“Seeing Him” KickStarter News

In this post, I’ll be talking a lot about the “Seeing Him” Webcomic KickStarter project, where Kia and I run a KickStarter to jump start our new webcomic.

Don’t know what “Seeing Him” is? Go to the KickStarter Page, or go here!

Did you look? Cool. Anyway…

This update will come to you in THREE PARTS.

PART 1: NEW ART!

seeing him kickstarter promo art trans man webcomic
It’s Katy and Adam! The stars of “Seeing Him”! (Click to enlarge)

I drew the image above because I realized that Kate and Adam should be shown together, because they are adorable.

I’m planning out the sticker ideas, and hopefully you can see them soon.

Speaking of the stickers, that makes me think of rewards, which leads to…

PART 2: MORE REWARDS COMING SOON!

Kia and I realized that a lot of backers are going for rewards that are under $25, so we’re looking to include more options to choose from that are between $1 and $25.

Our current rewards include Thank Yous at $1, a desktop wallpaper at $5, and wallpaper and commemorative bookmark at $10.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave them in comments!

PART 3: WE GOT A HOST!

Deven from Pink Dollar Comics has so graciously offered to host “Seeing Him” on the Pink Dollar Comics website!

That’s awesome news, because they are a lovely LGBT hub, and Kia and I feel like “Seeing Him” would fit right in with the work Pink Dollar Comics does.

That’s all for now!

Thank you for reading! Please contribute to the KickStarter and spread the word!

I’ll see you on Friday.

Breaking Artsy Comfort Zones, Plus Trans Remembrance

This has been an odd, odd week.

I took some steps out of my comfort zone again, by drawing this gentleman with long hair and sideburns, as requested by my friend Sean.

warm up sketch sean's character
Click to enlarge.

I’ve drawn guys with long hair before, but never shoulder-length hair.

An even larger step out of my comfort zone was with animals.

warm up sketch black swan and tiger cub
Click to enlarge

I drew these two because they are characters in my genderbent Swan Lake story (I talk more about it here). The swan is what the prince becomes cursed to turn into, and the tiger cub is allied with the Princess, who can talk to animals.

The third thing I drew out of my comfort zone was not a subject matter, but an emotion. It’s one I don’t tackle very often.

Grief.

validation transgender day of remembrance
Click to enlarge

I drew this in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance yesterday.

Sharing this image online helped guide me towards some helpful resources for trans folks, like hotlines and this master post of charities and fundraisers, which includes a fundraiser by my old college classmate Cherno Biko.

Speaking of trans awareness, though, I’m still running the KickStarter with my little sister to get our new webcomic (co starring a trans man as romantic lead Adam) off the ground. Info is here and here.

Trans people deserve positive visibility. Trans folks deserve to be heroes while they are alive, not when they are dead.

…Sorry for the morbid end line there.

On a more positive note, I’m here for you if you need me. My contact information is under the Contact tab above, if you ever need to reach out to somebody. I’m not a health care provider, but I’m willing to listen.

Thank you for reading! I’ll see you on Tuesday.

warm up sketch jessie tattoos
I almost forgot to add this sketch I also did this week. Click to enlarge.

Seeing Him: Now on Kickstarter!

A few months ago, my sister, Kia, approached me and was like, “I have a new story I’m writing and I want you to draw it because it would look awesome!”

Ok, maybe she didn’t phrase it like that. But it was close.

So we worked together to build up this story a bit, and now, we’re raising money to get it off the ground!

seeing him webcomic logo work in progress
Click to enlarge.

What’s the story about?

“Seeing Him” is the story of Katy, a young lady who runs her own skating rink, but wants a little company in her life. So she meets a trans man named Adam at a Japanese noodle restaurant, and so begins a romantic comedy of unique and silly proportions.

Of course there are plenty of friends to help them along, like Greg, Adam’s friend and a tough guy who loves baking cupcakes.

greg from seeing him the trans man webcomic
Click to enlarge.

I love drawing Greg!

There are other friends, too, including Katy’s friends, Rachel and Julianne, who work at the skating rink.

character sketches from seeing him the trans man webcomic
Click to enlarge.

So what’s going on with this story right now?

Well, Kia and I are now raising funds on KickStarter to get this up and running as a webcomic online. The money raised will help pay us for making the project, as well as get you awesome perks, like stickers, bookmarks, and even posters and other cool prizes!

To give you an idea of how the comic will look when it’s funded and made, here’s a preview of page 9:

seeing him trans man webcomic comic page preview
Click to enlarge.

The both of us would love your support, whether you donate, spread the word about it on Facebook and Twitter, or share the project with your friends/family/readers/sentient pet dinosaurs.

The KickStarter will be up until around December 14th, and with your awesomeness, hopefully it can be funded!

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Update on Charlie & Clow

CharlieandClow_promo

See that comic page up top? That’s the first (yet unfinished) page of Charlie & Clow.

So in a previous blog post here, I said that  I would be having a Kickstarter campaign for this comic. Well, it’s not happening, at least not for a few months.

Why did I cancel it?

Well the biggest reason is that I don’t have all the comic pages finished. It’s hard to fund a book when it isn’t even finished yet.

do want to keep this comic black and white because I feel it fits the tone of the story (not to mention black and white pages are just faster and more fun to make).

“What’s the story about?” you might ask (as you should).

Charlie & Clow is about a young lady named Charlie who runs into some supernatural trouble and reluctantly teams up with a man named Clow to fight it.

Anything more than that and it would be spoilers.

However, expect some monster designs soon!

Speaking of monsters and non-human people, I added some new work to the “Commissioned Work” page that you should look at. It was the most fun and challenging character design assignment I’ve gotten thus far.

Ok, I gotta’ get back to work. I’ll see you next time.

P.S. I’m trying a new idea where I update this blog everyday. Is it ambitious? Yes.

The Legend of Jamie Roberts

Today I want to talk a little about this comic I’ve been working on for the last 5 years. Maybe even longer.

I mention it by title every once in a while on this blog.

It’s The Legend of Jamie Roberts.

Jamie Roberts has been brought up before, but the launch of the actual webcomic has always been pushed back. That’s because I’m still writing and drawing it, and things are always changing.

But now, I’m feeling really confident with this story, and it will be coming out.

But let me tell you a little of what the story is about.

RankiandJamie_web

 

The figure on the left is Ranki. He’s a Dragon King from Corith. 500 years ago he was defeated in the Corith Civil War and banished. But being a dragon in human form that lives a really long time, he hasn’t died yet, and he’s still pretty ticked that he lost.

The figure on the right is Jamie Roberts. She ran away from her home in Touloy by joining a pirate crew, disguising herself as a boy so no one would recognize her. She and her two best friends from the crew, Thomas and Daniel, head for Corith when they discover there are national treasures to be found (and possibly looted).

Jamie and her friends are hired by another Dragon King to be his bodyguards while he travels across the country. I won’t tell you what adventures await them because you should read the comic for that.

Speaking of, the comic production schedule looks a little like this right now:

  1. Write comic, finish before the end of the month
  2. Edit.
  3. In January and February, draw comic pages.
  4. At the beginning of March, launch comic to the world!

I was about to say I would launch it in February – HOWEVER THAT’S NOT TRUE.

The reason I’m not launching in February is because there will be another announcement around that time. Watch out for Rogue KickStarter campaigns!

Still, I’m REALLY excited for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, and I hope that you are, too.

I even made a 7-page teaser you can read at SmackJeeves (though fair warning: it’s at least two years old. The art will look WAY different).

Keep watching this blog. I’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes sketches and even some character snapshots!