Category: Uncategorized

I finished a sketchbook in the last week or so. It saw use from December of 2012 up until now (I tend to go through sketchbooks pretty quickly).

And I made a video to show you what it looks like. :D

Actually, I made a series of videos. Part 1 is now up (still working on the other parts).

You can check it out on YouTube.

SEE:
Poster illustrations in stages from conception to finalized form.
Character designs for various comic projects.
Notes on developing stories.
AND MORE!

Click the link above OR the image below to watch the video:

Don’t Forget to Be Awesome, and I will see you soon!

Within the last month, I have started making video blogs (or “vlogs”).

I started doing this after being inspired by the likes of the Vlogbrothers, Sister Unity, Wheezy Waiter, and Alex Day.

It’s fun, it’s quick to film (the editing process could go a bit better), and it helps me tell stories and show you things I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

Just a little warning: while I do my best to make these videos as high a quality as possible, it’s just me with my camera phone. PLUS, there is a little bit of swearing, just in case that isn’t your cup of tea.

This link I will include is actually to my third Vlog entry, called “Coffee Shop Sketching Time”. In this video I actually show some sketches of a coffee shop I made for the comic strip Validation.

“Johnson & Sir” has a long and interesting story behind its creation.

It originally started as a parody of sorts: anytime I watched my little sister, Kia, play “Jak II”, and she would ride past a Krimzon Guard (the police force of the game), we would both improvise comedic skits based on the guards. Eventually two characters emerged, Johnson and Sir. And it was Johnson’s goal to annoy Sir as much as possible: cross-dressing, talking to orange rats, etc.

A few years later, when I introduced the idea to my friend and then-roommate Katy, we went on a roll with it. As we improvised, I took on and developed the character of Johnson, and she took on the character of Sir. And we had a blast making Johnson tease Sir about his love life and Sir teased Johnson about his inadequacy as a police man.

After I graduated from school, I forgot about these guys on the surface. But they lurked in the back of my mind, waiting to spring.

Until one day, Kristen (my older sister), Marc (my boyfriend) and I were eating dinner at Cracker Barrel. And Kristen looked at me and said, “You should make a webcomic. Whatever happened to Johnson and Sir? I loved those guys!”

And so, with much planning, drawing, and giggling (a long with a few developing jokes involving T Rexes and possibly a sex-change arc), I released “Johnson & Sir” the webcomic on April 30th.

You can read it all here.

“Johnson & Sir” is a comedic little slice-of-fantasy-life, following the exploits of the two elfish cops as they keep the peace in Fantasyville, and between themselves.

Of course, Sir is the most serious of the two, and is the chief of the Police Force. Johnson is the new recruit under his wing. As much as Johnson loves being a cop (because he really does want to serve the better good), he enjoys breaking Sir’s cool and serious demeanor much more.

And there will be heinous shenanigans.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy making it!

If you make comics (like I do) and really care about engaging your audience and making the most compelling characters you can, allow me to make a couple of recommendations.

First, you should listen to the Paper Wings Podcast that covers the topic. This episode I will link you to is called, “How to Write Comics That Engage Your Audience.” And the people on this podcast know what they are doing: Chris Oatley has worked for Disney and now runs his own art academy, and Lora Innes started and is still making her fabulous comic, “The Dreamer.”

Here it is, for your listening pleasure.

Second, I think you should, at the very least, read “Ink Spots” by Brian McDonald.

“Ink Spots” collects the essays he wrote on his blog “Invisible Ink” (I think you should read the book of the same title. I’ve heard good things about that one, too).

Not only did this book motivate me into writing again, but his advice on how to write characters kicked me in the proverbial pants and made me energized to work with my characters in “The Legend of Jamie Roberts” again.

This guy KNOWS what he is doing, and what he’s talking about. For Pete’s sake, he worked with Pixar on their stories!

To get your copy, you can go to Amazon. I receive no commission for this. I just think you should read it because it’s THAT important that you do.

Third, if you would like to try some new character-making exercises that don’t involve long cheat sheets to fill out with questions like what their favorite food is….

You should look at this and this. The first link is to a blog post about how you can use Character Allignments (a la Dungeons and Dragons) to create a variety of morals for characters. The second link is an in depth look at Jungian theory (remember those tests that say “You’re an ISTJ type”? Yeah. It’s that), how it’s partially inaccurate, and how to actually use it when developing characters.

These last two links I found exceptionally useful, and helped me to flesh out my characters even further.

Good luck, and Don’t Forget to Be Awesome. :D

Wow!

It’s good to see everybody on Blogger again! All you fabulous artists and writers, I missed you.

I never thought I would miss this, but MY GOSH I do!

In my opinion, Blogspot is so much better than WordPress or any other kind of website format. Especially for artists.

So much has changed in the last six months since I left this site, but I came back. Blogger is so much cleaner, so much simpler, and so much nicer to use. Plus, most of my awesome friends and inspirations, like Jeff Laclede and Brian McDonald are here, so it’s good to be with a good crowd.

I’ll be updating this space with new art, new sketches, and new info soon. So stay tuned.

You are awesome!