Last week was the launch of a NEW project, The Women Warriors Project! I wrote all about it in a previous blog post, which you can read here.
I’ve been posting some Johnson & Sir sketches over on my Tumblr. Here’s a few for you:
That last one is actually an in-joke on a Validation strip I did before, because half of the audience on Validation’s Facebook page saw this strip and went “I want Rubber Duck The Reckoning to be a thing!”
I want it to be a thing, too! We’re figuring it out ;D
I’m still writing The Legend of Jamie Roberts. With any luck the script will be done by March 30th.
I haven’t been working on Charlie and Clow as much as I should be. I need to fix that. And I hope to get the first 6 or so pages online once they’re done. I’ll let you know when that happens!
And I just might be making a new short story for an anthology soon…
So you might have noticed I haven’t been posting vlogs for the past two weeks.
Part of this is: the footage I’ve got doesn’t interest me, and if it doesn’t interest me, you would probably like it even less so. The other part is: nothing of value is really being talked about, and I want to change that.
I was thinking of vlogging more about comics and art books, but I want to know what you think. What should I do with the vlog series?
Talk about comics? Answer questions from readers of Validationand Johnson & Sir? Show how I make comics? Or something else entirely?
On the topic of making things, this weekend I spent some energy getting a caricatures portfolio together. Here are some of them I got finished:
This guy did a TED Talk, but I missed his name. He talks about learning new skills with 20 hours of practice.Brad Pitt playing Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglorious Basterds.Neil DeGrasse Tyson…and some woman I spotted in a shopping catalog. I wanted to exaggerate her hair because it was ridiculous.
I haven’t drawn caricatures in about a year, so they’re not the best ones I’ve ever made. I’m also hoping to beat my personal record of drawing a black and white caricature in under 1 minute 30 seconds. The only way to do that is PRACTICE.
“Why are you making caricatures?” You’re asking, no doubt.
Because 1) I miss doing them, and 2) I want to get more gigs drawing caricatures at parties and conventions so I’m not so reliant on one stream of money coming in.
There’s nothing wrong with making comics for a living.
As a matter of fact, I’m psyched and so ridiculously lucky to be able to make money drawing comics.
Like Validation, which is still going strong. We even picked a winner of our Facebook giveaway and I gave stickers and a signed print! And you still like what we do, which is just icing on the absolutely delicious cake of luck.
While I’m on the topic of comics, The Legend of Jamie Roberts is going pretty well! The plan got pushed back a bit more, though: I’ll begin making pages in March, but launch won’t happen until late March or the beginning of April.
The Legend of Jamie Roberts is being pushed again (not by much, though) because I still need to finish up the scripts. I’m halfway through the story, if not more. And I want to make sure that I know where the story is going before I start making pages.
That, and I’m redesigning their costumes.
This is my favorite design so far, but I think I’ll change it again. The idea is she’ll be adding more to her costume as she travels through Corith.
Even though the sketch is black and white, the plan is to make the comic in color. I’ll be sharing colored sketches more as I work on the story.
That’s all for now, so back to the drawing board for me!
P.S. Have you heard of Patreon? It’s a voluntary subscription service to support creators. I’m thinking of getting an account on there. What do you think?
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.
I 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.
Sorry! Due to a terrible strike of the Procrastination Plague, I was unable to complete my promised blog post for today. The final installment of How to Write A Contract will be on Wednesday.
Over at Validation, we’ll be announcing a winner of the giveaway by Christian and me! Check in on Facebook, because that’s where we’ll make the announcement.
If you want new sketches and project updates, Twitter is the best place to find me. If you have any questions, you can ask me there or leave a question in comments here.
I’m still vlogging on YouTube! This week’s new episode can be watched here.
My Deviantart has been busy, as has my Tumblr and my Pinterest. Go check out some of the sweet stuff I’ve been sharing (including new inspirations on some boards over at Pinterest, but I won’t spoil anything).
And at the Store, there’s a new print! Click the image below to get it.
However, I do have a new pastel sketch to share with you:
There will be new pieces made soon – especially in the realm of T-shirt designs and other illustrations. Keep an eye out over at my RedBubble.
Also, I am considering making a few blog posts about either of these two topics. Which would you like to read about more?
The history of American comics
A beginner’s guide to freelancing
I want to hear from you. So please let me know in comments below.
This year has been ridiculously crazy for me: new boyfriend, a car accident, a broken wrist, moving to Arizona, and going full-time freelance. But next year I’m looking forward to more conventions, more books published, more comics, and more friends!
Let me know in comments: How did your year go? And what are you looking forward to the most?
