Today, I mainly detailed some future strips, trying to flesh out some ideas I have for resurrecting Omnipotent Me. I read through the old strips and I’m trying to figure out a way to incorporate them. I like a lot of them, and only a few either don’t make as much sense as I wanted them to or they don’t really help define the newly refined theme. The new version of the strip is based on … Read More
I almost forgot to post today. I woke up at 7:00 AM and got right to writing… er… brainstorming. I went through some old documents containing started-but-never-finished stories, took what I liked, and added them to my brainstorming sheet. There are three projects I’d like to do. One is the slice-of-life story I mentioned the other day, one is a re-launch of my strip, Omnipotent Me (for which I have some fun ideas), and one is … Read More
I just spent an hour outlining a couple of comic story ideas. The one I outlined in some detail is more of a reality-based story, something I’ve been trying to avoid. I like slice-of-life comics, but I much prefer an element of fantasy. I don’t necessarily want to read about something I could be going through because, well, I’m going through it myself. I prefer the fantasy elements because it provides a bit of escapism yet … Read More
I got up at 7:00 AM today and decided to keep with the writing motif for the rest of the week. One thing I need to do is make sure I have enough stuff ready to be drawn, whether that means getting detailed outlines ready, a script, or just basic plots. So, my plan is to keep with the writing motif for this week and, depending on how much progress there is, perhaps into next week. … Read More
I’ve decided to go another two weeks – that’s ten more days – of rehab. I want to make sure I keep up the habits I’ve been forming for the last 20 days. Unfortunately, this week will be a little different, depending on what’s going on. My wife just had minor surgery (she’s okay), but because I’ve had to be her… nurse?… helper, our days so far have been thrown off and so have our sleep … Read More
Made it! Another Inkspill comic. You wouldn’t think this was a hard one to do, but that first panel is the result of three attempts. Again, in the interest of time, I worked my way through a tricky angle. It’s my job to use my free time to study that particular head position. I’d say it turned out okay, though. This comic is cleaner than yesterday’s. I made it a point to not overwork anything, so … Read More
Here’s today’s comic. Click on the image to view the larger version. I just made the hour! So, a few questions about the strip: 1. Do all women do this? 2. Could her hair be any frizzier? 3. Are they growing in each panel? Considering I did this in all inks, it’s not too bad. I thought I’d have more trouble with the female character than I did. The problem I did have was the sketching; … Read More
I’m waiting for the last bit of ink to dry before I scan. Today, I did a three-panel strip entirely in ink, which qualifies it as an Inkspill. Of course, I have to get it cleaned and posted within the hour, and according to my timer, I have 22.5 minutes left. Inkspills are great because they force me to commit to whatever I’m drawing. Sometimes it turns out bad, sometime good, and sometimes in between, as … Read More
Today, I failed. Completely. For the first time since I began this project, I did not get up at 7:00 AM (give or take), I did not work on comics for an hour this morning, and instead I slept until 8:00 AM. The first thing I thought when I awoke this morning was, “I am f***ing stressed. I do not want to deal.” So I slept in, knowing that I’d be home early from work today … Read More
I did work on comics today. I did. I just didn’t draw. I didn’t make time during the weekend to clean and prepare the pages for posting. Therefore, I did them today, or at least I started to. Since the third page needs to be composited, that’s what took the longest. In fact, it’s not completely done because in the process of copying and pasting the repeating panel and layering in the minor changes, I noticed … Read More
I worked about 15-20 minutes past my timer today since I was almost done with page 3 and wanted to finish. It defeats the purpose of sticking to some sort of time management, but I have most of the day off today and I figured finishing would be a good thing. My hand did start to hurt, and I think I figured out why: pen pressure. I was never taught, like many inkers, how to use … Read More
Had a bout of hay fever this morning that disrupted my sleep, so I decided to sleep in an hour instead of getting up to draw. Then I had to go to a school and work on some drums. I got finished with my daily hour of comic work about 20 minutes ago, so I did go through my rehab, just 7 1/2 hours late. My hand began to hurt again, so I had to find … Read More
Today I actually got up at 6:50 AM and got to the drawing board just before 7:00. Woo hoo! I finished inking page 1 and it looks a little better than yesterday. I a little over-worked, but better. I had to stop myself from over-working the page too much because I could feel myself trying to find ways to make the page look better, but any more noodling and hatching would’ve made the page look even … Read More
Today I began inking page 1 of my 3 page story. I like the inking process very much, but I think it takes me a while to warm up. I’m not very happy with the outcome so far, but then, the inks lack blacks and rendering as I haven’t gotten to that stage yet. However, I’m not really digging the line work. I think of “style” as 2 separate categories: idiosyncratic and technical. Idiosyncratic style is … Read More
(Got rid of “Self-imposed.” I don’t think that really matters anymore, right?) * Didn’t get to draw very much this morning; once my wife got out of the shower, I went down to spray a wasp nest. I wanted to make sure she’d be available in case a swarm of wasps attacked me and put me in the ER. I made a huge boo boo when ruling my final page. The safe area is the wrong … Read More
This update is coming late because I actually had to go into work this morning… and I’ll be going into work from now on, as well. This means I’ve got to make sure I get up around 6:50 AM, draw from 7:00 to 8:00, and if I can, make a quick post before I leave at 8:30 (where’s the shower, you ask? Don’t worry; I work with plants, oft times in the field, so I get … Read More
Here’s what I’ve been up to the last couple of days: Not bad for someone a little rusty, huh? I like the second page much better. The look is, I think, a bit more confident-looking. Both pages have their problems, to be sure, but the first page has a less confident execution than the second, and there are some awkward choices, as well. Now, my first thought, when I noticed this, was, “Hmm… wouldn’t my first … Read More
(I’m getting kind of tired of writing “Self-imposed” everyday. Oh well) Just when I began to feel like I was starting to draw well and was going to have fun, the timer went off. Finishing up the pencils for page 2 of what is turning out to be a 3 page story (I guess it’s a story). I continually have to remind myself that I need to hold the pencil and pen a lot looser when … Read More
Got off to another late start because I got up at 7:20 AM. I’ve been pretty good at making sure I draw every weekday morning for at least an hour, but the other half of that schedule was to get up at 7:00 and be done at 8:00. Luckily, I don’t have a dayjob that requires me to be there at a specific hour, and right now I’m doing some work at home. But, while I … Read More
Back for my second week of drawing comics in the morning when I could be sleeping. Today I tried to finish the page I started last Friday, and I would have finished, too, if it weren’t for those pesky kids… I mean, if it weren’t for that stupid head I was trying to draw. I got stuck on a panel where I have my fat guy sitting on a park bench, leaning back with his arms … Read More
