen to music, radio shows, sermons, anything while inking. My mind is free to wander where it wishes. Only a pen in hand and a butt in seat is required. =) That's where I've been fumbling lately this month, since working more hours at the "other job". I haven't had time! But I've gotten permission to take the day off, so I'm going to spend as much of the day as possible working on these pages.
Bonus Thing: Remember that
Sherlock
Holmes comic I did with Bento Comics? Well, we're making another
anthology book. This time, the theme is Peter Pan. I intend to make a
10-15 page story like last time. So far I've only got a concept, but I
think it will be fun. (The only problem is finding time to draw it!)
That's next on the schedule. And somehow I need to find time to get the
Bite-Size book finished and draw some new strips too. Charles Schulz! >_< January 26, 2012 - Some Final Fantasy VII Figurines I've been wanting to share these for a while, but I had a digital camera issue. No matter! Here is a partial set of FF7 figurines. I hope to finish the set in the near future.
Bite-Size volume 1 is getting there. "The
Legend of Xavier" is in its final stage of drawing. I took today off from
my "other job" so I could work on it, in fact. I personally think it's
super funny. I might share some panels soon. Updates are forthcoming...
and... I need to go to bed. -_- January 18, 2012 Here's page one of the 15-page short story that will be in the back of Bite-Size volume 1.
January 11, 2012 - Two Things (and a Bite-Size) I don't know if anyone is actually thinking this, but I feel compelled to write it: I promise I'm not holding Bite-Size hostage on account on George Drive. The two events have nothing to do with each other! The reason there haven't been any strips lately is really only a matter of time and internal energy. I'm temporarily working more hours per week now at "the other job", so my free time is an unorganized mess at the moment. >_< ...There was another thing, but I forgot it and I have to get ready for work anyway. Freakin' job stealing my memory! If this was 20 years ago, Bite-Size might be in the newspapers and we wouldn't have this problem. Freakin' time space continuum! On the plus side, I've been making Final Fantasy 7 figurines. =) Maybe I'll post them soon.
UPDATE: New Bite-Size added today. January 5, 2012 - Whaaaat It seems Paris earned a review from Manga journalist Deb Aoki, and the review is under a heading entitled "Best New International Manga of 2011".
*Stares into space* January 2, 2012 - George Drive...2012 Sigh. Okay: The billing for hosting the website renewed itself, which as usual was an inconvenient surprise. It's really jerky that they don't even say "hey, George, we're going to be taking 100 dollars out of your bank account in a few weeks kay? Make sure you put some money aside." I'm upset about that. But that isn't why I'm writing this post. What I'd like to say is, hosting for the website costs $100 a year. It isn't a lot, generally speaking, but for me it's a very real chunk out of my limited income. So - I'm thinking of initiating a donation drive for the website. If any of you are moved to help out with my expenses for keeping the website up, I'd ask that you donate a couple of dollars to help. Be mindful, now - I'm not asking for this money saying "the website will go down if you don't pay!" It won't. I'm sometimes proud to say I'm a bad businessman, because it's going to sound like I'm discouraging you from donating. So be it! I'm not a sneaky person and I don't want to trick people into giving money. It's not lives are hanging in the balance. Anyway. Bite-Size vol.1 will be coming out soon, so you could consider supporting the website by buying one of those when they come out. You could also commission a unique figurine from me - it's like donating, but you get something which I'd argue is actually pretty cool. Visit the store for more info, or contact me. And of course, copies of Paris and Whipped are in stock. So let's do that this month. Can we raise at least $100? That'd be cool. I'll even put a little meter up. If we go over $100, that will help with other comics-related things like printing budgets for books, art supplies, etc. It all costs money, and I don't make all that much of it, so any amount helps! (But again, I'm not starving. Please don't feel pressured. If you can help, please do. If you can't, no problem. If you yourself are struggling financially (you know who you are) you're not allowed to donate!)
That is all for now. December 26, 2011 - Getting There Bite-Size Vol.1 is being assembled - perhaps as you read this very sentence. After putting Paris and Whipped into book form, I forgot how friggin' exhausting it is to put a book together. My brain simply is not wired to do this! Repetitive stuff drives me crazy. From now on, I need to be more responsible with my filing system. Gathering loose files from all over the place is, I suppose, like trying to corral hundreds of puppies which have escaped into the pet store and are running around. It's cute and sometimes amusing, but after about number fifty you just want to lie down on the floor and let them have their way. Maybe I should staple piles of paper together and say "this is the book." =\ In case I don't do that, this is what the covers might look like:
That's what's been going on with me lately.
I've gotten the strips cleaned up and ordered. Now all I have to do is put
the goodies section together - the biggest feature of which will be a
short story called "The Legend of Xavier". That one's going to take a few
days to draw, but it should be fun. December 19, 2011 - Two-hundred Bite-Size strips
Kay, so, we've reached strip #200. That means
the book can be made. I will make another announcement when the page count
is finalized (around 120-140), detailing what the special features are
(there will be a fair amount including a short story) and the final price
(it looks like it'll be $10). I'll be spending the rest of December
putting this together. Hopefully I'll have copies in the next few months.
I'm personally looking forward to having a copy of my own.
December 12, 2011 - Three Bite-Size strips
today Maybe it's because the end of the year is coming, but I've been taking stock of the website here and I've been wondering in general if there's anything I can do to improve things. Should I release strips on a more regular basis, or are people okay with getting chunks of comics like today? I confess, I'd have more peace of mind to see regular visits rather than the fluctuations I get now. One week there'll be a lot of visitors, but the next will have way less. I dunno. Also, would anyone be interested in reading articles about making comics, or about recommendations/commentary on the culture? I've had an itch lately to maybe write about it, just to sort of share the things I've been studying. For instance, I'm re-reading MARS by Fuyumi Soryo, which is total soap opera melodrama, but also really fun. At the same time I continue my examination of Charles Schulz, and I sometimes wonder how many comics artists share similar melancholic traits. In my secret heart, I also want to write about my love for Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-5, and my discontent with volume 6 and how everyone apparently loved it with such abandon. (But that's scary, because if I criticize someone whose work I love, that means I'm also open to reciprocation. Also, I know how much it sucks to work on something for so long and have it fall short of expectations.) So much to write about, but is it worth the time and effort? If nobody's interested, I guess I'd rather spend the energy making comics. It'd just be fun to talk about this stuff. Frankly, I don't know many people in my sphere of friends with whom I can have an in-depth discussion about these things. I imagine, if I talk to the internet, it will listen - even if it won't necessarily respond. But the theological implications of that thought have now have me weirded out a little, so I'm just going to back away from the keyboard... ...really slowly...
Cloud World, that script I'm working on with the intent of turning into a graphic novel, is about halfway done. Maybe 55%. It's turning out to be pretty long, which worries me. Does that mean there's just a lot of story to tell, or it's dragging? Hard to tell until it's finished. The script is currently 100 written pages - the number of drawn pages is usually 3x or 4x that number. That's really scary. What if this story turns out to be about 500+ drawn pages? And what if it totally flops? I'd have wasted so much time. >_< I read people can earn livings off webcomic strips... but um... I dunno about that one.
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
