All of my comics have been taking a hit on their schedules lately. I kind of feel like taking another week off to get back on track. But if I buckle down, I should be able to produce this week's comics and get next week's going in time. Expect HFR later today.

It's a difficult page I'm working on and took more planning than I had expected. In a way, partly because my comics don't have a huge readership at the moment, I feel like I should be focusing more on quality than schedule right now. When a comic comes out once a week, it seems to have more leeway on just when it updates, anyway. I've seen some wildly popular comics with extremely erratic update schedules.

But it makes me feel like I'm starting at square one. And when I go through my morning list of comics to read, and I see them all updating like clockwork, it makes me feel unprofessional. And that's not very encouraging.

It can be hard to put discouragement aside and kick some ass, but if I don't I'll fall further behind. So it's bootstrap time!

Let's see how many drawings I can get done today!

That's it, I quit drawing comics.*

With my luck, the next character to walk into reality will be the faux Fenmere, and that cannot be allowed.

* Note: It's locked, probably to protect the people who own the names and my friend who handles their accounts.

Suffice it to say, a couple of my characters coincidentally share names (and in one case, age) of real people in Bellingham. I should probably not name names here, so as to protect my friends' career. I apologize for the mysterious link!

As my morning warm-up, I inked this traditionally. Then, so as to make it more interesting for everyone and to stretch myself a bit further, I applied some simple shading using the pencil tool and my tablet in Photoshop:



I think that next time I shall plan out the shading in pencil first, so that I have a guide to use one the computer. I can filter out the light pencil so it won't show up in the scan, and I'm betting at thinking in pencil right now.

To save time and practice my tablet, I inked this one digitally (though not so carefully). I've got a non-repro blue version printed out for taking the brush to it. I expect my second version to be much better:

click to visit larger image Breaking down the Worm: finished pose, digitally inked and colored From Grass Dog Studio

I'm caught up enough with my comics to dink around a bit (though I've also been writing today as well). I've also been recovering from my mass beer drinking last night, so I'm not in top form with my art. A good time to break it down:

click to visit larger image Breaking down the Worm: finished pose, brush & ink with digital coloring From Grass Dog Studio

click to visit larger image Breaking down the Worm: Pencil sketch w/ Illustrator non-repro guide From Grass Dog Studio

I broke open a new package of paper today. It's OfficeMax 67 lb. White Bristol. My god. I need to get that stuff in larger sizes! Of all the paper I've worked on so far, it lets the brush keep its reservoir of ink the longest. And it's deceptive about that, too. It has the same apparent surface texture as the other bristol board I've been using, and it's rougher than the Cougar natural that I have in 16" x 20" sheets. But, apparently, it's got very low absorbency. So, the result is that the texture draws just enough ink to make a solid line and leaves the rest for more work!

Also, it's some of the cheapest paper of its kind I can find in town.

Since I feel the strong need to insert him back into my comic, and yet to finally be able to draw him consistently in such a way that he's easy to color, I've finally worked out the proportions to Fenmere, the Worm:


click to enlarge

Turns out that this looks a hell of a lot like a page from a How to Draw... book.

I'm going to pencil and ink these two poses now, so you'll get to see the results.

In the mean time, I'm thinking about making an armature for him. But I don't have everything handy that I'd need to do it. I've got the Super Sculpy and the toaster oven, but not the rest. I'll need to do a little research and then fill out an acquisition request form...

... you've got to start somewhere:

I seem to have achieved the first step -- Family and friends don't let me know when my hair is messy anymore.

Eventually, my age will catch up with my attitude.

There is a new issue of It's Easy up, by the way!

I am also printing out templates for Harmless Free Radicals right now. I have three months worth of that comic planned out.

Today's schedule looks something like this:

1. Eat a goddamn apple
2. Cut, Pencil and Letter Wednesday's HFR
3. Cut and Pencil Wednesday's It's Easy
4. Scan & upload tomorrows DR_SPIN
5. Handle business emails
6. Go to the B.S. of Comics by 5pm, hang out there until wife drags me home.

I've updated two comics today:
http://www.sirreg.com/easy/
http://www.harmlessfreeradicals.com/

Now. Today's to-do list is no less massive than the last two days. It's like I have production day every day.

Feels good, actually:

1. Cut It's Easy pages for Friday and Next Week's comics
2. Pencil It's Easy for Friday
3. Ink it if possible
4. Scan and upload tomorrow's DR_SPIN
5. Put some more ink down on the Awesome Commission
6. Script next Wednesday's HFR...

7. Gotta crack some PHP code, dammit (probably Friday, though)


Note: I'd whine about the low number of comments lately, but not only am I above that now* but 23 unique page hits in less than an hour? Not too shabby! Thanks for reading my comics!


* I am, I really am, seriously! Not at all lonely in my basement office all day. No.

The compilation of "I Can Draw Better Than This!" or maybe one of the HFR books is going to have to be titled, They call me "Fenmere".

Because, that's what happens when I walk into my coffee shop.

I do feel a little shame, yes. That's why it must be done.

Edit: Or it could be one of those ridiculously long titles, like, Whenever I go out, the people always shout, "There goes Fenmere, the Worm-inum-inum-inum..."

Here, I've made the proclamation, and you can read it at the bottom of my comic's page.

It'll hit grassdogcomics soon.

If you need further justification from me for keeping the name, I suggest you read two things:

The Dragon and the Radical

and

The stories of the Dragon People

In fact, if you don't read those, I don't really want to hear any more criticism of the name. I know that's not very gracious of me, but I'd really appreciate it if the advice I got was for helping me to tell the story in the way that I intended it to be told, name intact.

The reason that the stories of the Dragon People are hidden away in a set of pages you can only find via an easter egg is because they are not very well written. I sometimes feel embarrassed while reading them. They need to be rewritten and reintroduced in a proper way, preferably through Harmless Free Radicals. But I need them online and ready to read just for the very reason I'm linking to them here.

I'm giving myself until July 31, 2010 to get it right. After that, I'll consider giving up. But not before.

Thank you!

Please, please, do look at what I've done here and try it out:

http://www.grassdogstudio.com/hfr/contact.php

I would be most grateful.


note: It is HTML capable, which I understand is a security risk. Except that it is also supposedly filtered for all the dangerous stuff.

For my next HFR book, I'm going to need to compile an extensive and exhaustive coffee glossary, and quick.

My plan is to take several sources and then rewrite each entry in my own character's words. The book will be written in the way that Gretch would write it.

I can get most of the material I need off the net, and I've already started, but seeing as I have several coffee professionals on my friends list, may I entreat you to send me suggestions for resources?

Thanks!

I'm slowly becoming a lettering nerd.

Can you see the improvement from the last page? It is a specific detail in my technique.

I'm thinking of publishing Gretch Müller's Combat Guide to Making Coffee as twelve page 3.75" by 6.75" DayRunner inserts, with coffee history and tips along the bottom below the comic.

You won't need a DayRunner to collect and bind them together, but it'll be a convenient thing and the kind of thing my actual target audience is likely to have.

I know this is asking the improbable, but did any of my 'Hamster friends save a Sunday Herald? Apparently three was a photo of some of the work in my show in part of that paper.

click to view larger image

It looks like there will be 18 pieces in the show. 9 of them will be available as large prints, five of them are only available by purchasing the comic book, and five are not for sale. The last one (not pictured here) has 2" by 3.5" prints available for free! Some of you already have one.

To sell my posters properly, I should probably have ordered 50 18" long 2" white shipping tubes. I need 10 of them for this show, plus any extras I might need if I over sell.

An order of 50 comes to about $36 if I get them directly from U-Line.

An order of 10 comes to about $25 if I get them from Kinkos.

I'd like to have 10 of them by Monday (today or tomorrow if possible).

Anybody got any leads on any deals out there?

Shrink wrap tubing would also work in a pinch (and may be better for a show anyway). And I already own a gun for shrinking it.

Thanks!

More and more, it's looking like I won't have everything I wanted put together for my art show. I've got a long wish list.

But it is going to be complete! From the looks of it (and I am keeping my fingers crossed here), I'll have prominent contact information, things of various prices to purchase and walk away with, possibly some press, the largest list of invitees I've had yet, and presence in a gallery walk to boot! Oh, and a release form all filled out and ready to hand to Teri at the Drop.

Also, I've got enough pieces to seriously cram those walls with art, and more stippling than is right or healthy.

NOTE

Things I need to finish before I go to bed Friday night (whenever that ends up being):

1. Print, trim and frame all of my art.
2. Finish next week's HFR *
3. Layout and print all the labels for the art.
4. Fill out release form
5. Print 5 copies of "Previously! On Harmless Free Radicals!" *
6. Design and print cover for "Previously!" *
7. Dig out post card printer
8. Set up post cards for printing on Saturday *

Most of this stuff is really easy, actually. Some of it will be ridiculously time consuming, however. And I've got that dental appointment at 9:30 in the morning. Typically, my face won't stop being numb until 4pm, and I'll want to sleep. The more I can do while on my back with my laptop, the better, most likely.

* These can and will be put off, and/or may not happen.

I took extra time to finish today's comic, ostensibly to put more effort into it. Unfortunately, it feels like I produced crap anyway. I tried something new with the coloring, and the inking, and it all took longer than I hoped, and I don't like the effect.

Ah, well. I'm still proud of most of the composition, and it's a good introduction for this particular character. Next page, we'll actually learn his name and stuff.

Considering how long this took and how little time I have left this week to do anything and that I'll be down most of next week after having my teeth pulled, we might have to wait two weeks for the next page.

I'll try to get it done, but it just doesn't seem likely. It makes me a little angry that I might miss a week, actually. I'd really like someone to blame besides myself. Then I could yell at them and let off some steam.